Justice Healed (26 page)

All they had to do?

"Meanwhile, the rest of us were outside taking care of the men guarding the house," Seth added.  "We had the easy job, really."

Madison didn't think any of it sounded very easy but she was at the point where her head was spinning trying to wrap her mind around the events.  She put a hand to her forehead, starting to feel faint.

"I think I may need to sit down."

Tanner reached under her knees and lifted her into his arms.  He carried her over to the couch and set her down gently. 

"You're okay but you scared the bejesus out of me."

He kept his arms around her and she took strength from his
strength and warmth.  She leaned her head against his shoulder and let her respiration return to normal.  It wasn't easy as it appeared her home was a crime scene and there were federal agents making themselves at home, milling about, taking pictures, and generally making a mess of things.

"You're going to have to tell Dad why the house was shot up," she finally said.

"I don't think he'll care as long as his little girl isn't hurt."  She could feel Tanner's chuckle deep in his chest.

She looked up
, too overcome by how close they'd both come to death.  "I love you."

He smoothed the hair back from her face.  "I know.  You told me earlier.  I said it, too."

"No, it wasn't just the moment."  She shook her head.  "I really love you.  Like the forever kind of stuff."

He tilted her chin up so their lips were a hairsbreadth apart.  "I know, Maddie.  I love you that way, too.  The forever way.  I should have told you sooner."

"Oh.  Good, then."

She didn't know what to say.  She'd never exchanged
“I love you”s before.  But Tanner was looking at her with the most wonderful expression.  It was a mix of love, tenderness, and yes, passion.

"How long are these people going to be here in my house?" she asked.

Tanner smiled.  "Does it matter, sweetheart?  We have our whole lives ahead of us."

The DEA
agent came to get her statement and Tanner helped her pack a bag.  Until the house was released she'd be staying with him.  As they walked out of the front door, she gave each of Tanner's friends a big hug. 

"Thank you for saving me.  I've never had anyone risk their life for me until today."

The men all looked uncomfortable, their faces turning a dull red in the early morning light.  It had been a damn long night and she was dreaming of a hot bath and warm bed.  Preferably with Tanner curled up next to her.

"Come on, Maddie.  Let's get you home."  Tanner threw his arm around her shoulders and led her to his SUV parked on the curb. 

"Home.  That's sounds good, Sheriff."

"
Will you pass the fried chicken?" a smiling Stacey asked. 

Madison
handed Stacey the plate and looked down the long table in awe.  Tanner's entire family, Madison's father, Sherry and Dan were having a picnic to celebrate the start of summer at the horse farm owned by Tanner's parents.  They were back from Arizona and would spend the warm months in Montana.  Chris, Stacey, and their little girl, Annie had come back with them.  Chris was happy and smiling, and Stacey seemed relaxed and content.  Annie was sitting on her dad's lap wearing a cute pink dress and making a mess of a buttered dinner roll.

Tanner sat down next to
Madison and set a can of root beer at the top of her plate.  "You look a little bewildered, sweetheart.  Is anything wrong?"

He had the most wonderful smile on his face and Madison
’s heart squeezed painfully in her chest.  She loved this man with everything she was.  She wanted to spend every waking moment with him until the day she drew her last breath.

"There's just so many of us.  I guess I'm just used to it being me and Dad."

"My parents adore you.  Mom says she wants to invite you to the house so she can teach you to cook." 

Madison snorted.  "Fat lot that will do.  I'm a lost cause.  She mentioned that to me when I told her I could burn water.  She seems determined that I should carry on the Marks tradition of making the best chocolate cake in the county."  Madison licked her spoon with a grin.  "It is heavenly."

"Mom doesn't get around like she used to, but she can still bake with the best of them.  Did you even eat lunch or just go straight for dessert?"

Madison had learned to relax a little about her diet, and Tanner had learned to eat vegetables.  He said it was because he wanted to live a long life so he could spend more time with her.  She couldn't imagine anything better.  The last three months since Fenton Jacks had been arrested had been the best in her life. 

His sojourn behind bars had been brief, however.  While awaiting trial, he'd been knifed in prison by another inmate and had died.  Madison didn't wish death on anyone, but Fenton had lived his life on the wrong side of the law.  It was bound to catch up with him eventually.

Chris stood up and cleared his throat.  "Excuse me."  He clanged his spoon on the side of his soda can.  "Excuse me.  I have an announcement to make."  He looked around the table and then his gaze rested on Tanner.  "As most of you know, I've had a rough time of things lately.  I want to thank everyone for standing by me.  Especially my dad.  He never gave up on me.  And because of his persistence and belief in me, I'm here today to tell you that I'm the newest deputy-in-training for the town of
Fielding."

Chris grinned and everyone clapped and cheered.  Stacey stood and kissed him
, a big smile on her face.  He sat down looking proud but a trifle overwhelmed.  Madison sought Tanner's hand under the table.  She leaned toward him so only he could hear.

"Did you know about this?" she whispered close to his ear.

"Jared mentioned it.  He's happy to have Chris and I think things might be finally working out for my son."

"Does Abby know yet?"

"You'll have to ask Chris about that.  He visited her in Billings earlier this week so he had the opportunity.  If he didn't, it's his choice."

Madison tilted her head.  "How do you feel about Abby living in Billings?"

"It's none of my business," Tanner said in an exaggerated whisper.  "I'm too busy keeping my young girlfriend happy to have an opinion about where my ex-wife should live."

"It's just you're so protective of your family."  Madison didn't know how to explain it.

"That's true."  Tanner nodded.  "But Abby wanted to make a big change in her life.  It's not my place to weigh in on that decision.  I'm happy for her."

Madison smiled up at the man she loved.  "I'm just happy.  All the time."

"Let's sneak away."  Tanner's voice was close to her ear and she shivered at the promise in his tone.  With everyone in town, they'd barely had a moment alone in the last few days. 

She nodded eagerly, as anxious to be alone with him as he was with her.  They didn't say anything as they got up from the long table and walked arm in arm toward the old barn in the distance.  Madison thought they'd managed a clean getaway when her father waved
and called to them from the far end of the table.

"Madison.  Tanner.  Can I talk to you for a minute?"  Greg Shay walked over to them and pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket.  "I've been wanting to give this to you."

He held it out for Madison and she unfolded it, scanning the document.  She looked up at her father, not certain she understood.  "I don't understand, Dad.  This looks like the deed to the house."

"It is." Greg nodded.  "I'm giving it to you."

"Giving it to me?  But why?"  Madison shook her head in confusion.  Was her father planning to never come back to Montana?

"Gwen and I don't need it.  You and Tanner do.  If you move into the house, you'll be right there for work and Tanner will be closer as well.  You both mentioned his cabin was too small for the two of you."

She and Tanner were tripping over each other in his one bedroom home.  The man had closets the size of postage stamps, and she didn't even have that many clothes or shoes.

"Where will you stay when you come visit?" 

"Maybe you'll let us stay with you?  Besides, now that I'm volunteering at that free clinic, I doubt we'll make it back except at holidays.  Hopefully you'll come to Seattle and visit us there, too."  Her father had a grin on his face and she threw her arms around his neck. 

"Thank you, Dad." 

It would be wonderful to live in her childhood home with the man she loved.  Her mind was already going a mile a minute as to what changes and updates she'd like to make.  Tanner shook her dad's hand and thanked him, slapping him on the back.  She was lucky these two men got along so well.  They liked and respected each other.

They talked to her father for a few minutes before once again making their escape.  Tanner led her into the barn and she giggled as he pulled her deeper inside. 

"We're going to make out in the hay loft?  What would my father say?"

"Your dad is a pretty calm person.  A hell of a lot calmer than I've been about Emily and Matt."

Emily had brought her current boyfriend today.  A shy young man with shaggy dark hair and liquid brown eyes which shined with love for Tanner's only daughter. 

"Maybe Dad can give you some pointers," Madison teased.  "I like Matt.  He seems like a nice young man."

"I like him, too.  I'd like him even better if I didn't suspect he was sleeping with my daughter."

"She could have brought home much worse."  Madison was openly laughing now.  Watching Tanner deal with his daughter's budding sex life was hilarious.  This same man could strip her out of her clothes in less than ten seconds and have her screaming his name, but the mere thought that his daughter might be doing the same had his face red and his words tangled up.

"We really aren't going to have sex in the hay loft are we?" 

Just the thought of all that itchy hay had her scratching her arm. 

"Nope.  Follow me."

Tanner opened the door to another room in the barn and stepped back.  She went through the door and was surprised to find a huge RV parked there.

"Whose is this?"  She walked up and down the outside, marveling at the size and what good condition it was in.  It looked practically brand new for sitting in an ancient, run down wooden structure.

"My parents
’.  When Dad retired from raising horses, he and Mom took off for the open road.  Six months later, her health wasn't so great so they came home.  Now they spend the winter in Arizona and the summer here.  The RV doesn't get used much.  I loaned it to Seth when he needed to protect Presley."

"It's huge.  When I was a kid, we had a tent."

Tanner pulled out a set of keys and unlocked the door.  "That's what we had when I was a kid.  Come on in."

Madison walked up the steps and gasped at the luxury.  There was a large living room and kitchen area complete with a flat screen television.  Everything looked new and comfortable.

"This is nicer than the apartment I had in Chicago when I was in medical school."

"This isn't the part I wanted to show you."

Tanner captured her fingers and led her through a door into the large bedroom with a king-sized bed.

"It's a bedroom.  I guess I know what you have on your mind."

It was what she'd been thinking about all day.

He sat down on the edge of the bed and patted the spot next to him.  "Sit down, sweetheart.  I want to talk to you about something first."

She frowned but did as he asked.  Normally Tanner was all action so it was strange to see him hesitate to get down to business.  Especially as they had a dozen or so family and friends about a quarter of a mile away.

"Okay.  What did you want to talk about?"

Tanner was studying his cowboy boots and not saying anything.  She shifted uncomfortably, not sure she was going to like what he had to say.

Finally he looked up and grabbed both her hands in his.  They felt rough and warm and her insides melted a little bit at the sensation.

"I love you, Maddie."

"I love you, too."  Her heart picked up speed in anticipation.

"I've never felt this way about someone."

"Me either." 
Butterflies fluttered in her stomach.

"We just seem to mesh.  To go together."  His blue eyes were soft with love.  "I was thinking we should get married."

She could barely breathe.  Tanner was everything she had ever dreamed of and so much more. 

"I didn't know you were thinking about marriage."

They'd been living together since the whole Fenton Jacks thing, but neither one of them had mentioned a wedding.  Of course Sherry had been mentioning it on a weekly basis.

He gave her a lopsided grin.  "Honestly, I was afraid to mention it.  I wasn't sure I was what you had in mind for a husband."

"I think you would be a great husband."  She squeezed his fingers with her own. 

Tanner sat up
straight, his jaw a determined line.  "We could have children if you wanted to.  I wouldn't mind giving fatherhood another try."

That was news.  "You want a baby?"  She sucked in a breath.  She'd always assumed if she was with Tanner there wouldn't be any children.

"Only if you do.  I guess what I'm saying is I'm happy to have more kids.  If you want to.  I'm fine if you don't."

"I sort of assumed you wouldn't want any more children," Madison said slowly, still trying to filter his words through her brain.  "Until I fell in love with you, I really didn't give having children much thought.  I was too busy with my career."

"I don't want to get in the way of that, Maddie.  I just want you to be happy."

"I am happy."  She really and truly was.  She looked up at him and smiled.  "I think I'd like to be your wife.  I'll be Dr. Marks."

Tanner grinned, relief in every line of his face.  "That's as close as my parents are ever going to get to having a child become a doctor."  He leaned down, his lips hovering over hers.  "Are you sure, Maddie?  I love you so much."

"I love you."  Madison cupped his jaw with her hand.  "As for children, well, let's just take this one step at a time.  We can get married and see how we feel afterward.  I'm not one of those women who absolutely must have a child."

Although now that she knew he was open to the idea, the thought of having his baby was more than tantalizing.  She was already picturing a little boy with her red hair and Tanner's blue eyes and stubborn nature.

He pushed her back on the bed, his body covering hers.  "Sweetheart,
whatever it takes to make you happy."  He dug into his jeans pocket and pulled out a ring, holding it up.  "Chris said I needed to be prepared.  If you don't like it, we can get you something else."

It was a beautiful old-fashioned
, white-gold setting with an emerald cut diamond surrounded by smaller diamonds.  She wouldn't trade it for the world.

"I love it."  She held out her left hand.  "Will you put it on me?"

He slid it on her ring finger and smiled.  "It was my grandmother's engagement ring."

Madison looked up, not as sure about the ring as she was a few seconds ago.  "Did Abby wear this ring?"

"No," Tanner said firmly.  "This ring didn't come to me until about five years ago when my grandmother died at the ripe old age of ninety.  I thought it was silly when she willed it to me, but she had always insisted the ring was going to be mine."

"She must have known love wasn't done with you yet.  You have longevity in your DNA.  I'm glad.  I'm going to want a really long life with you."  Madison started to work at the buttons on Tanner's shirt.  He grinned wickedly and began to tug off her clothes.  In just a few minutes, they were both naked and rolling around on the bed, kissing and touching.