Page 94 of I'll Be There
“You brought me sunrises. And prayers. And friendship. And hope. You brought me love.” He glanced at her, met her eyes lightning fast, then looked back at his paper. “And I started to realize that God had given me a fresh start. I didn’t have to live alone anymore, a place of broken promises and grief. I lovedyou long before I could admit it.” He glanced at her again. “I’m sorry it took me so long.”
“Conner, please—”
“Just listen to him, Liza,” Justin said. “Please.” Low voice, but it held a hint of heartbreak, the deep resonance of a brother trying to help make things right.
In a way, perhaps Justin was to blame for Conner’s crazy save-everyone personality. But he looked just as wrung out as Conner.
These poor men, who’d given everything away to serve others—their brothers-in-arms, their country.
Do you loveMeenough to love him?
Conner kept reading. “So, this day, our wedding day, I declare my broken, wandering heart home. I realized long ago that I don’t need a place to be happy—but I do need you. I need your faith. Your love. You. You bring me home, baby. Wherever I am.”
Breathe.
His jaw tightened and he took a breath. “I know I do dangerous things, sometimes even stupid things. And yes, you’re right. I’m the guy who runs in first to a fire—but only because the sooner it’s out, the sooner I can come home. Come back to you.”
Oh. And she hadn’t thought of that.
He swallowed, his voice turning hoarse.
“That’s the man you fell in love with, Liza. You’re right. I can’t be less than who I am.”
His words wove through her, clung. Because that was the problem. She didn’t want him to be less. How could shenotlove a man who would drop everything to save her? Or his brothers.
She wanted to weep with the immensity of it. The fact that if he were any different...
“I promise, Liza, as far as it depends on me, to be there. I promise to celebrate with you when you’re happy, and I promise to listen to you when you’re angry, and accept when it’s my fault.”
He looked up at her, his eyes so blue, thick with emotion. “I promise to pray for you, to support and believe in your dreams, and to never stand in your way, but to build a life with you that protects your amazing gifts and talents.” He took a breath.
She held hers.
“And in that way, I promise to protect you. I think it’s pretty clear that I can’t stop disasters from happening. I might even cause them, but so help me, I promise to do everything in my power to keep you safe. If it’s up to me, you’ll never sleep alone again.”
She pressed her fingers to her mouth. Glanced at Justin. He grinned, winked.
Oh.
“Most of all, I promise never to make you feel like you are second place, that you are less than, or not enough for me—because you are. You are God’s amazing, beautiful, precious gift to me, and I’m never going to stop being overwhelmed with the idea that you’d love me.” He took a long breath, met her eyes again. “That you’d marry me.”
Do you loveMeenough to love him?
“I promise that I will never stop loving you—I will choose to love you, with everything inside me—for the rest of my life. And, most of all, that I will never stop making—and keeping—promises to you.” He closed the note, running his finger over the crease. “For as long as we both shall live.”
When he looked up, tears brimmed his eyes. “Liza, I promise these things on my name, my love for you, and with the power of God at work in me.”
She nodded, painfully aware that she might sob again.
He knelt in front of her. “That’s all I have. I hope it’s enough.”
She wanted to nod.
“I meant it when I said I’d be at the church today. Please be there with me.”
Then he took her hand, pressed a kiss to it.
Conner.
