I was trying to read the expression on Micah’s face; something was wrong. I was starting to think the whole idea of stopping in Colorado Springs wasn’t such a good thing. “Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked before going back inside to get Ryan. He gave a weak smile and said yes.
Candace didn’t want Ryan going anywhere with Micah, but he finally put his foot down and told her to listen to what I had to say and he’d be back in a little while. She watched him from the window as he opened the passenger’s door, getting her first peek at Micah. When the door closed and my car literally sped away, she broke down crying.
“If he hurts him,” she warned, “I’m gonna kill your husband, ex-husband, or whatever he is!”
“He won’t hurt Ryan, I promise you. Please sit down and let me explain.”
We talked for a long time and the longer we talked the deeper the conversation went. By the time we’d finished, I was all the way back to when I was hiding out in Pensacola and met Micah for the first time. Then I talked about meeting Ryan for the first time. The conversation went from the end to the beginning and then she wanted to go back through it from beginning to end. Man, that girl was thick headed.
“I just want to know what’s taking them so long,” she said, biting her nails and glancing constantly to the street.
“When they do return are you going to be able to handle me introducing you to Micah?”
“Yeah, yeah. I kind of want to meet him now, but I just find this whole mafia thing really creepy and I don’t know if I’d ever completely trust someone who kills people for a living. I understand what you’re saying about him being raised that way, but actually different on the inside, but I don’t know,” she said with a nervous flutter of her hands, “it’s still creepy.”
I had always seen Candace as being a very strong-willed, an almost rock-steady type of person, but when it came to Micah, she was a bundle of nerves. I think deep down she was worried because she knew Ryan had beaten the crap out of Micah and she figured he would be the kind of guy to retaliate in some way.
We both breathed a sigh of relief when my Aero pulled in close to 6 p.m. They had been gone nearly five hours. My cell phone rang and it was Ryan’s number. He wanted to know if she was calm enough to bring Micah inside.
“Yeah, we’re fine. Come on in,” I replied.
Candace looked pale. She watched as Micah got out of the car and started for the front door. “Crap, he’s big!” she stated. “I can’t believe Ryan went after him.”
“Andy and Ty helped, I’m sure,” I added as they came through the door.
Both of them looked haggard, like they had done much more than talk. Candace went quickly to Ryan’s side as I took Micah’s hand and turned to her.
“Candace, I’d like you to meet, Micah-someone that I love very much.” Reminding her I wanted this to go well.
She reached a trembling hand out and accepted his and then invited us to have a seat.
“Actually,” Ryan spoke up, “it’s getting kind of late and I know Leese missed lunch coming here so I was thinking we’d go down to the Bistro for a bite to eat.”
I was pleasantly surprised and agreed immediately. The remainder of our evening was a little strained, but enjoyable. Candace seemed to be warming up to Micah by the time we finally said goodnight.
“So,” Ryan asked, gripping my arm as we walked back to the house, “you’re leaving out in the morning to start the trip home?”
“Yeah, Mom knows I’m coming, but I haven’t told her all the news,” I stated and then stopped walking. “Give me your hand,” I said, pulling Ryan’s palm toward my stomach. He gave a nervous glance to Micah and then allowed me to place it where the baby was pushing against. I watched the slow grin take over his face.
“That’s freaking weird,” he stated, “Candace, feel this.”
She placed her hand where his had been and she looked kind of squeamish, “What does that feel like-I mean on the inside?”
“Pretty much like it does on the outside,” I laughed, “Until he starts pushing on my bladder and then I have to go pee really bad.”
Micah just stood by with a very thoughtful expression on his face. I took his hand and resumed the walk as he pulled me tightly to his side and kissed my temple. “I love you,” he whispered, but I know Ryan and Candace both heard.
When we were ready to get into my car and leave, Ryan got emotional on me. He wrapped his arms around me and told me he loved me and that he’d always be there for me no matter what, “Be careful on the road and enjoy the trip home.”
I kissed his cheek, and told him we would, but then he did something that completely left me speechless. He took my chin in hand and kissed me-on the lips-with Micah and Candace both standing there! Then he raised the car door and held my hand as I slipped mutely into the passenger’s seat, “Bye, baby girl.”
I looked out the window at Candace’s surprised expression and I could tell she was getting ready to slug him as soon as they stepped into the house. Micah didn’t even seem fazed as he started the car and pointed it toward my place. I was waiting for him to say something, anything, but he didn’t so I finally spoke.
“What took you guys so long?”
“Do you realize how hard it is to convince someone that saw, first hand, what I did to you that I will never, ever do anything like that again?”
Okay, I understood his point, but I still felt he was hiding something and he evidently didn’t want to discuss it anymore.
We left my place in Colorado for the last time early the next morning. I hide the key outside and figured, since I had five months left on the lease, I’d tell Ryan where I’d left it and he could offer it to Andy and Ty for the remainder of the time. They were a little wild, but I knew they wouldn’t tear the place up. Naomi would get a little break from her boys as a thank you for all the good food she had prepared for Ryan and me.
I called Mom and told her I was coming home with a couple surprises and I would see her in a week or so. Micah said he wanted the return trip home to be slow. He turned the car south and we headed down into New Mexico. The scenery where we were traveling wasn’t all that spectacular (except for my view as I stared at Micah), but it contained a lot of open road so we could take advantage of a little unchecked speed. Micah didn’t do it much, but I could see the grin working the edges of his lips at one point when he got it up to one-ninety and then backed down.
“How hard have you pushed it?” he asked, the smile getting broader over my responsive little piece of machinery.
“They have a 250 mph club, but I’m not in it,” I laughed, watching the big smile on his face. “I stopped at 242, but I was out of runway.”
That killed the smile.
“You need to sell the car, Leese,” he was suddenly serious.
“I love this car,” I defended, “I can kick anybody’s-”
“Leese-it’s two passenger.”
“So? It’s perfect for us.”
“Where are we going to put the baby seat?”
“My Aston Martin is still sitting in Mom’s garage.”
“You still need to sell this thing. It’s a little too much temptation and you might get hurt or worse.”
I rested my hand on his arm, “Micah, I can handle it.”
“Not pregnant. Even I shouldn’t have done what I just did-not with you in the car. The problem is that it’s just too damn enticing to push the pedal down.”
“I’m keeping the car,” I replied stubbornly, but I didn’t want to totally be hard-headed about it. “Maybe it’ll sit in the garage and all I’ll do is look at it, but I don’t want to sell it.”
He frowned, but the discussion ended.
He found us a beautiful hotel near Carlsbad with awesome views of the grand vista that stretched before us. We enjoyed a good dinner and a fabulous night together, but he told me we needed some sleep because we were going to get up very early the next morning. Before dawn we drove up to a special place and watched as the millions of bats darken the pre-dawn sky to return to the safety of the caves.