While You Were Dead (34 page)

“Too many people,” she agreed, surprising him. “You need wide open spaces. Can you fly?”

“Like planes?”

“Like a jet.”

“Actually, yes.”

“Then we can live wherever you want to.” She smiled. “Lizzie will not be happy. She said she hates Bluff River Falls.” Kat kissed Max’s cheek. “Ask me, Max.”

He kissed her instead, until she was breathless and then he kissed her again. “When are we going to tell her?”

“She already knows.” Lizzie’s voice cut across the room. Max lifted his head but didn’t release Kat. She turned her head so fast she nearly got whiplash. Lizzie pushed up on her elbows and eyed them both with disgust. “It’s not like it’s rocket science, Max–I mean, Dad.”

Kat gasped, but Max didn’t appear to have any reaction at all. “Eavesdropping, Lizard?”

“Hard not to, with the two of you getting all lovey-dovey over there. We’re gonna have to come to an arrangement about that kind of stuff. When you were my uncle, well, it was kinda cute, but now. . .now that you’re my dad, it’s gross.”

Lizzie had yet to look at her. Kat’s breath caught in her throat. She knew. Was she angry? Upset? Would she want a relationship with the woman who’d given her up? Kat tried to hush her pounding heart and tuned back in to her daughter’s long list of demands.

“So, no tongues. I hate that.” Her eyes took on a look that was part sly, part yearning and finally, finally she glanced at Kat. “I have a mom already, okay? So that name’s out.”

Kat started to cry, unable to help herself. She gave a quick nod, surprised when tears spilled out of Lizzie’s eyes, too.

“Just what I need,” Max grumbled. He left Kat’s bed and went to Lizzie, scooping her up in his arms, careful not to jar her thickly wrapped foot. “More females.” He settled her between them on the bed and Lizzie stroked Kat’s hand, skating around the IV tubes, just like her father had done seconds before.

“Call me whatever you want, honey.” Kat whispered.

“Well, Kat’s a very cool name. Like Esmerelda.” Now her grin was shy. “Partner?” Kat opened her arms and Lizzie wriggled close, snuggling her nose into Kat’s neck. Kat struggled not to sob out loud at the solid warmth of her daughter’s safe body against her own.

“Partner.” Kat agreed. She would not kiss her. She could press her cheek there, though, against her daughter’s hair and revel in soul-saturating peace.

“You’re gonna need a partner,” Lizzie whispered, “if you’re gonna take him on. He’s horrible. You have to feed him coffee first thing in the morning. Lots of cream and sugar.”

“Hey,” Max protested. “No ganging up on me.”

Lizzie settled into Kat’s pillow with a smile and reached up to pat Max’s face. “It’s okay. You’ll get used to it. She’s gonna need help.” She frowned suddenly. “Did you even ask her?”

Max touched his nose to hers. “I was about to. I was rudely interrupted.”

“Then get it over with. Sheesh–she might not even say yes.”

He laid a gentle finger over Kat’s mouth, keeping her quiet, somehow knowing the yes would have proceeded the question if he hadn’t. “Give me her hand, Lizard.”

Lizzie kept her neck firmly on Kat’s upper arm, but obligingly scooped up Kat’s hand and presented it to Max. Suddenly she pulled it back. “You did say babies, right? Lots of babies? Girls?”

“Babies are part of the deal, yes. No guarantees on gender, but we’ll do what we can.” Max fixed her with a glare. “Anything else?”

Lizzie thought for a moment. “I get my own room, when I’m with you.”

Only Max’s finger over Kat’s lips kept her from laughing. Max appeared to consider the request. “In exchange for babysitting.”

“You’ll need a new house. With a playroom. One overlooking the river.” Max placed his other hand over Lizzie’s lips and glanced at Kat.

She nodded.

Max nodded at Lizzie, lifted his finger, then thought better of it and put it back. He did remove his finger from Kat’s mouth and picked up her hand. “So what do you say, baby? Marry me?”

Lizzie cleared her throat loudly.

“Marry us,” Max promptly amended.

“Say yes,” Lizzie prompted in her ear. “You make him happy and he’s much easier to manage when he’s happy.”

“Yes,” Kat whispered, smiling into Max’s incredible eyes, arm tight around her daughter.

“Good.” Max scooped Lizzie back up and twirled her, then deposited her back in her own bed. “Thanks for your help,” he whispered loudly with a wink. “Start planning the wedding.” Then he drew the curtain between the beds and pulled Kat into his arms. “Thank you,” he whispered, completely, suddenly serious. “Thank you for your trust, your heart and your forgiveness.”

“I love you, Max,” she whispered back. “I’ve always loved you.”

Max closed his eyes. “I didn’t think I’d ever hear those words from you again.”

“Kiss her!” Lizzie urged in a very loud whisper.

His thumb was tender on her bruised lips. “I don’t want to hurt you, baby,” he whispered.

Hurt? Hurt was living another second without his kiss. Without him. Kat smiled and pulled his mouth down to hers. “Bring it on, Max. Bring it on.”

Ellen Jannsen pulled a cigarette from her purse and then jumped when her brand-new son-in-law offered a light and a smile. “I’m going to quit when the baby comes.”

Max shrugged. “You’re entitled.”

“Not a good example for that daughter of yours.”

“That granddaughter of yours,” he reminded her gently.

She sighed. She wasn’t used to freedom yet, much less being labeled a grandmother. “You’re a dear boy, Max.”

He laughed outright at that. “You’re a wise woman, Ellen.”

She looked up at him. “Wise enough to be a grandma?”

He bent down and kissed her cheek. “And a good mom.”

“I appreciate the little house .”

“I appreciate that you’ve agreed to stay there every once in awhile.”

“I always knew you’d get me out.” She patted the hand he’d placed on her shoulder, well aware he realized the problem she still had with people getting too close.

“Took me long enough, didn’t it?”

“Go on back to your bride. I’ll be inside in a bit.” She liked it here in Wyoming, liked the dry air, and the wind in her hair. She and Katherine were working it out, easing around each other, learning how to be. Time was needed, but they both had time now. And freedom. Sweet, blessed freedom. She strode to the end of the church property, looked out at the tidy old cemetery tucked under a couple of huge oak trees. Her daughter would have a good life here with the man she loved. Their new house, nestled into the bluffs overlooking the river, was ready to move into. Hers was a smaller, two-bedroom carbon copy, situated just one hundred yards downstream.

Ellen didn’t ask for the house, didn’t even agree she’d live in it, but Max insisted. Katherine cried as she pressed the keys into her hand and whispered, “when you want to visit, it’s yours.” Katherine cried at everything now that she was pregnant. No wonder she hadn’t come to visit her when she was expecting Lizzie. The tears were a dead giveaway.

Not that Katherine was sad. She didn’t think she’d ever seen Katherine so happy. Not since she was a little girl going off to the museum with her father. Maybe not even then.

Miriam and Lizzie walked out of the church and Ellen smashed out her cigarette. “We’re going to see the graves,” Lizzie informed her. “Do you want to come?”

Ellen shook her head and waved them on. She’d heard it was touch and go with Lizzie’s adopted mom for a bit, but she was doing well now. Lizzie stayed with Max and Kat two or three times a week, although Ellen guessed it would be more when the baby came. She couldn’t tell who was more excited, the new parents or the new sister. She smiled at her granddaughter’s wild curls, her head close to her mother’s as they closed the gate to the cemetery behind them. Ellen turned her back to give them privacy and paced closer to the wide deck off the side of the church where most of the wedding guests were gathered.

Katherine was there, stunning in her white gown, even with her belly extended in obvious pregnancy. Her own fault that, but she didn’t know her daughter refused to get married until her mother arrived. Heavens, if Katherine would have just told her, she could have been here weeks ago. She smiled again though at the joy radiating from her daughter.

Two of Maxwell’s friends were having a serious discussion at the corner of the deck. Ellen moved closer, wondering what had the men frowning.

“Are you going to tell him?”

“Yes, but not today,” The man they’d introduced as Greg leaned back against the deck’s railing, blocking Ellen from the sight of the other man. Greg was cold with eyes that spoke of pain in his past. She hadn’t been introduced to the other man. He held himself like a soldier, watchful, wary, at attention throughout the service and even more so now. “How certain are you?”

“I watched the tape. Crater carried Viper out, but not until he’d dressed that chest wound.”

“Where the hell is Viper then, Tron?”

“AWOL. I’m on it and I’ll track that bastard down. This unit does not torture children. I will find him and he will pay. And Crater, Crater’s got a serious debrief coming up.”

Greg sighed. “Shit.”

“Did I hear you say you’ve got a line on Blade’s woman?”

“Maybe. It’s thin at this point, but thin’s a place to start.”

Ellen heard both men straighten and moved further back into the shadows. The rustle of her daughter’s satin and taffeta dress was unmistakable. “Greg, darling, why so serious?” Ellen hid a grin; she’d heard her daughter use that tone of voice before. Usually with an attorney as she raked him over the coals. “Not a day for shop talk, Greg. Not on this deck. Not on my wedding day.”

“You’re breaking my heart, Kat. Did I tell you you look ravishing?” Ellen couldn’t picture those words coming from the stern-faced gentleman.

“Yeah, but you can tell me again.”

“Will you run away with me?”

“Darn—I just promised this other guy….”

“Sure you won’t let him come back to the unit?”

“Very sure, Greg. Very, very sure.”

Ellen scooted over to the stairs at the far end of the deck and climbed up in time to see her new son-in-law join Greg and Katherine on the deck. The soldier was nowhere to be seen.

“She’s spoken for, Greg. Don’t get any ideas.” He wrapped his arm around her, dropped a kiss on her shoulder and patted the slight bulge that was her belly. “My wedding, My bride. My baby.”

Katherine, for once, had nothing whatsoever to add.

A Note from the Author:

I hope you enjoyed the first book in the Black Fire series. Many thanks to Tom Adair, CSI, for his expertise, and to Willie Shanahan, 82
^nd
Airborne, for his. You guys are the best! Any and all errors are mine.

The next book in the series is entitled
Dead Reckoning
and should be available in March, 2012. It features Ghost (Greg Lassiter) and the mysterious Mykael Lucana.

You might also enjoy
Maverick
, a novel about an FBI tracker hot on the heels of a thieving beauty. Maverick will be out in February, 2012.

I love hearing from my readers! You can reach me at CJ Snyder Writer (at) aol (dot) com. Please take out all () and spaces..

Below you’ll find the prologues from
Dead Reckoning
and
Maverick
.

You’ll also find some terrific excerpts from the other members of We Are Scripsi, my lovely and talented critique/blog group. Hope you’ll check them out.

If you enjoyed While You Were Dead, I hope you’ll join me for another fast-paced ride soon! CJ