“I think that’s perfect,” Keely said. She glanced at Dawson.
“Don’t show Casp,” he said with a shake of his head. Then he grinned at Zoey. “Great job.”
Donald walked them to the door, enveloping first Keely and then Dawson in a rib-cracking hug. “Thank you. For everything,” he said gruffly. “You just say the word, anything you need, anytime.”
Dawson clasped the other man’s shoulder, his voice thick with emotion. “Everything is going to be okay.”
His words followed Keely out into the bustling hospital corridor, and she let them wash over her as they waited for the elevator. Zoey held her hand, Caspian walked with them in his cone of shame.
“Everything’s goingto be okay.”
The elevator arrived with a muted ding, but Keely paused, turning to Dawson. “It is, right? Going to be okay?”
“Yes,” Dawson said. “I’m not going anywhere.”
She believed him. Really, perfectly, completely.
Dawson had taken Zoey’s other hand, his gaze gentle but serious as it met Keely’s. “And you ... just try and escape me. I have resources.”
She laughed. Looked at Caspian. “He’s not a tracking dog.”
“Tell him that.” The dog had walked into the elevator and sat next to Zoey. “My guess is that he’s never leaving her side.”
Yeah, well ... she so got that.
Dawson pressed a kiss to her temple as the elevator descended, carrying them down, out of the dark shadow of the hospital and into the bright promise of a future together.
Otherwise known as. . . home.
