Epilogue
Chase leaned heavily against the wall and simply watched Sadie.
She was in his kitchen putting dishes away.
She’d taken over as if she’d always lived there.
She’d been a godsend, not only helping to take care of him after he’d gotten out of the hospital, but taking care of the everyday things that he couldn’t because of his injury.
He’d missed everything that happened after he’d passed out on the ground outside Fletch’s house.
The cops, firefighters, and EMTs had shown up en masse. They’d put the fire out fairly quickly, and surprisingly, the house wasn’t a complete loss. It would take a lot of work to make it livable again, but much of it could be salvaged.
Annie and Emily had run almost a mile to the neighbor’s house, Annie carrying her Army man the entire way, then insisted the neighbors bring them right back after they’d called for help.
Fletch had gone through surgery and was currently recovering, just as Chase was. Fletch’s liver had been nicked by the piece of wood and if it hadn’t been for Ghost’s constant pressure, he would’ve died out there in the grass.
Sean Taggart had suffered a pretty good gash on his head from hitting the steering wheel, but considering his old car didn’t have airbags, he was in remarkably good shape.
The Scout was sturdy as hell and the frame had held up remarkably well under the circumstances.
Unfortunately, although the car had held together well enough to save Sean’s life, the classic vehicle was toast.
Ian was supposed to arrive with Sean, but had gotten held up because he was wrapped up in a situation with one of the bodyguards from McKay-Taggart. That had actually turned out to be a good thing because the passenger side of Sean’s Scout had taken the brunt of the damage from the RPG.
Jonathan was most definitely dead. The Feds weren’t happy, as they had wanted to interrogate him, but Sean hadn’t hesitated to do what he’d needed to do to make sure his niece was safe from any future threat.
The fact that Jonathan had done what he had wasn’t exactly a surprise, but everyone was still wondering why. Chase thought he understood, after talking with Sadie, but it wasn’t his story to tell.
Jonathan had taken a few rocket-propelled grenades with him the last time he’d escaped from Bexar.
He’d shot one into Fletch’s house, then a second just moments later, while Chase and the other men were passed out, which was the hit that separated them from the women.
He’d used a third on Sean’s car—and no one had any doubt the man would’ve used the fourth RPG the cops had found hidden in the trees near Fletch’s house, if he’d had to.
Of course, the government was now trying to figure out where Jonathan’s father, Jeremiah Jones, had gotten the weapons in the first place. No one wanted that kind of firepower on the streets.
As for Sadie… She hadn’t left his side since he’d almost died on the operating table.
Chase had been hit by a nail. It was a freak accident.
The metal missile had embedded itself inside his body and he hadn’t even known it.
The doctors had said it wouldn’t have been so bad, but with the effort he’d put into moving Fletch, then tackling Jonathan, it had moved inside his abdomen, tearing into his large intestine, kidney, and bladder in the process.
He’d almost died of both internal bleeding and from the toxins in his body contaminating itself.
Rayne had been by his side almost as much as Sadie, and he’d finally had to kick her out of his room. When she refused to leave, he’d sicced Ghost on her. He loved that his sister was concerned about him, but he was going to be fine.
Sean Taggart had hung around for a week and had been joined by his wife, Grace.
They’d wanted to make sure their niece was all right after everything that had happened.
Chase actually owed both of them a huge debt of gratitude.
Sean had helped Sadie rent the large apartment near the Army post—and move all of his belongings out of his old apartment and into the new one before he was discharged from the hospital.
It was a ground-floor unit so he didn’t have to do stairs.
He and Sean had had a long talk late one night. The older man had wanted to know what his intentions were toward his niece. Chase had no problem looking the notorious man in the eye and telling him how much he loved Sadie and wanted to marry her.
As Chase stood against the wall, watching Sadie putter around in their kitchen, he momentarily closed his eyes in gratitude for all he had.
He would heal, and he’d be able to rejoin his unit soon.
Sadie was living with him and they shared a bed every night.
She’d officially quit her job at McKay-Taggart up in Dallas and was currently looking for a job in the Fort Hood area.
“Chase?” came her soft voice.
When he opened his eyes, she was standing right next to him with a hand on his biceps.
“I’m good,” he reassured her.
“You sure?”
“I’m sure. But I do have something I need to tell you.”
“What?”
Chase hated that Sadie looked freaked, so he quickly said, “I was wrong.”
Her brow crinkled. “About what?”
“About women being in combat. You were right. Women are just as capable. I was being hardheaded and sexist. If you hadn’t been there…” His voice trailed off as he struggled to contain his emotions.
Sadie didn’t gloat or even say “I told you so.” She simply squeezed his arm in support.
Chase cleared his throat and continued his thought. “I think Rayne being in the middle of that coup in Egypt really screwed with my head. Not to mention that I’ve been hanging out with the Delta teams. I promise to be better at not jumping to sexist conclusions.”
“Thank you. I’ve been in the unique position of watching all the operatives at McKay-Taggart in action…men and women. I’ve seen what they can do, and how capable they are, firsthand.”
“You think, if I asked nicely, Ian would let me come up and train with him and his operatives sometime?” Chase asked.
“Are you serious?” Sadie asked.
“Of course.”
“I think they’d love that. They’d love to get the chance to kick your ass.”
Chase smiled at Sadie. He felt better after getting that off his chest, but now he had something else he wanted to ask her. He had decided he was going to wait to do this until a more appropriate time, but he couldn’t wait one more second.
“I was mad at you when you refused to tell me you loved me. I knew I was probably dying, and I couldn’t believe you wouldn’t grant me that one last wish.
” Chase hated the tears that filled her eyes, but he pressed on.
“I haven’t told anyone this, but I had a dream when I was on the operating table.
I don’t know that that’s even the right word, but whatever.
Anyway, I was in a field of sunflowers. They were all taller than my head and I couldn’t see anything.
I kept calling for you, but you weren’t answering.
I thought that Jonathan had gotten to you. That I hadn’t protected you.
“Then I heard you. Your voice was faint, but you kept asking me to come back to you. That you wanted to tell me something. I yelled and screamed that I was there. That I was coming, but you couldn’t hear me.
I started walking toward your voice, determined to get to you.
The sunflowers turned into hands grabbing at me, trying to keep me from you, but I refused to let them hold me back.
The only thing going through my head was getting to you so you could tell me whatever it was that you needed to say.
The next thing I knew, I was waking up and you were standing over me.
“You were right, Sparky. Right not to tell me. To make me wait. I’m not saying I wouldn’t have fought to get back to you if you’d said it before, I truly believe I would’ve, but it helped.
Gave me something else to fight for. I love you.
I’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t understand Ghost’s obsession with my sister, but I get it now.
I would do anything for you. Will do anything for you. ”
Chase tried to ignore the tears dripping down Sadie’s face as he carefully lowered to one knee in front of her.
She gasped. “Get up, Chase! You’re still healing!”
She apparently hadn’t figured out what he was doing yet.
“I love you, Sadie Jennings. With all that I am. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to be by your side when you have our babies. I want to grow old with you and sit on rocking chairs watching our grandchildren together. I’m going to stay in the Army as long as possible.
I love it. But I swear to you right now, I’ll do my best to be there when you need me, no matter what.
Being an Army wife isn’t the easiest job in the world, but you’re the strongest woman I’ve ever met.
I would be honored and humbled if you’d agree to spend the rest of your life with me. Will you marry me?”
Sadie stood there a moment, staring down at him with her mouth open, but within seconds of the last word leaving his mouth, she was on her knees too, nodding frantically.
“Yes, Chase! Of course, yes! I love you. So much, you’ll never know how hard it was not to tell you when you were lying in the dirt. ”
She flung her arms around him, and while her actions made a twinge of pain shoot through his body, he didn’t even care.
He smiled and leaned back to take her face in his hands.
“I don’t have a ring yet; I thought I’d let you help me pick one out that you like.
I want nothing more than to take you into our bedroom and have we-just-got-engaged sex, but I’m not up for that quite yet.
I didn’t want to wait though. I love you, Sadie.
I know what you’re giving up…a job with McKay-Taggart, your life in Dallas. I won’t take that for granted.”
“I can get another job, and Sean and the others aren’t going anywhere. I can still see him and my aunt Grace whenever I want. And sex can wait. Although I do expect you to make it up to me later.”
Chase grinned. “Absolutely. Can I ask something else?”
“Of course,” she said immediately.
“Do you think you can help me up off the floor?”
She giggled and immediately stood. She held out her hand and Chase took it with a smile. He knew without a doubt Sadie Jennings, soon to be Jackson, would always be there to lend a helping hand, just like he’d be there for her.