her body, her eyes widening at the bulky bandages decorating her chest.
“Hi,” she croaked out.
Taggert smiled, and then his face completely crumbled. Tears shimmered in his dark eyes, and he picked
up her hand, pressing it to his cheek.
“Thank God,” he choked out. “You had us so worried.”
“We should call the nurse. They’ve been waiting for you to wake up,” Greer said.
“No, not yet. Please. Just let me lie here for a minute while you two talk to me.”
Greer took her other hand and rubbed his thumb over her palm.
“How long have I been here?” she asked.
Taggert grimaced. “Four days. You were taken here after surgery. I was beginning to think you planned to
sleep for the rest of the year.”
The memory of that gun staring her in the face made her flinch. “Rand?”
Greer’s face blackened. “Dead.”
“Oh.”
She attempted to turn more so she could see Taggert better but quickly abandoned that idea. Hurt too
damn much to move.
“He didn’t shoot you?”
“No, baby. You took the bullet meant for me,” he said fiercely. “I shot him. He can’t hurt you anymore.”
“Pity,” she murmured. “Would be nice to see him go to prison for a long time.”
Greer muttered a few choice words under his breath.
“Better this way. He’s out of our lives and it’ll save the taxpayers the expense of a trial,” Taggert said
with a scowl.
She smiled. “I knew you’d say something like that.”
“I’m so pissed at you,” Greer growled.
She raised one eyebrow. “I know. You sounded mad when you were shouting at me not to die. I didn’t
shoot myself, you know.”
Taggert actually smiled.
Greer wasn’t smiling, though. “You ever pull a stunt like that again and I swear I’ll tan your ass.”
“Trust me. Getting shot again isn’t high on my list of priorities.”
Taggert sobered and gripped her hand a little tighter.
“I couldn’t let him take someone else I loved from me,” she said softly. “Now will one of you tell me how
bad it is? I don’t remember much.”
Both men scowled.
“You almost died. You did die,” Greer said bleakly “He shot you in the chest. You lost an enormous
amount of blood and the bullet nicked your lung. Damn lucky it missed your heart.”
“I take it I’m out of the woods now?”
“No,” Taggert clipped out. “There’s still risk of infection, pneumonia and a whole host of other
complications. You’re going to be here a good while, and even when you get to go home, it’s going to be
a long recovery.”
She sighed. “Guess you two will have to hover, huh.”
“Damn straight,” Greer said.
She squeezed both their hands with as much strength as she possessed, which wasn’t much. “I’m not
going anywhere. Promise. I have it on good authority it’s not my time.”
“That’s good since we don’t have any intention of letting you go,” Taggert said gruffly.
“Think you can put up with me for the next fifty years or so?”
“Fifty years is only the beginning, Emmy.” Greer leaned over and brushed his lips over her forehead. “It’s
only the beginning.”
Taggert touched the inside of her wrist then lifted her hand to kiss each fingertip. “I’m kind of liking the
sound of forever.”
Lightness bubbled even amidst the pain raging through her body. For the first time in a year, her future
looked bright and free of the shadows that had haunted her soul.
Her smiled came easier this time and was missing the agony caused by her wounds. She glanced between
the two men and saw some of their worry ease.
“I can deal with forever.”
Greer took her lips in a gentle kiss. “We’re going to hold you to that.”
Epilogue
The delighted squeal of four-year-old Macy, as she bolted from the back porch, put matching smiles on
her fathers’ faces. Taggert swung her high into the air before settling her atop his shoulders. Her chubby
little hands smacked against his cheeks as she held on for dear life.
“Hey, short stuff. Your mama still writing?”
“Uh huh. She’s talking to herself again.”
Taggert looked at the swing on the porch to see Emily hunched over her guitar, pencil between her teeth
and a notepad on her lap. It was a pretty funny sight given the advanced stage of her pregnancy and the
fact that her lap wasn’t near what it used to be.
He swung Macy down then tossed her into the air to Greer who caught her as she screeched in approval.