Page 104 of Going Once

She leaned forward and laid her face against his chest.

“I thought I was never going to see you again.”

“I was pretty scared about the same thing myself,” he said.

“Ask me to go with you,” she whispered.

He wrapped his arms around her.

“When we leave here, will you come with me?”

“Yes.”

The love she felt was on her face, and he saw it.

“No matter where my job takes me, I’ll always come back to you. Is that okay?” he asked.

“Yes, yes.”

“I have a nice apartment in D.C., but we can get a house with a great room for your studio.”

Tears rolled down her cheeks.

“I don’t care where I live, as long as it’s with you.”

“Well, I care, and you won’t regret it. I promise,” he said.

“The only regret I’ve ever had was losing you before. I won’t let that happen again,” she said.

The door opened, and the nurse came in carrying a syringe. After a quick check of Nola’s IV and bandages, she injected the pain meds into the port.

“Is there anything else you need, honey? Do you need to go to the bathroom?”

“I can take her if she needs to go,” Tate said.

The nurse nodded and left the room.

“So, do you want to go before you lie back down?”

“I guess.”

They had to roll the IV stand with her, and as soon as he got her to the bathroom, he stepped out to wait, and in that moment, standing in the dark in the hospital room, he felt his mother’s spirit so strongly that he nearly dropped to his knees. His eyes filled with tears, but he wiped them away.

“I miss you, Mom. Go with God. We’re fine,” he whispered, and just like that, the feeling passed.

When Nola came out, Tate rolled the stand beside her as she walked, then got her settled into bed.

“I have something to tell you,” he said.

A frown immediately crossed her face.

“Is it bad?”

“No, but it’s business and has to be done. In just a little while Wade and I have to go back out to the site of the explosion. We can’t finalize the investigation until both sides of the shore have been thoroughly searched. It’s just protocol.”

Her eyes widened. “I don’t think he’s dead,” she whispered.

“That was just your dream, remember? We won’t know anything until we look. You know that, right?”

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