Page 78 of North

“Since Nigeria.”

She shook her head. “Since my kid sister, Hannah, disappeared at the age of six from the Minnesota State Fair.”

He stared at her. He’d heard this story from Jake, but it had never really clicked. “How old were you?”

“Chloe and I were nine. It was back in the days when, I don’t know, maybe everyone thought the world was a safer place. My parents gave us each twenty-dollar bills, and Chloe and I went into the food barn for lunch and…well, Jake went in with Hannah. And she got lost in the crowd.”

Vaughn had finished his business and they kept walking.

“We never found her. And it just…it’s haunted me. That sense that, in a single moment, your whole life can change. Evil can swoop in and destroy it. My mom was wrecked, of course, and Chloe and I both dedicated ourselves to trying to make her, I don’t know…feel better, I guess. My mom is a tough woman, and she tried to hide her pain, but I think seeing her suffer is what drove me into trying to help people around the world. Teaching English got me into foreign countries, and then I started the humanitarian work. I spent most of my life in the aftermath of that, helping people deal with the fallout of evil.”

He saw her then, again, taking care of Colt and Fraser, the two security guys injured in the Boko Haram camp. And later, tending to people whose lives had been destroyed by the landslide in Mariposa.

“God designed you for exactly what you do, Selah. You love mercy⁠—”

“And then I got kidnapped in Nigeria. And I think…I think maybe I shoved it all down. Didn’t want to face it.”

“Face what? The trauma?”

“The anger. The fury. The fear, but…” She wiped her cheek again. “When I turned around that day, in the village in Mariposa, and saw the kid with the machete, I wasn’t…I wasn’t afraid, North. I was furious.”

He had nothing.

“And then you shot him, and I…” She shook her head. “I was relieved.”

“He was going to kill you.”

“I know. But at the time, I was so horrified at my relief that I…I got angry at you. But I wasn’t running from you. I was running from me. From”—her hand touched her heart—“anger. And helplessness. And even…”

“The dark places inside.”

She nodded. “And…I shouldn’t have made you feel like it was your fault. Which brings me back to…I’m sorry.”

“I wish you hadn’t seen that.”

“But I did. And I met a part of myself I didn’t like, I think. I always thought I just wanted peace. But I realized that given the same situation again, I would⁠—”

“No.” And he didn’t know why her words lit inside him. Why suddenly he couldn’t breathe. “No, Selah.” He stepped up to her. “Your weapons are not mine. Your weapons are mercy and forgiveness. These are the things I need from you.”

He touched her face, his eyes roaming hers. “We can have peace even in the face of war—if we know when to fight and why. That’s the real battle. I need you to be strong and wise and brave. The rest—that’s what I’m here for.”

He took a step toward her, the dog pulling at the leash.

She closed the gap between them. “Next time, I’ll be more careful.”

He smiled. “No, you won’t.”

“Okay, maybe not.” Then she raised herself up on her toes, put her hands on his chest, and kissed him.

A whisper, really, on his lips, sweet and soft and precious, and it was all he could do to not drop the leash and sweep her up.

As it was, he put his arm around her and pulled her up to himself and kissed her back. Not quite as whisper-soft.

In fact, he dove in, hungry, suddenly ravenous for her touch, needing her to hold on to him, to never let go. A small sound of relief emitted from him and he deepened his kiss, and she wound her arms around his neck and let him.

Why hadn’t he asked this woman to marry him yet?

A honk jerked his head up.

RJ had driven up, leaning her elbow out of the driver’s-side window. “Seriously. I just asked you to walk the dog. Get in before this turns into a PG movie. For Pete’s sake, my children are watching.”

He looked down at Selah and grinned.

“For the kids,” she said, and he laughed and called the dog.