Chapter 15 #3
“It was there, man.” Wonder crept into Teague’s voice. He pointed to a rock spire about twenty yards across open air, the setting sun turning the rock golden. “Twenty bars. Plus a key Marcus’s grandfather left him. But I gave the key to Marcus.”
“So it’s really over.”
“It’s over.” Teague wrapped him in a quick hug. Then grunted in pain, but he didn’t seem to care.
“We did it.” Noah nodded and stepped back, releasing a deep breath. “I don’t know about you, but I’m done with crazy gunmen for a while.”
Teague wiped the moisture back from his face. “I’m just glad Kyle didn’t have a knife.”
Noah rubbed at his still-tender side where he’d been stabbed a few weeks ago. “Tell me about it.”
He gestured toward the Black Hawk, landing again on the plateau. “Let’s get you two loaded up and back home.”
Teague dropped into step with Eden, and Meg waited for him to catch up. As they all walked toward the chopper, the small box in Noah’s pocket pressed against his leg with every step.
He’d tried a nice dinner. A sunset view on the rim. Everything romantic he could imagine. But life seemed to have other plans. He had just wanted the moment to be perfect. But maybe they didn’t need perfect.
Maybe this—standing on a cliff in the Grand Canyon after surviving a storm and a madman—this was their life. This was who they were.
And he didn’t want to wait another day.
He stopped walking.
Meg took another step before she realized he wasn’t beside her. She turned back, concern flickering across her face. “Noah? Did you pull something?”
“Not exactly.”
The rotor wash whipped around them, tugging at their clothes, pulling strands of her dark hair loose from the tight braid she’d secured it in.
Noah pulled the velvet box from his pocket.
Dropped to one knee on the red stone.
Meg’s blue eyes went wide. Her mouth formed a perfect O. Her hand flew up to cover it.
There it is.
“I’ve been trying to find the right time to do this for days.” He had to shout over the rotors, but he didn’t care who heard. Door gunner, pilot, Teague and Eden—let them all witness this. “I wanted to give you a perfect moment, but—”
“Noah Wilde.” She was laughing now, tears already gathering in her eyes. “You’re insane.”
“You’ve mentioned that before. Usually while patching me up.”
“Because you keep getting stabbed and shot at.”
“And yet you stick around.” He opened the box, the diamond shining in the dim light. “Meg, will you marry me?”
She stared at him. One heartbeat. Two.
“Are you serious?” Her voice cracked.
“Absolutely. Real question. Real ring. Real me, on my knee, in front of witnesses who will absolutely never let me live this down if you say no.”
“Yes.” Meg dropped to her knees in front of him, her professional composure completely shattered. “A hundred times yes.”
He stood and pulled her up with him. His hands were steadier than he’d expected as he slid the ring onto her finger. The simple band with its small diamond settled perfectly into place.
“How long have you been carrying that around?” She held her hand up, watching the diamond catch the light.
“Long enough.”
Meg laughed—the sound pure joy—and pulled Noah’s face down to hers.
The kiss was everything. Relief and promise and the fierce certainty that this was right. That she was right. That they were right together. His hands cupped her face. Her arms wrapped around his neck. She tasted like dust from the canyon and salt from her tears, and he never wanted to stop.
When they finally pulled apart, both breathing hard, he rested his forehead against hers.
“I love you.” His voice came out rough. “You know that, right?”
“I know.” She smiled, radiant despite the exhaustion and the dirt and the chaos of the night. “But feel free to keep saying it.”
“Every day, Dr. Lewis.” He kissed her again, quick and fierce. “You’re stuck with me now.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
She pulled back, studying his face with those sharp blue eyes that always saw too much. “You realize this means you have to actually take care of yourself now. No more getting stabbed. No more almost dying.”
“I’ll do my best.”
“Your best is historically terrible.”
“Good thing I’m marrying a doctor.”
She swatted his arm, but she was laughing. “Come on. Let’s go.”
They ran the rest of the way to the Black Hawk, hand in hand.
Noah helped Eden aboard first, supporting her injured wrist as she climbed into the cabin.
Then Teague, who moved carefully with his ribs as he hauled himself up.
Meg climbed in after them and immediately pulled out supplies to treat their injuries during the flight.
But Noah noticed she kept glancing at her ring. Holding her hand up to catch the cabin lights. Smiling every time the diamond sparkled.
Noah grabbed a headset and handed one to Teague.
Teague settled into his seat, the safety harness clicking into place. “Congratulations. I’m happy for you two.”
“Thanks, man.” Noah gripped his shoulder. “Couldn’t have done it without you.”
“The proposal? Pretty sure you handled that on your own.”
“I meant surviving the summer.”
“Ah.” Teague’s grin turned wry. “Well. That was a team effort.”
The SAR helicopter radioed in, the transmission crackling through Noah’s headset. “Roosevelt located and secured. Unconscious but breathing. Vitals stable. We’re lifting off for Flagstaff Medical now.”
Noah settled into his seat as the Black Hawk’s engines increased pitch. The pilot’s voice came over his headset. “All personnel accounted for. Where am I taking you?”
Noah’s gaze snagged on the rock spire Teague had indicated earlier—barely visible in the darkness. The gold cache. So close after all this time. Part of him wanted to go back now, to finally close the door on this entire chaotic summer.
But that could wait.
This summer hadn’t been what any of them expected—the mob, getting buried alive in a cave, the stabbing, a mad chase through the canyon—but Noah would do it all again. Every terrifying moment.
Just to hear Meg say yes one more time.
He squeezed her hand. She squeezed back, her ring cool against his fingers.
“The North Rim. Let’s go home.”
“Copy that.” The helicopter lifted off. The ground dropped away beneath them. The plateau receded and became just another shadow in the vast darkness of the canyon.
Meg’s head leaned onto his shoulder. Her breathing slowed. Her hand stayed in his.
The nightmare was over.
And tomorrow—for all of them—could finally begin.