“Just so you do live with me and don’t walk away again.” His lips brushed the tip of her nose. “I’ll take care of the rest.”

“Never again, Trevor,” she whispered. She lowered her cheek to the hollow of his shoulder. “I was lying here thinking. Do you know what I want most in the world, no, the universe?”

“Whatever it is, I’ll get it for you.”

“We’ll get it together. I want to be back at the lake cottage. I want to sit in the porch swing with Eve and watch Joe making barbecue down by the lake. I want to see you strolling down to talk to him and look back at me and smile.” Her lips brushed his collarbone. “Family. And you part of it.”

“I think we can manage that. Though Joe will have to teach me to barbecue. Anything else?”

“We watch the sun go down. And then we say good night to Eve and Joe and we go home together.” She could feel a tightness in her throat. “And we talk the way we did tonight, not holding anything back.”

“Do we make love?”

She laughed huskily. “Of course, that goes without saying.”

“Oh, I think that should definitely be said. We do it so well.”

Yes, they did, she thought dreamily. They knew each other’s bodies and how to make them respond. Their passion tonight had been slow, hot, sweet, heady. Completely satisfying. “I agree. I didn’t mean to make such an important omission.”

“Understandable. It wasn’t the focus tonight.”

She had a sudden thought and raised herself to look down at him again. “Why wasn’t it the focus? Was it because of Caleb? Did what he did tonight interfere with—”

“Hush.” He kissed her and shut off the words. “It was necessary. Did I like it? Hell, no. But nothing you and Caleb could do together would interfere with what I feel for you.” She opened her lips to speak, and he put two fingers on her lips. “And the reason that sex wasn’t the focus was that it’s always there for us, and it’s always magic. The focus tonight was on the miracle.”

“What miracle?”

“Commitment. Barbecues and porch swings and family.” He kissed her gently. “Dreams. Love ever after.”

Love ever after.

Oh, yes, she did love him so much. Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow.

And Ever After.

If she was to keep from crying, she had to make a joke of it. “Ever After? It sounds like something from a Disney movie. That’s schmaltzy, Trevor,” she said huskily. “Nice, though.”

“I like the idea of Ever After. It means that all the things that have gone before are just the beginning, that all the mistakes and the happy times we’ve gone through are only building blocks.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “And I find I’m developing a tendency toward schmaltz, on occasion.” He pulled her down into his arms again. “But strictly sincere schmaltz. Did I embarrass you? You’ll have to get used to it.”

“I think that’s possible.” The rays of the sun coming into the room were stronger. Life was invading, she realized reluctantly. “It’s almost seven. I suppose we should get up.”

“In a little while.” He smiled. “I believe my focus is beginning to shift toward—”

Her phone on the bedside table rang.

She stiffened. Caleb?

No, Margaret.

She accessed the call. “Margaret, where are you?”

“In Caleb’s room. I’ve ordered coffee and breakfast for everyone. Thirty minutes?”

Jane looked at Trevor. “Maybe a little longer.”

“It’s important, Jane,” Margaret said quietly. “Things are breaking.”

“What—”

“Thirty minutes.” Margaret hung up.

“She said it was important,” Jane said as she pressed the disconnect. She lay there, gazing at him. Dear God, she loved him. She didn’t want to leave the cocoon that they’d built together in the past hours. “I guess we have to go.”

“You know we do.” He got up and scooped her up in his arms and turned in a circle. “And important can be good.” He kissed her before setting her on her feet. “There will be other miracles. They’ll be that much better if we go out and earn them.”

That’s right, they were just starting out. It was hard to remember that when she had just found out that all the paths they had traveled had come to this wonderful crossroad.

It was hard to remember and harder to believe.

No, she would not be negative. She didn’t even know from where that crazy thought had come. She would reach out and grasp that gold ring, and everything would be fine. She would find Eve. She would keep this love. There would be dreams and love and miracles.

“You take the first shower.” Trevor patted her behind as he nudged her toward the bathroom. “Then you can run down and talk to Margaret. I know you’re going to be on edge once you start thinking.”

He knew so much about her, she thought as she closed the bathroom door. That knowledge was a miracle in itself. She was already eager to find out what Margaret considered important. She moved quickly to the shower and turned on the spray.

Trevor said it could be good news. Please, let it be good news, Margaret.

*   *   *

“EAT YOUR BREAKFAST, JANE,” Caleb said mockingly as he poured more coffee in her cup. “You have to keep up your strength. I’d hate to waste all my efforts.”

“Be quiet, Caleb.” Jane turned back to Margaret. “Clocks?” Excitement was sweeping through her. At least one answer in this hellish puzzle. “Bless Kendra. If we can locate those nuclear devices, then no matter what Harriet does, we’ll be in control. We could go forward with finding Eve without that hanging over us.”

“Not true,” Trevor said. “We have to do more than locate them—have them disarmed. Or at least prevent them from being detonated.”

“And you said Harriet denied she was going after the detonator this morning,” Margaret said. “But she’ll have to go get it sometime. Could you steal it, take it away from her?”

“We don’t even know if the detonator is here or in Seattle. And once she has it in her hands, the danger increases. If she panics, she might set it off before anyone could get near enough to her to take it away from her. It would have to be handled with extreme delicacy.”

“I can’t see her in a panic,” Jane said dryly. “I think she has a keen appreciation of her own value and a well-developed sense of self-preservation.” She added thoughtfully, “But Harriet wouldn’t like to risk defeat. She might set off those explosions from sheer bitchery. She’s supposed to meet with this Cartland. Perhaps we can work something through him.”

“Or call in Venable,” Margaret said quietly. She held up her hand at Jane’s expression. “I know that you’re afraid that he’ll sacrifice Eve to national security. It’s a legitimate concern after the way he almost got her killed in Colorado. But you have to consider that you may have to do it. You can’t let Harriet even get close to setting off those bombs.”

“I know that I can’t,” Jane said curtly. “But I’m not going to run that risk while there’s still a chance that we can take care of it ourselves. We still have some time. She’s not going to set off those explosions until after Zander is executed.” She moistened her lips. “And Zander isn’t going to be killed until Doane kills Eve. He wants him to see Eve die. It’s all connected.”

“Yeah, let’s see, we find out where the nukes are stashed here in Chicago and have them disabled,” Caleb’s lips twisted. “Then we follow Harriet when she heads for Seattle and joins Doane. We rescue Eve, kill the bad guys, then have the nukes in Seattle disabled. Piece of cake.”

“I know it’s a nightmare.” And his listing of those nightmare elements was causing her desperation to soar. “You can opt out, Caleb,” Jane said. “I’ve told you that before.”

“Same answer,” he said shortly. “But somebody had to outline the problems. Trevor is ready to leap tall buildings with a single bound for you. Well, I’m not Superman, but I’m damn good, and I have a few talents he lacks. There’s a job to be done, and I’ll do it.” He smiled recklessly as he glanced at Trevor. “I’ll even work with you to do it.” He looked down at the photos on Margaret’s phone. “Two very famous clocks here in Chicago. Which one do we try first?”