by J. M. Madden
Mercy fell asleep on the short, rough ride up to the foreman’s house. After he parked the truck, Chad gathered her in his arms to carry into the house. Lora hurried ahead to open doors and pull down the blankets on the bed. Chad settled the little girl onto the mattress and positioned Handsome next to her, but he moved back for Lora to cover her daughter.
She motioned for him to step out of the room and he waited just in the hallway.
“I wanted to thank you again for tonight,” she whispered. “I didn’t really want to go down but I’m so glad I did. Your family is amazing.”
Chad smiled at her. “They love Mercy. She fit right in with the other kids.”
“And she hasn’t had very much of that. I mean, she goes to school, but she has no other family to speak of. I was an only child and Derek was as well. I worry what would happen to her if something happened to me.” Her eyes filled with tears. “It would kill me if they got their hands on her. She’s so good and sweet.”
Moving slowly, Chad swiped her tears away. “They won’t get her. We’ll make sure of that.”
She looked at him, weighing his words before she let out a sigh. “I know,” she whispered. “I’m going to try to sleep too. Thank you, Chad, for everything.”
He watched her reenter the room and close the door softly behind her. Massaging her tears into his fingers, he wished he knew how to proceed. On the one hand he wanted everything resolved, with Lora and Mercy safe. But on the other hand, he wanted the current set-up to continue. Being this close to Lora and her daughter was teaching him how alone he’d been for a long time. He would love to bring them into the family permanently.
Turning down the hallway, he marveled at his own calmness. Given his track record, the thought of being with a woman permanently should have scared the shit out of him.
It didn’t.
Chapter Ten
AIDEN STARTED TO eat actual food. And talk to a counselor. When he realized that was the only way he was going to make it out of the hospital, he demanded solid food. Dr. Hartfield cautioned him to proceed slowly but with his typical bull-headedness, the man stretched the limits. He started walking, which was drama by itself. He was shaky on his feet but refused to be touched by the nurses and orderlies. They finally resorted to getting him a walker to use. Then they had to take the damn thing away because he was up all the time.
The counselor seemed confused as to what to do with him. “He admits to having issues with flashbacks, but refuses to admit his medical or military history.” She shook her gray head. “I’ve prescribed him a low-dose antidepressant, but I can’t do more than that unless he talks to me.”
But he never did. The antidepressant seemed to help his mood, but he refused to talk to the counselor any more.
Duncan could only shake his head. He remembered doing the same things when he was in the hospital, stretching every limit he could. How could he blame Aiden for doing the same?
Several times he felt Dr. Hartfield’s scrutiny on him, but he refused to acknowledge it. They’d had a nice meal together. That was enough.
Aiden seemed curious about why Duncan stayed around, but after the first day he never said anything out right. Duncan encouraged him as much as he could, but made sure to keep his distance. Aiden wasn’t ready to be dug into.
After the third day of steady eating and gaining strength, Aiden got rid of the walker. Duncan knew it was time to talk to him, before he walked out of the hospital without saying a word.
“I want to take you back to Denver,” Duncan told him after lunch.
Aiden gave him a narrow eyed look. “Why?”
Duncan kept his body relaxed. “Because it’s where you were living.”
“Do you actually think I want to go back to that?”
Duncan shook his head. “No, but I can help you get on your feet. You can’t have been content living on the streets like that. The company I own is full of crazy idiots like you.”
Aiden’s eyes flared with heat, then he barked out a laugh. “Is this how you recruit all your people?”
Duncan shook his head. “Actually, I have a file with over a thousand resumes in it of people, former military, that want to be part of my company.”
Aiden’s hard jaw slackened. “Seriously?”
He nodded. “So, what I’m offering you doesn’t happen very often. I suggest you think about it before you refuse it outright.” Pushing to his feet, he nodded to Aiden. “I’ll be back in the morning.”
* * *
DUNCAN DID NOT have a good feeling as he walked into Aiden’s hospital room the next morning. Kansas City was dreary today, as if warning of impending disaster.
The younger man sat on the edge of the bed as if he were getting ready to take a walk. Some of the flesh had filled in around his eyes and he didn’t look so gaunt anymore. Duncan had seen the doctor down the hallway and knew she would be along as soon as she could break away from her other patients.
“Good morning, Aiden.”
No response.
Dr. Hartfield came through the door grinning. “Good morning, gentlemen. Aiden, how do you feel today?”
“Like I want to leave.”
The doctor grinned at Duncan, obviously under the assumption that Aiden would be leaving with him. “Well, I think we may be able to let you do that. Mind if I listen?”
The stethoscope was tugged from her neck and the ends were plugged into her ears. Aiden tugged his hospital johnny flat and sat up straight. The doctor listened to his breathing front and back, then moved the device lower to listen to his gut sounds. “I think you’re well on your way to good health.” She turned to Duncan. “Be sure he eats at least five times a day until he gets back up to weight.”
Duncan shook his head. “I can’t guarantee he’ll do that. Mr. Willingham will not be coming back to Denver with me. Will you, Aiden?”
The doctor’s confused face swung to the patient. “Wait. I thought you were leaving together.”
Aiden’s jaw firmed and his eyes chilled as he looked over at them. “No.”
The doctor’s pretty mouth fell open. “Why the hell not?”
Duncan looked at Aiden. “Because he doesn’t want to take a chance on living life. He thinks if he’s an ass he can cut himself off from people and they won’t expect anything from him.”
Aiden could only hold his gaze for a few seconds before he turned away. “I appreciate what you’ve done for me, but Denver is not the place for me.”
Sighing, Duncan pulled his wallet from his back pocket. “I stopped and got this on my way in this morning, because I had a gut feeling you would get spooked.” He selected a packaged Visa. “This has five hundred bucks on it. It should be enough to get you where you want to go. If by chance you change your mind, a flight from KC to Denver is a hundred and forty-one dollars. I checked this morning. A bus ticket is cheaper. Either way I’m helping out a veteran and I can look at myself in the mirror in the morning.”
Crossing to the bed, Duncan placed the card on the rolling table. Aiden didn’t even look at it, just continued to stare at the bathroom doorway. “I’m not going to worry about you anymore. If you decide to live, I’ll have a job for you. You have my card. But I’m not going to force you.”
He moved to stand in front of Aiden and held out his hand. “It’s been a pleasure.”
Aiden made him wait for several seconds before he reached out and took his hand. He shook once, then released.
Glancing at Dr. Hartfield, Duncan gave her a little bow. “It’s been a pleasure, Doctor. Thank you for caring enough to contact me.”
As he walked out of the room, he hoped that Aiden would call out and change his mind, but he didn’t. Duncan turned down the hallway.
“Wait a minute, damn it.”
Ah, yes. The doctor. He knew she would come after him.
“What the hell was that?” she demanded. Anger made her eyes shine and he wanted to bask in her vitality. She propped her hands on her hips.
�
��It was a man making a choice,” he told her carefully. “Maybe not necessarily the right choice, but that’s his prerogative. I can’t make him come with me.”
“So, what the hell has the last week been? Why did we waste our time?”
Duncan smiled at her and grabbed her flailing hand. “Why is it wasted time to let a person know that they matter? I don’t consider a moment of this week wasted.”
Some of her anger dissipated, but her eyes filled with tears. “What if he goes out and does the same thing over again and nobody finds him? He’ll die.”
Duncan nodded. “He will. But it’s his choice.” He gave her a chiding smile. “As a doctor, you know you can’t save everybody.”
A tear slipped down her cheek and she dashed it away with her hand. Reaching forward, he tugged her into a hug. “Watch him for as long as you can but don’t push. He has to decide to change what he knows.”
She nodded against his neck. Duncan took the barest instant and inhaled her scent, fascinated at the response his body gave. Letting her go, he stepped back. “It’s been a pleasure, Dr. Hartfield. Take care.”
Planting his cane, he pushed off toward the elevator. His last glance of her was the sight of her staring at him.
* * *
THE WEEK PASSED fairly uneventfully. Exactly the way she liked it. Lora ran the soapy rag over the pan, washing away the last of breakfast. They’d all settled into a schedule.
Chad stayed with them for the most part. Or at least close by. Rachel stayed with Mercy throughout the afternoon and took part of the night guard duty. Flynn took the graveyard shift, he called it. And the elusive Mr. Harper stayed up on the hill most of the time. She’d started packing sandwiches for Chad to take up to him when he rode out to check on him. The few times Harper had come down the mountain, Mercy always managed to find him to tag along with whatever he was doing. She’d developed a strange attachment to the scary soldier.
One morning she’d opened the front door to walk outside and had to slam to a stop in surprise. Harper was sitting on the porch stairs and her daughter stood behind him, with her arms wrapped as far around his massive shoulders as she could reach. She looked ridiculously tiny compared to the former soldier with the shaved head, but the man didn’t move for several long seconds. Finally, he patted her little hands and sent her running to the playground.
Lora thought she’d escaped his notice, but when he stood up he caught her eye in the doorway. “She’s worth her weight in gold,” he rumbled. “I will do everything in my power to keep her safe.”
Lora nodded and watched as he disappeared into the woods, huge gun held in his arms like a baby.
When she’d asked Mercy about the incident later, her daughter had shrugged. “He seemed sad so I gave him a hug.”
Those words had humbled her.
But Chad seemed to be on a mission to drive her crazy. Where before he’d given her plenty of room to do everything, her personal space cushion had slowly started to shrink. Now he walked by her close enough that she could feel the heat of his body. Sometimes he lingered behind her until she had to turn. When he handed her things, he made sure to brush her fingers. Twice now he’d rested a broad hand on her shoulder for a few seconds.
Slowly but surely he was getting her used to him.
And it was killing her.
Lora found herself waiting for those tiny touches, and worse, needing them. When he walked up behind her she quivered, praying he would close the distance between them. But she felt like a hypocrite. Other men put her on edge, but Chad made her aware.
No less than a hundred times she imagined turning to him and simply walking into his open arms. The visual was haunting because she hadn’t felt that way in years. If ever.
And somehow, he always had a supply of the spearmint Starlight mints she loved in his never-ending pocket.
Lora began to wonder if she could be in a relationship again. Derek had done a number on her in every way he’d been able, but physically, she was responding to Chad. When he walked into the room a shudder of need went up her spine. At first, she’d thought it was fear because it was so visceral, but then her body had tingled with awareness. It was incredibly confusing to her.
Chad wanted more of her and that fed her need. She’d seen the erection when he’d gotten out of the hot tub nights earlier and a couple of times since then he’d shifted uncomfortably, his hand going to his groin. Lora ached to place her hand there without inciting a traumatic event that would haunt her nightmares.
Would Chad understand that?
Lora walked to the living room window and looked out at the perfect spring day. Mercy was on Taco, trotting around the pen. Chad sat on his own big horse, elbow braced on the saddle horn as he called something out to her. Mercy looked up with a grin and tugged the reins lightly, guiding the pony into the opposite direction. As she trotted around him she giggled, showing more confidence than Lora had seen in a long time.
Chad was good for both of them, but he would be getting the short end of the stick with them.
“Do you have that list, Lora?”
She turned to Rachel, forcing a smile. “I do. It’s on the counter. Thank you for going down.”
The guard shrugged, her muscular shoulders shifting easily. “No problem. It’s nice to see new scenery every once in a while.”
Lora sighed and looked back out the window, but looked up as Rachel stepped beside her and peered out the window. She laughed, turning to give Lora a wink. “Ah, I see you’re happy with the scenery here.”
Lora flushed. “I don’t…I can’t.”
“Why not?”
She blinked and crossed her arms over her chest, not sure she could articulate it. “My ex…” Her voice trailed away and she just shook her head.
Rachel sighed and rubbed a hand across Lora’s back. “Okay. I get it. I’ll be back in a bit.”
Lora watched Rachel jog down the steps, tall and beautiful and very confident in her skin. She’d been like that a long time ago, but she didn’t know if she’d ever be able to get back to being that woman.
Rachel returned a few hours later, Chad’s red truck laden with shopping bags. Flynn waved them away and gathered all of the bag handles in two big hands, carrying them inside the house easily. Rachel tossed her one bag specifically.
“I got you something while I was in there.”
Lora peeked into the bag and drew out a pile of nylon. “A bathing suit?”
Rachel nodded and stepped close. “You were the most relaxed I’ve ever seen you the night of the dinner. Why don’t you see if Chad will take you down again?”
She held up the one piece by a strap. Rachel knew she wouldn’t go for flashy, but this one seemed very pretty, a mix of blues and greens. She had been relaxed then.
“Maybe I will.”
Nerves attacked her when the chance came to ask at dinner that night, but Chad beat her to the subject. “Rachel said you might like to use the bathhouse again.”
She nodded, incredibly appreciative of the other woman.
Chad’s eyes darkened, but he nodded his head. “We can wait till Mercy is in bed if you’d like.”
Lora nodded again, feeling like a dimwit, but her throat was tight with emotion.
But as the time neared, anxiety began to get the better of her. She hadn’t been separated from Mercy since they’d run from Denver. She sat on the bed reading to her at bedtime, but she didn’t know if she could leave her behind.
Mercy seemed to pick up on her concern. “Don’t worry, Mommy. Harper said he would stay right outside my door when you went down to Chad’s mom’s house.”
Lora cocked an eyebrow at that but when she glanced up, the former SEAL hovered in the shadows of the hallway. He gave her a single nod, then went back to running his thumb over the massive knife in his hand.
Two weeks ago the image would probably have freaked her out, but instead it made her completely secure in her daughter’s safety. With a final kiss on Mercy’s forehead
, she turned off the light and left the room. As she passed Harper, she smiled up at him. “Thank you,” she whispered.
He gave her a wink and leaned against the wall. “No problem.”
They rattled down the drive in Chad’s truck. Harper, Flynn and Rachel were staying with Mercy. Anticipation was building in her belly, more because she was alone with Chad than anything.
They pulled up into the drive and parked, but he guided her around the side of the house. “My parents are probably in bed. But it’s okay. I told them we’d be out here tonight.”
There was enough of a moon to see where they walked and they were soon standing under the pale lights of the gazebo. Chad tossed a couple of fresh towels onto the bench from the cupboard then returned to the front of the building. “Enjoy.”
Lora frowned. “Aren’t you going to join me?”
He glanced at her. “Only if you want me to.”
“I do.”
The words themselves were innocuous enough, but she felt them resonate through her.
Giving her a single nod, he waved a hand. “I’ll wait until you get in.”
Turning back around to face the house, he gave her privacy to strip down to her suit. Lora appreciated the consideration and skimmed her pants down her legs, then her shirt. The late evening breeze was cool, making the hot water in the tub feel all that hotter. She gasped as she lowered herself into the water.
“You can come in now.”
Chad stepped inside the building. Lora turned her head away but tried to watch him out of her peripheral vision. Would he strip down in front of her or would he turn around?
Oh, hell. He wasn’t turning.
One handed, he unfastened the button at the top of his pants and dragged his zipper down. The shirt slipped off after that. Then he did turn to sit on the bench beside the tub to take his prosthetic off. It only took a second before he was standing again, balancing on one leg as he hopped up the two steps, sat on the side and lifted his legs over the side.
Lora watched him by that time; she couldn’t not. As he sank down into the water in his blue briefs, she thought he seemed a little relieved to be concealed. So maybe he wasn’t as confident as he appeared.
