Карен Кингсбери - A Distant Shore [calibre]

“Yes.” Jack grinned at her. “We have rings.” He pulled them from his pants pocket and handed his to Lizzie.

“You bought rings?”

“The week after I said goodbye to you in Cancún.” Tears glistened in his eyes, but his smile kept them from falling. “I’ve carried them with me ever since.”

Her ring held a stunning center diamond, as pure and brilliant and bright as their future. It glistened in the Belizean sun with small diamonds on either side of the larger one. Jack slipped it onto her finger… and it fit her perfectly. Like the two of them.

Next she put a simple gold band on his ring finger. “Jack,” she whispered, “the rings are beautiful.” She leaned closer and put her hand to the necklace he had given her on the beach in Mexico. The one she had worn every day since. “You kept your promise. You waited for me.”

“Every day, Lizzie. Every day.” He looked like he’d forgotten anyone else was there.

A chuckle came from the pastor. “I have a feeling this one’s going to last.” He looked from Jack to Eliza and back again. “By the power of the government of Belize, it is my privilege to pronounce you husband and wife.” He smiled. “Jonathan, you may kiss your bride.”

Jack worked his hands into her hair. Then he drew her into his arms. His kiss took her breath and she felt like she might float away. Because this wasn’t pretend. It wasn’t a mission or an act or part of a job they had to do.

It was forever.

Jack stepped back and smiled at her. “I can’t believe it.”

“Me, either.” Eliza kissed him this time, and a chorus of soft laughter came from the front row. She barely noticed. She was Jack’s wife now, and truly nothing but death could ever separate them.

When it was over, when she had Jack on one side and her mother and brother on the other, Eliza realized she had no idea where they were going to live or what life looked like moving forward. But it didn’t matter.

God had given her everything she ever needed. Right here.

In this single moment.

Seven Years Later CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Surely, goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

—Psalm 23:6

Jack pulled out of the parking lot of the University of North Carolina’s Wilmington campus and turned left toward the interstate. He was teaching five classes in criminal justice this semester and school would be out in two weeks.

But today was a celebration all its own.

He had already changed into his Little Sluggers T-shirt and as he drove he grabbed his baseball cap from the passenger seat. Today was Luke’s first T-ball game and Jack needed to be there early.

After all, he was the coach.

The field wasn’t far, halfway between the school and home. Jack’s parents had left him a fortune—money he never thought he’d want or need. But it had given him the chance to give Eliza a very special gift.

A house on a bluff, overlooking the beach. It was the view they woke up to every morning, wrapped in each other’s arms. Jack smiled. He was more in love with Eliza every day. Like the honeymoon they’d taken in Belize had never really ended.

He pulled in to the ball field twenty minutes early, but he could see that his family was already there. Eliza and their two kids—Luke and Masey. Eliza’s mother, and Daniel and his wife, along with their two little boys. Jack still couldn’t believe they all lived here, five minutes from each other in Wilmington.

Daniel had become Jack’s best friend—next to Eliza of course. The two couples got together at least once a week and they took all the kids to the beach every Sunday afternoon.

Jack smiled as he approached the group. Eliza and her mother sat next to each other. For the past five years, the two had worked together running six safe homes in major cities along the East Coast. Rosa and Maggie from the Palace volunteered at one of them.

Eliza had used her own money to buy the first one. Just like she had dreamed.

“Daddy!” His little boy came running up. “Guess what?”

“What, buddy?” Jack set the gear bag down on the bleachers and hugged his son.

“I found a frog today! Behind the tree out back!”

“A frog! I can’t wait to see it.” He tugged Luke’s baseball cap. “Hey so… today’s the big day!”

“I know! I’m gonna hit a home run!” Luke waved at Eliza in the stands a few feet away. “That’s what Mommy said.”

Little Masey skipped up, her long blond ponytail swishing side to side. She was six and Luke was five. “I told him he’ll hit two home runs!” She hugged Luke. “Because he’s my best friend.”

Jack felt the presence of God as he set up the bases and the T, and as he welcomed the other Little Sluggers to the field. Because this was the life he had chosen, the one where he was teaching the next generation how to police well.

And where he came home to Eliza and their kids every night.

He had so much precious time with his family. Time to spend an afternoon celebrating with Eliza all the ways her safe houses were bringing life to the victims of trafficking. Time for the two of them to teach Masey’s Sunday School class and time to read the Bible together as a family. Every single night.

Jack knew Eliza and Masey and Luke—really knew them—and he loved them with every breath, every heartbeat. He was present, the way his father had wanted him to be.

The game was about to begin, and from behind him Jack heard one of the other parents talking to Eliza. “So, Lizzie. How long have you lived in Wilmington?”

Jack smiled. His wife was a pro at conversations like this. A quick look over his shoulder and he saw Eliza engage. “Oh, forever!”

“Lucky.” The woman was new to the area. Her son was one of Luke’s friends on the team. “I love the sunrises on the shore. Nothing more beautiful.”

“Yes.” Jack’s wife took her time. “I’ve always loved the water.” She paused. “I see God there. At the far end of the ocean.”

Jack’s heart warmed. Indeed, Lizzie. Indeed . He grabbed his glove and a T-ball.

A lifetime ago he and Eliza had been alone in a world where neither of them wanted to live. But God had changed that. He had taken their broken pieces and made something beautiful of them. Because today… well, today he and Lizzie were the most alive people Jack knew, filled with hope and faith, laughter and joy. They wanted to live to be a hundred, at least. Side by side.

This is the life you wanted for me, Dad. I hope you know.

The game was about to begin, and as Jack took his place on the mound, as he waited for his son to hit the ball off the tee, he had a feeling Shane and his parents really were watching.

And that somewhere in the bleachers of heaven, his father wasn’t only smiling.

He was giving him a standing ovation.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This book took a hundred times more research and courage than any I’ve ever written. Along the way, many people helped make it possible. I simply cannot leave the beaches of Belize without giving thanks where it is so deeply deserved.

First, a special thanks to a retired FBI agent who specialized in human trafficking. The agent read this book with little turnaround time, and the notes and advice given to me took the story to another level. Thank you for your service with the bureau, and for your meticulous attention to detail with this book. You were the difference down the stretch.

Also to my amazing Simon & Schuster editor, Trish Todd, and my publishing team, including the keenly talented Libby McGuire, Suzanne Donahue, Lisa Sciambra, Isabel DaSilva, Paula Amendolara, Kristin Fassler and Dana Trocker, along with so many others! When I told you I had a book that was very different from one of my Baxter stories, you all hesitated. But you read my proposal and loved it! Thank you for believing I could write about undercover agents, surveillance and trafficking and still tell a story with heart.