Page 75 of True Valor
“You scared me,” he said hoarsely.
“I scared you!Jesus, Mary and Joseph, Nic.What on earth possessed you to run across the pond?Are you nuts?”Her voice began to shake.“You and your Batman complex!Look whereit got you.”
He just smiled.
“She loves me,” he said to the men hoveringnearby.
“That’s beside the point.”
“No, baby, thatisthe point.”Again,he turned to his friends.“On top of that, she’s going to marryme.”
What did he just say?Marry him?Elation.Knees all weak.Marry him?
Cruz blew out his breath, rolled his eyes,“Seriously, D?That’s how you ask?Geez.”
He turned to leave, pulling the others withhis look.Even Gabe tugged his blanket up and stepped outside,taking his tea with him.
Nic was suddenly tired.So tired.But he’djust blurted out the most important thing in his life.He needed toget his mouth to work again.
Julie had watched the others leave.Now shewatched him, her eyes wide.
“You will, won’t you?”
It came out nearly slurred.He had to hang onfor an answer.Minutes passed, hours.Trying to keep his eyesopen.
Finally, she smiled.The smiled that savedhis life.
“Yes, Batman, I’ll marry you.”
“Wicked good.I need to sleep.Will you kissme, please?I can’t move.”
Epilogue
After putting in a call to Colonel McIntire,the LT took command of the entire situation, calling theauthorities, reporting the incident.By the time the sheriffarrived, every man wore flannel shirts and jeans and no war paint.Just a bunch of normal, everyday, guys.
Uh-huh.
Quillen did most of the talking.Whenquestions arose which only Julie could answer, he was quiet.
Hard to believe that Nic could sleep throughthe commotion of the next few hours.But he did.Even as SheriffGraff interviewed her, her gaze drifted more than once to the bed,to make sure he was still alive.She wasn’t the only one.
Cruz stood guard over Nic, daring anyone towake him.She, too, had a guardian.Gabe loomed behind her, aconstant reminder that she was safe.
It was three hours before all the questionswere answered to Graff’s satisfaction and the coroner left withRaines’ body.Nic slept the whole time.If the others had not beenthere, Julie would have crawled up and lay beside him.She wastotally wrung out.
Will and Matt, the kid she hadn’t met beforetoday, asked quietly if they could scrounge up food for everyone.When she offered to do it herself, they shooed her away.With herblessing, they began sorting through cupboards, and she escaped tothe back porch.
It wasn’t until she sucked in the frosty airthat she realized how stuffy it had gotten inside.Warming up theirpatient, no doubt.But it felt so good outside.Julie loweredherself to the top step, intent on not moving for a while.
When the door opened and closed behind her,she half expected Chris to insist she come inside.
It wasn’t Chris.
“Scoot down one step.”Nic lowered himselfonto the step right behind her.His arms, along with the blanketcame around her, pulling her close between his knees.
They sat quietly for a time, Julie drinkingin his presence.
Finally, he cleared his throat.“Um, did Ifall asleep before you answered my question?”
