“Tired and hungry.”
“I can see about getting you something to eat?” he offered.
“That would be okay,” she said with a sigh. “What time is it?”
He pulled out his phone and glanced at it. “It’s a quarter to one.”
She blinked a few times. “In the morning?”
“Yes. Do you remember what happened?”
She thought back to what her family had told her the last time she’d been awake.
“I was shot,” she said, still having a difficult time letting that sink in. “Do we know who?”
“Not yet. There is a statewide manhunt for the blue truck. Suzie’s new cameras at the store caught the truck’s plates. It is registered to a Kurt Collins. The man has several outstanding warrants.”
She ran the name over in her head, trying to remember if she’d heard it before.
“Robin has assured us that you don’t know any Kurt Collins,” he said, as if reading her mind.
She relaxed slightly. “Now what?” She felt her head growing groggy again.
He leaned closer and placed a kiss on her lips. “Now, you get better and I take you home. Then, the first day you feel up to it, we go car shopping.”
She smiled. “Sounds good so far.”
He kissed her again. “Then we take that new car, drive into the city, and buy an engagement ring, the kind of ring you’ve always dreamed of.” He kissed her slowly. “And when we’re done with that, we plan our dream wedding.”
She was smiling at this point. “And after that?”
He chuckled. “Well, then you’ll be Mrs. Kara…”
“Marie,” she supplied her middle name.
He nodded with a grin. “Mrs. Kara Marie Jordan. We’ll move into our dream home.” He kissed her again. “And have…” He frowned. “How many kids do you want?”
She thought about it. “Three.”
He tilted his head slightly. “I can deal with three.” He nodded. “Just as long as you like just as many dogs.”
She laughed and then winced. “I love dogs.”
“Okay, then we get started on our family. And live happily ever after.”
“Oh?” She shifted slightly, this time realizing it hadn’t hurt as much.
“Of course, this fantasy world is all contingent on you getting better,” he warned. “We can’t start our perfect life until you get some rest.”
“And food,” she reminded him.
“Right.” He leaned over and hit the button on the side of the bed. When the nurse’s voice came over the speaker, he asked for something to eat for her. “There. With food on the way, is there anything else I can do for you?”
She smiled and let out a relaxed sigh. “Tell me that you love me.”
His smile grew. “I do,” he said. “I love you.” He kissed her again.
“I love you,” she replied. “I want to have the happy life you’ve described. I want it all.”
It took an entire week before she was finally released from the hospital. The days dragged on.
She was sore and didn’t like to move her arm much. Her head didn’t hurt as bad as her arm did and, within a few days, she’d removed the large bandage, which blocked some of her vision, and replaced it with a smaller bandage.
Conner had tried to entertain her by reading to her or watching movies with her. He had barely left her side. He’d only left her to go into work twice and had taken the rest of the days off.
Her family visited her as often as they could, even though she knew they were in the middle of moving into the rental home in Pride.
Robin kept her filled in on their work and had said that Emma Auston, a recent high school graduate, had filled in for her while she was out. Robin had hinted that they could afford to keep the girl on even after Kara returned to work.
She had also been visited by every member of the Jordan clan. Each family had brought her flowers or gifts, wishing her a speedy recover.
Her mother, it was determined, would be her physical therapist once she was released from the hospital. She hadn’t moved her left arm a lot since waking up.
Her mother kept trying to get her to move her fingers and each time she’d asked her to do something, she was easily able to obey.
As they drove home in the new snow, Conner filled her in on the progress of their new home.
“They’re pouring the foundation as soon as the snow stops,” he told her. “The framing should only take a day or two.”
“That fast?” she asked, resting her head back. It had been almost a full week since she’d been outside in such bright lights, and her head was beginning to ache. She was also so exhausted from taking her first shower and getting dressed all by herself that she thought she could sleep for days.
“Yeah, framing is the fastest part. I thought we’d swing by there and have a look tomorrow.”
“That would be nice.” She stifled a yawn.
“You need to rest,” he warned.
They parked in their spot in front of their apartment, and he surprised her by lifting her into his arms and carrying her up the stairs.
He set her gently on the sofa, and she felt relieved to be home. To be there, with him, knowing that they had so much to do in their future.
“We have enough frozen meals to last us two months. I think everyone in Pride delivered something for us to eat.” He sat down beside her. “So, we won’t have to worry about cooking.” He wrapped his arm around her. “We even have half a dozen pies in the freezer,” he added with a smile.
“That sounds… wonderful.” She thought about the prospects of not needing to cook for a while.
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
“Tired.” She rested her head on his chest. “And relieved to be home.”
“There is one more thing I forgot to mention.” He chuckled when she groaned.
“I think I’m done with surprises.” She sighed and rested back.
“This one is a good one. I’ll be right back.” He got up and disappeared into the bedroom.
She tucked her legs up on the sofa and pulled the blanket over herself while she watched the snow falling outside.
She had just closed her eyes and felt herself drifting off when something cold touched her face.
Jumping slightly, she opened her eyes and laughed when a small black puppy licked her face.
Conner was holding the little thing over her, laughing.
“His name is Ralph,” he said with a grin.
“That is a terrible name.” She laughed and took the small thing from him, careful to only use her right arm since her left one was tucked against her body in a cast. The puppy nibbled on her chin, making her laugh.
“Carrie and Josh claims it’s because he has a knack for barfing up everything he eats.” Conner laughed and sat beside her, getting the puppy’s attention.
“How about you leave the naming to me?” She looked into the puppy’s dark eyes. The little thing wiggled out of her hold and moved over to Conner. She watched the two play for a moment. When Conner stood up and moved over to put one of the meals someone from town had cooked for them into the oven, the little dog followed him around as if eager to see what he was doing and where he was going.