Page 79 of Operation Protector
“You should read it. I know how hard that was on you yesterday—this will make you feel better.”
He grimaced. “You mean telling her I give up, I can’t fight her alone anymore?”
“Yes. Even if it isn’t true, it had to sting.”
“Slash, more like,” he muttered. But then he gave her a sideways look and an almost smile. “But it really isn’t true, is it?”
She put everything she had into the smile she gave him then. “No, it’s not. And boy, is she going to be surprised.”
She got a much better smile back then, and it warmed her to the bones. She held out the story his little girl had written, a fairy tale of sorts, about a family who had come together in a different sort of way. A handsome prince who had fought bravely, a princess who had had sad times, and a little girl who wished more than anything for them to be a family. And a very smart dog who seemed to think they already were.
And they needed a dog of their own so a little black-and-white puppy came to live with them, and they were all happy forever after, and the evil queen went away because she didn’t like being around people who were happy.
She remembered that ending word for word. She thought she always would. The assessment of the mother was razor-sharp, and Ali thought anyone who ever underestimated Grace Kendrick would soon learn the size of their mistake. But more important to her was the clear, simple certainty that the prince and princess and little girl would be happy, because they’d be together.
Forever after.
She watched him read it, saw his expressions change as he did, from a smile simply because it was from his precious girl, to his eyes widening as he realized who she had cast in the parts of her little story, to quickened breathing as he neared the end. And she saw his eyes were glistening in a reaction just like her own.
For a minute, maybe two, he just sat there staring at the end of the story. Then he spoke, without looking at her, but sounding as if his throat was as tight as hers had been.
“You ever read a fairy tale and wish more than anything that it was true?”
Ali’s heart leaped with joy at his reaction. “Yes,” she said softly. “Just now.”
He looked at her then. “You mean it?”
“I mean it.”
Colby looked like a man who had opened a door and found paradise. And also as if he couldn’t quite believe it. And it made her love him all the more.
Her heart took another little leap as she acknowledged the truth. If you’d asked her a month ago she would have said she didn’t think she’d ever love again, not the way she had loved Josh. Now…now she knew better. And somewhere deep down she knew that Josh would approve of her choice. They would have been friends, these two, had they ever had the chance.
Colby swallowed hard. “I mean it, too. I know this is…a crazy way to have met, and a crazy mess we’re in, but…when things calm down…”
“After you win, you mean?”
A flicker of his old fear flashed in his eyes. “What if I don’t?”
She let out an intentionally snorting bit of laughter. “Foxworth took down an evil governor and a crooked senator. Do you really think they’re going to let the likes ofthe motherbeat them?”
It worked. The fear vanished, and it was the Colby who knew he had a small but very effective army at his back who was smiling at her now.
“Then…can we try and make this—” he held up Grace’s story “—come true.”
“We’ll do more than try. We’ll plan out life after you’ve won,” she said. “But for now…could we take advantage of being actually alone together?”
His smile became the one that she remembered, from the afternoon spent in his bed. An afternoon she wished to repeat.And even as she thought it, he swept her up in his arms and proceeded to make the wish come true.
Colby settled the earpiece in his ear, more for something to do than because it needed it. It was in his right ear, facing away from the rest of the big dining area that was rapidly filling up, probably with a lot of government types given the county seat was just a couple of blocks away.
He was a little peeved at himself, because just the thought of being in the same room with Liz was bugging him more than sitting across a small table from a world-famous attorney. As if he’d read his mind—and given his courtroom abilities, Colby wouldn’t be at all surprised if he could—Gavin de Marco reminded him of their rehearsal.
“You’re happy. You know you’re going to win. And when you spot her across the room—after she spots you—you’re going to…?”
“Laugh,” he said.
“Believably,” de Marco suggested rather wryly. “Think of Grace, and being where you should be in her life.” The man lifted a dark brow. “Or think of Ali. I gather that should put a smile on your face.”
