Somewhere Along the Way (42 page)

He lifted her up in a hug and walked a few steps into the office before he kissed her. And when he kissed her, all Liz thought about was herself. She felt wonderful. She loved the way he kissed her. She loved the way he touched her.

When he finally came up for air, he whispered, “I missed you so much.”

She laughed. “You just saw me last night.”

“No.” He rubbed his face into her hair. “It was a lifetime ago.” He gripped her shoulders and held her away from him a few inches. “I’ve something to say, and I want you to listen.”

“Could we have breakfast first? I’m starving.”

“No, if I don’t say this now, I may never get it out.”

“All right. Let me have it, but if you’re breaking up with me I think I should remind you that we’ve never really had a date. I seem to be an expert on breaking up. You are right about one thing—the morning is the best time, except of course it ruins your whole day, but it beats the night. Breakups at night are terrible. You end up crying all night and look like death warmed over in the morning.”

“Elizabeth.”

“Yes?”

“Stop talking.”

She pouted. Gabe never wanted to talk. How could he hate doing one of her favorite things in the world? She was about to ask when he spoke.

“I think I’m in love with you,” he said. “No. That’s not right. I’m sorry. I
know
I’m in love with you.”

“The like-maybe-we-should-start-dating kind of ‘I’m in love with you’ or the let’s-not-see-other-people kind of ‘I’m in love with you’?” She couldn’t bring herself to mention the third kind. The let’s-get-married kind.

He looked as if he might shake her to see if she’d stop rattling on, but then he simply leaned toward her and kissed the top of her head. “The I-want-to-be-with-you kind of ‘I’m in love with you.’ I know we need to spend some time together before you make up your mind about me, but I’ve already made up my mind about you. I don’t want to live without you. Not today or tomorrow or the rest of my life.”

“Well, I’m not running off to get married like Hank and Alex did a few minutes ago.” She slapped her mouth. “I promised I wouldn’t tell. After last night, they both decided they needed each other and what house they lived in wasn’t important as long as they were together. They just called me and said if anyone was looking for them, they’d fallen off the face of the earth and wouldn’t be back for a while.”

Gabe laughed. “Back to you and me, Liz. Are you saying you don’t want to marry me or you don’t want to run away?”

“I’m saying it’s time I stopped talking and started showing you how I feel about you.” She pulled his mouth to hers and melted against him. For once, she’d shut
him
up with a kiss.

They were lost in one another when Denver tapped on the door. “I don’t understand it. You don’t even talk and every woman in this town hugs on you. I, on the other hand, am a teddy bear and get paintings of me dying.”

Gabe hugged Elizabeth close and smiled at his friend. They were exhausted and muddy, but all seemed right with the world somehow. “How did breakfast go?”

“I’m not sure. We agreed to have breakfast again tomorrow to discuss my meeting her in Dallas for the opening of her next show.”

Gabe kissed Elizabeth one last time, then groaned as he pulled away. “We’re heading home to clean up. I’ll meet you back at the hospital later.”

“What time?”

“It doesn’t matter,” he said, meeting her gaze. “I’ll be waiting for you.”

“Fair enough.” She pulled him back to her.

Their kiss lasted so long, Denver got bored and went downstairs.

On the way home, Denver was silent for a while, then finally said, “I’ve got a confession to make and I might as well do it when we’re both too tired to fight.”

Gabe didn’t say a word.

“I didn’t just come here to look up an old friend. I stayed in the army after you disappeared five years ago. They called me in to find you when you vanished from the hospital. I guess they knew no one else would have a chance at tracking you.”

Gabe fought the urge to reach for his gun. He’d trusted Denver, believed every word. Now, the man was admitting he’d lied.

“I investigated the bombing and knew you must have had your reasons for disappearing. The bombing hadn’t been random. The army knew it too. They put you on medical leave, then we went after the men hunting you.” Denver hesitated. “We found them. They confessed that the bombing was set up to kill everyone in the convoy. If we hadn’t caught them, eventually they would have found you. You were right to set up security.”

Gabe had almost convinced himself that he’d been paranoid. He gripped the steering wheel and waited for the rest.

Denver finally said, “You’re safe, Gabe. Whether you remember or not, you’re safe. You have been for over a year.”

“Then why are you here? To bring me back?”

“No. The army gave up looking for you. Me, I finally left the service and took an air marshal job, but I could never forget about you. When I traveled, I was always searching. The part about seeing your work in a graphic novel was true. I did find you by luck. The minute I read your stories, I knew it was you. You’re writing our life, our skills, our way of thinking back then.”

“So what do you want?” Gabe tried to see his friend around the lie between them.

“I want to tell you the army will straighten your past out if you want to go back, but I’ll not tell them. You’ve got years of pay coming, an honorable discharge, and their understanding as to why you ran.”

“What about the name? They think I’m Wiseman.”

“I don’t know about that. You might want to get yourself a good lawyer.” Denver laughed. “One you can stop kissing long enough to tell her your whole life story.”

Gabe realized he didn’t need the cover of Wiseman anymore. He was Gabe Leary. He had friends. He was respected. He had a kid who thought he was her guardian angel, a sheriff who trusted and relied on him, a lawyer who’d figure out one day that the kind of
I love you
he had for her was a forever kind. “I don’t want to go back. I want to stay right here. Let Wiseman vanish.”

Denver seemed to understand. “Fair enough, but I’m still glad I kept searching for you. Friends, the kind who will cover your back, are hard to find.”

They turned onto the road to his house. A dozen cars were scattered like toys across his land and around his house.

Gabe frowned. “Did you turn on the alarm when we left?”

“No. Look at all these cars. What’s going on?”

Both men did what they did best; they observed details. Local and out-of-state tags. Old cars, sports cars, junkers, all with stickers of teams and bands on the back windows. The kind of cars high school kids drive.

Gabe wove past them to his front door. As he climbed out, teenagers began to crawl out of every car.

“What’s going on?” he asked Denver.

“I have no idea. Teenagers. I’ve heard they travel in packs and eat everything in sight.”

“But what are they doing here?” Gabe frowned.

One boy got within twenty feet of Gabe and yelled, “It’s him. It’s him. Everyone, it’s G. L.”

Gabe froze. The kid had one of the first comic books he’d written in his hand.

Denver saw it too and laughed. “They’re fans, Gabriel. Your fans.”

Another boy moved closer, a novel in his hand. “My grandfather at the post office said you looked like a farmer. Great disguise. I’ve been on the Internet for weeks figuring you out. G. L. Smith. Gabriel Leary. Right here in Harmony.”

Gabe frowned at Denver. “So, it takes an expert to find me.”

Denver shrugged. “A highly trained expert or apparently a kid with Internet skills.”

Others were moving toward Gabe. All smiling. All with books in their hands.

“I drove from Dallas,” one shouted. “Will you sign my book?”

“I came from Oklahoma City,” another said. “I love your work.” He pointed at Denver. “Look guys, that man looks just like the lieutenant in
Soldier Force, Fight for the Planet
. I’d recognize him anywhere even without the scar parting his hair.”

Gabe and Denver backed up until they hit the door.

“Great.” Denver swore. “I might as well give up working and start modeling for artists. Apparently I’m a pinup in two art forms.”

“Shut up and tell me what to do,” Gabe said.

Denver grinned. “How many bullets you got?”

“Get serious. I need help.”

Denver opened the door so suddenly, Gabe almost fell in. “All right, kids,” he yelled. “I’m going to give you a once-in-a-lifetime tour of G. L.’s workplace, but don’t touch anything. He’ll even sign your books provided you promise one thing. Tell no one where he lives.”

They all promised.

“Fat chance,” Gabe said as he moved backward into his house.

An hour later he’d signed all the books and the kids were gone. Gabe turned on the alarm system so he’d know if any teenagers decided to come calling, took a shower, and had two cans of soup cooking when Denver, clean and wet headed, walked into the kitchen.

“What you going to do G. L.?”

“Move to a desert island?” he said.

“No, I mean about this place?”

“I don’t know. There’s a few places down in the canyon where I could build and no one could find me without a map.”

“How about selling this old trap to me? I’m thinking I could use a reason to drop by this way from time to time.”

Gabe shook his head. “No. This is home. I think I’ll stay.” He’d come a long way in less than two months and learned one thing. This was where he wanted to be.

He was home and he was no longer alone. Harmony was where he wanted to stay.

Denver grinned. “Then sell me the front half of your land. You can build you and Liz a place down in the canyon. I could keep the kids off the land.” Raising his hands, he added, “No weapons, just signs, I promise.”

Gabe offered his hand. “It’s a deal. Welcome home, Lieutenant.”

Denver took his hand, and they both knew they’d finally found where they belonged.