Page 3 of Be Courageous

Faith’s cheeks turned cold as the blood drained from her head. “Of course, she’s his whole sister!” She clutched the arms of her chair, suddenly defensive. “Her red hair comes from my mother!”

The therapist held up both hands. “I didn’t mean to upset you, only to explain where Grayson’s anger is coming from.”

Faith pulled herself to the edge of her seat, battling a mix of self-righteousness, shame, and regret.

“Take a moment,” Robert gently advised, “to just sit there and digest what I’ve said. It’s important to Grayson that you remain his steady constant.”

Faith nodded and came to terms with what she was feeling. She’d prided herself on being a good mother, but what kind of mother was she, putting her own needs above those of her children? She’d welcomed Fitz into her life within a year of Jerry’s death because she’d neededhelpfinding her twin sister, who’d disappeared on a mission trip to Venezuela. Then, too, she was overwhelmed with starting up her business while caring for her children, not to mention a new baby, born nearly two months early.

But Grayson’s needs were different. He needed to see his mother make it on her own. And now that her business was thriving, she could afford to hire someone to watch the kids.

Dread dragged her heart to her feet. Was she really going to push Fitz away as Robert had advised? Considering what had happened to his own family years ago, it had taken so much courage on Fitz’s part to open up in the first place.

Expelling a long, grounding breath, she stood up and briefly met the counselor’s eyes. “Thank you.”

His smile was both sad and sympathetic. “Call me if you want to set up a future appointment.”

“I will.” She couldn’t think about her busy calendar right then. All she could do was pine over the loss of her burgeoning romance with Fitz and pray she wouldn’t lose him forever.

* * *

Fitz sat in the comfortable recliner while the baby dozed in the crook of his arm. Little Olivia practiced somersaults on the living room carpet while watching a show on the Disney Channel. It was moments like this that provided a balm to the terrible wound inside him. He would never fully recover from the murder of his wife and three children—retaliation from a mob he had incarcerated—but times like these were healing.

His highly trained ears pricked at the sound of a vehicle crawling up the driveway. Was Faith back already? Unable to check his watch, as it was trapped under the sleeping baby, he grabbed his cell phone off the adjacent lamp table. They hadn’t been gone an hour yet. What’s more, the engine didn’t sound like her mini van’s.

Righting the recliner, Fitz unfurled his lean frame, careful not to waken Mary Mae, who slept peacefully along his muscular left arm. He crossed to the large window at the front of the room where he lifted the gauzy white curtain to see outside. The car there braked abruptly.

Backed by the dark trees and positioned beyond the corona of the porchlight, its license plate could not be read. But Fitz was an expert when it came to the make and model of cars, and that one looked to be a Buick Regal, circa 1999. The fact that the driver had caught sight of him and was hanging back suggested evil intent. Fifteen years in the NYPD topped by nearly a decade in the FBI informed Fitz’s conclusion.

Sparing a thought for the Glock 19 currently secured in his glove box out in his Lexus, Fitz went to lay the baby in the playpen when the car shot forward and swerved. Rather than back all the way down the driveway, the driver was attempting to turn around.

Fitz hurried to the door to let himself out. By the time he stood on the covered porch, the vehicle was roaring away, and he hadn’t even read the license plate.

His heartbeat raced. Did someone intend to break in while Faith was away? Who would drive into rural Suffolk to rob a home? Maybe the driver had gone up the wrong driveway and felt guilty for intruding on the homeowner’s evening? No. Whoever it was, they hadn’t wanted to be seen. Their motives could not have been good.

After slipping back inside, Fitz locked the door and waited for Faith to return. He would tell her what he saw and offer to sleep in the recliner with his Glock close at hand, just in case.

Not fifteen minutes later, while straightening up in the kitchen, Fitz heard a car door close and then another. Spying the outline of Faith’s minivan through the gauzy curtain, he went to open the door for her and Grayson, his heart lifting as it did every time he laid eyes on her.

With her sparkling brown eyes, russet hair that looked red in certain light, and a smile that made demons flee—thirty-three-year-old Faith Saunders was everything a man could ask for. He couldn’t get enough of her.

Twenty-two months ago, she’d been the ER nurse who stemmed the blood pouring out of the shrapnel wound in his neck. Who’d have guessed she would become the most important person in the world to him?

But as she closed the distance between them, her gaze met his, and he forgot about his happiness. Given the firm set of her lush lips, Grayson’s counseling session must not have gone well.

“Hey.” Fitz greeted Grayson as he loped onto the porch. All he got was a curt nod by way of reply.

Faith followed her son with lagging steps. “Is the baby sleeping?”

“Yes.” As always, he tried to soften the rasp of his injured vocal cords, his sole memento of the attempt on his life that had sent him to the ER two years ago.

She gestured for him to join her on the porch swing. “Can we talk out here?”

“Sure.” Thoughts of the stranger in the car went out of his head as he shut the front door to join her. His stomach tensed with the expectation of bad news. He held the porch swing still for her to sit, then sat smoothly next to her, giving the swing a little push and recalling that magical evening in late July when he’d first envisioned being part of her life.

“How was therapy?” He was almost afraid to ask.

To his relief, she stretched out a hand and coiled her fingers through his. Nothing made him feel more complete than when their hands were linked together. It made him relish the moment he would finally get to lie with her in bed and become partners for life.

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