Phoenix

by Crouch, Janie

  For the foreseeable future, Phoenix would be doing much less international traveling. There would still be stunts, but they’d be in proximity to Oak Creek.

  She’d watched closely to make sure he didn’t feel resentful of these changes, but if anything, he’d seemed happier. When she’d pressed, he’d just kissed her and told her Phoenix wasn’t who he was, it was just what he did.

  She loved who he was. What he did didn’t matter to her as long as he was happy.

  But what this geocaching location had to do with marriage or proving his love, she had no idea.

  Twenty minutes later, they were on the outskirts of Oak Creek. As they turned down the side road, she realized where they were headed.

  That house. The cabin she’d loved so much.

  “I know where we’re going,” she told him. “We can stop. Somebody else already bought it. There’s a family living there. I checked months ago.”

  She’d cried that day. It had been a sign that she and Riley weren’t meant to get married. Which was stupid. Who made a decision about that based on a house?

  He kept driving until they were able to see it, then stopped the car.

  “I bought it.”

  “What?”

  He reached into the glove box and pulled out the top sheet of a deed of sale, sure enough, for that very house.

  “I don’t understand. There’s a family living in it now.”

  “The Williamses. They needed a one-year lease, and you weren’t anywhere near ready to get married, so win-win.”

  “You bought this house? When? Why? I don’t understand.”

  “When? The day after we drove by and you fell in love with it. Why? Because you looked at me and said you could picture our future here. Three kids, and sitting in rocking chairs by the fireplaces. That was enough for me. Just the chance that you’d share that with me was enough for me to buy the house. Marry me, Wildfire.”

  This man, this Phoenix who could burn and rise and do anything, wanted to live a life with her.

  She was done questioning it. She was just going to spend the rest of her life enjoying him.

  “Yes. I’ll marry you. I love you.”

  He reached for her hand and put it on his heart once more. “Ask me again.”

  She knew what he meant. “What’s your greatest adventure?”

  “You, Wildfire. You and whatever future we have together. You are my greatest adventure.”

  ***

  Flip the page for the exclusive bonus epilogue!

  Bonus Epilogue

  Two and a Half Years Later

  Zac Mackay held a hammer in his hand and looked out at the newest addition to the Linear Tactical facility.

  Not just the newest. The most important. Perhaps the greatest teaching tool that would ever be utilized here.

  This was truly the way of the future. And it was finished. All the Linear Tactical guys had banded together to make sure this facility became operational today. The need for it was crucial.

  There was no one else he’d rather have standing with him at this monumental moment than the men with him here now.

  Finn. Aiden. Gavin. Wyatt. Dorian. The original group who’d served with him in the Special Forces and had been with him as the dream of Linear Tactical became a reality nearly eight years ago now.

  His brothers-in-arms.

  His brothers.

  Dorian and Ray had been showing up in Oak Creek more and more over the past year, Ray’s features less pinched and tortured. Zac even heard the small woman laughing earlier today. Everyone had stopped for a second at the sound, then immediately went back to work not wanting to draw attention to it.

  Nobody had needed to say what they’d all been thinking: how beautiful that sound was.

  Of course, Ray had multiple reasons to laugh now, didn’t she? Or at least two very distinct ones. Nobody had seen that coming. But they’d all been thrilled when it did.

  There were others here Zac hadn’t served in the military with but who were just as important to him.

  Gabriel Collingwood, the Navy SEAL who’d stormed into Oak Creek following his sister and then had stayed and made himself Jordan Reiss’s personal guardian angel.

  Jordan Reiss Collingwood. The two had gotten married on a beach in Maui almost two years ago now. Zac had been honored to be there watching them officially declare their love for and commitment to each other.

  Zac’s life would always be tied to Jordan’s in tragedy, but the young woman deserved the happiness Gabriel was determined to give her.

  Cade Conner was here too. The music superstar had been a huge financial part of Linear Tactical at its onset. His money hadn’t been needed to fund this latest addition to the facility, but he’d still been here in support.

  His wife Peyton, and daughters Jess and newborn Ella had been touring with him the past two months. Jess was currently glued to Ethan’s side, where she’d been since the minute she got home, the two of them inseparable as always, even as they got older.

  Zac had laughed watching Finn nearly kill his pre-teen this summer. Ethan had never been one for moping, but had seemed a little lost without Jess. Charlie had put him to work babysitting his younger siblings Thomas, a toddler into everything, and Derek almost six months old and just starting to scoot around. That had kept the kid busy.

  Boy and Girl Riley were both here, although neither of them really had a stake in or use for this new facility. Phoenix was surprisingly terrible with tools, given his talents at so many other physical endeavors. But he’d still been there, lending support.

  And been by Girl Riley’s side for every step in her MS journey. It had been a learning process for her as an individual, them as a couple, and all of them as extended family who’d wanted to help however they could.

  Riley had learned to prevent her MS flare-ups as much as possible by figuring out her triggers and avoiding them when she could. An ever-changing blend of the correct amount of exercise, diet, rest, and medicine.

  She’d gotten herself a t-shirt they all loved: Multiple sclerosis…an autoimmune disease. Because the only thing strong enough to kick my ass is me.

  Girl Riley had taken an extended leave of absence from her job as an ER nurse last year so she could travel around with Phoenix while he filmed the first season of Phoenix Rises. She’d gotten quite a bit of screen time too. The Adventure Channel had expanded the program to include her MS struggles. She’d become a voice for millions of people suffering with similar autoimmune diseases: lupus, celiac, rheumatoid arthritis, and the many, many others that afflicted so many.

  Phoenix had had to share the spotlight with another Phoenix rising.

  Which he’d obviously been more than happy to do. Those Rileys were going to be just fine.

  “There’s really only one word for this piece of beauty: strategery.” Baby flipped a wrench around in his hand—catching it in a way that spoke of years of familiarity. He also wouldn’t be affected much by this newest Linear Tactical facility, but he’d not only helped build it, he and Kendrick had designed the damned thing.

  Finn rolled his eyes. “I know your Ivy League wife doesn’t let you get away with those sort of made-up words.”

  Baby grinned. “My gorgeous bride has no problem with whatever words I use as long as when we’re in bed I—”

  Finn popped a hand over his brother’s mouth. “Please. I do not want to hear about your sex life.”

  Baby chuckled behind his brother’s hand.

  Gavin crossed his arms over his chest, just as proud as Zac. “Think of the skills that will be learned here. Leadership. Situational awareness. Agility. Downright survival.”

  Dorian reached down at his feet and grabbed a water bottle. “I never would’ve believed Linear would expand to include something like this.”

  Zac clapped his friend on the shoulder. “And here you are about to be the one to get the most use of it, Ghost.”

  “I thought I’d gotten my miracle the day I discovered Ray wa
s alive.” Dorian glanced over his shoulder at where Ray was over talking to the other wives. Their thirteen-year-old son and eleven-year-old daughter were with her, running around with Ethan and Jess. “But those two…they completed me in a way I didn’t even know was missing.”

  “Your family’s story is not a traditional one, that’s for sure.” Gavin rubbed some grease off his hands. “But it’s damned beautiful.”

  Dorian grinned and bumped fists with Kendrick who was standing next to him. The most dire of circumstances had caused the two of them to become even closer friends in the last year. “You got that right.”

  Considering three out of the four of Dorian’s family were legally dead in the eyes of the government, it was definitely untraditional.

  But the unadulterated love shining out of Dorian’s eyes? Beautiful.

  “Be a while before you’ll be using this, Zac,” Gavin said. “Me too, I guess.”

  Zac looked over at his own bride, holding their six-month old daughter in a sling against her slender frame, talking to some of the other women.

  Annie had known terror. First, when they’d gotten together four years ago, and then again with the almost-tragedy on their wedding day eighteen months ago. It was still hard for Zac to let her out of his sight.

  But through it all, Annie had never lost the quiet, gentle smile everyone loved about her.

  Zac glanced over at Noah Dempsey, also former-military and Gavin’s cousin, and gave the man a nod. If it wasn’t for him and his wife Marilyn, Zac’s world might’ve been crushed on his wedding day. Noah may be Gavin’s family by blood, but he was Zac’s family in every other way possible.

  Zac was glad he and Marilyn and their two kids were here today. Glad all his extended family were here today for this important event.

  “Alright, guys, I think this is as complete as it’s ever going to be,” Zac announced. “It’s time we opened this thing for business. I’m ready to see if it can live up to the hype.”

  “Hear, hear,” Finn said. “Let a new generation of tactical awareness training begin.”

  * * *

  “Look at our big alpha men over there.” Charlie laughed from where she was getting out food at the picnic tables with the wives and girlfriends.

  The women all knew the men didn’t expect them to just stay over here for “women’s work.” But none of them were dumb enough to get in the guys’ way when they were in full tactical mode. All the women had known they were falling in love with warriors from the beginning.

  Not that they could’ve stopped themselves from falling even if they’d wanted to.

  Violet reached over and grabbed baby Derek so Charlie could move more easily. “I know. Standing around congratulating themselves like they just created some sort of huge training facility rather than a playground.”

  Ray began opening bags of chips and laying them on the table. “You know they’ve been planning that thing down to the last detail. It’s all Dorian has been talking about for weeks. He and Theo met with Baby about the design more than once.”

  Ray was glowing.

  Annie was honestly thrilled to have her here talking—to just have her here at all interacting with people would’ve been enough. But Ray was so much more than talking. She was smiling and laughing. She’d come so far from those heartbreaking, noise-reducing headphones she’d worn over her ears for so long.

  Ray’s life hadn’t been easy or traditional. No one should be surprised that her journey into motherhood had been unique too.

  She’d been thrust into it—sink or swim.

  She’d swum. Amazingly well, she’d swum.

  Theo and Savannah were her children—it was obvious in every glance and touch. Maybe not by blood, but in every way that mattered. The kids adored her and Dorian also.

  A family of survivors all willing to protect each other no matter what.

  The results of Ray’s medical tests in a file on her desk at the hospital weighed heavily on Annie’s mind. Ray had been through enough, and Annie hated to have to give her difficult news.

  Annie had hard news for both Ray and Baby’s new wife.

  The talks were going to be hard. Requiring life-changing decisions from both women and their husbands. The knowledge of it weighed on Annie.

  But this wasn’t the place or time to discuss it. This was a time for celebration and laughter.

  Case in point, all the kids running and cheering towards the new playground now that the men had deemed it ready. Ethan and Jess ran with Theo and Savannah, slowing to let two-year-old Thomas run with them. Noah and Marilyn’s kids, Sam and Missy, were right there in the fray too, always welcome when they were in town.

  Annie kissed the top of Becky’s head in the sling at her chest. She hated the choices her friends were going to have to make but was selfishly thankful she didn’t have to make them herself.

  Becky shifted and opened her big blue eyes. Zac’s eyes. “Hi, baby girl,” Annie whispered.

  “Are you really going to make me wait until next week to come into your office and talk about the test results?” Girl Riley walked over, then reached down and kissed the soft fuzz on Becky’s head before knocking Annie’s hips with her own.

  “It’s nothing bad, I promise.” The least of the concerning news she needed to give.

  “Then tell me now. Is it a new MS breakthrough somewhere? I promise I won’t get my hopes up just because you tell me there’s a new type of medicine. I know not every MS medical breakthrough will benefit me.”

  Annie smiled at her friend. Riley had been doing so well with her day-to-day health challenges. It hadn’t been easy, but Mrs. Riley Harrison was a trooper, especially with Mr. Riley Harrison right beside her every step of the way.

  “Just come in next week. We don’t need to get into it here.”

  Riley’s eyes narrowed. “Now you’ve really got my attention. What’s going on?”

  Annie shook her head. “Seriously, it’s not—”

  “Look, just spit it out. I can take it. Was it something with my latest MRI?”

  Riley was bracing herself for bad news. Damn it, this wasn’t what Annie had been trying to do.

  “No, not at all. I promise.” She touched Riley’s arm. “We’ll talk about it in the office on Monday.”

  “It’s MS related. Damn it, I knew it. Knew things had been going too good lately. I knew if—”

  “You’re pregnant, Riley.”

  “—I changed my meds I…” Riley’s eyes widened, and words trailed off. “What?”

  “You’re going to have a baby,” Annie whispered. Nobody was really listening to their conversation, but Annie didn’t want to announce it.

  Riley shook her head and backed up, stumbling a bit and stretching her hand back to catch herself on the nearby picnic table.

  “Wildfire!” Boy Riley yelled, as always, aware of what was going on with his wife. “Clumsy or medical?”

  Annie knew that was their code, one Girl Riley responded very well to. She didn’t want every mishap she had to automatically be lumped under MS. Boy Riley always asked—knew that fighting her own battles was important to her.

  Girl Riley turned to look at her husband, then back at Annie. “Are you sure?”

  Annie reached over and squeezed her hand. “Yes. And before you ask, no, there shouldn’t be any complications related to MS. As a matter of fact, many women report fewer flare-ups while being pregnant.”

  “Wildfire?” Boy Riley was jogging over to them now. “You’ve got me a little worried. Clumsy or medical, sweetheart?”

  Girl Riley turned towards him. “Neither. Pregnant.”

  Now it was the great Phoenix’s turn to stumble just a little. “Pregnant?”

  Girl Riley nodded.

  He turned to Annie. “For real? Is it safe? Okay?”

  “Yes. It’s absolutely safe and okay. No more risk than any other pregnancy.”

  Annie stepped out of the way as Phoenix went and knelt in front of his wife and tenderl
y kissed her still-flat belly. “We’re going to have a baby, Wildfire.”

  She trailed her fingers through his hair. “Just like that vision I had in our house.”

  He stood up and turned back to the guys. “We’re going to have a baby!” He picked Riley up and spun her around. “I’m going to be a dad.”

  “Please don’t name the kid Riley,” Kendrick yelled. “Your names are confusing enough as it is.”

  Everyone laughed and soon hugs were being shared all around. The kids enjoyed the new playground and the parents got out the rest of the food and drinks to make the most of this gorgeous Wyoming summer night.

  “You okay?”

  Annie leaned backwards as Zac’s strong, familiar arms came around her and Becky, pulling them both against him.

  “Yes. I didn’t mean to tell Riley about being pregnant. But she was worried it was something bad.”

  “Definitely not bad. The best. They’re going to be a family.”

  She looked around at this crazy crowd—everyone passing around babies and food, laughing and talking all over each other. “We’re already a family. It’s just going to grow a little more.”

  She thought once more of the other news she still had to break. Riley had definitely been the easiest of the three. What was coming wouldn’t be as easy. But this family would get through it the way they did everything.

  Together.

  ***

  Thank you for reading the Adventurer’s Edition of PHOENIX!

  Be sure to look for the next bonus epilogue in BABY, and concluded in the full story of Dorian and Ray’s family, as part of BLAZE.

  And want to know what happened at Zac & Annie’s wedding? Watch for STORM, Noah & Marilyn’s story. A Linear Tactical/Susan Stoker World crossover, coming in October (subject to change).

  ***

  The Linear Tactical series continues this summer with BABY.