“Listen to me, babe,” he said, using that word deliberately to make her roll her eyes and smile.

It worked, though that fragile curve of her lips was tremulous.

“You said no one ever wanted you to stay, Margie. Well, I do. I need you to stay here with me.”

“Oh, God…” She shook her head as if she were tempted to believe but still too afraid of losing everything to take the chance.

Hunter looked deeply into her eyes, willing her to see all that he was feeling. “Margie, I’ve been in combat. I’ve been in situations so dark and terrifying I never thought I’d survive. I’ve faced gunfire, bombs and explosions with more ease than I can face the thought of living a life without you.”

She blew out a breath that ruffled the curls on her forehead. Then her mouth worked as she tried to stem the tears that continued to rain down her face. “Hunter…”

“I’ve got seven more months in the Navy, Margie. Then I’m coming home. To a place that you made me see I belonged. I’m coming home to you, Margie. And if you’re not here, it won’t be home.”

“Hunter, you’re not being fair,” she murmured, shaking her head again and taking a shuddering breath. “I was going to leave and let you have your life back.”

He laughed because he finally sensed that he was convincing her, and, God, he felt better than he had in years.

“My life? What kind of life would it be without you ordering me around? Without you organizing everything? Without you to hold in the night? Without you to wake up to? If you leave me, Margie,” he added, and waited until she was looking into his eyes, so she could read just how serious he really was. “If you leave me, I’ll follow you. I’ll turn into some weirdo stalker, and then Simon’ll be alone and the town will fall apart because you’re not here to be the heart of it…” He paused and smiled gently. “Do you really want to be responsible for all of that?”

She sniffed again and smiled a little. “Well, if you put it like that…”

He gathered her in close, folding his arms around her, resting his chin on top of her head, and when she wrapped her arms around his middle, Hunter took his first easy breath in days. “You’re right where you belong, Margie. With me.”

“Oh, God,” she said, leaning back and brushing at the front of his uniform, “I’m getting mascara all over your whites!”

Hunter laughed, delighted. “You can cry on me anytime you want to,” he said, “but I swear, I’ll try to make sure none of your tears are because of me.”

“I do love you,” she said.

“I love you, Margie.” Then to make sure she heard his next words, he held her face in his hands again and looked directly into her eyes. “You are the most important thing in my life. I choose you to love forever. I choose you to make me complete and to make a family with. Please choose me back.”

“Oh God, I’m gonna cry again,” she said with a half laugh.

“Well, then, let’s make sure it’s worth it,” he said, giving her a fast, hard kiss. “Here’s something else for you to organize.”

“What?”

“When I come home, you and I are going to have a real wedding. Right here in town,” he told her, bending down to lift her into the curve of his arms.

“We are?” Margie grinned up at him and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“We damn sure are,” he told her with a wink. “And then, we’re going to Bali. I think we can improve on that ‘honeymoon’ we already had, don’t you?”

“I don’t know,” Margie teased, “in my fantasies, you were pretty good…”

“Babe,” he said, grinning down at her with a wink, “I’m a SEAL. I love a challenge.”

Laughing, her heart lighter than it had ever been, Margie laid her cheek against her own personal hero’s shoulder and let him carry her back into the light.

Back to the house where love waited.

MAUREEN CHILD

is a California native who loves to travel. Every chance they get, she and her husband are taking off on another research trip. An author of more than sixty books, Maureen loves a happy ending and still swears that she has the best job in the world. She lives in Southern California with her husband, two children and a golden retriever with delusions of grandeur.