“You don’t hate me?”

  Their whole conversation had been kept in whispers, for both their head issues. Doug found it was less painful, and was kicking himself for not keeping things quiet from the moment he woke up.

  “That would be impossible. None of this was your fault. You left an abusive husband, and I know you’re the kind of person who’s going to take blame for the things he did in his claim of love for you, but this and everything else you told me about is on him.”

  Lizzie hadn’t seen the photo Casey brought to his attention. She didn’t know how sick the bastard was going into her reunion, which Doug still thought was a good thing. Along with the lewd positioning of the nurse’s body, Tommy had written a number sign and six on the picture, then questioned whether “her protector” would be number seven.

  He’d been told someone else took that distinction, but Doug had been prepped for number eight. He was too hardheaded to die, though, and Tommy had forgotten to work that fact into his calculations. Doug had never met the guy, but he was thrilled he no longer sucked in air.

  “That doesn’t change the fact they died because of me. Or that you were hurt because your association with me.”

  “You mean the fact that I’m in love with you,” Doug said to interrupt where she was going. “This is the first time I’ve come across someone purely evil before, but I don’t doubt there are more like him out there. I was just thinking to myself that I was glad he’s dead. Not only because of what he did to you and those other people, but if he was still alive, you’d have to sit across from him when he got his day in court, and I think he’s made you suffer enough.”

  “You mentioned him being pure evil. Has it crossed your mind that his DNA is in Ben? What if at some point he just snaps and starts doing crazy things like Tommy?”

  Doug could tell it was a question she’d wrangled with before. She didn’t have to consider that kind of thing by herself anymore, and if Doug did nothing else to help make her life easier, he hoped he could alleviate some of the fears that had festered over the years.

  “I’m a firm believer in nurture over nature. Tommy may have helped create him, but you’re the one who has shaped the man he will someday become. He’s only two, and already he shows how much real love he carries in his heart. I mean he’s putting up with my mother, so he has to have a heart of gold.”

  It wasn’t something to joke around about, knowing how scared Lizzie was of the future, but the fact had to be said. No one who looked at Ben would think for a second he would turn into a cold-blooded killer. Of course people probably thought the same thing about Tommy at that age, but there had to be someone who taught him it was okay to hit women and kill people. Ben wasn’t going to have someone like that in his life.

  “I don’t know what your problem is with your mom, but you should probably get over it. She’s already mentioned they were going to start looking into real estate down here, so they could be closer to us.”

  Doug thought to himself that he wanted to look over to the machines around him, and actually found his neck follow through with his wish. Whatever swelling had been causing problems had to be down to just minor inflammation. Movement, as well as just being awake and breathing, hurt, but some things didn’t seem to need a whole fight to accomplish.

  “Which one of these things is keeping me alive? I think I may try to pull the plug later if she brings that subject up in my presence.”

  It was hard enough having her there in the room every time he woke up. If she lived down the street and came over whenever she wanted to borrow a cup of sugar, he’d go insane.

  “Thankfully none of the machines are keeping you alive. What did she do to you that was so bad you’re trying to nominate her for the worst mother of the year award?”

  Doug let a fake shiver travel over his body before he thought better of it. It hurt worse than turning his neck did, even the second time he did it so he could see Lizzie again.

  “I think that’s probably a story to share when she isn’t within hearing distance. I’m telling you, that woman has hearing like a bat. I wouldn’t doubt she’s heard every single thing we’ve said in here.”

  Yes, it was an exaggeration, but was it that far off from the truth? As far as Doug was concerned, no. There were at least a hundred times when he’d said something in the privacy of his room, and knew she was nowhere near the door, that came back to bite him later. He wasn’t the only one who noticed, either. There were a couple of his friends growing up who refused to have sleepovers at his house because she mentioned something they’d said.

  “I’m sure you don’t believe it, but you’ve got to be embellishing. You already know that my parents were hardly around, so I was shipped from relative to relative. I never had someone like your mom who believed in me the way she does you.” Doug tried to look doubtful, but Lizzie reached up and stretched his lips into a smile before she continued. “She welcomed me to the family when she met me. I tried to tell her we weren’t married or anything, but she just waved a hand. She said that if her son told her that he was marrying a woman, he was going to do it, and that woman had to be the most beautiful woman in the world.”

  Lizzie started sniffling, and Doug wasn’t going to let the new tears in her eyes get away from him. She’d somehow managed to stop the ones before from sticking around too long, but something else activated them.

  “Don’t cry. It hurts me to see you cry and it physically hurts to try to erase your tears.”

  Without total control of things, his wiping attempts were a joke. She reached up and held his hand to direct it. It wasn’t exactly comfortable, but he didn’t have to fight with his muscles.

  “Sorry, what she said next made me cry then too. She told me that after seeing me, she knew you were right. Even as messed up as my face looks, and believe me, I’ve looked in a mirror, so I know, she still claimed I was beautiful.”

  “For once I’m going to have to agree with her. I thought you were beautiful from the moment I saw you, and nothing is ever going to change that.”

  Lizzie took his hand and rested it on the swollen side of her face. She tentatively rested her free hand on the same side of his face.

  “I don’t know what I would’ve done if you didn’t walk into my life that day. He was already there, and it was only a matter of time before his plans played out. If you wouldn’t have shown me what I was missing, things probably would’ve ended differently.”

  “Meaning you think you would’ve ended up his wife again?” Doug waited for her to nod, and saw that her eye filled with a little pain from the action. “I don’t believe that for a second. You were the one who had the strength to leave in the first place, because it was right for you and your son. I wasn’t part of that, and I know you’d find a way to do what was right for Ben.”

  “I don’t know why you see the good in me, but I’m happy you didn’t find it in someone else first.” She slowly leaned down and kissed his lips. She didn’t push hard or let them stay connected long, but Doug could feel the spark he loved.

  When she was done, she put his hand down at his side and moved hers to his chest. Then she snuggled her face into his neck. He wasn’t ready to stop looking at her, but they really hadn’t gone over what her doctor had ordered as far as resting. She’d mentioned horrible headaches, and moving her head around wouldn’t help that, so it wasn’t like he could complain about not keeping eye contact while they talked.

  “You say that like it’s hard to see,” Doug said, jumping back on the thought that he was the only one in the world that saw good in her. “I think you’re probably the only person who can’t see how perfect you are. My friends love you, my parents evidently love you, I’m sure if Mom does, Dad does too, and we all know how I feel about you.”

  “I’m not sure about all your friends, but the half dozen in the waiting room don’t seem to hate me, and at least two of them are your teammates.”

  “Well, you know Klinger’s just excited to hear I’m going to be out at least part of the season.”

  Doug doubted he’d play a single game, and his doctor didn’t know he was moving around a little, so a prognosis hadn’t been shared. Well, as long as his mom hadn’t run and blabbed to the doctor, he didn’t know.

  His mind rambled for a second before he finished the thought he’d been moving towards by joking about Klinger. “I know she’s not one of the players you mentioned, but Casey moved heaven and earth to find you. I think she called in every favor she could to track you down.”

  “Her uncle is the governor, isn’t he?”

  Doug was a little unsure where the question came from. Casey had a hand in finding their location and making sure the police knew which fake name Tommy had used at the hospital, but that was all she’d shared with him.

  “Yeah, they have kind of a weird relationship. He annoys her and seems to enjoy that.”

  “I thought so. The guy trying to talk sense into Tommy said the governor had requested my safe return, and that I was friends with his niece. For some reason I didn’t think it was Annie.”

  Doug had on a whim thought about seeing if Casey could pull strings in that direction when he’d first heard about the threat Tommy posed, but he’d decided to leave it at her discretion because he knew she’d hate asking him. The fact that she had without a suggestion just reiterated how amazing the group of people he counted as friends could be.

  “So, has the doctor said anything about keeping you awake? It probably wasn’t a good idea for them to leave two people suffering concussions without supervision, but if you’re cleared to sleep, I’d love to take a nap with you. As much as I love talking, it wears me out.”

  “Same here, but I love hearing your voice. I’ve fallen asleep a couple times, so they aren’t too worried about that.”

  “Good, you just relax right there and we’ll start the rest of our lives together when we wake up.”

  They exchanged I love yous and let the sounds in the room be an odd lullaby. All Doug cared about was the fact that she was back in his arms and seemed to be relatively unfazed by her ordeal. Sure, there were some insecurities that he hoped to erase from her mind, but he had forever to make her see what everyone else saw in her.

  Epilogue

  “Are you sure this is the right thing to do?” Lizzie asked as anxiety rolled through her body. To say she was nervous was an understatement.

  She, Doug and Ben were standing in a tunnel that would lead them out to the ice. They’d practiced everything a couple of times during the rehearsal, but they hadn’t done it in front of a crowd that had just sat through a Tigers win at home. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to go through with things with thousands of people watching. It was hard enough with a dozen people staring at her.

  It was the first time Doug would set foot on the ice with fans in the stands since his injuries. He still wasn’t a hundred percent, but he was tired of waiting for them to get married. Five months did seem like forever to make it official, but every time she suggested they find a judge to marry them, he claimed he had something else planned.

  When he’d finally revealed exactly what that option was, she’d asked if someone had hit him in the head. Then he explained that even though she’d met his friends and biological family, she hadn’t been introduced to the rest of his family. About a month into the season, he took her to a game, and she understood what he meant. Everywhere they walked, people recognized him and wished him a speedy recovery.

  That didn’t take into account the number of flowers that started showing up in the hospital and at their house when it was revealed he’d been in a car accident. Probably half of them had been from female fans, and Lizzie had to learn what jealousy felt like, which amused Doug. He ended up announcing to the world he was engaged the day after the florists had trouble keeping up with orders. If they’d only announced it before, those women would’ve saved tons of money.

  “I think there’d be some disappointed people if you backed out now, but I’d understand. It was a lot to ask, but I thought it was the furthest thing we could have from your first wedding.” Doug said as he replied to her question about it being the right thing, which she almost forgot she’d asked after she got caught up thinking about all the flower arrangements. Maybe that was why she’d put her foot down when it came to not having flowers for their wedding, the smell of flowers still filled their house.

  He had a point about his reasoning. She couldn’t possibly relate the two days together if she walked out onto the ice in her pearl sheath dress. She hadn’t wanted something big and bulky that she could trip over, but the minimum movement the sheath gave her legs worried her too. They wouldn’t actually be walking on the ice, but falling in front of that many people was something she’d never live down.

  “Maybe they didn’t all stay for the wedding.” Lizzie didn’t really believe the words, but she was trying to convince herself there was a chance. Knowing the large fan base Doug had, at least a thousand people would wait for the vows.

  “Well, I doubt anyone stayed from the other team, so you never know, the stands could’ve cleared out some. What do you think, buddy? Should we go out there?”

  Ben didn’t really know what he was in store for. He’d turned three in the months since the accident, and had a small growth spurt. He liked to think it was a big accomplishment, but other than including subjects a little more and using complete sentences, Lizzie hadn’t noticed much difference.

  “Are we going to skate?” Ben pulled at his collar as he asked. He was dressed in a black tuxedo with a white undershirt, just like Doug. They both looked devilishly handsome in their getups, and Lizzie was trying to think of ways she could get them to wear suits more often. Not that they didn’t look adorable in whatever they wore, but matching outfits added a little something.

  “Not tonight, but maybe I can bring you in for practice tomorrow. Before long, you’re going to be skating circles around the whole team and they’re going to ask you to fill in as goaltender.”

  That wasn’t an exaggeration from Doug, at least not about the skating. Doug couldn’t get in skates yet, but that hadn’t stopped him from teaching Ben as soon as Doug was able to move around without pain attacking him. That had taken a couple months, since he was dealing not only with the paralysis, but also a broken leg. Lizzie always tagged along when they went to the rink, even though she refused to put skates on herself, and Ben had no trouble finding his balance and learning all the basic necessities.

  “Oh.” Ben was a little sad that he couldn’t skate, but he kept a smile on his face. He could hear the crowd outside the tunnel and he was ready to go see what all the fuss was about. They’d explained to him what was happening, and he’d been there for the rehearsal, but that didn’t mean he totally understood.

  “You still want to go out there, though, right?” Doug asked. It wasn’t necessary since they’d already had to reel him in from running out to the ice. “And you?” His brown eyes drifted up to Lizzie’s.

  She knew if she said no, he’d shrug and tell everyone something to make it okay that they’d waited around to see him get married. That was the kind of guy he was, and because of it, she couldn’t say no. Even if the thought of saying “I do” in front of thousands of people terrified her.

  “You have to lead the way though, and promise to sweep me off my feet if I’m about to fall.”

  “We’ll see what we can do. I may need to call an assist from the best man on that request.”

  His movements could be a little stiff, so she knew he couldn’t actually lift her up, even though he had earlier that week during the most magical night of her life. His promise of showing her how a couple made love had been delayed because of the accident, and since they wanted to include Ben the whole wedding day, they’d celebrated their honeymoon a little early.

  Lizzie had to stop herself from thinking about it, because her face instantly warmed at the memories. She could play the blush off as shyness when it came to the crowd, but if she thought about certain details and the way he’d kissed parts of her body, she was going to ask Casey and Dylan to babysit Ben again. That would ruin the movie night he was already excited for.

  Doug kissed her cheek and then nodded to signal they were ready. Seconds after the signal, the regular game announcer’s voice boomed through the arena.

  “We’d like to thank you all for sticking around for this very special post-game celebration. This isn’t the first wedding on ice I’ve seen, but this is the first time I’ve seen a player want to include all of you in his special day. Without further ado, please welcome your Tiger goaltender Doug Renaud, his bride-to-be Elizabeth Ellens, and their son Ben to the ice.”

  The ovation from the crowd started, and Lizzie already felt the tears streaming down her face. She’d known they’d be announced, but she hadn’t known Ben was going to be announced as their son. They all saw it that way, but the world hadn’t been told.

  “Shh, it’s too early for that.” Doug reached over and wiped her tears away and he started their march out to the ice. Ben was in front of them, and had no clue how much the moment was affecting his mom.

  “Did you ask him to say that?” she whispered as the lights from the arena flooded them.

  “Of course. It didn’t seem right during rehearsal when only the two of us were announced.”

  Doug had ahold of her right hand as he waved at the crowd with his left. Ben caught him doing it and started waving too. Lizzie was having trouble walking without falling while she tried to keep from staring at Doug. It seemed impossible that a man could be that perfect, but he kept outdoing himself when it came to shocking her.