Page 51 of The Hunt

There was a familiar man asleep there. “Chad’s here…”

Her mother gave her a probing look. “He insisted he was staying with you. That he had the right. Rather stridently, actually. He said you would want him in here with you when you woke. Is there something you need to tell your mother…?”

“He is a rather insistent man when there is something he wants.” She tried to move a little. She never had dealt well with feeling weighed down like this. She could wiggle, but it hurt. She thought she’d reinjured her ribs, too. Her entire body hurt, really. Maybe she’d just stay still for a while. “Single-minded, for sure.”

“A bit stubborn, hmm? Well, I suspect the two of you will be fine company for one another, then. Passionate, most certainly. It’s probably the red in his hair. You had red as a baby, for all of three weeks. Then it darkened. Such a pretty baby girl. I couldn’t look at you without melting with love. You were always my sweetheart. I think Dr. Chad Fields might almost be good enough for you, baby. Might. If he’s the man you want?”

Genny nodded. More than anything else in the world. “Very much so. Forever.”

“Good, then. Now, you rest. Everything else will work itself out in good time.”

Her mother stayed with her until she drifted off again.

When her eyes opened later, and she had most of her senses back, there was a tall, strong, beautiful man standing right there next to her bed.

“Chad…” Genny held out her hand and reached for him. Like she probably always would. “There you are. I was waiting for you, you know.”

“I’ve been with you the entire time.”

“I know. But I was still waiting.” She yawned. Maybe she wasn’t making sense, but his warm hand wrapped around hers… was exactly what she wanted forever now.

45

Chad just watched her,relief finally having him breathing a little more easily. She lifted one hand toward him. “Hi… you look horrible.”

“There you go, always with the compliments. How do you feel?”

“Well, I’ve had better days. But I’m alive, and everyone I care about are okay, so in my opinion, everything is a-okay.”

Her eyes were still a bit hazy, unfocused. They were the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen.

Chad wanted to just scoop her up and hold her close until the day he met his Maker. And then beg the man upstairs to send them back for their next life together again.

Eternity. He’d figured it out the instant Hodges had stabbed Genny. She was Chad’s eternity.

“I love you.”

The words came out far blunter than he’d intended. But he wasn’t going a second longer without her knowing how he felt.

Her eyes widened. The hand not taped down with IV tubing reached for him again. “Chad…”

He captured that hand in his and held it. “I am completely in love with you. Maybe this isn’t exactly the place I wanted to tell you, but… I cannot wait a moment longer.”

“Say it again, please. A girl can never hear it too often.” She gave him that trademark Genesis Isabella Hiller snarky grin. The one that had driven him practically insane when she’d been a pesky teenager.

Now it was his favorite smile on earth.

“I love you, even though you drive me insane and have for years. It’s just a different kind of insane now.”

“Good. Because I feel the exact same way…” she said, yawning again, and totally spoiling his big moment. “Lean down here; you’re too far away.”

Chad settled carefully on the edge of the hospital bed. She was already reaching for him again. When she didn’t get exactly what she wanted, she reached for the remote and raised the head of the bed.

“Be careful. Don’t hurt yourself.”

“Be quiet, doctor. This is a defining moment, here, and I don’t want to be flat on my back for it. At least… not flat on my back when I can’t enjoy it.” She shot him that grin he loved so much again. “Now, I have anesthesia-breath, but kiss me, will you? I’ve been waiting forever…”

Chad carefully slipped his hands around her waist. “I’m not going to move you too much. But I am going to kiss you.”