Mine at Last (20 page)
“You won’t,” Pearl said, then took her hand and squeezed it tenderly. “That’s why I need you to find Dominik for me. Fix this. Fix this now.”
“Pearl,” Shauna said woefully.
“Don’t Pearl me. It’s been two weeks now and you’re both so much in love you don’t know what to do with yourselves. Now, I don’t know what the problem is, but whatever it is, neither one of you is lying here in this bed, so I’m thinking it’s not life-and-death. Whatever happened between you needs to be over. Life’s too short for this nonsense. Now, am I gonna have to get up from this bed and get him for you?”
Shauna shook her head.
“Tell me, do you love Dominik?” Pearl demanded.
“Yes, so very much,” she said. “I can’t imagine my life without him.”
“You never have to. I love you now and always.”
Shauna turned around to see Dominik standing in the doorway. She stood slowly. Pearl smiled. “Now, would you two please get out of my room and let me get some rest?”
Shauna laughed. “Yes, I think we can do that.”
“Come on, I have something for you to see,” Dominik said.
Shauna turned and spared one last glance at Pearl smiling. She nodded. “Come back and see me tomorrow.”
“I will,” Shauna said.
“We will,” Dominik said, taking Shauna’s hand.
They stopped by his office to lock up as Margaret came walking down the hall, smiling. “Hey, I’m glad I caught up with you two. I have some wonderful news.”
“What?” Dominik said.
“Relso Health Care has made an open offer to buy pending a formal review.”
“What? How did that happen? I thought we couldn’t get another company,” Dominik said.
“Shauna made a call after Cura officially pulled out. It looks like Relso Health Care had been shadowing their progress. Cura walked away and Relso stepped right up. It seems like we just might have a deal. But there is one slightly major contingency.”
“What?” Shauna asked.
“They want us to immediately hire an operations manager to both oversee the buy and transition and then to keep the medical center on track. I told them I already had someone in mind. Because, of course, once she’s married to our permanent E.R. director—congratulations, by the way—she’s going to need a new job here in Key West.”
“Married?” Shauna said.
Dominik smiled. “I believe a number of hospital staff members are taking bets on our wedding date, the time and the weight of our firstborn. I heard Rodney’s taking the bets.”
Shauna shook her head.
“Carry on,” Margaret said as she quickly walked away after her usual quick wave.
“Married?” she said again.
“Yes, married as soon as humanly possible.”
“You know what? I kinda like that idea.”
“Me, too,” he said and kissed her tenderly. “Come on.”
“Now where are we going?”
“You’ll see,” he said as they waved and walked out. They drove to his house and kept going until they got to his bedroom. He took her hand and walked over to the balcony. He opened the glass door and they stepped outside just as the awesomeness of sunset exploded.
“Oh,” she whispered in awe.
“Phenomenal?” he queried. She nodded. “Good.” He took her hand and kissed it, placing a beautiful antique ring on her third finger. “Shauna Banks, would you be my wife?”
Tears streamed down her face. “Yes. Yes. Yes.” She leaped into his arms and he held her tight. “It’s beautiful.”
“What, the sunset or the ring?”
“Everything,” she said.
“No, you’re beautiful. And this is the beginning of our life together. I love you, Shauna, and I always will. We belong to each other. I’m yours and you are mine.”
She took a deep breath and nodded, then reached up and touched his face lovingly. “Yes, mine at last.”
* * * * *
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ISBN: 9781460306888
MINE AT LAST
Copyright © 2013 by Celeste O. Norfleet
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