by Lucy Gage
Other Books by Lucy Gage
Ward Sisters Series
Back to December (#1)
Only One (#2)
Right Here Waiting (#3)
This Year’s Love (#4)
Time to Begin (#5)
Right Here Waiting
Ward Sisters Series Book 3
Second Edition
Lucy Gage
©2014 by Lucy Gage
All rights reserved
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, businesses, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
To the Reader
If you’re wondering, you may have seen this book before under my previous publishing name. I had various reasons for making the switch, but I’m still the same writer, just with a new pen name. I hope you’ll continue on the Ward Sisters journey with me. Books 1-5 have be re-published under my new name and have all been slightly revised to a second edition. If you purchased this book from Amazon previously, you should be able to get the updated file, since their tracking data will be the same. Back to December is getting a new cover. The e-book file will be updated again when the new print selection is available, so be on the lookout.
For new readers, this is the first book in what will be a 10-book series. As you can see from the list at the beginning of this book, we’re halfway through the series now. All the books in this series can be read as standalone stories, but they are even more enjoyable if read as a series. There are no cliffhangers, so they do not have to be read in a particular order. However, if you’re not a fan of spoilers, you will want to read them in-sequence, as each story assumes that anything revealed in a previous segment of the series is fair-game.
My contact information is listed at the back of the book, so feel free to follow me.
Happy Reading!
Lucy Gage
Acknowledgments
This couldn’t be possible without the love and support of my husband and my two amazing children. Thank you for letting me keep at this.
To my ‘other mom and dad’, Nancy and Dan, who provided inspiration for Neil’s parents, Siobhan and Aidan Murphy. Nancy is not Irish and Dan was a Navy man, but as a surrogate set of parents, they gave me equal measures of love, patience, understanding, support and stern expectations. Thanks for loving me like a daughter. Love you guys.
Nancy and Dan’s son, Kurt’s tour in Afghanistan as an Army sniper inspired the character of Neil Murphy. He also helped me improve the details about Neil’s role in the Army. Kurt, thank you for being a hero in my eyes by serving your country and for putting your life in harm’s way so that I can continue to have my freedom. I’m proud to know you.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Kurt’s older brother, Brett, who is the musician in the family. Like Captain Murphy, Brett has worked hard to be more than who he was in high school. Proud of you, too, kiddo.
A big thank you to my former brother-in-law, Tom, and my friend of twenty-one years, Ryan, whose lifelong knowledge of guns and hunting in the Maine woods helped shape that part of Neil’s story.
Words cannot express my thanks to my cousin-by-marriage, Kaitlyn and her boyfriend, Brian, who endured the heartache of deployment to Afghanistan while I wrote a majority of this story. Thank you for letting me into your life and helping to make this story one that will resonate. Thankfully, Brian made it home safely just before Christmas 2013.
Thank you, also, to my beta readers, Debra and Erin, for providing insight into the Army. Both these amazing women are Army Vets and I’m honored that they were willing to help me! I also owe Erin a debt of gratitude for helping me find a friend I’d lost years ago. Glad to have renewed our childhood friendship, Erin! I hope you’ll continue to beta-read for me in the future.
Dedication
Most importantly, a big thank you to every soldier who has come home to a life that is broken and needs to be reassembled. Your sacrifice does not go unnoticed. Always know that there are those of us who appreciate all you have done.
And to the families of those soldiers, you are the light in the darkness. Never forget how important you are.
Prologue
Morning of Charlie and Dan’s wedding…
Neil stretched his long legs. When his feet hit the foot board of his twin bed, he appreciated both his sunrise waking habit and his military training. The ability to function on less sleep meant his jet lag wouldn’t put a damper on Danny Williams’ wedding.
He’d been looking forward to this wedding for a long time. For one thing, his best friend had loved Charlie Ward forever and making it legal completed their decade-old relationship. For another, Charlie’s friend Meghan was a bridesmaid. Though it had been several years since their paths had crossed, Neil could hardly wait to get a glimpse of the gorgeous woman who had been the subject of more fantasies than he could count for thirteen years.
He ran on the trails behind his parents’ house, along the route he’d taken since the age of twelve. The trees had grown in the nine years he’d been away, the path no longer daily trampled, but his father had maintained the trail. Light filtered through summer leaves of maples, oaks, ash and beech, a stark contrast to the more desert-like landscape that surrounded his current post, Ft. Irwin. He welcomed the shade and the cooler, damp, early-morning air, fragrant with the earthy scents of the Maine woods. Too bad his leave only lasted a week.
Slowing as he approached the house, Neil inhaled the aromas of his favorite breakfast: pancakes, bacon, eggs and coffee. He rarely had breakfast waiting after a run, since he always ran with his roommate, Owen.
For a little while, he’d had Beth, but her idea of breakfast didn’t match his and she hated to cook. Neil had probably cooked more for her than she had for him. He’d caught Beth sleeping with one of the soldiers from her unit six months ago, and promptly dumped her. Probably best that Beth was stupid enough to cheat before ye got attached, his mother soothed in her Irish accent. No point in marryin’ a girl who won’t cook.
Nearly every night since he’d ditched Beth, Neil had dreamed of seeing Meghan on this day. He thought about it on the plane trip from California last night, as he drifted off to sleep, on his run, and in the shower while he jerked off this morning. Chances were good that all he’d ever do was think about her, because no other woman had intimidated the adult Neil Murphy the way she always had.
The last time he’d seen Meghan Miles was at Danny’s college graduation party. In high school, Meghan and her best friend, Emily – Charlie’s oldest sister – were three years ahead of Neil. At the time of Danny’s party, Meghan was starting her PhD program in psychology, which Neil found fascinating. He and Owen believed that combat was ninety percent psychological, nine percent physical training, and one percent shit luck. The philosophy made them good at their jobs, because they knew that winning any kind of battle started in your head.
As soon as Neil understood that concept, dating became easy. Once he got over himself, girls didn’t scare him.
Except Meghan.
For some reason, no matter how confident he became, or how many girls he’d dated or slept with, he couldn’t find the nerve to talk to Meghan again.
Today might be his last shot, because in two weeks, his unit deployed to Afghanistan for nine months. Even when you led an elite team of soldiers with an M4, you received no guarantees from the Army that you’d come home still breathing.
**********
At the sound of the alarm, Meg groaned. Why did the Wicked Witch insist we all have breakfast so damn early?
&nbs
p; She rolled toward the alarm clock at the side of her hotel bed and let her eyes adjust to the light while she listened to Pink’s Raise Your Glass. By the time the song had finished, her head bobbed to the beat.
This would be a day for change. She’d greet the day in the right frame of mind and it would make a difference. Didn’t she give this advice to her clients all the time?
She needed to listen to herself.
Meg flicked off the alarm, jumped out of bed and bounced to the shower, the song still in her mind as she stepped into the steamy spray. Charlie’s wedding could be the perfect place to meet a nice rebound guy, someone to clear stupid Justin from her head.
Guys loved that stuff, right? No strings hookups at weddings? Wasn’t that the whole point of Wedding Crashers?
Then again, Vince Vaughn fell for one of his hookups, so maybe she needed to think about this more carefully.
No. Live for today. That had been a goal of her Thai retreat nine months ago, learning to appreciate the moment and accept what it could bring.
Don’t worry about the past or the future, reside in the now.
Given her past, and the fact that Bucksport High alumni would be attending, living in the now could make or break her enjoyment of this wedding. The alternative would be to get good and drunk.
Stick with living in the moment, she thought. Safer that way.
With her newfound attitude in mind, she embraced the day.
Later that morning, as she walked down the hall from her room on the way to the Bridal suite, she almost fell over. A few doors away, a muscular guy stood, struggling with his room key, a garment bag aloft and a duffel on his shoulder. His silhouette made her breath catch.
No, she thought. Shaved head, big muscles. Military. Too much like Toby. But then, as she stepped closer, she caught a glimpse of his backside and a grin spread across her face.
Look at that ass. It can’t possibly be the guy from LAX? That would be fate.
Grabbing the garment bag to help him, her fingers brushed his and he turned to look at her. Green eyes, freckles and the same shock of recognition.
Thank you, fate. This wedding might be great after all.
Live for the moment, indeed.
Part 1
Before:
Stuck in a Moment
Chapter 1
Bucksport, Maine, Seventeen years ago…
The air froze his nose hairs as he inhaled. He suppressed a shiver, lest his father notice. He’d been waiting his whole life for this day, and he didn’t want to ruin it. Being in the woods with his dad was always fun, but Neil had begged to hunt for the last four years. Now, at ten and old enough to go hunting, he wouldn’t complain about a cold nose.
“You cold, son?”
“No, sir.”
“It’s okay to be cold, Neil. We can go back.”
“No, Daddy. I want to stay out with you.”
“I don’t want you getting sick. Your Ma will have my head if you miss school because I took you hunting.”
“I’m fine, sir. I promise. The air made my nose hair freeze.”
His father chuckled. “I bet it did. Okay, we’ll sit for another hour, then we’ll go back. That okay with you?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Now, you’re out here to learn how to be still and quiet, so that the animals don’t know you’re here. Seems like it’s boring, but if you can learn that, you’ll be a better hunter. Best to learn this part before you carry your gun into the woods.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Up you go, then.”
Neil climbed the narrow ladder to the blind his father had built near the perimeter of their wooded property in Eastern Maine. He scooted over and made room for his father. Huddling close warmed him so that the cold only bothered his nose.
The longer they sat in silence, the more he noticed around him. He smelled the decaying forest, saw the light dancing across the few oak leaves in the branches where their blind sat. In the tree above them, a bird tweeted. The scampering sound likely belonged to a squirrel or a chipmunk. Then he heard it – the snap of a twig.
His father placed his finger, covered by fingerless gloves, to his lips. Mindful, methodical, gentle, his dad adjusted from a sit to a kneel, bracing his 8mm German Mauser – his great-grandpa Murphy’s gun – on the edge of the blind’s wall. As he peered through the scope, he made a slow gesture to Neil, indicating that he should rise.
They’d discussed this before, that when his daddy made that hand motion, it meant he wanted Neil to be quiet as a mouse and to face where his dad looked. The anticipation for the impending action made Neil’s heart race. He tried to breathe in and out his nose slowly, like his dad had told him, to calm his heart in case the animals could hear it.
At least the air had warmed.
When his eyes were trained in the same direction as the scope and the nose of the gun, he smiled. A big White Tailed buck stood just a dozen yards away, oblivious.
It happened in slow motion, his father’s finger pulling back the trigger and the BANG of the gun, loud in Neil’s ears. Before the deer could be startled by the blast, the bullet felled him.
Neil’s eyes widened and a grin spread across his face. He’d hoped to actually see his his father shoot a deer, but his dad had warned him that you didn’t always get one every year, no matter how many times you went out or how long you sat and waited. Sometimes, luck wasn’t on your side.
His daddy looked at him, smiled and winked as he strapped his gun across his back in its carrying sleeve. “No need to be quiet anymore, son. He’s not going anywhere, and we can only take one deer per season. Let’s go get him.”
Nodding, Neil followed his dad down the ladder to where the deer lay, jerking on the ground. “He’s not dead, yet,” he said. That made Neil a little sad, because the animal must be in pain.
“No, son. He’s not. We could wait for him to die, but to me, that’s cruel. He isn’t going to live and we don’t want him to make it, anyway. Since we have to slit his throat to drain the blood, we’re going to do that now and help him out of this world. You okay with that?”
“Yes, sir.” He was glad the deer wouldn’t suffer anymore.
“There will be a lot of blood, Neil. Always is when you fell an animal and bleed them. You ready?”
“Yes, sir.”
His father extracted his sharp, mean-looking buck knife from the sheath at his belt. He approached the animal and lay a hand on its neck, stroking it. Softly, so that Neil barely heard him, he said, “Thank you, brother deer. We honor you for giving us your life by helping you into the next one.”
And with that, the buck knife sliced across the deer’s throat in a swift, clean motion. Blood spurted from the wound and then glugged as the deer’s heart pumped its last few beats. The jerking stopped almost immediately and the blood eventually slowed to a trickle.
Neil patiently stood and watched as the deer’s blood drained, his father by his side, both of them solemn. After a few minutes, his dad said, “Let’s gut him before we drag him home.”
His father instructed Neil on how and where to cut, what needed to be removed. They left behind the deer’s entrails for the animals and wrapped the pulling harness around the its torso and head. His dad dragged the animal along the ground and they walked in silence for a while.
Finally, Neil had to ask. “Sir?”
“Something wrong, Neil?”
“No, sir. I was just wondering, why did you say that to the deer?”
His dad stopped for a moment and turned to the animal. He pulled Neil’s glove off and placed his hand on the animal’s fur. Under the coarse and scratchy fur, the body had cooled.
“Son, when we take a life, any life, we have to remember that no life is more important than another. That includes animals. This deer, he might have been someone’s dad or mate and may be missed.”
“Even though he’s an animal?”
“That’s right. We’ll eat his meat and it will keep us strong. T
hat’s how we can honor him. When we use our words to give him thanks for making a sacrifice for us, it shows that we respected his life. Always be mindful of the sacredness of life. All life. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good. Soon, you’ll be able to come out with your gun, and one day, you’ll be doing this on your own. It’s important to learn everything about hunting, not just how to shoot a gun.”
“I know, sir. Thanks for taking me, Daddy.”
“You’re welcome, son. Let’s get this big boy back to the house so I can take him to the butcher. Your mom is going to be excited about all the meat for the freezer.”
Neil smiled as his father resumed walking. He couldn’t wait to tell his best friend, Danny Williams, about today.
At home, Neil ran ahead into the house to tell his mom about the deer and to ask if Danny could come over for the rest of the day.
“Ma! You won’t believe it! We took down a big buck!”
She ruffled his hair. “Did ye now? I don’t s’pose ye can tell me how many points?” As always, her Irish accent made him smile.
“Um, I think it was six. Or maybe eight.”
“Sounds like a big one. How’d ye do? Did yer Da gut the deer before ye left the woods?”
“Yep. He gave thanks to the deer, too.”
“Tis good to respect the land and God’s creatures, Neil.”
“I know, Ma.”
“Don’t be disrespectful, Neil,” his father said, stepping into the kitchen.
Neil blushed. “Sorry, sir.”
“Don’t tell me you’re sorry. Tell your mother.”
“Sorry, Ma. I didn’t mean to be disrespectful.”
“Apology accepted. Now, go get yerself cleaned up, ye hear? I know ye want Danny to come over to the house. I already called his Mum and asked would she bring him by later if ye called. I expect ye to clean yer room before he gets here and after he leaves.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Neil said, excited. He ran to his room and quickly picked up the clothes from this morning, finishing in minutes. He typically kept his room neat because his parents expected it clean every night before bed, so he often picked things up as he went.
