Alex shoved his hands into his pockets and looked away. "Yeah, I'm not too happy about that, either."

"Cut out the phony apologies. Dave's not here. Go ahead. Tell me what you really think of me."

Alex let out a disgusted sigh, looking at the floor, at the window, at the wall, anywhere but at Lisa. "Oh, h.e.l.l, I don't know! I don't even know you! All I know is that Dave went to help you and ended up almost getting killed. What would you think if you were me?"

"I don't know," she said, her voice escalating. "I don't know what I'd think! All I can tell you is that the most horrendous moments of my life were spent on that plane, praying to G.o.d I could get him to a hospital fast enough to save his life. Dave has done things for me-" She felt herself choking up, and she swallowed her tears. "He's been there for me in ways you can't possibly imagine, and if I could go back and take that bullet for him I'd do it in a second, because there isn't anything- anything anything-I wouldn't do for him!"

Lisa crossed her arms and looked away, hating the feeling of trying to defend herself one more time. Would there be a time in her life when she didn't have to do that? Ever?

They stood there a long time, seemingly at an impa.s.se. Lisa knew the only thing that kept either of them from walking away was the tenuous connection they shared because of the one person they both loved.

Alex drew in a long breath and let it out slowly. "I watch out for my family, Lisa. Sometimes . . . Sometimes I get a little carried away. I'm sorry." He paused. "And I mean that."

Lisa tried like h.e.l.l to stay mad at him, but she couldn't. The very idea that he cared so much for Dave, even if he expressed it all wrong, was something that made her heart turn to mush.

"Look," Alex said. "I know right now that you'd just as soon spit on me as look at me, but still I'm asking you. . . ." He held out his hands. "Have a little pity, will you? If you don't go back into that room, there's no telling what Dave's going to do to me. I've had my nose broken once. I don't care to have it broken again."

Lisa rubbed the back of her neck, looking down the hall leading to Dave's room. An elevator pinged, and she heard the sound of a gurney being rolled down the tile hallway.

"It seems he's in love with you," Alex said.

Lisa turned back. "He told you that?"

"No. John told me that. It appears to be obvious to everyone but me."

Lisa felt a swirl of longing that she instantly shoved aside. "Here's some good news for you, Alex. Dave isn't really in love with me. He just thinks he is."

Alex shook his head. "No. Now, you're wrong about that."

"What?"

"Dave doesn't just think anything. He knows. He's been that way since he was a kid. He's calm, sensible, and the vast majority of the time . . ." Alex sighed. "He's right."

No. This situation had been unique. Explosive. Emotional. And once everyday life encroached again, things could easily change.

"Go back to him," Alex said. "He wants you there. And that means I want you there."

In that moment, Lisa realized that Alex didn't have to completely understand why Dave was doing something to support the fact that he was doing it. And she thought maybe that was the most loving thing of all.

Together they turned and walked back down the hall. She came into Dave's room. He gave her a look of relief and held out his hand. "Come here."

She walked back to his bedside. He tugged on her hand, easing her down to sit next to him.

"You two," Dave said, pointing to his brothers. "Out."

"We'll call the rest of the family," John said. "Let them know what's going on. We'll be back in a little while."

They left the room, and as soon as the door closed behind them Dave turned to Lisa. "Did he apologize?"

"Yes."

"Did he mean it?"

"Yes. I think he did."

"He d.a.m.ned well better have."

But it didn't matter what Alex had said or whether he was sincere or not. Lisa still couldn't help feeling self-conscious, as if she'd gotten stuck in the middle of someplace she just didn't belong.

"I told you how Alex flies off sometimes," Dave said. "But he always comes to his senses."

"He was just defending you. You should be glad about that."

"I might be, if I wasn't on the verge of decking him."

No matter how much Dave went on, still she could see just how much he and his brothers loved one another. She could sense it in every move they made, every word they spoke. And it made her feel even more like an outsider looking in.

"I want you to come back to Tolosa with me," Dave said.

Her heart was suddenly beating rapid-fire. "What?"

"We have to see where we go from here. We can't do that when we're four hundred miles apart."

"But I can't . . . I can't just leave my job-"

"There are aviation companies in Tolosa."

"Yes. I could work anywhere. But it's not just that-"

"Then what is it?"

Dave didn't know what he was doing. He was acting on emotion, just as he had been these past several days. And she'd been doing the same thing. No matter what terms she and Alex might have come to, she was never going to forget that look he'd given her earlier. The look that said: What in the What in the h.e.l.l have you done to him? Get out. You don't belong here. h.e.l.l have you done to him? Get out. You don't belong here. She was just so afraid that sooner or later Dave was going to come to that same conclusion. She was just so afraid that sooner or later Dave was going to come to that same conclusion.

"You need somebody . . ." She turned away. "Somebody who can be a mother for Ashley."

"Yeah. We are a package deal."

"Okay," she said on a shaky breath. "Let's talk about that. I don't clean house worth a d.a.m.n. I don't cook. I don't even know how to bake cookies unless I slice them off a roll, and even then I usually burn them. I don't know how to braid hair. Little girls like Ashley have to have their hair braided, right?"

"It's not terribly hard to learn."

"Symbolism, Dave. Go with me here, will you?" She let out a harsh breath. "Don't you get it? All that stuff isn't me."

"It could be."

"Well, maybe I don't want it to be. If we keep on with this, I'm afraid that someday you're going to want more from me than I'm willing to give. And then where will we be? Parenthood ties you down. Do I have to tell you that? And for that matter, so does marriage. I don't want anything to keep me from flying. It's everything I ever dreamed of."

Dave looked at her with a knowing expression, as if he could see right inside her. "Is it really everything you've ever dreamed of?"

Lisa froze. Of course it was. It had been the number one goal in her life, the thing she loved more than anything else.

But suddenly she knew it wasn't enough.

Flying wasn't everything she'd ever dreamed of. For a long time she'd told herself it was, but that wasn't true. Not even close. In the past week, she'd realized that there were other hopes and dreams inside her that she'd refused to acknowledge because she was so afraid of their never coming true.

"You need to fly," Dave said. "I know that. But when you come down to earth again, you need a place to come home to, where there's somebody waiting for you." He squeezed her hand. "Somebody who loves you."

Lisa couldn't believe what was happening here. They weren't in the middle of a desperate situation. Dave wasn't hanging in the balance between life and death. He wasn't in a state where blood loss was making him loopy.

This was the real thing. He loved her.

All at once she realized that being in that c.o.c.kpit wasn't freedom. It was safe, yes. She had complete control there, and n.o.body on earth could hurt her. But what a lonely, barren existence, when she had nothing else. She'd never kept it in perspective for what it was-an exciting profession that she enjoyed beyond measure. Instead, she'd made flying her life when it was really the place where she'd gone to run from life. Dave was right. What good did it do to go up in the clouds when there was nothing for her when she came back to earth?

But could she ever be the woman he needed? His daughter needed? No matter how much she wanted to be, the question was: Could she?

"What I told you a minute ago," she said. "It wasn't quite true."

"What's that?"

Her voice started to tremble. "I told you that if we kept on like this, someday you'd expect more out of me than I was willing to give you. That wasn't true. Not even close." She took a deep breath, tears filling her eyes. She looked away for a moment, hoping she wasn't going to cry.

"I'm willing to give you everything, Dave. My whole life. Everything. I love you. I've loved you for so long I don't remember a time when I didn't." She paused. "I'm just so afraid that everything I've got to give you won't be enough."

He pulled her into his arms. "Oh, baby, you have no idea how wrong you are about that."

"Are you sure?"

"A minute ago I told you that I wanted you to come to Tolosa because I wanted to see where we go from here. Actually, I already know where we go from here." He leaned away and took her face in his hands. "I want you to marry me."

Lisa just stared at him. "Y-You don't know what you're saying."

"I know quite well what I'm saying. I was shot in the leg, not in the head."

"This is so sudden-"

"Is it really?" His voice softened. "I've loved you for a very long time, Lisa. And you feel the same about me."

She stared into those dark eyes, and suddenly she couldn't speak anything but the truth. "Yes."

"Then you'll marry me?"

Lisa closed her eyes, suddenly feeling as if she were soaring straight up into the clouds. She opened her mouth to respond, but she felt so overwhelmed by it all that she couldn't speak.

"Just say it, Lisa. Say the word I want to hear."

He stared at her expectantly, but his gaze said he knew without a doubt what her answer was going to be.

She did, too.

"Yes," she whispered. "Yes." "Yes."

He smiled at her, a broad, radiant smile that took her breath away. "When will you come to Tolosa?"

"Oh, G.o.d, I don't know. . . ."

"One week?"

"That's fast."

"Not fast enough," Dave said.

"I suppose I'll meet the rest of your family then."

"Yes."

"And Ashley."

"Yes."

She took a deep, shaky breath. "Is it possible to be ecstatic and terrified all at the same time?"

He smiled. "You'll be fine, Lisa. Trust me. You'll be just fine."

chapter twenty-six.

The next evening, Adam lay on one of the double beds in a Monterrey hotel room, his head propped up on a pillow, staring into the darkness. He'd flipped out the light at ten-thirty, but now, forty-five minutes later, he still lay awake. Gabrio was sprawled on his stomach on the other bed. He'd probably fallen asleep the minute his head hit the pillow.

At least one of them could sleep.

Not that it didn't feel good to be out of the hospital. Adam's wound still ached after the surgery and he'd have to wear a sling for a couple of weeks, but eventually he'd be good as new. Dave and Lisa had made it out of Mexico with Robert in tow. It had been touch and go, but they were safe and Robert was in jail. Adam's attorney friend a.s.sured him he'd have a nonimmigrant visa for Gabrio by tomorrow afternoon, and then the two of them would be flying back to San Antonio. Everything was taken care of, but still Adam felt restless. Edgy.

All he could think about was saying good-bye to Sera. Because she'd insisted on staying in Monterrey until she saw him safely onto the plane, she was in the room next door, undoubtedly asleep by now. After tomorrow, he might never see her again.

"Hey, man. You still awake?"

Adam was surprised to hear Gabrio's voice in the darkness.

"Yeah," Adam said. "You, too?"

In the dim moonlight he saw the kid turn over, then tuck his arm behind his head. "What time are we flying out tomorrow?"

"Four-thirty."