Chapter Nine #3
As the tears were shed, he just cradled her against his body, giving her that place to hide. As the sobs slowed down, he reassured her.
“I’ll carry you now. Let me be the strong one for you since you’ve always been the strong one for me.”
This was exactly what she needed.
This was exactly what she’d wished for too.
“EJ,” she said. “How?”
He kissed away the tears and told her exactly how he’d done it.
“I didn’t stop looking for you. While you’re good at hide-and-seek, Gene isn’t as good at being as sneaky. Michael texted him that you’d arrived, and I saw it. That’s when I knew I had to slip away.”
She laughed.
Oh, and it was music to his ears. That was the laugh that entranced him almost sixteen years ago. In fact, in one week, it would be their sixteenth anniversary.
It appeared they would be spending it here, and together. That was absolutely perfect.
“I bet Ivan is losing his mind,” she admitted.
He was honest.
“He’ll deal with it, I hope. The bottom line was that he didn’t freak when Gene came back, and you weren’t with him. I mean, he wasn’t happy, but it felt performative. Now, though? I bet he’s losing it. I hope he doesn’t fire Raphael.”
The bottom line for Ethan was he wouldn’t let him do that. It wasn’t happening.
He continued.
“So, after seeing the text, I got Raphael to buy me time. I slipped my tracker, he played with the security, and I used up a favor from the military and the president to get me here.”
She stared into his blue-black eyes.
“I needed you to come.”
Oh, he was aware.
“You’re my wife, Elizabeth. That will never change. I know you better than anyone. Chris might have been with you before me, but I met the damaged Elizabeth, and we healed together. I may have three husbands, but I only have ONE wife, and that’s for a reason. She’s my whole world.”
That healed another piece of her soul.
“So now, we’ll heal together again. That’s the beauty of us. We can always go back to where we began and find a new path if the old one is too difficult to navigate.”
She was seeing that.
“Now, I’m here to do what you need. I’ll stay if you want, or I’ll go down to the village and get a hotel room.
This is about you, and me doing what helps you heal from this.
I’m not heading back to the States, though.
I can’t go home without my wife, so don’t ask that of me.
I implied I lost faith in you, but it wasn’t you.
I lost faith in me not being enough for you.
Now, I see we are enough together. WE carry this family—not you.
I’m your partner in this, and that’s why we’ve made it this far. ”
Her lower lip quivered.
Ethan knew there was a big pink elephant in the room.
“It was bad, wasn’t it?” he asked, referring to taking out the Devon trash.
She nodded, and there was a little sob that was tinged with pain as she said it.
“So bad.”
Yeah, Gene told him what had to be done, and what that piece of shit had planned on doing to his daughter, Charlie. It made him sick, and sad he couldn’t be the one to take that piece of shit apart.
“Thank you for saving our daughter. He would have gotten to her had you not.”
That was the ONLY thing keeping her from falling off the cliff. Her daughter’s life was precious, and as a mother, what wouldn’t she do for her children?
“You’re my hero.”
She didn’t think anyone would see that. In fact, she assumed they’d all be horrified that she’d gone so low that she felt the flames of Hell on her flesh.
“I couldn’t let him hurt her. Charlie is ours,” she said. “She’s my baby bird.”
He kissed her on the temple.
Together, they stood there, their arms wrapped around each other.
“I love you for what you sacrificed, and now, I’m going to carry you through the fire. I know you think that you always have to be strong, but you don’t. I’m strong enough to carry us when you can’t. Let me tag in for a little while. Let me be what you need, so you can take a well-deserved break.”
As she heard the words, the pain lessened, and she leaned on him.
“Come with me,” he said.
She looked up.
“Where?” she asked.
Oh, this was a magical place, and he had seen something that would take her breath away.
No.
Freaking.
Doubt.
Blackhawk knew it did that to him the second he saw it as he was riding.
“I found this field, and it’s filled with so many flowers,” he said. “I want to share it with you. I want my wife, the only woman I’ll ever love, other than our daughters, and my hero, to see it.”
That sounded amazing.
Setting her free, he got up onto Hamlet and held his hand down to her.
“I don’t want you to hurt yourself,” she said, knowing his back was always a problem.
He stopped her.
Going forward, she had to trust he knew himself.
Because he did.
“I’m stronger than you think. Let me carry you. Stop worrying and let me lead for a bit. I won’t drop you. I’m pretty good at knowing how to survive.”
She knew what he was asking, and it was to have faith in him like she wanted him to have in her.
So, she did.
She took his hand, and true to his word, he had her. Ethan pulled her up, and she sat behind him, tucking her skirt up so she could straddle the back of him.
Then, he nudged the horse.
The whole time, she kept her arms wrapped around him and her head against his shoulder.
“You look beautiful,” he admitted. “When I saw you after coming through the mist, you stole my heart. I love you in a dress. I love even more getting you out of that skirt.”
She laughed.
It had been so unexpected, and reminded her of a time when they weren’t prisoners to their own world, and their choices.
“Mr. Blackhawk, are you flirting with me?”
He took a stab at it.
Hoping, he nailed this.
“Miss LaRue, you know it. I’m not an idiot.
I’m trying to woo the woman. I know that you’re a treasure,” he admitted.
“I knew that first day in Salem when I saw you—now, when I heard your laugh. You may have less of the Southern in your voice, but you’re still that lady who snagged my soul that day. ”
Her heart skipped.
It was clear he understood what she needed. It was to go back to a simpler time when she knew who she was.
Truthfully, that was how she signed the note to them. She had to find herself again, and the only person she knew herself to be was that woman.
That girl who grew up too soon, and who saw things that fueled nightmares.
“Well, I think a horseback ride is appropriate for a date when you’re wooing a beautiful woman.”
Because she recognized this man to be the same one who saved her heart all of those years ago, she put her faith in him.
“Our anniversary is coming up. I’m glad I came. It’s magickal here, Elizabeth.”
That it was.
He found her, and she felt seen.
Lovingly, he put his hand over hers on his abs, connecting them even more.
Over their almost sixteen years together, they’d played many roles, but this one…this might be his favorite.
She was giving him a chance to start all over again, and this time, do it right.
For that, he was grateful.
“Thank you for finding me.”
He didn’t want her to ever thank him for something she deserved. There was no doubt if the roles were reversed, she’d move Heaven and Hell to get to him.
“I’d die looking for you, Elizabeth. You’re my girl.”
That made her feel all the emotions she needed to help heal that hole in her soul. Part of it was made by what happened, what she’d had to do, and the hurt of doing it alone.
“I should have demanded to come with you when you went after him. I’m sorry I didn’t. I hope you forgive me one day for letting you carry that alone.”
She turned her hand, so their fingers linked.
“It was best you didn’t see it. Not what I did to him, but what it did to me. It’s not my proudest moment.”
He brought her fingers to his lips and kissed them.