He’d never thought he'd love again

Jacob Stark wiped his boots on the welcome mat outside of the cottage guesthouse he shared with Alex. He looked around appreciably at the blooming summer flowers. Shogun, who napped on the wooden floor, raised his head and looked at his master. Jacob reached down and ruffled his ears as he admired the handsome dog. He’ll be great protection for Alex when I’m gone.

"You takin’ care of things here, Shogun? You’re gonna have to take care of things around here a bit longer because I've got to go away for a couple of months," Jacob said in a low voice. Shogun licked his hand. Then he gazed at his master. Jacob had an eerie feeling that the dog understood. 

He entered the house and found Alex making lemonade in the kitchen. The sight of her softened his hardened, warrior soul. She looked beautiful squeezing lemons. The smell in the kitchen was fresh. Alex was tall, five feet eight inches in bare feet. Her long auburn hair was pinned into a haphazard updo which only added to her beauty. One look at her thin, elegant body gave no suggestion that she just had his child less than two months ago. 

Jacob's eyes filled with tears. He couldn't believe this lovely woman loved him and even more than that, he couldn't believe how much he loved her. He’d never thought he'd love again after the death of his wife. He continued to stare at Alex as she squeezed lemons into a large pitcher. Her hands were beautiful, her fingers long and elegant. He watched her swift movements as she combined the lemons with water and sugar. He looked over and saw his son, Adam Jacob sleeping in his bassinet. His heart filled with warmth and joy. He was a lucky man, even if he was being pursued and chased by terrorists and leaving in a few days to hunt them. He never thought he’d love again, much less have a son.

For a second, his heart froze. Suppose the terrorists did return to Wyndley Farm and captured Alex and baby AJ. He could never live with that loss. Images of Saba flashed through his mind as he imagined the horrific things the terrorists had done to her body. No, there was no way he’d ever let anything happen to Alex or her family. They were his family now. They had all been so good to him since he’d returned from Yemen. He’d never believed that Congressman Adam Patrick Lee would accept him as his future grandson-in-law, particularly when he’d learned Jacob worked with terrorists on the first attack on Wyndley. But the crotchety, intelligent old man had shocked him. He’d accepted Jacob Stark that like a son. Adam knew Jacob had saved Wyndley, a historic Virginia plantation from extinction.

He feasted on the image of Alex for another moment and called her name. She turned from the sink and looked at him. Their eyes locked, blue on blue. Jacob walked over and took her into his arms and hugged her. His heart hammered in his chest. He couldn't believe how much he loved her. I can never live without this woman.

"I missed you," he said gently. "What have you been doing this afternoon?" 

Alex nestled into his arms. "Oh, not much. This and that, taking care of AJ mostly. I snapped some butterbeans. Shogun and I went for a walk and I sat in Grand’s sunroom and listened to the birds sing." She hesitated and added, "Mostly, I just missed you," she said in a soft voice. "How goes it at Diggers?" 

Jacob sighed heavily as he remembered. "Pretty good, have you ever seen his office downstairs?" 

Alex laughed. "You mean the man cave with the computers and electronic equipment with the TV screens everywhere?" 

"That's it," Jacob said with a smile. 

"Yeah, I spent most of my childhood down there. That's where I learned how to play Scrabble and Monopoly. I used to have my very own television set and I would watch TV while Digger worked," she said as she smiled at the memory. 

"Well, I didn't play any monopoly today," Jacob admitted. "But I did see some fairly sophisticated monitoring equipment. I tell you, that guy has it going on in the surveillance world, doesn't he?”

Excerpt from RUN for Your Life by Judith Lucci
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