Page 83 of Risk of a Lifetime
As soon as the fuzz of pain and medications got out of his body, he’d call Landon. See if there was anything he could do to help the guy.
“Anyway, I figure you’ll be going as soon as you’re well.” Marcy brushed her fingers against the sheet covering his legs. “Seems the FBI doesn’t want you to quit. They think you’d be perfect for some position in the Springfield office.”
JB rolled the idea around in his head. Kept coming to the same conclusion. He and the FBI needed to part ways for good. But he still planned to work in law enforcement. “Do you want me to go, sugar? I mean, I did make you a promise.”
“No. I don’t ever want you to go.” She laid her cheek against the hospital gown covering his chest. “That’s one promise I won’t hold you to.”
“I guess if you need me that much…” He gave a fake put-upon-sigh. “…then I’ll have to stay.” That should rile the Marcy he loved.
Her head popped up. “Need you that much? I don’t need you. In fact, you can leave any time you want.” A mischievous expression belied her words. “Go ahead. Leave. See if I care.”
“I think you care more than you say.” He grinned and reached for her with his uncast arm. If she could feel the pain that small movement caused him, she’d know how much he cared.
She came to him willingly, taking in his tongue as it swept against her lips. Gave as much in return.
“I care a lot. So no matter where you go, no matter what you do, I’ve decided to go with you.” She poked his shoulder, then laid a kiss on the same spot. “No matter how much you aggravate me.”
“What if I get hurt?”
“Look at yourself, JB.” She palmed her hands up in front of her and gave him the once over. “Do you think you could be hurt any worse than this and survive?”
There was the crux of the situation. Might as well lay the cards on the table.
He formed the question first in his mind, then took as deep a breath as he could muster right then. “So what happens if a bullet finds its target, and I don’t get up?”
“I faced that possibility, Jean Bernard Bradley. Back on that hillside when Wilson slammed the poker down at your head, I couldn’t tell if you were still breathing or not. And as I jumped into the water, the sound of the guns exploded around me, and all I saw was the jerk of your body on impact.” Big tears spilled from her eyes and rolled down her cheeks unabated. “I thought you were dead.”
She swiped the back of her hands across her cheeks. “I was sinking in that cold, dark water, and all I could think was that you were dead. That I’d drown because you weren’t there to pull me out. But, I fought…I fought to reach the air again. To live. And one stroke at a time, I made it to the top. I survived, because I kept fighting to live.”
He longed to reach out to her but knew she needed to walk through this emotion on her own. He’d done the same last year when he thought he’d die. When he discovered he wasn’t invincible and that all he could do was fight till the end. His own survival back then had made him see that no matter what, he just needed to get up one more time. Throw one more punch. Struggle for one more breath.
“Guess I’m stronger than I thought.” She smiled.
“You always were. I’ve just been waiting for you to figure that out.” Now that she had, JB wondered what effect that would have on their future. Was she so strong she wouldn’t need him at all? Or strong enough to let him be there for the good times and the bad? “You still haven’t answered my question. What happens if I don’t make it off the ground one day?”
“Well, it all goes back to what you said about the hazards of being a lawman. We’ll face that if and when that ever comes.” Sucking in an extra-extra-extra-deep breath, she managed a tiny upturn of her lips, then kissed him sweetly. “Besides, loving a man like you is already one damn big hazard in itself.”
He couldn’t argue with her there. Except he’d like to go on record that she wasn’t a walk-in-the-park herself. But he wouldn’t. He lived for her sassy comebacks and stare-down arguments. Besides, she only called him by his full name when she was stone-cold serious.
“That sounds good, sugar. But I was thinking—”
“Don’t you dare try to talk me out of this,” Marcy focused her eyes on his and lifted her chin, then lowered the rail and nudged him to move over. “You’re my husband, and I belong with you. We can go to Springfield or St. Louis or all the way to Washington, D.C., if that’s what you want.”
With what strength he had, he scrunched himself across the bed till he rested against the other rail. “I was trying to tell you that I’m never leaving you, sugar. Not even if you pack my bag and set it on the front porch. And for now, let’s just stay in Crayton. Soon as I’m well, I plan to talk to Sheriff Davis about getting my old deputy job back.”
She jerked a quick nod, and smiled. “Good. That means you can be the new sheriff.”
“Sheriff? What about your uncle?”
“Says he’s calling it quits. Gonna let the younger guys carry the load.” She fluffed every pillow on the bed. “Deputy Evans says they couldn’t pay him enough to do the job. He and Kennett have already endorsed you as their choice.”
Sounded like he’d been the topic of conversation as he lay there knocked out the past few days. Sheriff? Maybe.
From what he’d heard around town, Crayton was getting a new factory next year and an expansion on the medical center, plus an outlet mall had just broke ground midway between the lake and the city limits. The town was ripe with growth, and he was ready to settle into a police department that needed his background.
Funny how life gave you what you wanted if you managed to stay alive long enough. JB held the covers back and motioned Marcy to climb in beside him.
“Do you think it’s okay?” His wife glanced at the door.
