Read Online Finding North by Claudia Hall Christian - Free Book Online Page A

to pretend to be someone else’s wife,” John nodded. “And I’m
glad it’s Raz. You know why?”
    “ No,” Samantha
said.
    “ Because I know that, no
matter what happens, no matter what the stakes, he will bring her
home to me,” John said. “You should be glad, too. Because Alex will
never leave him, never just do her job , while he lies dying. She will
bring him home.”
    Samantha swallowed
hard.
    “ They will fight for each
other because they love each other,” John said. “Because they are
family. My family. In the end, that’s all that matters to
me.”
    “ You must hate Ben,”
Samantha said.
    “ No,” John said. “There
was an official review. The agency determined that he did exactly what he was
supposed to do. Raz was to be written up, disciplined for not
following protocol, but your father stepped in and threatened to
take the whole mess to a Senate committee. They didn’t want
that.
    “ So, no, I’m not angry. I
can’t ask for more from Ben. But I don’t want to trust my wife to
someone who’s going to only do what they’re supposed to do. I want
her partner to fight for her and to bring her home to me. Even if
she’s barely alive, I’ll take the chance of her surviving over the
sure knowledge that she would be dead if it were up to
Ben.”
    “ But what if it happens?
What will you do?”
    “ I can’t live my life in
‘what ifs,’” John said. “The moment I do, I miss the amazing beauty
of my life, as it is, right now.”
    He nodded to Joey, who
yawned. Unwilling to let it go so easily, Samantha turned the
laptop back to her and flipped through the images again.
    “ Aren’t you being made a
fool of?” Samantha asked.
    “ I have a surgical nurse.
You’ve met her. Trish?” John asked, and Samantha nodded. “Her job
is to be my right hand, my assistant. She keeps me on track with
surgeries and, to a certain extent, my life. She’s lovely. She’s
not breathtakingly beautiful like you are, but she’s lovely, kind,
funny, and friendly. I spend more time with her and my surgical
team than I do with Alex. Her husband struggles with me because
Trish and I spend so much time together. Is Trish making a fool of
her husband? Am I making a fool of Alex by working with
Trish?”
    “ That’s just work,”
Samantha said. “It’s not . . .”
    “ What does Raz say about
Alex?” John asked.
    “ He says she’s family.”
Samantha swallowed hard. “He loves her .”
    “ And the
trips?”
    “ He says that’s work,
but . . .” Realizing what she’d said, Samantha
clamped her mouth closed.
    “ Look at yourself,” John
said. “You’re a beautiful woman. Look at me, I’m quite a catch, if
I say so myself. We can have a dozen lovers, and they’d never know
about it.”
    “ Why don’t you?” Samantha
said, with defiance in her voice.
    “ Because that’s not what I
want,” John said. “I want Alex. I want this life. What do you
want?”
    “ But he loves
her.”
    “ I’m saying that’s
better,” John said. “Because he’ll fight for her, and she’ll fight
for him. And then, when their job is done, they’ll come home. To
us.”
    Samantha’s eyes filled
with tears. John gave her a soft smile. She held her arms out for
Joey, and he gave the baby to her. She walked around the shared
living space cuddling and talking to Joey. When she neared the
table again, she paused at the images.
    “ We have a luxury that
most families don’t have,” John said.
    “ What’s that?” Samantha
asked.
    “ Alex has arranged a
high-enough security clearance for each of us. We know generally
where they’re going and what they’re doing,” John said. “Most
families don’t know a thing. Why not take advantage of
it?”
    “ What do you mean?”
Samantha asked.
    “ Go talk to him,” John
said. “I know you want to.”
    “ But . . .”
    “ He’s in the carriage
house,” John said.
    Samantha nodded. She
started to walk into the kitchen when John said,