Chapter 30

Chapter Thirty

Ella

We got settled out on the porch swing. It was colder tonight, and I pulled a blanket around me. "I'm willing to talk about everything with you," I said. "That shows that I want this to work. I don't know if you realize that, but it does."

Noah nodded and squeezed my hand. "I do realize that. I want to be open with you about my past."

For the next three hours, we poured out our hearts to each other. I talked about my marriage and the reasons I'd married Brian and then divorced him. I let myself be open and vulnerable. It was hard, but sharing it with Noah made it easier.

Then I asked, "Do you still want to have a future with me?"

Noah let out a light laugh and pulled me into his arms. "I've said this before: our future should've started eight years ago." He gazed into my eyes, and despite the surrounding darkness, I could clearly feel this man's intensity. I needed to know every part of him as well. "I want your future. I want your past. I want anything you want to give me."

I kissed him like I could drink in all the security, the love, the pain, the passion. I wanted it, even if I didn't know how to handle it.

He pulled back and grinned. "I love you."

Tears filled my eyes. "I love you too."

He gave me another kiss, his eyes blinking rapidly. "What do you want to know about me?"

I asked the hard questions—the ones about his military service, and the ones about his past relationships. I asked him how they had begun, what they had been like, and why they'd ended. It wasn't as hard as I thought.

The real surprise was when he told me he had never gotten over me. It was weird that it could make me sad and happy at the same time.

"You are dear to me, Noah. That might sound old-fashioned, but I mean it."

"Nothing sounds old-fashioned to me." He took my hand, and something in the air between us charged with electricity. "Ella?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm going to ask you to marry me. Not yet, but be thinking about that."

I sucked in a long breath, and my heart pounded even faster. "Okay."

A big smile spread across his face, and he gently kissed me. "That's a good answer."

I couldn't help but laugh.

He wiped a tear from my cheek and said, "I think you feel the same way I do."

"I do, but let's take a couple days and let people get used to us before … well, before you ask that question."

He laughed. "Okay, but a couple days is all you have, and I'm going to be with you as much as I can."

"I think I can handle that."

"I do have to tell you one thing. Well, I guess you can tell me what you think. Canyon offered me a job at search and rescue."

"What?" My mind went years back to when everything had happened with my brother.

"I know," he said, seeming to read my mind. He put a hand over mine. "I wasn't sure about it, but my siblings seem to think that with my past and everything, I would be good at it."

I tried to process his words. "I'm not going to lie. I still have old feelings about that day with my brother."

"I do too."

"I also know that my brother made a choice that day. I was there." I found myself crying again.

When I looked up, there were silent tears sliding down Noah's cheeks.

I brushed one away. "I think you'd be great at the job."

"You do?"

"Of course I do. Plus, that means you'd be here with me permanently, right?" I felt sort of silly for asking, but I had to know.

He leaned in and pressed his lips gently to mine. "That's the plan."

We held each other for a few minutes. Then he pushed back and stood. "Let's get to bed. We both have work tomorrow."

I was surprised. "You already have work?"

He pulled me to my feet. "Yep."

"That's cool."

"You mean it?"

"Yes, I do. But Noah? We can take it slow for a bit, right?"

Noah kissed my head. "Right. Right up until I officially ask you to marry me. Then we take it fast."

I laughed, both loving and hating his teasing.

"Okay?" he asked, putting both hands on my face and peering into my eyes.

"Okay," I said.

There was no way to resist the idea of being married to him.

The next week flew by, and true to Noah's word, he took things as slow as he could take them. We both went to work and then met up for dinner. Sometimes we would go out, and sometimes we would eat back at my house.

It was amazing how everything fell into place. I loved having him in my home, sleeping next to my bed, usually with our hands interlinked until we fell asleep. It was so normal and comfortable. Minus the air bed.

It was so wonderful, I almost forgot that someone had broken in.

Saturday morning at the hospital, I got a call from Damon on my cell phone. Usually I let personal calls go to voicemail, but I had a feeling I should get this one. "Hello?"

"You're not going to want to hear this, but Canyon told me I could tell you. The search and rescue got called out, and right now, as we speak, a team is being sent to the falls to save a hiker they have identified as your mother."

I was whiplashed in so many ways. "My mother?"

"There is a group assembled next to the guardrail where …"

Where your brother fell.

I clocked out. "I'm on my way."

Thankfully, Mercy was next to me and heard everything. She called out to Dr. Chavez and told him we were taking the rest of the day off for an emergency.

She grabbed our stuff and took my hand. "Let's go."

When we showed up, there were probably fifteen people assembled. Many of them were search and rescue people that I didn't recognize. We rushed through the crowd to Noah's family, who were all watching as my mother freestyle climbed, a backpack hanging from her back.

"Mom!" I called out.

Her head turned, and for a second her grip loosened and she was hanging by one hand. The whole crowd cried out, but then she got her hand back in place.

I felt horrible. She had almost fallen because I'd called out to her.

Mercy held me in her arms. Then Noah's parents were there, hugging Mercy and me.

"It's okay," his father said.

"How is this happening?" I asked, frozen with terror. Tears misted my eyes. My head spun.

Noah's mom let out a low whistle. "Armstrongs. Let's have a prayer."

McCrae, Kayla, and Damon gathered around us, with Jason and Trent too. Noah's father said a prayer, asking for my mother's protection and care. He asked for Noah's safety and for search and rescue to succeed.

The prayer ended in the name of Jesus Christ. Then we all said amen, and a peaceful feeling permeated the whole area. Where I was once full of shock and adrenaline, now I was completely calm.

The group of people loosened, and I watched as Noah went down a few more notches on the rope. He held out a hand to my mom. She stared at it.

"Please, Lord, save her," I whispered.

Finally, my mother took his hand, and Noah grabbed her fully around the waist. The whole crowd sighed with relief.

Canyon dropped next to Noah with a harness. He helped my mother into it and got her buckled. Then a group of people from the top pulled her up. Only when they had all climbed back to safety did I realize that tears were streaming down my face.

"It's a miracle," Mercy said. "It's one of God's miracles."

Mercy drove us to the hospital. Damon told us over the phone that everyone would meet us there. I didn't know what to think or feel. Why in the world had my mom been climbing that cliff face? And with no safety equipment?

All I knew was that I was grateful Noah saved her life. I just didn't understand why she had felt the need to do the very thing that had sent my brother to his death.