Guarded from Sabotage (Blade and Arrow Security Bravo Team #2)

Epilogue

2 Months Later

SARAH

I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day.

In early June, Lake George hasn’t hit full tourist season yet, so the sidewalks are peppered with a mix of seasoned locals and visiting families. Having spent the first part of my life here, I immediately notice the difference between them—the locals walking quickly towards a set destination, while the tourists meander down Canada Street, pausing every couple of minutes to peer into another storefront.

In another month, the village will be overrun by tourists visiting from downstate and central New York and Montreal, the sidewalks thick with chattering families and giggling teenagers and college students ready to celebrate the summer. It’s still nice, but I much prefer this calmer Lake George, the one that feels more like home.

On a day like today, with real spring finally officially here, we can walk around in T-shirts and shorts without getting chilled. People who aren’t from upstate New York don’t understand how long it really takes for the last remnants of winter to fade and for the truly nice weather to arrive.

But today, it has. The sky is a clear, brilliant blue, without a single cloud to block the sun from kissing our skin. There’s a light breeze coming off the lake, just enough to keep it from getting too hot. Convertibles cruise down the street with the tops down, and all the restaurant patios are open.

The weather would be enough to make me smile, but I have so many more reasons than that.

My family. My friends. Rambo.

And most of all, Dante.

Always the protector, even in a small village like this, he’s walking close beside me with his arm wrapped around my waist. His gaze is alert as he scans our surroundings, not just looking at the variety of stores and attractions, but also searching for any possible threat. I wish he could relax a little more, but this is who he is.

He’ll never not be on guard, not after what he’s been through in the Army, and especially not after everything that happened with Tamara. Just like I’m probably always going to have some small hangups—meeting new people is harder than it used to be, and I still don’t love going places alone. And that’s okay. Like Dante says, some of the things that happen to us leave scars, and while they may never fully go away, we can learn to live with them.

With Dante supporting me, I can get through anything—nightmares, cracked ribs, the panic attack when I left Blade and Arrow for the first time alone—and come out stronger because of it.

And I’ll always be there to support him, too. Maybe I can’t be the big, strong protector, but I can protect Dante’s heart. I can reassure him when the guilt sneaks in, or when he has his own nightmares of his lost teammate and the terrible things he saw in the Army. I can be there for him when he wants to talk about a stressful case, or his worry about his sister’s high-risk pregnancy.

She’s fine, and so is the baby. That’s one of the reasons we came out to New York, so we could see Dante’s new niece, Rosalie. Two weeks early, she’s tiny but absolutely perfect, and I’d be lying if I said my ovaries didn’t twinge when I held her.

Maybe one day. Maybe Dante and I will move beyond being mom and dad to Rambo, and become parents to a baby of our own.

I hope.

“What do you want to do next?” Dante glances down at me, smiling. “Ice cream? The wax museum? The other arcade?”

“Well…” Slowing, I step to the side so a couple pushing a stroller can move past us. “The weather is so nice, I think we should save the wax museum for another day, in case it rains. And I’m still stuffed from lunch…”

He turns me in his arms and brushes a soft kiss across my lips. “Whatever you want to do is fine with me.” He grins. “I already got to do the two things on my list. Visiting Fort William Henry and testing out the shooting gallery.”

Laughing, I say, “I think you shocked everyone in the arcade. Even the employees looked surprised.”

One of the mainstays at the Playland Arcade, the shooting gallery is an old-timey scene set with targets that move when you hit them. If the shooter’s good, the gallery buzzes with activity and noise with each successful shot.

When Dante tried it, he nailed each one. Effortlessly. Three times in a row.

By the third time, most of the people in the arcade were watching and cheering, myself included. I wish I had a video of it, because he looked so sexy—all intense and quietly dangerous—and now I’m seriously considering taking him up on the offer of shooting lessons.

“I couldn’t help showing off a little,” Dante admits, and his cheeks go pink. “Not that it was hard; I could have made those shots in my sleep. But it was pretty fun.”

“You looked sexy, too.”

“Oh?” His eyes darken. “Really? Sexy, you say?”

“Yes.” I go up on my tiptoes to kiss him. “Very sexy. All intense and dangerous. I’m rethinking those lessons you offered.”

“Anytime, beautiful.” He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. “If you want to learn, I can teach you.”

“Or I could just watch you practice. That would work, too.”

“Whatever you want, Sarah.” Affection softens his gaze. “All you have to do is ask.”

Aww .

I’ll never not love it when he says stuff like that.

“I love you.” Resting my hands on his shoulders, I stretch up to kiss him again. “I still can’t believe how lucky I am to have you.”

His voice dips, going rough with emotion. “ I’m the lucky one, Sarah.”

Oh . My heart just melted.

“Actually,” I tell him, “I know exactly where I want to go.”

“Where?”

My lips curve into a teasing smile. “It’s a surprise. You’ll have to wait and see.”

“You and your surprises.” Dante shakes his head, chuckling.

“You liked the other ones, didn’t you?”

“Of course I did. How could I not? The Cowboys game, and the Alamo, and Rambo… I love your surprises. They’re all incredible.”

Slipping my hand into his, I tug him back down the sidewalk. As we walk, I ask, “Do you think Rambo misses us? We’ve never left him before.”

“I’m sure he does, but Erik’s keeping him busy. Plus, you know everyone at B and A is spoiling him like crazy.”

“True.” Everyone at Blade and Arrow loves Rambo, especially Erik. When Dante told his team that we were taking two weeks off to visit his family and the Sleepy Hollow team, Erik was the first to volunteer to take care of Rambo. “Is Erik taking Rambo to the community center today? I can’t remember.”

Dante pulls out his phone and taps the screen a few times. After a second of scrolling, he says, “Yes. He’s going over at four, so he and Rambo can spend some time with the kids after they get out of school.”

“Oh, good.” My heart lifts. “The kids always love seeing Rambo. And Erik, of course.”

Over the last couple of months, the community center in Seguin has become an important place for everyone in the Blade and Arrow family, including our dog.

While I was recovering, I did some serious thinking about what I wanted to do about work. I felt sick at the idea of searching for a new job and going for interviews, and I honestly wasn’t too thrilled about working in a strange office by myself, either. Dante offered to support me until I felt ready, but that’s not me. My work is important to me, and I didn’t want to let Tamara ruin it.

After some long conversations, Dante helped come up with a great solution. I still do my remote counseling, but I also go to the community center a few times a week to volunteer—working with the kids who go there.

And since Dante wasn’t crazy about me going alone, particularly not in the beginning, he decided to volunteer, too. So while I’m meeting with the kids, he helps out in the gym, running weightlifting trainings and basketball games or just being around to talk.

Me and Dante aren’t the only ones who go there. Everyone on the team volunteers, even Rambo. We discovered during training classes that he’d be a great therapy dog, so we got him certified and now he comes to the community center with us. It’s great—Rambo gets plenty of attention, and the kids get to see that having some scars is okay.

“So, where are we going?” Dante puts on a wheedling voice. “Just a hint? Please?”

“We’re almost there,” I tell him, gesturing at a store half a block down. “The one with the striped awning.”

“Another gift shop?” His brows pull into a little V as he looks at me. “Do you want to buy everyone more souvenirs?”

“Not exactly.” Grinning, I squeeze his hand. “You’ll see.”

He looks even more confused when we walk into the tiny gift shop and I head directly to the counter, asking to see the owner. As the teenaged employee goes into the back room to find Pete, the owner of Terrific Tees, Dante peers at me quizzically. “Do you know the owner? Is he someone you went to school with?”

“Not quite. Hanna knows him from when she was a bartender in the village. He was a regular, but the nice kind. Not like that other one.”

“Okay… So is he giving us a deal on T-shirts or something?”

“No. Something much better.”

At least, I hope it is. After weeks of planning and conspiring with Dante’s dad, I’m really, really hoping this surprise is a success.

When Pete comes back over with the little box in his hand, I start getting nervous. What if it doesn’t look like it did in the photos? What if it’s not as special as I think it is?

As Dante opens the box, my breath catches.

Please let him like this.

At first, there’s silence.

My heart drops to my feet.

And then a stunned, “Sarah. Is this what I think it is?”

“It’s supposed to be an authentic overcoat button. From the Continental Army. Your dad said you always wanted one, and Pete does metal detecting on his property just north of here, so he had it in his collection, and?—”

“Sarah.” Dante pulls me into his arms. “This is incredible. And it’s in fantastic shape?—”

“Best condition I’ve seen one in,” Pete interjects. “I wouldn’t have sold it, but this young lady here said it was for a veteran, and I’ll always support the armed forces.”

Dante pulls back to gaze at me, wonder and joy lighting his eyes. “Thank you, Sarah. This is amazing. I love it.”

“Good.” Happiness fizzes through me. “I’m so glad.”

When we leave the store, this time Dante leads the way, guiding me off the main road and towards the path to the lake. I get a taste of my own medicine as I ask, “Where are we going?” and he just gives me an enigmatic smile.

“You’ll see,” he says with a little smirk, then jerks out of the way as I swat at him.

As we get closer to the shore, he turns to me, his expression sliding into something more serious. “I have a surprise for you, actually. I wasn’t sure when I’d give it to you, but we’re here at the lake, and it’s such a gorgeous day, and I just… well. I don’t want to wait anymore.”

We walk out onto the pier overlooking Shepard Park Beach, and it’s actually empty, which is surprising considering how nice a day it is. But I’m not complaining; this is one of my favorite spots in the village. Standing here, I can see the cruise ships and boats ready to launch, the parasails dotting the sky above the lake, kids running on the beach, shrieking when the cold water hits their toes…

It’s not peaceful, exactly, but I love it just the same.

“I remembered you saying this is one of your favorite places in Lake George,” Dante says. He glances out at the water before turning back to me. Swallowing hard, he continues, “I kept trying to think of the perfect spot. I looked at hotels and boats and even a hot-air balloon ride. But they didn’t seem… right.”

My heart jumps. “Right for what?”

But I think—I hope —I might know.

“Right.” Dante blushes, and my heart turns to melty sweet goo again. “I’m doing this in the wrong order. I wanted to be romantic, and—” He shakes his head. “I’m messing it up.”

“You couldn’t.” Catching his hand, I thread my fingers between his. “What did you want to be romantic?”

After a long pause, he says, “I don’t always do the most romantic things?—”

“Yes, you do. All the time.”

“I guess… I wish I could be more eloquent. But everything I think of to say doesn’t come close to how I really feel about you.”

My hopes are balanced on a tightrope, waiting.

“I’ll just say it.” Dante takes both my hands. His gaze is filled with so much love, words aren’t necessary to tell me how he feels about me. “No pretense. Just?—”

He drops to his knee.

Everything stops.

Time. My heart. My lungs.

“I love you, Sarah.” His voice shakes with emotion. “I love you with all my heart. I will spend my life doing everything in my power to protect you. To support you. To make you happy. I want to spend my life with you, if you’ll let me.”

“Dante.” It’s barely a whisper.

Eyes damp with tears, he gazes up at me. “Will you marry me, Sarah Pearce? Will you make all my dreams come true?”

And then he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small box. But this one is definitely for jewelry. He opens it and lifts out a delicate ring, the sun catching the facets of the diamond and shooting sparkles in every direction.

With a trembling hand, he holds it out to me. “Will you, Sarah? Marry me?”

There’s no hesitation. “Yes.” Tears fill my eyes, but they’re tears of absolute joy. “Yes, Dante. Of course I will. I love you. Nothing could make me happier than becoming your wife.”

Dante slides the ring onto my finger, breathing a sigh of relief once it’s on. “I was scared I’d drop it in the water. And then I’d have to go diving for it.”

I stare at the ring, watching it blur through the sheen of tears. Then I smile at him. “I’d help dive for it. But I’m glad you didn’t drop it. Because that would take up time we could be celebrating.”

He frames my face with his hands and kisses me, a tender promise of more to come. When he pulls away, his eyes gleam with anticipation. “What kind of celebrating?”

Twining my arms around his waist, I snuggle into Dante’s chest. “Well. We should probably go back to our hotel and make love for the first time as an engaged couple.”

Dante nods. “We should.”

“And then, we can get room service, and have champagne, and chocolate, and after that…”

He grins. “Then we celebrate again?”

“Exactly. For the rest of the night. And then, tomorrow, we can call our friends and families to give them the good news.”

“Sarah.” Dante lifts me up so our faces are level. “I love you so much. I can’t believe how lucky I am to have found you. That you’re going to be my wife.”

Oh.

“I love you, Dante. I can’t wait to marry you. To spend my life with you. I really feel like the luckiest person in the world.”

His lips press against my forehead. “Sarah. My heart. I love you .”

There’s so much joy inside me.

Serendipity.

It really is magic.