He’d given up being an agent for her, and that had been the right choice. And now, she was... He shook his head. “You are making this too tempting.”
“No, I’m making this right, Henry. We both kept things hidden before, because we were scared, but there’s no reason to be anymore. We’re married. We are going to have a baby. That makes me so happy, and I want you to be just as happy.”
“I am.”
She shook her head. “You’re justifying, just like you said people do. I did that, too, right up until you walked into the church, and then I couldn’t remember a single reason why I couldn’t marry you. Except for one. That I didn’t want you to change because of me.” She hooked her hands beneath his suspenders and pressed her body up against his. “You gave me everything I wanted, and this is the only thing I can give you. Please let me. Please.”
In his job, more people had lied to him than told the truth. He knew the signs of both. Right now, she was being completely honest. This beautiful, amazing woman he’d married. “You really mean this, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do.”
He shook his head.
She cupped his face. “I told Jane that I couldn’t marry you, because I thought that would be as if I was trying to be someone I’m not.” She smiled brightly. “And Jane asked me, what if marrying you would be my chance to be who I am? She was right. This is who I am, Henry, the wife of an FBI agent, and I’m very, very proud of that.”
His heart swelled in his chest, full of love for this amazing woman. Not because she was giving him permission to be an FBI agent, but because she was right. She had found herself and because of her, he’d found himself, too. “You are wrong about one thing. This isn’t the only thing you can give me. You already gave me everything I wanted. You. You are more than everything I ever wanted.”
She kissed him, a long, passionate kiss that was full of promises. Future promises. As their lips parted, she said, “Just come home to me, safe and sound.”
Betty told herself she wouldn’t, but then, knowing that was impossible, gave in to tears as soon as Henry left. Only because she already missed him and would until he returned home to her.
There was no use going back to bed; she wouldn’t be able to sleep, so she took advantage of the empty bathing room down the hall, then packed her suitcase and straightened up the room while her hair dried.
It was amazing how good she felt. She missed Henry tremendously, and would until he returned, but that was part of the reason she felt so whole, so complete. It was all because of him. He had rescued her from so many things, including her own misconceptions.
She was afraid for his safety, but she also believed in him. Believed he’d come home safe and sound. The fact that Elkin had escaped was proof that Henry was the best agent. No one had ever escaped under his watch. That made her proud. Everything about him made her proud, especially being his wife.
She was about to leave the room when a knock sounded on the door. “Who is it?” she asked, already holding the knob in her hand.
“Esther and John, dear,” Esther said.
She opened the door.
John, nearly as tall as the door, had silver hair, and Esther, barely past his elbow, had snow-white hair, and both were smiling.
Smiling in return, because it would have been impossible not to, she said, “Good morning.”
“Good morning,” Esther repeated. “We thought we’d ask if you’d like to have breakfast with us, since Henry left with Nate.”
“We are terribly sorry about that,” John said. “And we promised Henry we’d keep an eye on you for him.”
They were good people; she could feel their love for Henry, and she loved that about them. “That is very kind of you, and I would love to have breakfast with you. Thank you.”
“Afterward, we could go look at that house Nate mentioned,” John said. “Or other ones, if you’re interested.”
Delight filled her. “I would like that very much.” She pulled the door closed behind her. “And I would love to hear more about Henry. About how you chose him for adoption, and everything, just everything about him.”
“Gladly,” Esther said while they walked down the hallway. “We would like to learn about you, too, dear. We feel so blessed that Henry found you. As blessed as we felt upon adopting him. That was hard for him, being fifteen and still living in the orphanage.”
John slid open the elevator door for them. “Remember how that headmistress tried to make us choose someone else? Someone younger?”
“Oh, do I,” Esther said with a miffed pucker. “I was so angry with her. We had met nearly every child in that place, and Henry had stolen our hearts. He was so easy to like, so polite and studious, and so...”
“Cautious,” John said, pulling the door shut and pushing the button.
“Yes, cautious,” Esther said. “That’s a good way to describe it.”
“That’s also what makes him an excellent agent,” John said. “He was so enthralled with the Bureau, would spend hours talking to Nate about it every chance he got. Nate warned us, they rarely hired young men, that it would be tough for him to get it. We told Henry he could study any subjects he wanted to study, become anything he wanted to become—he was the one who chose law enforcement, the Bureau.”
Betty nodded, fully believing that.
“We were careful, though,” Esther said, “because of how wary Henry was, since the first day he entered our home, and never pushed
