“We have to go,” The EMT said. “You can meet us at the hospital.”
Lily gave Harrison and her dad a thumbs-up even though the EMT’s urgency had her concerned. Beyond them, she saw Garrett climbing into the second ambulance under his own steam, Chelsea right beside him. Then the rear doors cut off her view, and in another few seconds, the ambulance lurched into motion. She was pleased to see the second one’s flashing lights right behind them.
Ethan took Lily’s hand in both of his, and pressed kisses to it. Everything had taken on a dreamy quality, and consciousness was a fraying thread.
He bent closer, and spoke softly, his deep voice caressing her ear. “I’m never leavin’ you again, Lily Ellen. I’d appreciate it if you’d return the favor, and not leave me, either.”
She blinked up at him. “Imma pass out soon,” she said. “Or did I already? Is this a dream?”
“It’s a nightmare. I almost lost the only woman I’ve ever loved, and the only one I ever will. I got a lot more to say to you, girl, but before you go passin’ out, I had to get that much said. I love you. Don’t deserve you, but I love you.”
She pressed a hand to his bristly cheek and smiled. “I love you, too.” She tried to say it, at least, as the thread of consciousness broke and she drifted away.
3 days later
Ethan stood at the ruins of Two Lilies Honky-Tonk.
The original structure had burned to the ground, and only charred beams and ash remained. The new addition had sustained such heavy damage to the inside that it would need to be gutted, but the external structure was mainly intact. There was a dozer working to clear the debris.
A car door slammed. He turned. And there was Lily walking toward him. She had a bandage around her head, wore jeans, boots, and a lightweight red flannel shirt unbuttoned over a tee.
She walked right up to him.
He said, “I thought they were keepin’ you one more night?”
“Yeah. So did they. But once they told you to leave and let me get some rest, I saw no more point in hanging around.” She looked over at the ruins of their place, shaking her head slowly. “I’m glad everyone’s okay. I know what a blessing that is, but I’m pretty devastated you never even got to see it.”
“I saw some. Willow took a pile of pictures before things went bad. They were saved in her cloud. It was beautiful, Lily. Perfect. The lettering over the archway—shoot, I loved it so much my heart hurt.”
She stared at him, right into his eyes, and he stared back. There were two feet of space between them and he didn’t know whether to close it up or not. He’d made a pretty powerful declaration in the ambulance. And she hadn’t responded, so he didn’t really know where he stood.
But he was planning to find out.
“You seen the headlines?” she asked.
He nodded. “They got Nathan Silver dead to rights on arson and attempted murder. He’s going away for a long time.”
She came closer, put a palm on his cheek. “That’s nice, but not what I meant. You are all over the news. Quinn wants to throw you a parade, you and your brother.”
He shook his head slowly. “You saved everyone in there, Lily. You and Garrett, and then you saved him too. He showed me the bruise on his chest, you know. The shape of your little hand. Said he’s gonna get it tattooed there so it never fades.”
She lowered her head. “And then you saved us both. You saved me, the one everybody thinks is a light-beaming angel, and you saved your father, the most loved man in Quinn County. I don’t know how your delusions of unworthiness will ever survive it.”
They were walking side by side toward where the cellar stairway opened into the earth. A lot of ash and rubble had fallen in there. Lily looked around, spotted some tools, and went to pick up a pair of shovels.
“Let’s dig this out,” she said, handing him one. “See if your surprise survived.”
They started digging, clearing debris from the basement stairway.
“I didn’t know you’d done anything in the basement,” he said.
“You said you trusted my judgment. I made an executive decision.”
She went into the basement and tried the door, and then he helped, and they got it open. “We need a flashlight.”
“Here, we’ll use my phone.” He turned on the flashlight feature, then he went through it and aimed the light around the room they had entered.
“It’s okay!” she breathed. “It’s not even damaged. Oh, gosh?—”
