Save the Date (39 page)

Relief swooshed through her every cell. Safety was just a few feet away.

But so was heartache.

It hurt just to look at him.

“What are you doing here?” She tried to keep her voice even.

He pushed to his feet, drawing himself up tall. “Waiting for you.”

Fatigue made her thoughts thick. “Why?”

“Just decided to take a little evening flight.”

“Clare called you.” Piece by piece, the shapes began to fit together. “Alex, the debate—”

“Did you honestly think I wouldn’t come after you?”

She looked at the clock on the wall. After all they’d been through, he’d
skipped
the main event? “What are you thinking—just walking away like that? After everything you’ve put into that campaign? After all
I
put into that campaign!” She drilled her finger into his chest. “I wore coordinating pantsuits for you.”

“If anyone has any explaining to do, it’s you.” Alex didn’t even try to lower his voice among the handful of people. “You’re going to help Marinell hunt down a man with a death sentence on his head? You thought it would be okay to intercept an eighteen-year-old kid, then go visit a guy who’s basically a walking time bomb?”

Lucy blinked twice. “Did you get the part where I said I made bad clothing choices for your campaign?”

“I love you, Lucy.”

Her eyes widened, and she took a step back. “Don’t do this, Alex.”

“I know this isn’t the time or the place, but you have to know I am crazy about you. I was wrong. This whole time I’ve been wrong, and I’m sorry it took me so long to figure it out.”

The words somersaulted through her heart but crashed in her head. “But I think you were right,” she said in a hush. “We’d never work. I’m never going to be that perfect woman you think you need.”

“What I
need
is you.”

A small crowd had gathered behind them. “You tell her, Playboy.”

“I want you,” he said. “Just the way you are. With your crazy dresses and hot pink shoes. Your weird sci-fi books. And your laugh. And that hideous car.” Alex reached out that strong hand and cupped her cheek. “I love your heart for your girls.”

“Stop,” she said, finding her voice. “I can’t do this.”

“I need you to understand—”

“What I know is that we’re over. I was stupid to tell you I loved you. Out of my mind to think we had a future.”

“You love me, Lucy Wiltshire.”

“Yes.” Hope pushed to the surface, but she shoved it right back down. “But what you feel for me isn’t love. You just can’t stand to lose— with me
or
the election.”

“There’s a very good chance I lost that Congressional seat tonight. And I don’t think I even care.” His voice was a balm to all the rough places in her heart. “Because it’s nothing without you. All this time, I’ve had it so wrong. I’ve been trying to measure up, prove myself to the world.” His hands moved to clasp her shoulders, draw her closer. “All I want to do is spend the rest of my life proving myself to you.”

Between the smell of the man two rows over and Alex’s early morning confession, Lucy’s eyes stung with tears. “I don’t even know what to say,” she whispered. “I’m afraid you’re going to keep talking until you hear yourself. And then you’re going to realize you’re making a huge mistake.”

His eyes never leaving hers, Alex pushed aside a McDonald’s wrapper with his foot.

Then went down on one knee.

His hand reached for hers, held it tight. “Lucy,” he said in the middle of the Greyhound bus station. “In front of Lou, Squid, ten travelers, and one hobo, I’m asking you to become my wife.” His smile dimpled his cheek. “A few months ago we crossed a line, went too far. And somehow God still used it for our good. I can’t do this life without you. Please,” he said. “Please marry me.”

There was love reflected in his face. And it was all for her.

“Let me be your family.”

Lucy Wiltshire had finally found home.

“Yes.” She struggled to breathe. “Yes.”

He reached into the pocket of his black blazer and pulled out her ring. The very same one that had started it all. Slipping it on her hand, he kissed her finger.

A scattering of people clapped as Alex stood up, picked Lucy up off her feet, and crushed his mouth to hers.

“Tell me you love me,” he said. “I need to hear it again.”

“I love you, Alex.”

“I’ve been miserable without you.”

“I’m so glad.” Lucy held tight until her pulse slowed to only a gallop. “So . . . besides stopping in Greyhound bus stations in the middle of the night and proposing to women, what are you doing here?”

Alex held her hand and looked at the ring back in its rightful place.

“We’re going to get Marinell.” He jerked his chin toward the brute squad of men behind them. Lou wiggled his fingers in greeting. “Then we go get Jose Hernandez.”

“Any exposure could endanger the Hernandez family,” Lucy said. “You’ll never be able to tell the media where you were tonight.”

“I knew that before I even stepped on the plane.”

“I don’t care what Eli Manning and Tony Romo say.” She ran her finger down his jaw. “You, Alex Sinclair, are a wonderful man.”

An hour later Lucy walked out of the bus station with Marinell. She knew before Alex said a word the rented black Escalade in the lot was theirs.

“Will Tupac be joining us?” Lucy climbed in the back beside Marinell.

Alex’s mouth curled in a smile as he squeezed in beside his fiancée. “Now you’re just trying to hurt my feelings.” He leaned back in the seat and rested his arm on her shoulder.

“Are you sure these guys know what they’re doing?” Marinell pointed to the two giants in the front seat. One more car drove a few minutes ahead of them, carrying even more men who seemed to value large muscles, bald heads, and indecipherable tattoos.

“We’re going to get your father back,” Alex said. “I have a team in place at his house, and they’ve already made contact with your dad.” His casual tone was meant to comfort and put Marinell at ease. “As long as he follows Squid’s directions, it will be a piece of cake.”

Lucy wished she could climb inside Alex’s mind and see if he was telling the truth. She had no idea what they were getting into, and her fear coiled like a spring.

Alex’s hand settled over Lucy’s clutched fist. “I’m asking you to trust me. I’m not going to let anything happen to you or Marinell.”

Half an hour stretched into an eternity, until the car finally stopped. The headlights went off, and Squid bailed out of the passenger side. The doors locked with a loud click as the Escalade sat there on the deserted dirt road. A line of telephone poles the only sign of civilization.

“I hope he’s okay,” Marinell whispered in the quiet.

“He will be,” Lucy said with more conviction than she felt. “Did I mention I’m grounding you for life when we get back home?”

Marinell’s long ponytail bobbed as she nodded. “Toilet scrubbing duty?”

Lucy patted her knee. “With your toothbrush.”

The next hour was spent alternating between praying, reminding Marinell they would all be fine, and wanting to pinch herself that Alex was beside her.

The man in the driver’s seat touched his earpiece. He spoke in hushed tones before turning to Alex. “The area is secure. Target is safe and en route.”

Lucy released the breath caught in her lungs and hugged Marinell to her. Alex just smiled.

Within minutes the other black SUV crawled down the road. The vehicle stopped beside them, and the back door opened.

“Papi!”

With a nod from Alex, Marinell flung open her door and ran into her father’s waiting arms.

Lucy watched the scene for a moment before turning her gaze to Alex. “Thank you,” she said. “The things you’ve done for this family—”

“It was worth it.”

“Tonight,” she said. “But will it be next week? A year from now?”

“Everything has led me to this moment, Luce. You, me, helping Carlos. That’s all that counts.” He tucked her to his side as they both watched Jose hold his daughter. “Do you have any idea how much you’ve changed my life?”

“You have a new appreciation for
Star Trek
?” Lucy nestled into the comfort of his arm and reached for the hand she would hold for the rest of her life. They had traveled in the wrong direction, two wandering souls, not knowing where they fit in the world. But God had drawn them together, despite it all.

Alex was her heart, her life, her white picket fence.

“We have to call Clare when we get back,” Alex said. “Tell her she has a wedding to plan.”

Lucy could see it now. Her new family. Friends. Marinell and the rest of her girls. With Alex at her side, they would start a new chapter. She would become his bride. And it would be the most perfect day.

Just as long as Clare didn’t pick out her dress.

Epilogue

Three Years Later

T
he sun shone down, filtering through the palmetto leaves and bathing Charleston in a hug of steamy heat. The clouds bloomed white in the sky, and the birds sang lilting songs from the trees. It was a beautiful day for a celebration.

Lucy stood by her husband as they cut the oversized red ribbon. The gathering crowd assembled in the yard and clapped as a photographer from the
Gazette
snapped their picture.

The small ceremony over, Esther Hernandez stepped out of the house and onto the wraparound porch. “You come in now,” she said. “We eat cake.”

“I do love the way that woman thinks,” Julian said, speed-walking past Lucy and heading straight inside.

As family and friends made their way into the house for a private celebration, Lucy lagged behind. She stopped in the middle of the yard and just took it all in. It was a two-story home with white shutters and pink clapboard siding that stood out like a smile for the entire street.

Alex stood beside her and slipped his arm over her shoulders. “It never gets old, does it?”

Lucy leaned her head against him, her heart full. “It just never does.”

It was the seventh home for young adults they had opened, each one just as special as the last. Many years ago Lucy’s mother had cleaned in this house. On hands and knees, she had scrubbed until her daughter lacked for almost nothing. Anna Wiltshire had sacrificed for her, loved her. Her mother had made some wrong decisions, but the ring on Lucy’s hand was a testimony that God still moved in those as well.

Holding open the door, Alex led Lucy inside to the dining room where everyone gathered. It was a noisy affair, full of loud voices, laughter, and faces Lucy loved.

“Sit,” Esther said, pushing Lucy toward a chair. “Eat. I save corner piece just for you.”

Lucy slid in beside Marinell, who was pouring Carlos a glass of punch. The Hernandez family had moved in, with Esther taking over as house mom. It was the perfect fit. She could watch Carlos grow strong, be near Marinell as she went to college, and still have plenty of time to cluck and fuss over the new girls who would fill all the bedrooms upstairs. Jose Hernandez remained a man in hiding, but thanks to Alex’s access to security and Julian’s knack for designing disguises, Jose had been able to move closer and be a more active part of his family’s lives.

A familiar squeal brought a smile to Lucy’s face as Clare came down the hall, a curly-headed one-year-old in her arms.

“Come here, Will.” Alex reached for his son. “Did that mean old lady scare you?”

“He’s just hungry,” Clare said.

“And desperate to get away from you.” Julian rolled his big blue eyes. “Grammy’s got the flash cards out again.”

Clare raised her patrician nose. “It’s never too early to learn about our past presidents. I hope to see Will’s beautiful face on these cards one day.”

Donna and Finley Sinclair helped serve cake and ice cream to all of Lucy’s girls, including her first graduates. The moment filled her, until she thought she would explode into a thousand pieces of happiness.

Marcus Sinclair stood and raised his Dixie cup high. “To the Anna Wiltshire Home for Girls!”

Lucy clinked her glass to Alex’s and blinked back the tears.

“When does the next boys’ home open?” Finley asked, looking a little too interested.

“Next month.” Alex handed the chubby baby to Lucy. Their third boys’ home was one of three slated to open over the next two years, with Alex at the helm. He already had some close friends lined up to mentor the young men. Like Chuck. And Sanjay. And some Warriors, Panthers, and Cowboys. When Alex wasn’t overseeing their new foundation for the advancement of graduated foster children, he was storming Capitol Hill, speaking to Congress about foster care reform. Her husband had become a champion for the rights of young adults, and a handful of states had started similar programs.

Lucy kissed Will’s little fist as he waved it in the air.

“Working on that arm already,” Alex said. “I see a Heisman Trophy in his future.”

Lucy laughed and ran a hand over their son’s white curls. “He can be anything he wants to be. Athlete, humanitarian, scientist. We’re not going to pressure him.”

“Don’t think I didn’t hear you reading him your
Star Wars
book last night.”