Page 54 of The Hero
And his Marlowe, being her usual self, didn’t hesitate. She told him everything.
How scared she’d been, how she’d taken his watch and traded it for a phone call. How she’d called Jack’s Lumber and talked to his friends and April. How the doctor and the royal officers had shown up and whisked them to the airport and onto the plane. She told him about the forged passports and how the doctor insisted he was going to be all right.
And she admitted that she’d told his friends about what he’d been doing behind their backs, in order to explain who she was and how they’d come to be in their predicament.
She didn’t leave anything out, and by the time she was done explaining, Bob felt a mixture of shame that he’d let her down so badly and immense pride at how well she’d coped.
“I should’ve given you Willis’s number,” he said softly when she was done.
“Yeah, but what’s done is done,” she said with a small shrug.
Her ability to forgive was astounding. His screwup could’ve resulted in her being thrown back into prison.
“Kendric, stop,” she scolded, reading his mind. “We’re okay. You’re going to get better, and we’ll be back home soon. Although Iammad at you about something.”
Bob wasn’t surprised. There were a lot of things she should be mad at him about. “Yeah?” he asked.
“You should’ve told me you were hurt from crawling under that fence. Especially after you went into that disgusting water,” she huffed out, rising onto an elbow on the stretcher. “That was stupid. And not something I’d expect from a former Delta Force operative,” she scolded.
“But it was something a man would do for his wife. For the woman he cares about. And this has nothing to do with me being stronger, or a man, or even a former soldier. In the moment, all I could think about was trying to protect you. Doing anything and everything to keep you safe.”
Marlowe stared at him for a long moment before taking a deep breath. “I need to tell you something.”
Bob tensed. What hadn’t she already told him? Had she been hurt while getting them help? “What?”
“I love you.”
It took a moment for her words to sink in. Before he could say anything, she went on.
“I’m not telling you that to try to trap you into anything. But these last twenty-four hours ... when I thought you might die ... it was awful. And I realized how much I care about you. If you’d died, I’m not sure I would’ve survived it. So I had to tell you how I feel. But I don’t expect you to do anything about it. Or say anything. I just want you to know how amazing you are. And how good you make me feel. That’s ... that’s all.”
Bob’s heart felt as if it was growing like the Grinch’s did at the end ofHow the Grinch Stole Christmas. He’d thought this woman was brave before, but now he knew without a doubt that she was ten times braver than he’d ever be.
“It’s a good thing you feel that way, since I feel the same.”
She stared at him for a beat before blinking. “Really?” she whispered.
Bob vowed to never let a day go by without telling this woman how much he loved her. “Yes, really. I love you, Marlowe Evans. More than I ever thought I could loveanyone.”
“Holy crap.”
He smiled at that. “It’s also a good thing we’re already married, because if we weren’t, I might be bugging my friends to find a priest or officiant or whatever it’s called to come to the hospital.”
“I’m still not sure our ceremony was legal,” she said with a small smile.
“I have a wedding certificate in my pocket that says differently,” Bob said. “At least, I hope it’s still in my pocket.”
Marlowe nodded, and he relaxed.
“We’ll have another ceremony when I get out of the hospital, just to be sure. But our anniversary will always be that day we said our vows back in Thailand.”
Marlowe lowered herself and went back to snuggling into his chest. “It feels unbelievable that something good came out of my visit to Thailand. I mean, it’s not a bad country. It’s beautiful, in fact. There’s so much history, and most of the people are so welcoming and openhearted.”
Bob took a deep breath. His Marlowe had been mistreated horribly, and yet she still had the ability to be kind and generous toward the people of Thailand.
“Can we send money to that woman?”
He knew exactly who she was talking about. The one who’d insisted on them being married. “Yes. I’ll get Willis on that.”
