Drake Sisters 05 - Safe Harbor

out of his heavier coat. "Take this, it will keep you warm."
    Hannah shook her head. "I'm used to the weather. I'm always sitting outside, remember? I don't want you to get cold."
    "It's my chance to show you how manly I am after I looked wussy."
    She let him enfold her in the warmth of his jacket. "Wussy? When did you look like a wuss?"

    "You know how horror movies make my stomach turn. The house gave me that same creepy feeling and your sisters picked up on it. Your manly man looked like a baby. It was humiliating. I've got to find a way to redeem myself."
    She laughed softly, the sound floating over the endless waves. Ripples appeared in the water as if sea creatures responded below. She tucked her hand in the crook of his arm, her blue eyes bright with amusement. For Jonas, Hannah created a magical world around her, and she always brought him into it. There was such beauty in the world, and when he was with her, he could see it so clearly.
    "Any man who's been shot as many times as you have should never worry about anyone calling him a wuss," she pointed out.
    "Getting shot means I'm slow, not brave."
    "You're brave. I don't like horror movies either. They give me nightmares. Joley's even worse. If she watches a scary movie, she has to sleep with the lights on and most of the time she won't sleep alone."
    "Then why do you watch them?"
    "Joley likes to be scared, and she can't watch them alone."
    "I don't know how you can make that sound perfectly logical."
    Her laughter brought streaks of silver flashing to the surface of the water. White foam curled along the edges of the waves as they curled back under. Spray leapt up around the rocks and burst through holes formed centuries earlier by the wash of the sea.
    Jonas inhaled it all and felt at peace.
    "You know what it is, Hannah? I have some kind of balance when I'm with you. My mind can slow down and enjoy the world around me. I realized it when I was a kid and things were so bad with my mom. I'd hear her crying—never in front of me—but in the night and when her door was closed. I couldn't do a thing—nothing at all—
    God—it made me feel so fucking helpless, and I'd come to your house. I'd go through every room until I found you. You didn't have to talk to me, but as long as you were there, my mind would quiet down and the rage that was burning a hole in my gut would subside."
    She slipped her hand into his, entwined their fingers together. "I'm surprised it wasn't Libby, but I'm grateful it was me."
    "It was definitely you. In those days, I didn't think about the whys, I was so confused.
    I didn't want Mom to die, I wanted her with me all the time, but she was in so much pain that I knew I was being selfish and that I should be able to find the strength to tell her it was okay if she let go."
    "Jonas." Hannah touched his face with gentle fingers. "She wanted to be with you. I know she did. I was over there a lot with my mother and her will was absolute."

    He drew her fingertips into his mouth and then kissed them, before letting her go.
    "That's why even when you make me crazy, I can still feel this… this…" "Peace" was the only word he could think of and she was staring up at him with stars in her eyes and all he wanted to do was kiss her.
    "Marry me, Hannah."
    She blinked up at him, shock driving the color from her face. "Jonas…"
    "No, Hannah, don't think. Just say it. Say you want to be my wife. You want my children. You want me to come home to you every night. Say it so I don't have to keep thinking if I say or do the wrong thing, I'm going to lose you." He shoved his hand through his hair, leaving it rumpled and in complete disarray. "Hell. I'm walking on eggshells with you."
    "You are? I hadn't noticed."
    "Do you want those things? Do you want to go to bed with me at night? Wake up with me in the morning? Drive me crazy looking all sexy and drowsy over your tea? Spend your life with me, Hannah. Grow old with me. We can sit on the porch in our rockers and I swear, baby, at the end of it all, you'll know no one could have loved you more or better. I can give that to you. I swear I can, baby. Love me back, Hannah."
    Jonas had never looked so vulnerable or so heart-breaking. He made her want to melt into his arms, get lost in his eyes, press close to the shelter of his body. She took a deep breath and let it out. "I love you with every single cell in my body, Jonas. With my heart and my soul. I want all those things with you, I do, but not