Under the Stars

Mark is on the phone with the charter plane, and I’m putting the last of my things in my small bag.

Going to the bedside, I sit on the edge. “The doctor said your voice should be back to normal in a few days.” Her hand is on top of the blankets, so I cover it with mine. “You want to stay here?”

She nods, her eyes fixed on the place where my hand touches hers. “Joshua wants me to stay.” Her voice is a husky whisper. “He says it’s easy to find work, and… I don’t know.”

Her hesitation makes me smile. “You like him.”

A frown wrinkles her forehead, and she doesn’t meet my gaze. “I like being here. I’ve met people, made friends.”

“Will you come to New Orleans for the wedding?”

That question does lift her eyes to mine. “You’re going to live there?”

I shrug. “Maybe. Mark wants to app

ly to the department there. He’d like to try and do some good in the city.”

“Still trying to be a hero,” she rasps.

“He is a hero.”

“You’re the hero.” Determination flickers in her eyes like anger. “You always were. I just never knew it.”

My chest fills, but I swallow the tears. “If there can be heroes in this twisted game we were forced to play, we’re all heroes. We did this together.”

“But you killed Guy. Then you killed Gavin.”

“To protect you.”

She studies our hands, then she turns hers so our palms meet, our fingers twine. “You’re not my mother.” It’s not a jab, merely a neutral statement of fact.

“No, but I promised to take care of you. Then I promised to help you see this through.”

“You have your own daughter now.”

“Still, a promise is a promise.”

I can’t begin to tell her how rescuing her from the street, sharing my bed and my food, taking care of her all those nights made her as much a part of my life as any family member.

As I think about it, sister seems right.

“So I’ll see you in a few weeks?”

“Is that all it’s going to take?”

Mark joins us at the bed, and I grin as I stand. “If it were up to him, we’d have done it the day we got here… while we were waiting on you.”

“Pilot’s waiting on us. Says we can fly all night, sleep on the plane.”

Leaning forward, I kiss her forehead. “I’ll keep you posted on everything. You keep in touch.”

She nods and looks down at her hands. Joshua steps up and holds out a hand. His other is in the back pocket of his dark jeans.

“Safe flight.” That signature easy grin is back.

I bypass the handshake and give him a hug. “Thank you so much for everything. Giving us a place to crash, taking care of Molly…”

He hugs me back. “Happy to help. And we’ll be at the wedding.” I get a wink, and it makes me smile.