As I was loaded into the backseat of the Secret Service’s black SUV, I couldn’t help reflecting on the difference between that morning, when we’d come in, versus how we were leaving. Ty and I had been reassuring a nervous Caroline that she was going to do fine at the signing while the air hummed with optimistic energy. Now the energy was subdued—fearful—while the air was weighted down.
Luckily, we weren’t too far from the hospital. When we got to the entrance of the ER, I hopped out and waited on Beverly. After receiving a quick briefing from some of the other agents, she came over to me. “They took Caroline the long way around in case someone was following them. Her ETA is two minutes.”
I nodded in acknowledgment. It hardly felt like any time had passed when I caught sight of Caroline’s SUV barreling into the parking lot. As soon as it screeched up, the door flung open, and Stuart hopped out. He then helped Caroline down. I rushed forward to throw myself at her. “Oh, Selah!” she cried before wrapping her arms around me. I didn’t bother trying to be strong or holding back my tears. Instead, I let them flow as freely as Caroline’s.
“Come on, ladies. We have to get inside,” Stuart ordered. His tone was less gruff than usual. We remained shoulder to shoulder, our hands intertwined. When I glanced down, I couldn’t help noticing the blood on her hand.
At what must’ve been horror on my face, she replied, “It isn’t mine—it’s Ty’s.”
“Oh,” I murmured. I wasn’t sure what to say in that moment. I imagined there weren’t significant words, so I merely wrapped my arm around her shoulder.
After we got upstairs to the surgical waiting room, the rest of the afternoon was a blur. That was partly because one of the ER doctors administered a valium shot to both Caroline and me. Through my haze, I watched President and Mrs. Callahan, along with Caroline’s brothers, Barret and Thorn, arrive with even more Secret Service agents. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Ty remained in surgery.
From time to time, I’d look up to find Stuart standing beside me. Each time he’d ask me if I would like something to drink or eat, but I’d refuse him. Finally, he stopped asking me, instead appearing with a bottle of water. When I started to protested, he commanded me to drink. “You have to stay hydrated.”
With a nod, I took the bottle from him. As he kept his eyes on me, I drank it down, and couldn’t help notice how pleased he seemed once I was finished.
I don’t know how much time had passed when the surgeon came out to inform us Ty was going to be fine. A whoop of joy and relief went up among the waiting room. I even hugged Stuart after I’d hugged Caroline. When Caroline was able to go back to see him, I remained in one of the waiting room chairs with my knees drawn to my chest.
When Caroline reappeared in the waiting room, the sun had set. She was grinning ear to ear, which was more of a relief than I’d imagined possible. It was as if I could finally take a full breath. “They’re okay with us, Selah. Mom and Dad,” she whispered as she hugged me again. “They know, and they’re happy for us.”
“Oh Caroline. I’m so glad.” And I was. She deserved a good man like Ty Fraser, and he deserved her.
Her eyes turned serious. “I’m going to stay a little longer with Ty.”
“That’s fine.”
She then turned to Stuart. “Will you please get Selah back to the hotel?”
While he nodded, I shook my head. “That isn’t necessary. I can totally get an Uber.”
“Are you insane? I’m not letting you do that,” Caroline huffed.
“I don’t want to be any trouble.”
“You won’t be,” Stuart replied before Caroline could.
The look in Stuart’s eyes sent a shiver of anticipation down my spine. Maybe I did want to be a little trouble tonight.
CHAPTER THREE
AFTER SAYING OUR goodbyes to Caroline and the Callahans, Sturt and I headed downstairs to the ER. We both must’ve been drained because we made the trip in silence. After walking out the mechanized doors, Stuart arrived at the SUV I’d arrived in. When he opened the passenger side door for me. I couldn’t hide my surprise. He cocked his brows at me. “Did you expect the chauffer treatment?”
I laughed, and man, did it feel good to do something so natural after such an unnatural day. “No. I’m just used to riding in the back when I’m with you.”
After I hopped up into the passenger seat, Stuart closed the door for me. I got buckled in as he made his way around the front of the car. Even though we’d been in close proximity before, something felt different about this time. I tried to push the thought from head as I turned my head to stare out the window.
We drove through the darkened streets in silence. After the day I’d experienced, I should’ve appreciated the quiet, but somehow it made me feel cagey. Turning toward Stuart, I went for an easy yet incredibly lame conversation starter. “Some day, huh?” I mused.
His lips quirked up. “Yeah. I’d say a hell of a day.”
“I mean, I guess as an agent you’re used to stuff like this.”
Stuart shook his head. “Five years with the Secret Service, and this is my first shooting.”
“Seriously?”
He threw at glance at me. “You seem surprised. Were you not a fan of the previous two presidents?”
I barked out a laugh. “No. It’s nothing like that at all.” With a smile, I added, “I even voted for the first one you served under.”
“I’m glad to hear you exercise your civic duty by voting.”
“Oh, now, wait a minute. From your tone, you sound surprised I even voted back then.”
“Well, young people can be fickle when it comes to adult responsibility.”
My mouth gaped open. “Who are you calling young? You act like you’re middle-aged or something.”
He chuckled. “Somedays I feel it.”
“You can’t be past forty.”
“How do you know?”
“Because my brother Tim is forty, and you look younger than him.”
Stuart glanced over at me with a grin. “Poor Tim. He must really be decrepit.”
I playfully swatted his arm. “Stop it. That’s not what I meant.”
“I know.”
“Then answer the question.”
“Which one?”
Rolling my eyes, I replied, “How old are you?”
“I’ll be thirty-eight next month.”
“You’re just a decade older than me.”
With a groan, he replied, “Just a decade.”
“We’re still both part of the same generation.”
“What?”
“You know, we’re both Gen Y.”
“I had no idea.”
“Good thing I told you, so you can stop putting yourself down.”
“I’ll try to remember that,” Stuart replied with a grin.
At the sight of the hotel looming before us, my heart sank a little. I didn’t know why exactly, but I wasn’t ready for our time to be over. In some ways, Stuart was somewhat of a stranger to me, but at the same time, he was the only one I wanted to be with after my emotional roller coaster of a day. I needed his calming, protective presence. When Stuart eased the SUV into a reserved parking space in the hotel’s parking garage, I cut my eyes over to him in surprise. “You’re coming with me?”