Page 88 of Deliver Me

“I know she had to talk me into that last one, but she was right.” It was frustrating how often Lilah had already been right about the nonprofit, but she had spent a lifetime learning to manipulate the press and she’d insisted that they use that knowledge to their advantage. “It’s drawn a lot of attention to what we’re doing and helped us get things off the ground.”

“It doesn’t hurt that it lets you tell your own story this time, instead of the warped version the press concocted back then.”

“About that …” He puffed out his cheeks and huffed an embarrassed breath. “She thinks I should write a book.”

“You should.” There was no hesitation in her voice, no worry in the delicate lines of her face. “I always believed God helped usfind each other for a reason and I still believe that. We are meant to help people, and this is how you’re going to do that.”

“It might help—I think the part of the idea is publicizing what I know about Seth Wiseman and hoping that it encourages other victims to come forward since the statute of limitations has passed for me now—but it would mean less privacy for us.”

“Maybe a little.” She nibbled her lip and considered it. “I know you’re worried and I don’t blame you. Your parents didn’t do such a good job with you—parading you in front of cameras for your mother’s campaigns and spending so much time worried about their ambitions that they forgot about you—and maybe you’re afraid we’ll go down the same road.”

“How do you know we won’t?”

“I guess I just have faith.”

“That’s all we’ve ever had, and it’s worked out pretty good for us so far.” He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, his heart racing. “Listen, Mia—”

“I’m proud of you,” she said. “Proud of us and everything we’ve accomplished.”

He laughed, heart fuller than he’d ever imagined possible. All the years of loneliness, all the pain, and his failures. Everything he’d done and all the ways he’d let people down andshewas proud ofhim.“You’re the one that pulled us through,” he assured her. “Look at what you’ve done, at everything you’ve achieved.”

She beamed at him, fresh tears on her lashes as she sniffled.

“I thought there would be a better time for this,” he fumbled in his pocket, his fingers closing on a small black box, “but this seems like the right moment.”

“Gabriel—”

“Please, let me finish.” He flipped open the lid and held it up for her to see the ring inside, the shadows dancing over the cut angles of the sapphire set in platinum. It was classic, timeless,and had been the only ring in the store he could imagine on her finger. “Everything we’ve become is because of you. You’ve made me a better man. You’re making me a father. You’ve given me love and a reason to live.”

He placed a kiss on each corner of her mouth, soft and gentle as he wiped away the tears on her cheek with his thumb.

“I can’t imagine spending a single day of my life without you,” he continued. “I wanted to do this when I was a whole man, one you could depend on, and I think … I think I’m finally that man.”

“I’ve always been able to depend on you,” she said fiercely. “You were always the only one, the only man that mattered.”

“I love you, Mia.” He pulled the ring from its velvet bed, once again painfully conscious that his future hung on a single moment, a single decision. He’d come up lucky since the moment she’d started to push her way into his life, and he just needed that luck to hold a little longer. “Will you marry me?”

She laughed and threw her arms around him, pulling him close to rain kisses over his face. “I love you,” she said, repeating it again and again and punctuating each word with another frenzied kiss.

“Sweetheart,” he pulled her away, his own laugh rising to meet hers as she struggled against letting go of him. “Is that a yes?”

“Oh!” Her eyes went wide, caught between horror and amusement when she realized she’d forgotten to give him an answer. “Yes! Absolutely and with my whole heart.”

He swept her off her feet, ignoring the stares as he spun her around, both of them laughing wildly until he set her back on her feet and slid the ring onto her finger. When he kissed her, he kissed like a man who truly believed they had forever, and he didn’t need to rush.

Epilogue

Several Years Later

It wasn’t the first time that Mia had walked across the stage at graduation, but it was the most important. It was the culmination of years of work, of determination, of learning and compromise and difficult prioritizing. It was the product of her rebellion and the calling of her God.

She’d passed the bar already, taking advantage of the state’s willingness to let her sit for the exam prior to graduation so she had nothing left to worry about by the time they called her name. All she’d had left to do was show up and be acknowledged for her efforts. Well, more than acknowledged. Celebrated, really, if her husband had anything to say about it.

She scanned the crowd as she descended from the stage, searching the sea of faces for the ones most familiar to her. Even in a crowd, Gabriel was easy to spot—his dark hair and large frame always stood out among the rest. She waved as she passed him, blowing a subtle kiss to him and the toddler he was holding as he pointed her out to their daughter. Lyra had her father’s fair skin and dark hair, short curls bouncing around her cheeks as she waved and tugged on her twin brother’s arm.

Brekker was already long and lean, restless as he wiggled in his grandfather’s arms. He had his father’s wobbling, crooked grin as he stretched up to clap and wave to her. The three of them, the miracle family that had been given to her through God’s grace and second chances, would have been enough. If they were the only ones that had come to see her achieve her dreams, it would have been enough.

But her father was also there, tears in his eyes and a proud smile, and on Gabriel’s other side was Lilah, fussing over her granddaughter and looking dignified in a pale blue suit.

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