Alaskan Courage: Silenced Part 39

Jake turned to Kayden. "Please stay here. There's no way Angela will work her way back. Please. I need to know you are safe."

Clearly too exhausted to argue, she nodded and sat down at the rusty table as he and the others raced out of the room.

Relief filled Jake when he and Gage reached the brush and found Angela's truck still there. After disconnecting her spark plugs, they hid behind the nearby copse of trees.

It didn't take long for Angela to burst out a hidden door to the east, Rex's howls not far behind her.

She climbed into her truck and tried starting it. Jake watched realization dawn on her face as Gage came up on her pa.s.senger's side with a gun leveled at her head, and he did the same on the driver's side.

She looked at him with a smug smile, lifted a grenade, and pulled the pin.

"Down," Jake roared, lunging away from the vehicle. Birds flew from the trees as the cab of the truck exploded.

Jake covered his head until it settled. "Gage?"

He coughed. "Yeah?"

"You okay?"

"Yeah."

Reef, Kirra, and Rex burst out the same door Angela had moments before.

Kirra took a look at what remained of Angela and turned green.

Reef pulled her into his arms and turned her away from the sight.

Within the hour Piper and Landon reached the site. Cole and Bailey were still several hours away. Now that they were safe, Jake had told them they'd meet up at the local hospital instead.

A pair of EMTs loaded Jake and Kayden into the rescue helicopter resting at the edge of the bluff.

"We'll meet you at the hospital," Gage said, shutting the door, but by the time they actually made it down the mountain, he and Kayden would hopefully have already been released.

He glanced over at her-his brave, wounded warrior, so fierce and lovely-and linked his fingers with hers.

44.

Kayden tapped on Jake's sliding door.

He smiled through the gla.s.s and moved to open it.

"Hey there." He stepped back, welcoming her inside.

"Hey." She moved past him.

"How you feeling?"

She gingerly brushed her hair back from her bruised face. "Better."

Jake moved some papers off the couch. "Take a seat."

"Probably better if I stand for this."

Uh-oh. Now that they were out of danger, would she retract her declaration of love? Would she put her guard back in place?

"There's something I need to say."

He braced himself. "Okay."

She swallowed. "I meant what I said, back at the bunker."

He blinked. Had he just heard her correctly?

She leaned against the half wall separating the galley from the living s.p.a.ce. "I didn't want you to think I only said it because of the situation we were in."

"That's amazing to hear."

"But . . ."

Somehow he'd known there was going to be a but.

"But just because I told you the truth and we kissed . . ." She shifted, looking down.

Was Kayden McKenna actually embarra.s.sed?

She cleared her throat. "It doesn't mean it's going to be easy with me. I'm far from perfect, hard to get along with, and . . ." She looked up at him. "Well, I'm giving you the chance to walk away."

He smiled. Like that was even possible. He was hers come what may.

He reached for her hand and led her to the couch. "You are perfect for me."

She took a deep breath and exhaled. "There's one more thing." She sat beside him. "I know this is way jumping the gun, but I feel I need to be totally up front before . . . before we go any further."

"Okay." He clasped her hand.

"I can't have kids."

He hadn't seen that coming. As healthy as she was . . . "The doctors found something wrong?"

"No, but they might."

"What? I'm confused."

"I could end up with rheumatoid arthritis like my mom. I saw what it did to her. It doesn't affect everyone with the same intensity it did my mom, but it destroyed her health and her body. If that happens, I don't want you taking care of me, watching me fade away physically."

"Why not?"

"I don't want you to see me that way, and I don't want to be dependent on anyone."

"Did you mind taking care of your mom?"

"Of course not. I loved her."

"Then why wouldn't you want me taking care of you, and what does any of that have to do with your having children?"

She looked down. "You don't understand. My mom was a strong, beautiful, athletic, vibrant woman until the disease ravaged her. I want people to remember me as being strong."

"Honey, you don't even know if you're going to get RA."

"There's a high risk when you have a family member with it. And I look just like my mom. Everyone said how alike we were. If anyone's going to get it, it'll be me."

"You can't live your life differently because of something that may or may not happen."

"But how can I have kids knowing I might pa.s.s it on to them?"

He cupped her chin in his hand. "Sweetheart, is that what you're worried about?"

She nodded.

"Are you angry at your mom for having you?"

"Of course not. But she had me before she knew she'd get RA."

"And would you not want to have been born if she had?"

"Of course not."

"Then how's this any different?"

She shrugged.

"I know this is hard for you to hear, but you're not in control. G.o.d is. Living your life in fear isn't the answer."

"No, I'm being strong. I'm making a hard decision."

"No. Choosing to live your life to its fullest every day is the hard decision. I bet your mom displayed amazing grace through it all."

She narrowed her eyes. "How did you know?"

"Because G.o.d doesn't promise the way will be easy-far from it-but He promises to carry us through, to give us the courage and grace we need when we need it. He most often doesn't change the circ.u.mstances; He changes us."

He exhaled and tipped her chin up gently. "I love you, and I want to be with you through the good and the bad, in sickness and in health. Through it all."

"Whoa!" She scooted back. "What are you saying?"

"That you are stuck with me, Kayden McKenna. I'm not going anywhere."

Tears welled in her eyes. "You promise?"

He lowered his mouth to hers. "With all my heart."

Epilogue.

Kayden stood beneath the evergreen tress surrounding Landon's cabin, watching her sister pledge her life to the man she loved. Six months ago Kayden would have never imagined herself in such a place someday, but as she watched Jake standing between her brothers at Landon's side, she envisioned a future with him.

Pastor Braden asked Piper and Landon to exchange rings following their declaration of the vows they'd written. Kayden couldn't get over how amazing everything looked-the pine archway Landon had handcrafted for him and Piper to stand under, the full moon and blanket of stars overhead, lanterns lighting the rest of the forest around them.

A nighttime wedding in the woods they loved. It was so Piper and Landon.

"You may now kiss the bride." Landon took Pastor Braden's instruction to heart, grasping his wife in his arms and dipping her down as he pressed his lips fully to hers.

"Hey, she's still our baby sister, dude," Gage grumbled.

"Yes." Landon wrapped a hand snugly about Piper's waist. "But she's my wife."

"Good thing, after that kiss." Gage smirked and lightly punched his fist into his cupped hand.

The photographs took under an hour, and soon everyone was seated on their picnic blankets beneath the stars with their baskets of homemade food. Piper had outdone herself-gourmet sandwiches and fried chicken, homemade potato salad (their grandmother's recipe), fresh fruits and veggies, cheese and crackers, and Black Forest wedding cake complemented with dark chocolate.

As people started their dessert, Jesse, the leader of their church worship band, called the happy couple onto the dance floor.

Kayden's heart drummed in her chest, antic.i.p.ation dancing through her at what was coming next.

Piper and Landon finished their first dance as man and wife, and invited the rest of the bridal party onto the dance floor-a circular clearing they'd made in the forest.

She didn't even have time to look for Jake before he was at her side, his hands extended to help her to her feet. Her cast had been removed just days before, and she was still a bit unsteady.

Her skin humming from her fingertips to the tips of her toes, she placed her hand in his and let him lead her onto the dance floor.

The music started slowly and pleasure curled on her lips as "Collide" by Howie Day played.

Jake smiled at her.

This would be their song, and it couldn't be more fitting. They'd collided and were becoming one. It was only a matter of time before they followed in her married siblings' footsteps.