The Last Goodnight
Page 31
Surprised jolted through him. “The army’s all you ever wanted. I thought you were a lifer.”
“Something happened between me and one of my superiors. The army gave me two choices. Face a court martial or leave the service. Twenty years in Leavenworth held no appeal, so I resigned my commission and came back to the States.”
Kade wasn’t sure what to say. “Maybe that’s good. At least you won’t be off somewhere, risking your life every day.”
“It could be a good thing,” Gage agreed. “You’ve got skills. You just need to figure out what you want to do with them.”
Edge took a big drink of whiskey and set the glass back down on the bar. “Yeah, I guess. In the meantime, I think I’ll dance.” Striding away from them, he headed for the sexy blonde Kade recognized as Wendy Cummings, the waitress at the Coffee Springs Café.
“He’ll be okay,” Gage said.
“You know what happened?”
“Not yet. In time he’ll tell us.”
In the meantime, from the seductive smile Wendy gave Edge as he led her onto the dance floor, there was a good chance he’d be able to forget his troubles at least for tonight.
As for Kade, he’d be spending the night with his beautiful bride. They were talking about having kids, a notion he had abandoned long ago. He wanted a family, and so did Ellie. Inwardly, he smiled. They could start practicing tonight.
Kade looked up to see Billy hurrying toward him across the dance floor, a worried look on his face. He was still dressed in the black tux Kade had rented for him, but his windblown hair said he’d been outside.
“Looks like something’s come up,” Gage said.
Kade nodded. “Always does.” He started toward Billy, only to be joined by his pretty wife.
“I think we may have trouble,” Ellie said, her gaze on Billy. One thing he could count on, there would always be problems on a ranch the size of the Diamond Bar. “Maybe we’ll get lucky, and it won’t be anything too bad.”
Ellie reached for his hand, laced her fingers with his. “We’re already lucky, Kade.”
Kade looked down at their linked hands. There would always be problems. But now that he had Ellie, he wouldn’t be facing them alone.
Kade lifted her hand and kissed the back. “You’re right, darlin’. I’m the luckiest man in Colorado.”