Danger Close (The Echo Platoon Series, Book 1)

by Marliss Melton

  Her heeled boots struck musical tones on the wooden planks as she climbed to the height of the bridge. Pausing at the railing, she studied the creek rippling below her. The rocks at the bottom glinted like multi-colored eggs.

  For the longest time, she stared hypnotically at the sinuous rush of water, her thoughts empty. A peaceful hush, filled only by the distant sound of the beltway and the wind stirring the naked branches overhead filled her ears. Loneliness swelled her empty heart as she remembered how it felt to have Sam standing next to her.

  The time had come to make the next big decision. Now that she was fairly certain the baby was okay, she was obligated to tell Sam about it. And while the prospect of having him back in her life made her pulse quicken, it also filled her with dismay.

  He would want to marry her out of a sense of obligation, so as not to leave her the way his biological father had left him. She had no doubt about that. But she didn't want him marrying her because he had to. She wanted him to love her, as completely and purely as she loved him. Yet considering he hadn't attempted even once to reach out in the weeks they'd been apart, that wasn't likely ever to happen.

  I don't want him this way.

  Feeling a splinter gouge her palm, Maddy looked down at the railing she was gripping. But then a fluttering in her womb tugged her attention lower to the baby whose happiness came before her own, who seemed to be demanding that she make her decision already.

  "I know," she crooned, rubbing the bump of her belly absently. "I'll call him today."

  * * *

  Sam's stride faltered as he caught sight of Maddy through the dark tree trunks ahead of him. Her father, ecstatic to see him, had immediately shooed him out the back door with directions to look for Maddy in the yard. Something had told Sam that he would find her on the bridge where she'd led him the night of the soirée. Sure enough, there she was, swathed in a periwinkle town coat that made her look breastier than usual.

  The sad, resolved look on her face as she absently rubbed her stomach plucked at his heartstrings. He slowed to a stop for a moment drinking in the sight of her. Then he scrounged up the courage to announce his presence.

  "Maddy." He started forward again.

  Her eyebrows quirked with bafflement as she looked over at him. Through wide, wondering eyes, she studied his approach. Sam's step slowed. She hadn't said a word by the time he reached the bottom of the bridge. He'd clearly caught her off guard.

  "Hey," he said, offering a tentative smile.

  Her answering smile was more of a grimace. "What are you doing here?"

  It was not the warm welcome he was hoping for, but then what did he expect? Before he even got the chance to speak she proposed an answer.

  "My father called you, didn't he?" Her eyes flashed with indignation and her hands flew to her hips.

  The accusation reminded him so much of the words tossed at him in Paraguay—My father sent you here again?—that he issued a bitter laugh. "No." He shook his head. "I came because I wanted to. Because I should have come a long time ago."

  The fury seemed to drain out of her. "Oh."

  He took a step forward, then another one, until they both stood where they'd been that late summer night before they'd been so rudely interrupted. A mere six inches separated them now. It felt like six miles.

  Maddy's eyes had locked on his face. The cold teased a vapor from her slightly parted mouth and painted her cheeks pink. She was the prettiest woman he'd seen in his entire life.

  "Did he tell you about—?" She stopped talking abruptly.

  He cocked his head wondering where she was headed with her words. "Winning a Senate seat?" He nodded. "Actually, I heard it on the news. I always knew he'd win."

  She sent him a faint nod.

  "How've you been, querida?" he asked, unable to withhold the endearment any longer. One look at her and he couldn't fathom what had kept him away this long. For the first time in three months, he felt alive, hopeful. "Did you get the samples you wanted to take?"

  The endearment softened her brittle façade only slightly "Yes. And Salim was right. The pollution there was awful. My uncle wouldn't have done anything about it, but the board of directors is implementing a cleanup and repairing the faulty containment wall." She blew out a breath and added quickly, "Daddy's got them abiding by the initial trade agreement so Paraguayan investors can weigh in on the company's decisions."

  "That's great. It wouldn't have happened without you," he praised, meaning every word.

  "Thanks," she said more remotely than he would have wanted. "So, how've you been? How are the guys, Bronco and Bullfrog?"

  "They're good."

  "You never told me how they got their names."

  This was how it was going to be, he thought with an inward sigh. They would dance around the subject until they couldn't avoid it any longer. Fine, he could play this game if that was what it took.

  "Brantley's a champion rodeo rider and Jeremiah swims like a fish," he explained with a shrug. "Only that's not how the song goes."

  Comprehension flickered in her eyes and she promptly supplied the familiar chorus by Three Dog Night about the wine-drinking Bullfrog named Jeremiah. Her sweet voice was exactly as he remembered.

  "Nah, nah." He tacked on the electrical guitar portion, strumming the air in lieu of a guitar.

  A brief smile touched the edges of her lips, but then it faded, and all he saw in her face was a reflection of the pain he'd caused her by walking out on what they had.

  "Maddy, I have a story to tell you," he said cutting straight to the point of his being here.

  Her forehead puckered. "Okay." She obviously thought it a strange time for him to be telling stories.

  He slipped his hands into his coat pockets. "When I was in high school, I had a crush on the prettiest, richest tease in the school. Her name was Wendy, and her father was a real estate tycoon."

  Maddy's expression turned quizzical, but he had her full attention.

  "Our senior year, she hosted an after-prom party at her house—a big mansion in Miami, right on the lagoon. I saw her go upstairs with two of her male friends. A while later, I heard her shrieking at the top of her lungs. They were raping her."

  Maddy gasped. "Oh, no."

  He nodded. "I did what came naturally to me. I broke down the door, beat the crap out of the guys, and chased them off the premises."

  She was astute enough to know that wasn't the end of it. "What happened then?"

  "She told her father that I'd been the one to rape her."

  Her eyes widened with horror. "What? Why?"

  "The boys who did it were her friends."

  "Oh."

  "Her father convinced the judge that I was dangerous. I spent two months in jail while my stepfather looked for a lawyer who could stand up to the prosecution. When my case was finally heard, I was cleared of all charges, but I'd missed final exams and graduation. I had to get a GED."

  "Oh, Sam."

  He wanted to reach for her but he kept his hands firmly in his pockets. "I'm not trying to excuse myself, Maddy," he insisted. "I just want you to realize why your father's offer offended me so much. That experience taught me that wealthy people step on those who were less well-off. In actuality, I've been carrying a chip on my shoulders and making stereotypes that simply aren't true. I know that's no excuse for the way I walked out on you. I was a fool to have done that. I'm so sorry." He swallowed hard, forcing the next words past the lump building in his throat, "and I hope you'll take me back."

  The burble of water was the only sound to fill the sudden silence. Sam's heart suspended its beating as he waited for Maddy either to forgive him or reject him forever.

  "There's nothing to forgive," she whispered, finally.

  His heart leaped, and he sucked in a breath of relief as she spontaneously threw her arms around his neck. His hands came out of his pockets pulling her closer. His eyes closed in relief as she laid her head against his shoulder, burrowing closer.

&n
bsp; "Oh, God, Sam, I'm so sorry you went through that," she said, still engrossed in his plight.

  Her selflessness humbled him. "I'm good now." The firm curves of her body captured his attention. Her breasts felt like balloons—incredibly sexy water balloons—crushed against his chest. He wanted to stay locked together like this forever, but then she stiffened and drew back. "I have something to tell you, too," she announced, wetting her upper lip with a dart of her tongue.

  The vision distracted him. "What is it?"

  "I'm pregnant." An uncertain smile kicked up one corner of her supple lips.

  Sam's gaze dropped past her full breasts to the rounded bump straining the buttons at the front of her coat. "Pregnant," he repeated, stupidly. "How... how long?"

  She arched an eyebrow. "Well, we only had unprotected sex those first two times, so obviously it was then. That puts me at fifteen weeks."

  Incredulity crashed over him. "And you're just telling me this now?"

  He knew his choice of words was wrong when she visibly bristled.

  "Well, maybe if you hadn't walked away from me, you would have known. Besides, the doctor in Curacao warned me if I was pregnant, the embryo could have been poisoned, too. He said I would most likely have to abort."

  Horrified, Sam looked back at the telltale bump. He found himself reaching out to lay a protective hand over it.

  She searched his face, clearly heartened by his concern. "I got the results of the amniocentesis this morning," she told him. "No genetic defects." A sheen of tears suddenly filmed her eyes making him realize everything she'd been through since he'd selfishly walked out on her.

  "Querida, you must have been so worried," he guessed, feeling like more of a jerk by the second. "I'm so sorry. I didn't realize."

  "I didn't want you to worry about the baby if it wasn't going to make it, so I kept it to myself."

  "You shouldn't have had to. God, I'm a thoughtless ass!" He lifted his hand to capture the side of her face. Awareness arced between them, and he was helpless to lower his head and gently kiss her. The familiar sweetness of her lips brought moisture to his eyes. "I love you, Maddy," he whispered, kissing her again, more deeply this time, with all of the hunger and devotion raging in through him.

  * * *

  Maddy's head spun at the delicious languor taking over her body, making her feel more alive than she had in months. He loves me. And this time he had said the words first and with total conviction.

  "I love you, too," she managed between heated kisses. She stroked the crisp hair at the back of his head, measured the powerful breadth of his shoulders with her hands and arched her hips toward the hard length of his thighs, craving more.

  He stopped kissing her reluctantly. "You'll never be alone again," he swore.

  She blinked up at him, wanting to believe it was love and not duty that prompted those words. "Because of the baby?" she pressed.

  "Because we belong together," he steadily replied. "You knew it as long ago as the last time we were here, didn't you? The night you tried to tell me how much alike we are."

  She nodded. Deep down in her heart, she'd known it all along.

  A worried thought creased his forehead. "Your father said you have a new job coming up?"

  She nodded in agreement. She could tell by the dread in his eyes that he feared she was going to embark on another wild field assignment. "Dr. Troost put me in touch with the Amazon Conservation Team."

  "You're going to the Amazon?"

  She had to laugh at how horribly he hid his dismay. "No. I'm compiling and organizing the data they collected into articles for publication. Our baby won't be born in the jungle, Sam. Don't you worry."

  Relief shone in his eyes. "And you're okay with that? Staying in the States?"

  "I think, for the baby's sake, I can avoid the hot spots for a while and still make a contribution," she answered honestly.

  He looked stunned by her declaration. "Damn, I should have gotten you pregnant a long time ago!"

  She had to smile at his rueful tone. He grinned back at her, looking younger and happier than she'd ever seen him.

  "There's only one thing that could make this moment any more special for us," he announced unexpectedly.

  "What's that?"

  Releasing a button at the front of his coat, he reached into an unseen pocket and withdrew a little velvet box.

  Maddy gasped. "That's not a..."

  But it was. He cracked it open, revealing a simple yet stunning solitaire ring nestled in a bed of satin. And, in the next instant, he was down on one knee, wincing when his knee cap came into contact with the sharp edge of a plank.

  "Madison Marie Scott," he said, surprising her as he spouted off her middle name, "would you do me the tremendous honor of being my better half for the rest of my life?"

  "Oh, Sam." The fact that he'd had that ring in his coat even before he knew about the baby was proof: He did love her as completely and purely as she loved him. "Yes!" she cried, leaning over and kissing him soundly on the lips.

  In the next perfect moments, the ring was practically forgotten. At last, Sam slid it onto her left hand, managing not to drop it into the stream even though his fingers visibly trembled. And then he pocketed the box, swept her up into his arms, and marched all the way to the house with her locked in his embrace stealing kisses as they went.

  Epilogue

  "Here we are, little one," Sam called to the newborn swaddled in her car seat in the back of his Charger. "Home, sweet home."

  Maddy sat next to her daughter, scarcely able to tear her gaze off little Melinda's sleeping face. But Sam's proud remark had her looking up at their remodeled rancher, basking in the shade of several towering oak trees. "Oh, look!" Someone had rented a large wooden stork carrying a pink bundle that announced the arrival of Melinda Sofia Sasseville, born on July 7th and weighing in at six pounds, four ounces.

  "My mother, probably," Sam said, naming the most likely culprit.

  "But no one's here," Maddy observed, a bit disappointed, as he swept them into the carport and killed the engine. "I thought you said your family would be visiting."

  "They'll show up sooner or later," he promised on a resigned note.

  She'd come to expect unpredictability from his large, boisterous family. His mother Sofia and stepfather Raúl had given him three half-brothers, all in their teens. Maddy found them hysterical. She'd rather hoped they would be here now to see the baby.

  Sam had opened the rear door and unlatched the carrier before she'd even taken off her own seatbelt. "I've got her," he said with a grin.

  They'd been fighting over who got to hold the baby ever since she'd come into the world, hiccupping but not crying. Maddy had taken her first peek at her daughter and gasped, "She has my mother's nose and eyes!" making the name they'd chosen for her even more fitting. "It's fate," she'd marveled, tingling from head to foot with the certainty that her mother's spirit had found a way to be with her again.

  Sam held the carrier in the crux of his arm while inserting the key into their front door. "Wake up, little one," he called in the sing-song voice he reserved for his daughter. "You're going to miss it."

  "Miss what?" Maddy asked, eager to get out of the heat. "I hope you left the air-conditioner running."

  Pushing the door open, he stepped into the foyer holding the door ajar for Maddy to join him. She dove with relief into the cool interior only to startle back as bodies materialized out of the living room and kitchen bellowing "Surprise!"

  The baby's arms flailed in a startle reflex. Her eyes flew open but she didn't cry.

  Sam's younger brothers were the first to swarm them, followed by his mother and stepfather. Sam's teammates, Bronco and Bullfrog, hung back, as did her father, who'd already visited them at the hospital. This was Sam's family's first contact with the newest relative. Baby Melinda returned their rapt stares with slate-gray eyes that held the promise of lightening to a blue-gray.

  "Qué linda!" Sofia exclaimed, throwing
up her hands in rapture. "Mi hija, you did a beautiful job!" she praised, plastering an effusive kiss on Maddy's cheek.

  "Good thing she don't look like you, Sam," fourteen-year-old Jaime ribbed with a smirk.

  "Next time you need to have a boy," said Jaime's twin brother, Javier. He looked disappointed not to have a nephew to play ball with.

  "Give Maddy a break." Frank, who was older by two years, did his best to keep the twins under control.

  "Take her out so we can hold her," Sofia begged, rubbing her hands together eagerly.

  Sam put down the carrier and Maddy leaned over with a grimace of discomfort to unbuckle her. "I'll get her," offered Sam, attuned to her limitations. "Everyone go wash your hands first," he ordered.

  As his family sought out every sink in the house, Bronco and Bullfrog made their way over. By then, Sam was holding baby Melinda in both hands, preparing to pass her off. "You going to hold her?" he asked Bronco.

  "No." Bronco eyed the baby as he might a live hand grenade and fervently shook his sun-kissed head.

  "I will," Bullfrog volunteered holding out his large, gentle hands. "I just used hand sanitizer."

  Maddy suffered no qualms about letting Jeremiah handle her tiny infant. One look at his wondering features and she hoped one day he'd experience the privilege of raising his own child. Brant, too, for that matter. Her attention swiveled to his wondering blue eyes. With reluctant fascination, he watched Jeremiah croon at the baby. Melinda studied them both raptly. Already, her daughter promised to be a serious and authentic child.

  "Wow," Jeremiah said. "Just... wow."

  Slipping her hand into Sam's, Maddy gave it a squeeze. He turned his head to look over at her. "I love you," she mouthed.

  He sent her a wink and a satisfied smile. It didn't get any better than this.

  And being the tag team that they were, she would always have his back, just as he had hers. Whenever work took either one of them away temporarily, they knew the other would be waiting, with arms wide open, for the other's return. Together they'd only begun to make the world a better place. With little Melinda, they were off to a fabulous start.