Men of Courage (18 page)

M
ATT CLIMBED OUT
of the storm cellar, his heart in his throat as he reached back to help Molly. Around him the rain was still coming down, only gently now. The wind had died, leaving them in a world of eerie silences.

He didn’t let himself register the south wall of the house, or the west wall as they walked around without talking, their feet sinking into inches of mud.

But as they came around to the front and he could see, he let out the deep breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.

The house still stood.

Half the windows were gone, as was the porch and the veranda, and a good portion of the upstairs roof, but the foundation had held.

He still had the legacy that suddenly meant more to him than he could have imagined.

Or maybe not so suddenly, he thought as Molly reached for his hand, also staring in won
der at the house. “Wow.” She smiled at him through her exhaustion and lingering injuries and all they’d shared. “It’s still here.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m so glad, Matt.” Turning to him, she slipped her arms around him and hugged gently. His arms wrapped around her and for a moment he buried his face in her hair and wondered what it would be like to hold her like this every single day for the rest of his life.

Then he remembered he didn’t do forever.

“I’m so glad for you,” she said, clinging as hard as she could without hurting her ribs. “Your life will be the same, just as you wanted.”

Yeah. Just what he’d wanted.

So why couldn’t he let her go?

A honk startled them both. Coming down the washed-out driveway was a truck, driven by a high school kid Matt instantly recognized. He couldn’t remember the boy’s name but he was part of a volunteer group at the hospital.

“Dr. Walker,” he yelled out the window, waving his free hand. “You’re here!” He hopped out of the truck, sank into the mud up to his ankles and grinned in relief. “Dr. Salenski sent me out here looking for you, thinking maybe you were
stranded. I’m sorry, Doc, but you’re needed at the hospital, pronto.”

Good. Great. He was needed at the hospital. By Dr. Salenski no less, his friend and boss. The only man who’d think to find him here because he was the only one at work who even knew about the house. “We need a lift,” he said, and when he felt Molly take a step back, he grabbed her hand.

“You’ve got to go.” She stared down at their joined hands, hiding her expression from him when her curls fell into her face. “So…goodbye.” She tried to tug free but he wouldn’t, couldn’t, let her go.

“Molly.” Suddenly he could hardly take a breath. “Where do you think you’re going to go?”

“Home.”

He didn’t know where that was. Panic flared, and he held up a finger to the kid, who nodded. Then he grabbed Molly’s other hand and pulled her toward him.

They weren’t touching except for their fingers; he couldn’t touch her again because that would be continuing this amazing interlude beyond what they’d both wanted.

Wouldn’t it?

“I want you to come with me,” he said quietly. “I want you checked out.”

“I’m fine, Matt.”

“You’re coming. She’s coming,” he said to the kid, and before she could pull her hands free, he’d opened the truck door.

She ground her heels in and gave him a look that made him sigh.

She was going to be stubborn. Fine. She couldn’t wait to get out of his life, but damn it, he apparently needed more time. “Moll, there is no electricity, not to mention there isn’t a phone for miles. I’m not leaving you here. Don’t ask me to.”

For a long heartbeat she just stared at him, and he wished he could read her mind, but then she got into the truck.

The ride to the hospital was long. Cramped. Her thigh was pressed to his thigh, her arm against his side. The shocking devastation of the storm should have sidetracked him from that connection he had with her, but it didn’t.

Wanting more, he lifted his arm so that at the next turn she sort of fell into him. He liked that, or he would have if she hadn’t held herself so stiffly, clearly not wanting to be touching him at all.

When they got to the hospital, his staff practically jumped him, overwhelmed with the crowd, the demands of the storm and the injured. Matt wanted to treat Molly himself, check her out thoroughly, but before he could, one of the nurses gently pulled her away.

By the time he’d delegated as much of the crisis as he could, and run to the cubicle he knew they’d put her in, it was empty.

If he thought he’d felt panic before, it took over his body now. His heart pumped, his mouth dry. “Where is she?” he demanded of a nurse in such a raw tone she blinked in surprise. “The woman being treated in this cubicle,” he repeated. “Where did she go?”

“Uh…” She consulted her clipboard. “Molly Stanton?”

Stanton. Thank God, there would be records. He’d be able to find her if he was too late—

“She just left—”

Before the nurse could finish the sentence, he took off, dodging nurses and patients as he headed toward the exit, searching for that blond mop of curls. “Molly,” he said with huge relief, turning her around—

“Sorry,” the woman who wasn’t Molly said with a regretful smile. “But—”

Matt kept running.

He’d thought he’d needed out of that storm cellar; he’d thought he’d needed to get back to his own life. But as the hours had passed, and Molly had brought him to life in a way he hadn’t expected, he realized the truth.

He hadn’t saved her.

She
saved
him.

It was true. While the world had raged above them, in her arms he’d discovered heaven.

He skidded to a halt at the double glass doors, searching right and left. She couldn’t have gone far, not yet, he assured himself. Not when he’d just come to understand something else.

Now he understood exactly what he’d been missing all his life, something he just might have found in the most unbelievable storm of his life…

“Molly.” He nearly collapsed in gratitude when he saw her petite form waving down a cab. He ran up to her, then was so out of breath he had to bend over and put his hands on his knees. He, who ran five miles every other day. “I…”

“It’s okay, Matt,” she said softly, opening the door of the cab. “I know.”

“You…know what?”

“This is goodbye.” She touched his face. “I’ll never forget you. Ever.”

“No.” He grabbed her hand when she would have slid into the cab.

“No…what?”

“No. I don’t want it to be goodbye.”

She went utterly still. “What are you saying?”

He’d given speeches. Classes. Lectures. He’d been barking orders all his life, so why now did his tongue suddenly tie up on the most important speech of his life?

“Look, I know you wanted an adventure. You wanted to restart your life. I know these past few days gave you the courage to do that, but I don’t want to just be the catalyst, Molly. I want…”

Her gaze searched his. “You want…”

What? What exactly did he want? Tell her!

Her eyes went a little sad when he couldn’t spit out the words, and she patted his shoulder. “Thank you,” she whispered. “Thank you for saving my life.”

She slid into the cab.

He grabbed the door, held it open. “You saved me.
I’m
thanking
you.
”

“Matt—”

“And now I want you to save me every day for the rest of my life. I love you, Molly.”

Her eyes widened. She swiveled, looked at the cabdriver, then stared at Matt again. Slowly she got back out of the cab. Shut the door. “Could…could you repeat that?”

“I want you to save me—”

“The last part please,” she said very shakily. “Just that last part.”

Feeling the fist around his heart loosen, he pulled her close and buried his face in her neck, inhaling her scent, knowing now he would never, ever, get tired of saying it. Lifting his head, he smiled down into her face. “I love you. Now could you say you might possibly feel the same way about me someday in the near future so I can breathe again?”

“I might possibly feel the same about you in the very near future,” she repeated obediently, then threw her arms around his neck. “Matt…how does now sound? How about, I love you now?”

All his tension dissipated and he grinned. “Now sounds just about perfect.”

“S
O YOU WERE SAVED
by a woman.”

Matt put the cell phone to his shoulder, which freed up his hands to hold Molly close. “You’re taking that out of context, Luke.”

“Oh, excuse me. You’re the big hero. You’re strong. You’re rough and tough enough to haul her out of the creek—”

“It was a raging river!”

“And you kissed her cut all better.”

“It was more than a cut,” Matt protested, even knowing Luke was teasing him.

“Bottom line,
she
saved
you,
big guy. Admit it.”

Matt looked over at Molly, and felt his heart swell. “Yeah.” They were being driven home by that same volunteer kid Matt now knew was Tim. Molly had stayed at the hospital under observation for her head injury while Matt had worked a very long shift, and as he still wasn’t ready to let her go, he was taking her home to his condo.

If he had his way, he’d never let her go.

Luke, who’d been frantically calling Matt ever since the storm had hit to make sure he was okay, sighed. “So I guess you’re going to marry the only woman who’s ever tamed you.”

Matt never took his eyes off Molly, and it wasn’t panic but hope that made his heart catch. “I just might.”

“What a sad, sad day for single women everywhere. But at least they still have me.”

“Until you’re saved by love, as well, big brother. Watch out, it comes when you’re least expecting it.”

“I’m not expecting it at all.”

“Then it’s probably already on its way.” Leaning over, Matt put a soft kiss to Molly’s lips. “I just hope it’s as good for you as it is for me.”