Eleven.”
“D-Eleven?”
“The missing duck. The one Agent Hooper found in the cabin.”
“Right.”
“The lab in Wisconsin said none of the ducks had symptoms of the avian flu, and I’m flying with D-Eleven to the national lab there to re-create Jonah’s research.” She sighed heavily. “It’s going to take years. But with D- Eleven, we’ll be much further along.”
Duke said to Nora, “Jim Butcher agreed to donate all materials to the lab, and he’s taking a job with a biotech company in the Bay Area as their spokesman.”
Nora smiled. “I’m happy for you, and for the project. It’s good news.”
“It is. I’m leaving tomorrow, so I need to pack. Ian isn’t happy, but I told him I’d find him a job.” She smiled. “Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and the bank account shrink-he’d already planned on flying out three times before Christmas!”
She hugged Duke and then Nora, and left.
“Come with me,” Duke said, and took Nora’s hand.
He led her out into the rose garden in the courtyard of the hospital. “What’s wrong, Nora?”
“Nothing.”
He stopped, sat her on a bench, and kissed her. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m tired. I’m still worried about Quin, though she’s doing better. I’m sad that fifteen thousand acres were destroyed. And-I didn’t want Maggie to die.”
“I know-but she tried to push you over the cliff.”
“But the thing is-I don’t feel guilty. And that bothers me.”
“Sweetheart.” Duke pulled Nora into his arms and breathed in deeply. “I love you so much. For your compassion and your determination and your honesty.” And for so much more. Spending the rest of his life with Nora would make him so happy.
He kissed the top of her head. She’d had a concussion, and that first night Duke had worried greatly about her. Between the smoke in the mountains, the running, being hit with rocks, she’d been in worse shape than either of them thought at the time. It made him realize that Nora was as much a part of his family as Sean.
He kissed her again.
“I have a little surprise.” He pulled an envelope from his back pocket and handed it to her.
“What?”
He smirked. “Open it, or don’t you like presents?”
She stared at the envelope for a long minute. He pushed her chin up. “Don’t you dare cry on me Nora, it’s good news.”
“I know-I just don’t-nothing,” she ended abruptly.
“You don’t get a lot of presents, do you?”
She shook her head. “I’m being silly.”
“Open it.”
She did, and she stared with wide eyes. “What?”
“You can read.”
“It’s an airline confirmation receipt. Florida?”
“Look at page two.”
She flipped it over. “Hotel confirmation. The Disneyland Hotel?”
“Just a monorail ride from the park.”
“We’re going to Disneyland? When?”
“We leave in two days. Don’t tell me you can’t leave on the spur of the moment, because-”
“I wouldn’t. I can’t believe-I’m excited.”
“You are? Do you want to smile then? Because I can’t tell that you’re excited.”
She threw her arms around his neck and squeezed him tightly.
“Better?”
“Much.”
She sighed contently and rested her head on his shoulder. Duke smiled over her head, promising himself that he would give Nora presents and trips to fun places every chance he got.
“I learned something this week,” Nora said.
“That you love me?”
“Yeah, that too.” She kissed his neck.
“What else?”
“Home isn’t my house or your house or my things,” she said. “My entire life, I was looking for a place to be home. And it’s not a place at all. It’s a person. You’re my home, Duke. Wherever you are, I will be happy as long as I’m with you.”
