People left. People died.
But love endured. He could choose to love Callie with all his heart and strength, love her with full knowledge of both her flaws and his own; love her with every ounce of his being until the day he died. That was his choice.
He’d once told her that love changed nothing. It was wrong. It changed everything.#p#分页标题#e#
Clutching the steering wheel, he prayed he’d reach her in time. Callie had to be all right. His daughter couldn’t grow up without a mother. He couldn’t live without his wife.
The afternoon sunlight cast the waving fields in a golden glow beneath the wide blue skies. He increased his speed to a hundred and twenty, as fast as the little rental car would go along the empty highway.
Don’t leave me, Eduardo begged soundlessly. Don’t leave me.
CHAPTER TWELVE
IT HAD been a horrible night. And a very long day.
Callie rose achingly from the chair by her sister’s hospital bed. She needed coffee or fresh air. She was still wearing the same purple sweatpants and T-shirt from yesterday, with her hair pulled back in a ponytail. They’d all been awake through the night, and now, in late afternoon, everyone had collapsed with exhaustion. Brandon was curled up in a chair on the other side of Sami’s bed, and Jane and Walter had fallen asleep on the couch, her mother’s head on her father’s shoulder, and baby Marisol snoring loudly against her grandpa’s chest.
Callie quietly left the hospital room. Once she was safely in the hallway, she took a deep breath and sagged back against the door, covering her face with her hands. It was all her fault. If she hadn’t given them the car they wouldn’t have taken the detour through town. They wouldn’t have been in the accident.
Tears burned Callie’s eyes. But the crisis was past. Her sister would recover.
She was grateful beyond measure, but the tears weren’t just out of gratitude. Callie had a good reason to feel an extra dose of anguish today. A private reason of her own …
She closed her eyes. She missed Eduardo so much. His handsome face. His glowing dark eyes. And his voice. She could almost hear it now, rough with an edge of Spanish accent.
“Where’s my wife? Where is she, damn you?” The man’s voice echoed down the hallways of the small hospital. “I want to see her now!”
She knew that voice. She still dreamed about it every night. Slowly Callie turned.
And saw Eduardo arguing at the nurses’ station down the hall. His black hair was rumpled, and so was his suit. She’d never seen him so disheveled before, so completely out-of-place, so handsome and powerful and everything she’d ever wanted.
“Eduardo,” she choked out.
At the end of the hall, he turned and saw her. With a sob, she started toward him at a run, in the same instant he started running for her.
They fell into each other’s arms, and it was only when Callie actually felt him, strong and solid beneath her hands, that she knew for sure it wasn’t a dream. She felt his protective, steadying arms around her and all the fear and shock of the last twenty-four hours fell away. She no longer had to be strong for her family. She burst into tears.
“Callie, Callie,” he whispered fervently, kissing her forehead. “You’re all right. Thank God, you’re all right.”
Pulling back, he looked down at her, his eyes glistening suspiciously in the hospital’s fluorescent lights. Then he wrapped his powerful arms around her tightly, holding her as if he never wanted to let her go. Callie exhaled for the first time in two months, weeping with the joy of being again in his arms.
“You’re safe,” he breathed, stroking her hair as she pressed her face against his chest. “Safe.”
Wiping her eyes, she looked at him in confusion. “But what are you even doing here? I thought you were in New York?”
“Would you believe me if I said I was in the neighborhood?”
#p#分页标题#e#
She smiled weakly.
“I, um, brought you some flowers and candy.” Looking around, he cursed softly. “They are here somewhere …”
“Oh. Right.” Her heart dropped. With all the worry about her sister’s accident, she’d forgotten his week started today. She said dully, “You’re here for Marisol.”
Eduardo stared at her, his dark eyes infinite and deep as the ocean. “I’m here for you.” He took her hands in his own. “Come back to me, Callie. Give me one more chance.”
“What?” she breathed.
“Be my wife. Let me be your partner, by your side. Let me spend the rest of my life loving you. And striving to deserve your love in return.”