Thankfully, the next week passed without much drama. Beautiful returned to her swim therapy to continue with her recovery from the accident back in March. With Bobby's insistence that she begin her PT again, she was able to quickly shed her cane. Now, unless she was tired or not feeling well, you'd never be able to tell she'd been in an accident.

She also began picking up extra shifts whenever she could. I suspected that had more to do with her trying not to obsess and worry about Ranger being in the wind. If left to her own devices, she'd easily drive herself into the ground with work. So, Bobby and I would need to keep a close watch over her.

On the other hand, Casey appeared to be thriving. With each passing day, she was becoming more comfortable around the guys. Plus, she was doing something she loved and appeared to be growing more settled and confident in her actions. Much to my surprise, she'd even continued her training with Cal, working with him for a half hour every night before calling it a day. I can't begin to express how proud I am of her bravery and tenacity.

The day after our encounter in her bedroom, she'd asked to talk as she wrung her hands with obvious nerves. I'd held my breath in anticipation of bad news. Instead, she'd told me how the night before she'd worried to the point of near obsession about my safety. It was then that she realized just how deep her feelings had grown for me. That epiphany is what led to her forward behavior the prior night.

"I might be a bit screwed up in my thinking," she confessed. "You see, my family wasn't much on talking about their feelings. Instead, they believed you showed someone how you felt by your actions." She eased onto the couch next to me. "Sometimes that meant cooking a special meal or making a favorite dessert. Sometimes it was giving of your time to help with the harvest or taking care of someone when they were sick."

She tucked her hands into her lap. "My late husband always said that the best way for a wife to show her love to her spouse was to give herself willingly to him. So, I just thought…" Her voice grew small until it simply trailed off.

Was she saying what I thought she was saying? I slid off the couch, then turned on my knees to face her before taking her hands in mine. "Precious, I appreciate what you tried to do last night, but I wouldn't want you to do something you weren't comfortable with simply to appease me."

Her gaze lifted to meet my stare. "I want to be ready, Lester. I really do. I want to create new and happy memories to replace all the bad ones and I want to do that with you." She shrugged. "I mean, I know they'll never completely go away, but as long as I continue to allow fear and anxiety to dictate my actions then Clayton wins."

I gave her hands a soft squeeze. "What he did to you was horrific. Just because you need time to heal from that doesn't mean he's winning. Every day you grow stronger and more confident. Every day you heal a little more."

She nodded. "I can feel it, but intimacy is the one area where I haven't made any progress. Since I realized last night that I was in love with you, I thought I could show you how I felt and maybe get over that intimacy hurdle at the same time."

While I'd heard her entire sentence, my mind snagged on those four little words and held there. I rubbed my thumbs over the backs of her hands. "Say it again."

Her brow knit. "Say what again?"

"That you love me," I replied even as my heart threatened to beat out of my chest. "Tell me again."

Her brow smoothed over as a smile tipped her lips. "I love you, Lester Santos."

"Again," I demanded.

She pulled free of my grip, then cupped my face in her hands as she stared me in the eyes. "I love you."

I leaned forward and took her mouth in a kiss that I hoped conveyed every bit of my feelings for her. I know I probably looked like an idiot when I pulled back and smiled, but I didn't care. For the first time in my life not only did my heart feel full, but it also felt whole. "I love you too, Precious, and when you're ready, I'd be happy to help you create some new memories."

Now, as I drove us toward Philadelphia, I could only hope that we'd be creating some new happy memories for her today, even if they weren't in the bedroom. I'm sure she could use more joy in her life. However, if I was reading her current body language correctly, I wasn't so sure how happy this memory was going to be.

"Having second thoughts?" I asked as I glanced from the road to her and back. Please say no.

She shook her head. "Not necessarily second thoughts, but I have to admit, I'm a little nervous about this," Casey said from the passenger seat of the fleet Explorer I borrowed for the night. Our fleet vehicles were all upgraded to be bulletproof. My vehicle wasn't. Knowing someone was still after her caused me to take every precaution I could without limiting her movements.

"About the ice skating or going out?" I asked.

"Both," Casey replied.

"You have nothing to worry about," Hal said from the back seat. "Les and I will protect you."

"And ice skating isn't that hard to learn," Kristina added.

With my free hand, I reached across the console and took her hand in mine. "I promise this is going to be fun and if for some reason you don't like it, we'll go do something else."

She glanced over her shoulder at Hal, then back to me. "Okay."

It took less than an hour to get from Rangeman to Penn's Landing in Philadelphia. Once I found a place to park, we headed for the rink. Casey's eyes were wide with wonder as we made our way to the skate rental desk.

"You okay, Precious?"

She looked from me to the ferris wheel then over to the cabins, then to the skating rink, before nodding. "I'm fine."

The tone of her answer told me a different story. "What are you thinking?"

"I didn't realize there was so much to do here." Her attention drifted back to the ferris wheel. "Can we ride that while we're here?"

I didn't bother to hide my smile. "Of course. We can do as much or as little as you want."

With our reservation time quickly approaching, we made our way to the rental desk to pick up our skates. Then we found a place to sit and put them on. I took extra time making sure Casey's fit her correctly, then laced them up. "They're tight," she said as she placed a hand over mine, halting my movements.

"I'm sorry. I don't want to cut off your circulation or cause you any pain, but they do need to be snug so that they'll support your ankles correctly."

"So, I don't roll an ankle and get injured?" she half asked half stated.

I nodded. "Exactly."

Once my skates were on, I helped her stand, and we made our way to the rink entrance. Hal and Kristina stepped onto the ice first and after just a few seconds of getting their balance, they took off together, leaving me and Casey far behind. "Oh, they make it look so easy," Casey said as she watched them.

"It's not as difficult as you might think," I replied. "Just follow my directions and you'll be fine."

I stepped onto the ice first, then turned back to face her. "Hold onto the barrier wall and slowly step onto the ice."

With some reservation, she did as I instructed. "Good. Okay, now point your toes out just a little." She adjusted and managed to counter the slight wobble that followed. "You're okay. Just hold onto the barrier for support. Now, you're not going to walk like normal and you're also not going to slide. Instead, you're going to take tiny steps. Almost like a shuffle, but you're going to pick up your feet."

She was hesitant at first, but with a few adjustments, we were able to make our way about halfway around the rink. "You're doing great," I said, and meant it. She was a quick study. "Okay. Now I want you to bend your knees just a little and you're going to push one foot kind of out and back, then pick up that foot and bring it back together. Repeat with the other."

Again, she followed my instructions, and with a bit of tweaking, she was moving a little bit faster. "You're doing fantastic. Now, I want you to let go of the barrier."

Her eyes widened with fear. "What if I fall?"

"You're not going to fall," I encouraged, "But if you feel like you're going to lose your balance bend your knees, lean forward, and place your hands on them."

"And that will keep me from falling?" she asked.

"It will help," I replied. There was still a decent chance that she'd land on her ass before we were done, but I was going to damn well do everything I could to keep her from getting hurt.

It took nearly an hour before she finally dared to completely let go of the wall and start her wobbly free skate around the rink. The smile that claimed her features only served to enhance the glow she wore from accomplishing the goal she'd set for herself. "I can't believe I'm doing it."

"I can," I replied as I shifted from her side and turned to face her. "I'm so proud of you."

"I'm proud of me too," she replied, then her brows lifted in amusement. "Are you trying to show off?"

Her question was a curve ball I wasn't expecting. "Huh?"

She motioned to me. "You're skating backward. Are you trying to show off?"

The confused look I know I gave her was quickly replaced with a smile. "Oh, this? I played ice hockey when I was in high school."

"Really? I didn't know that."

"Yep. I can check into the boards with the best of them."

Her amused look morphed into one of confusion. "What does that mean?"

Deciding she probably wouldn't appreciate the underlying violence of my statement, I let it go. "Never mind." I shook my head. "It's not important."

We spent another thirty minutes skating before Casey eased back over to the wall and stopped. "Something wrong, Precious?"

"My legs are jelly," she replied. "I'm not sure I can keep holding myself upright."

I glanced at my watch. "We have another forty -five minutes before our cabin reservation. How about we take off our skates and go ride the ferris wheel?"

"I'd like that."

Once we were back in our shoes, I texted Hal to let him know where we were going and the reservation time for our cabin. While we waited in line for our turn on the ride, I scoped out the area and the ferris wheel seats. They were more of a closed gondola style, which bode well for her safety. The metal rail that ran around the top of the seat would help to protect her head from anything.

Opportunities for threats existed, both from the roadway above and the bridge in the distance, but we'd just have to take our chances. As much as my protective instincts screamed otherwise, keeping her locked away at Rangeman simply wasn't the right answer. After everything she'd been through, she needed to live.

We waited our turn then stepped into the carriage and took our seats. As the wheel began to move, the expression on Casey's face lit with an innocent joy that slammed into my chest with devastating impact. "Having fun?" I asked as I swallowed down the lump in my throat.

"Very much," she replied as her gaze darted from one direction to another.

Her weekly therapy sessions with Doctor Cochran were starting to make a difference. Each day, she was slowly emerging a little more from her shell. To see her so happy, so willing to let go tonight and just live was allowing me to see a new side of her.

As we started the quick descent, she held a hand to her stomach and let out a nervous giggle. The sound bore straight into my heart and then dove South.

"I've never been on a ferris wheel before," she said as we began to ascend again.

Her revelation caused shock to ricoche through me. "Never?"

She shook her head and suddenly my heart hurt for her. Not only had she been abused and violated as an adult, but she'd missed out on so many of life's simple joys as a child. I'd have to make sure to remedy that. "Well, in the spring I'll take you to Great Adventure and you can take your pick of what to ride."

Unbelievably, her smile widened. "I'd like that."

A few minutes later we disembarked from the ferris wheel. I checked my watch to make sure we didn't miss our reservation. Since we still had time, I decided I would win her something from one of the midway games.

Before we made it that far, Casey pulled to a stop.

"Something wrong?"

She shook her head and pointed toward the carousel. "Do you think we could ride that too?"

My gaze drifted to the double-decker carousel decorated with horses and various menagerie animals. I'm not sure how, but I managed to keep the cringe off my face. I was pretty sure the last time I was on a carousel I was six or seven years old.

The look of hope and anticipation on Casey's face had me caving before I even realized it. "Sure, Precious. Anything you want." I was just glad there wasn't anyone around to witness my moment of weakness besides Casey.

I paid for our tickets, and we waited our turn. Maybe, I'd be able to sit in one of the sleighs instead of riding something. Much to my disappointment, when I started to sit, Casey protested. "No, Lester. I want to ride one of the animals."

So, I stood and followed her around until she picked out a white horse to ride. Hoping there would be enough other riders to take up the rest of the animals, I waited. Unfortunately, for me that didn't happen. When the giant standing giraffe next to Casey's horse remained empty, she motioned to it. "Please, Lester. Don't just stand here. Ride with me."

How in the hell was I supposed to ever tell her no when she kept saying please?" Reluctantly, I made my way to the giraffe and climbed aboard. My saving grace was that unlike Casey's horse who went up and down, the giraffe remained locked in place.

As we spun in a dizzying circle, I did my best to keep my attention both on Casey and on the surrounding area, watching for threats. It wasn't an easy task, and I was glad when it was over. Still, I couldn't begrudge her anything when I saw the smile that remained on her face.

Yep, she was getting a memento to remember this night, and I was going to be the man to win it for her. "Let's go check out the games."

It took longer to find the perfect game than it did for me to win her a prize. When I was done the man handed her a stuffed giraffe that was about half her size. "Thank you," she said to the man then turned to me, leaned up on her toes, and pressed a kiss to my lips. "And thank you, Lester. You didn't have to do this, but I do love it."

"I wanted to, but, Precious, why did you pick the giraffe when there were so many other choices?"

"Well, you rode the giraffe on the carousel, even though I know you didn't want to. Because of that, every time I look at this giraffe, it will remind me of how much you care about me and my feelings."

I stopped in my tracks and turned to face her, then lifted a hand to cup her cheek. "I will always care about you, Precious. Don't ever forget that." With my hand still on her cheek, I leaned forward and lowered my mouth to hers. Our lips barely brushed when a voice had us pulling apart. "There you guys are," Kristina said, and I turned in time to see her and Hal walking toward us. Apparently, Hal had also been busy, since Kristina was carrying a large teddy bear. "Ready to go claim our cabin and get something to eat?"

I turned to look at Casey, who was already nodding. We headed back to the reservations area to get our cabin number when Hal motioned to Casey. "Nice giraffe."

"Thank you," she replied as she held it tight against her. "Lester won it for me."

"Oh yeah?" Hal arched a brow as a grin claimed his lips. "It kinda looks like the giraffe we spotted him riding on the carousel a little while ago."

Shit!