Flying Home (18 page)

“The most important amendment is that the gambling will be self-contained within yet still separate from the rest of the complex that is to be relocated to a parcel of ground between Wolf Lake and the highway. The hotels will be farther from the heart of town, impeding less of the local industries. All and any designs for the complex will fit in with the land and nature of the heritage around it, honoring the feel and core of Wolf Lake and the dream of the founding fathers.”

Someone called out, “How do we know you’re going to do all of that? Changing the location has to be expensive!”

Tark looked in the direction of the voice. “We have a clause included in the contract for full restitution, no matter how far along the project is, if it does not comply with every provision by the strictest interpretation. The contract for the land is in place as a straight exchange for the past location.” He glanced around the quiet crowd and kept going.

“Upon awarding our company the project, our firm and its architectural division, accepted the input from all parties—what they wanted, what they didn’t want and what could be done. Then we wrote those worthy provisions into the contract by means of the amendments.” He paused then said, “We require that a percentage of the money for the project that would have been used for a more elaborate complex, be put in a special fund that will support the addition of education and medical research resources.

“That will expand the children’s wing of the hospital, and the schools. There will also be a special grant for the support of children with developmental problems, namely an expansion of the Family Care Center.”

Merry must have stirred or said something because Willie G. looked at her. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, yes,” she said quickly, not wanting to miss any of what Tark was saying.

“Another provision is that a local resident and staff person of the Family Care Center, Ms Merry Brenner, be asked to set up an advisory committee to oversee that expansion to protect the interests of the community and the children.”

She could barely breathe as she realized she had read everything correctly—
everything
. Tark went on, “There has been a pledge from the Carson family to match any and all donations made to a fund being set up for special education, art development and on-site housing for native children. Merry didn’t move.

It was true.

The plan, as it was now laid out, would make the pluses from the development far outweigh any potential losses. And Gage did it. All of it. She knew that without having to ask anyone.

She looked toward him, but he was gone. His chair was empty. Someone called out, “And we should believe all this because...?”

Before Tark could answer, Merry was on her feet, “Because Gage Carson gave his word, and his word is gold.”

People murmured, shifting in their seats to see her as she spoke. She took a breath and continued. Well, she’d come this far.

“This is his doing, his modifications, his example of how much he cares about his home.” Tears threatened and she knew she had to get out of there. “We’re lucky to have him at the helm of this project,” she told them and turned to leave.

Willie G. stood, his face a mask of shock. “Are you serious?”

“Life and death serious,” she replied and moved past him, ignoring people patting her arm and congratulating her. When she did get outside, there was no one there, only lines and lines of parked vehicles. The large black truck she was particularly looking for was nowhere in sight.

She tried to think where Gage might have gone.

Lark Carson came up beside her. “Merry, I just wanted to tell you how pleased we are to have you on board, and thank you for defending Gage like that.”

“Where is he?” she asked, not meaning to be rude, but she had to know, now.

Lark smiled before answering. “He was heading back to the ranch to get ready for his flight later. He has to be going shortly, and actually, he wasn’t sure how this would go. He’s never been one to sit by.”

She had to get to him. She’d walked to the meeting and she had to get her car. Lark must have figured out what she was thinking because she touched Merry’s arm and held out a set of car keys. “Take mine.” She pointed out a black SUV.

Merry didn’t argue. “Thank you so much,” she said. Claiming the keys, she ran.

* * *

G
AGE
TOOK
HIS
time checking out the new plane, the exact model of the one that he’d flown in with Merry, down to the color. He’d done all he could do about the business in Wolf Lake, and everything he could think to do about Merry. She was lost to him; he knew that by what had happened in the past few weeks, or better yet, what hadn’t happened.

She didn’t want to be around him, or hear from him, and now that the deal was structured to be what he thought was best for both sides, he just wanted to get out of here. But at least, he knew her life would be good. He’d make sure it was, for her and her kids.

He’d concentrate on this project, and his brother. Jack had flat out refused to be legal counsel for the project, and hadn’t even shown up at the meeting. Gage wasn’t sure what to do for Jack, but he knew he’d do whatever was necessary to have the “old Jack” back for all their sakes.

“Hi, there,” a female voice said from behind him. Gage turned to find Merry less than ten feet from him on the ranch’s airstrip.

It was as if time had gone backward and she was there to beg him for a ride home to Wolf Lake. He quietly watched her, noticing the tension in how she stood, and how her hands were clasped so tightly. And she had a paleness that he could have sworn wasn’t there before. Her presence was overwhelming for him.

When she didn’t say anything else, he asked, “What are you doing here? I thought you’d be celebrating with Willie G. and the others, or demanding more concessions.”

She slowly approached him and he saw her tongue touch her lips before she spoke. “Why didn’t you tell me what you were going to do?”

“I assumed, when I didn’t hear from you after you’d read it, that you still weren’t happy with it. With me.”

“I’m sorry. That makes sense.”

“So you read it?”

“Yes, I did.” She took another step forward. “I want to thank you for everything, the way I should have thanked you for the new van. I know it’s all your doing, that you heard what I said about the kids, and changed things to help them as much as possible. And I know that the money wouldn’t be there for the new plans without what the complex can take in.” She was talking fast, just like that first time she’d asked him for the ride. “I want to, no, I
need
to thank you for caring so much, for listening, for doing what you’re doing.”

“Moses was in on the changes, too,” he admitted, but wouldn’t tell her about the arguments.

“I’ll have to thank him.”

“You’re going to lead the advisory panel?”

“Yes, I will, but I need to apologize for what I said to you. I was so wrong.”

“How so?” he asked, a bit edgy about what she might say.

“You belong here. You always have.”

“Thank you for that,” he said. “It means a lot, especially coming from you.”

“And you’re not the bad guy, either. I probably implied that. I was just so centered on what I thought was right, on what I wanted, that I couldn’t see any other alternative. Silly of me.”

She looked behind him and her eyes widened. “They fixed the plane?”

“No, it’s a new one. The one we had doesn’t exist anymore, except for a bit of useless debris, I guess.”

“And you’re going to fly in this one?”

“I already have. Four flights total.” He could see the fear in her eyes, the fear that came from all they’d been through. He reached out to her, and gently pulled her into his arms. She almost sank against him. “It’s okay. We made it. We had our miracle,” he whispered, wondering if he’d ever have another miracle in his life.

He closed his eyes, fighting to burn the moment into his memory when she said, “I owe you so much.”

“No you don’t,” he said.

Her arms around him tensed and she pressed even closer. “Oh, yes I do. Everything you managed with the complex. You listened to all sides and figured out a solution.”

“Hey, that’s just good business,” he murmured, brushing off her praise. He tried to tell himself her words really didn’t mean much to him. As he would have with anyone else. But then another thought formed and the raw truth in it stunned him.

All he wanted was her. She was his everything. And the clarity of his next thought settled into his being.

He loved her. He’d loved her from the first. And the restlessness he’d had since leaving her the last time hadn’t come from boredom. It was because she wasn’t with him. The sleeplessness was because she wasn’t beside him. So, he’d kept moving. But now that wouldn’t work. Not when he knew exactly what could cure him.

He needed to tell her all of that, but the words wouldn’t come. They stuck in his throat. And he knew a fear that was unlike any fear he’d known before. If he said the words, what if they were all wrong? What if was too late? What if she didn’t want any part of him?

An ache built in his stomach, made worse when she drew back and said softly, “I’m so proud of you, really proud. You’re making a difference, and even if you can’t stay here, you’ve done so much to protect your home.”

Her words demolished whatever wall he’d managed to keep in place. “No, I’m not that altruistic or that much of a civic minded person,” he said, hating the way she began moving out of his arms until there was only emptiness. “I did all of that for a purely selfish reason that I didn’t even recognize until now.”

She looked confused, much the way he’d felt until a moment ago. “Selfish reasons?”

“I wanted to make things right with you, but I didn’t know how to do that. The next best thing I could think of was trying to make life easier and better for you.”

She placed her hand over his heart. “Gage, all my life I’ve been so afraid of not belonging, of never having a real home, and that dominated who I was and the choices I made. Then I came back here, and it’s wonderful, and the kids are fantastic. I’ve found a place to be, but since I met you, gradually I’ve realized that it’s not the place, it’s really the people. A place is nothing without being with someone you love, someone you truly care about.”

He didn’t understand. “You’ve got your kids. Little Erin, especially. And when you meet someone, I know you’ll have kids of your own.”

She looked pleased. “Yes, I probably will. I’ve been thinking that I might move forward with my plans to adopt a child.”

“Oh?” He wasn’t surprised.

“Yes, I’ve thought about Erin. She has no one, just a foster family that sooner or later will decide that she needs a lot more love and attention than they can give her.”

He beamed at her. “Of course you’d adopt her. She’s a sweetheart who doesn’t think she has anyone, or any place to be. A bit like you used to be.”

A sad smile touched her lips. “Maybe I do see a bit of me in her, with no place to be, until I got here, that is. And no one to really love me.”

A single tear escaped from the corner of her eye and he acted instinctively, pulling her back to him. “That’s not true,” he said with a fierceness that he couldn’t control. “It’s not true.”

She pushed away and looked up him. “Why not?”

He met her green eyes and said what he should have said a long time ago. “I love you, Merry Brenner. I love you so much that I just want you with me forever.”

Her face brightened. “You’re going to stay?”

Gage considered her question, and knew he had only one answer. “I just want to be with you, wherever that is.”

Her arms went around his neck and he bent to meet her lips. The connection was real and complete.

As he drew back from the embrace, he said, “I’ve been thinking about bringing my office to the area around here, maybe Albuquerque, or Santa Fe? I can work from anywhere because the jobs aren’t where my business is based. They’re all over the country.”

She seemed hesitant to believe him. “Do you mean it?”

“More than anything, but...no matter where I go, this will definitely always be home.”

A smile came to her lips, the tear long gone. “You know, I’m not sure about flying again, but sometimes I could go with you, you know, just the short trips. Maybe, I can sort that out after my lesson.”

“So you’re still going through with that?”

“A deal’s a deal. But the most important thing is, I always thought that home had to be
somewhere,
but now I know it’s right here, in your arms.”

“One last thing?” he asked roughly, his lips close to hers.

“Anything.”

“I told you I loved you, but you never once said—”

“I love you, Gage Wolf Carson, with all my heart, and you’re my home. Forever.”

Gage had lived in Wolf Lake for most of his young life, and always had it to come back to when he needed to. But now it was home to him, really home, and the spot in the world that was his and Merry’s.

And he’d been wrong. He did have one more miracle in his life, and he was holding her in his arms.

As if she read his mind, Merry whispered against his lips, “Welcome home.”

EPILOGUE

Two months later

G
AGE
’
S
HEART
LEAPT
as he and Erin both ran for Merry as she disembarked from the small plane that had just landed safely on the Carsons’ airstrip. Merry thanked her instructor then turned to them with a brilliant smile. “I did it!” she called out, both arms held straight up in victory. She’d done it. She’d actually done it.

He and Erin hugged her tightly. “So, how did it go?” he asked, loving Merry’s radiant face.

The instructor, a friend of Gage’s, walked past the group. “A born flyer,” he quipped, and kept moving.

Gage kissed her, and scooped up Erin in his arms.

Merry looked at Gage. “Thank you,” she said. “I know you have a lot going on with Jack and—”

“Hey, I’m just glad I’m here for him.” He brushed at a stray lock of hair that had curled at her chin. “What about you? You said you had a surprise for me, beyond this flying lesson.”

“It’s going to happen, the adoption,” she announced, her green eyes suddenly bright with tears. “Being single and all won’t be much of a problem, I don’t think, but...”

He winked at Erin and set her down on the ground. He gave Merry another quick kiss. “It won’t be a problem,” he said. “Believe me.”

“I hope you’re right,” Merry said a bit doubtfully.

“Merry, I love you, and I want you to adopt Erin, but I don’t want you to do it alone.”

She was suddenly still and focused on him. Waiting.

“I want to be part of it. I want you to marry me.” As the words left his mouth he knew he’d never been more honest, more committed in his life.

Merry gazed at him as Erin pressed against his leg, her freckled face turned up, her large eyes going from him to Merry and back to him again. It was as if she knew the importance of that moment for all of them.

“Did you hear me?” he asked, afraid he’d gone too fast.

“Yes,” Merry breathed. “Yes.”

But she didn’t move. “Yes, you heard me or yes, you’ll marry me?”

“Yes and yes,” she replied, and threw her arms wide open.

He lifted Erin up and drew Merry in with both of them, kissing the little girl, then the woman who would be her mother and his wife.

“Yes, yes, yes,” Merry said over and over again between kisses for him and for Erin. “Yes.”

Gage hugged them both, never wanting to let them go.

“Another miracle,” Merry spoke into his ear.

He felt the tiny girl’s arms around his neck, and Merry so close he could almost feel her heartbeat. “Yes, indeed.”

Along with so many others...

The construction and planning of the entertainment complex was generating a lot of jobs for the locals of Wolf Lake and in turn was helping a lot of other people as well. There was also Willie G. agreeing, after some persuasion from Gage, to sell the old blue Victorian so Merry would have the place she wanted to make a family. And his brother Jack was verging on a recovery from his grief. He was going to take over their grandfather’s ranch and make it live again, just like him.

And all that started here for Gage, with Merry and Erin, his world, his home.

* * *

Don’t miss the compelling conclusion to Mary Anne Wilson’s
THE CARSONS OF WOLF LAKE
miniseries coming in the fall of 2014 from Harlequin Heartwarming!