Ultimate Courage

by Piper J. Drake

  David caught her eye. “This kind of thing doesn’t have a clear time limit. Consider that. You’d be staying with us until who knows when.”

  “You don’t have to choose this.” Anger made Alex’s voice rough. “We can find alternatives if you want.”

  She looked askance at him. “Does that mean you’re taking back your invitation?”

  His eyes widened. “No. I just don’t want you to feel trapped.”

  And she knew he’d fight to make sure she could go out on her own if she wanted.

  She smiled, suddenly calm. “I don’t.” But she might be enjoying Alex’s discomfiture a little too much.

  She returned her attention to Captain Jones. “I would be happy to help, sir.”

  It took a few more minutes to work out the next steps, but eventually they had a plan and a timeline, starting first thing in the morning. Apparently, more organizations than Hope’s Crossing Kennels worked seven days a week.

  With a nod, Captain Jones let himself out of the room.

  Boom entered before Elisa had a chance to ask Lyn anything additional, and the tiny whirlwind chased any serious thoughts to the back of Elisa’s mind. “You’re okay!”

  She gave Elisa a hug as best she could from the side of the hospital bed, careful not to jostle the arm with the IV still installed.

  It didn’t stop her from poking it, though. “Aren’t these cool? They’ve got a bendy tube inside the vein so you can flex your elbow if you have to.”

  “It’s definitely cool,” Elisa agreed.

  Boom looked from Elisa to her dad and back to Elisa. “Did he ask you?”

  Elisa smiled. “Yes, he asked me.”

  “And he showed you the picture?”

  “He showed me the picture.” Wow, this girl had made her way into Elisa’s heart and lit it up from the inside out.

  Boom gave her dad a shrewd look. Before meeting Boom, Elisa wouldn’t have known nine-year-olds could manage those looks.

  “You didn’t answer him yet, did you?” Boom looked around the room. “We all need to leave so Elisa can answer my dad’s question. Somebody find an oxygen tank in case he passes out from holding his breath so long.”

  There were grins all around but Alex looked like he’d swallowed something large and maybe sour. Everyone shuffled out. Brandon called over his shoulder even as Boom planted her hands on his behind and shoved him out the door. “We’ll be in the waiting room. Whenever you’re ready to go home.”

  It took a minute to get used to the suddenly not-crowded space. Souze popped up at the side of the hospital bed, and she wondered if he’d hidden underneath it the entire time everyone else had been in the room. Very likely, actually. It’d been the only floor space available.

  Alex resumed his seat, looking worn out. “So.”

  “So.” It was her turn to hold out her hand for his.

  He gave it to her with no hesitation.

  “Either of us is completely capable of going on all on our own. We could do everything we need to and manage just fine.” She sighed. “But it’d be lonely. And there wouldn’t be any energy left to actually enjoy life. There’d be no one to share the pleasure or pride of what we’ve accomplished at the end of each day.”

  She intertwined her fingers with his. “I want to build a life for myself, but I don’t want to build one alone. And I don’t want to be with just anybody. I love you.”

  He let out the air in his lungs in a whoosh and squeezed her hand. Rising out of the chair, he leaned over her. She happily let her eyes fall closed as he kissed her, long and slow, until her pulse quickened, and she nipped at the corner of his mouth, hungry for him.

  Then he grinned at her. “So that’s a yes.”

  She laughed. “That’s a yes. Now get me out of here and let’s go home.”

  Years ago, Sophie gave up any hope that her crush on Brandon Forte would turn into the real thing. But now he’s back from active duty, and the girl-next-door he left behind has grown into his every waking dream…

  Please see the next page

  for a preview of

  Absolute Trust

  Chapter One

  It was a quiet Tuesday afternoon in New Hope. Few people were out and about on the main street, which was perfect for Brandon Forte. The jet black German Shepherd Dog (GSD) walking just ahead of him needed space for this excursion, a couple of things to look at, but not too much to excite him. A few people to see was good for both of them, too, as long as they weren’t going to be overwhelmed with requests to pet or take pictures.

  Besides, the bake shop all the way down at this end of town tended to have day-old baked goods at a discount and the shop owner occasionally gave Forte a cupcake or cookie on the house along with the special home-baked dog treats he bought for whichever dog was with him. It gave the dogs, and him, something to look forward to on the walk.

  Today it was Haydn. Haydn was a seasoned veteran and one of the dogs Forte had trained on active duty for the Air Force. Haydn had come to Hope’s Crossing Kennels now for a new kind of training. The black GSD had a lot of physical therapy ahead of him. He’d been fitted with a prosthetic to replace his front left leg prior to arriving, but it was up to Forte to help Haydn figure out how to use it. The big dog had walked the kennel grounds fine, but was obviously getting bored. It happened with intelligent animals, same way it could with people. The two of them were more than ready for a change of scenery and terrain.

  Thus the outing and the very slow walking.

  Besides, it took skill to stuff a chocolate cupcake with cookie dough frosting, dusted with sugar, in one bite. A man needed to practice once in a while to make sure he could still manage it.

  And it was a necessary skill as far as Forte was concerned. His friend Sophie tended to bring her own baked treats to Hope’s Crossing Kennels every weekend. If she caught him partaking of other sweets, she’d never let him hear the end of it. Thus the entire bite-and-inhale technique. Because she had a knack for popping up out of nowhere.

  Now, if it was about dating, she’d never had a word to say about any of the women he saw or one night stands he indulged in now and then. He’d bumped into her once in a while in Philly on the weekends. They both dated and it couldn’t matter less to her who he chose to spend his time with, but take a taste of someone else’s baking and he was in for a world of hurt. Which made it more fun when he took the risk and did it anyway.

  Of course, he had a long history of crossing paths with Murphy’s Law, and apparently this was his day for it because who should be walking down the street but the very person he was just thinking about?

  Sophie Kim was five feet two inches of nonstop energy, and she was heading out of a small art gallery with a large paper shopping bag. The woman had expansive peripheral vision and excellent spatial awareness. Which meant she’d spotted him and changed course immediately toward his direction.

  Forte swallowed hard.

  She must’ve come directly from work because under her very sleek trench coat, she was wearing a sharp matching pencil skirt. Three-inch red heels popped in contrast to the severe black of the rest of her outfit. Which did all sorts of things to him. Naughty things.

  The kind of things that were so good they were really bad. Especially when a woman was off-limits.

  “Hey! Is that the new guy?” Sophie slowed her approach, keeping her gaze locked on Forte’s face.

  She’d been around tiny dogs all her life. But she’d spent enough time at Hope’s Crossing Kennels over the past couple of years, while he’d been establishing it, to have learned how to meet the much bigger dogs in his care. Training working dogs were his thing. Or, in Haydn’s case, retraining.

  Always a work in progress. And she’d been there when he’d come back after being too battle-weary to continue deploying. Trouble was, he still wasn’t sure if he belonged. What mattered more was there’d been no question about where he’d end up. He always came right back here.

  His mind was wandering on a s
ugar high; and there was Sophie, her bright smile fading as she waited for him to answer.

  “Yeah.” Forte brought them to a halt and murmured the command for Haydn to sit.

  Instant obedience. Despite his injury, surgery, and current need for recovery, the dog was as sharp as he’d been on active duty. The mind was eager, ready to work. The body, not so much.

  Sophie’s smile renewed, the brilliant expression stopping his heart, the way it had every time he’d seen her since they’d first met way back in school. She came to a stop in front of them, barely within arm’s reach. “He must be doing well if you’ve got him out here for some fieldwork.”

  Haydn remained at ease as Forte and Sophie stood there, unconcerned with her proximity. Curious, even, if Brandon was any judge of body language. And he was. For dogs, at least.

  Forte shrugged. “Easy going with Haydn. He needs a lot of light walking, over different kinds of surfaces, to get a feel for his prosthetic. We’re not out for too long. I don’t want to tire him out or put too much strain on his legs.”

  Sophie nodded in understanding. “Glad to meet him though. I thought I was going to have to wait until I stopped by this weekend.”

  While they spoke, Haydn watched them both. Then he stretched his neck and sniffed the back of Sophie’s hand, which she’d been holding conveniently within reach.

  Introductions were simple with dogs. Stay relaxed, let the dog know the approaching person wasn’t a threat via body language, and give the dog time to investigate on his own. Her body language was naturally open and nonthreatening. Sophie had learned from Forte not to look his dogs in the eyes. The dogs he trained tended to be dominant, aggressive, and they required a more careful approach than the average pet on the street.

  Usually, Forte preferred if a person asked to be introduced, but this was Sophie. If he’d been anyone else, she’d have requested permission to say hi to the dog. Instead, she spoke to him and took it on faith that he’d tell her if she needed to keep her distance. But then again, he also wouldn’t bring a dog out into public that wasn’t ready to be socialized.

  It was all in how well she’d come to know the way he worked in the last few years.

  “What’s your plan for him?” Sophie glanced down at the dog, now that he’d sniffed her hand. “Haydn, right?”

  Forte gave her a slight nod and she ruffled the fur around his ears. The big dog’s eyes rolled up and he leaned his head into her hand for more enthusiastic scratches.

  Definitely no problems socializing. Then again, in Sophie’s hands, most males turned to Silly Putty.

  Or…he needed to stop thinking about what could happen to him in Sophie’s hands.

  “Yeah.” Forte cleared his throat. “He’s got a couple of weeks of physical therapy first. Then we need to coordinate with the Air Force on his adoption.”

  “Ah.” A world of understanding in the one syllable. Part of why Sophie was one of the few people Forte felt easy around was because she got it. Only needed to explain once. And she listened the first time. Sometimes no explanation was required at all. She had the kind of caring heart to fill in the gaps when something went unsaid. “His handler didn’t make it?”

  Forte shook his head. “Same IED that injured Haydn took out his handler. The deceased’s family has been contacted and they’ll have first choice to adopt. We haven’t heard back yet on their decision, but those kinds of things can take some time coming through the communication channels.”

  Sophie nodded and looked down at Haydn. “We’ll give you time to figure things out while all the paperwork goes through, huh? It’s nice to meet you, Haydn.”

  The black GSD leaned into her, his tongue lolling out in response to the attention and the use of his name. Dog knew when someone was talking to him and apparently, he liked Sophie’s voice.

  “Where’s your car?” Forte was not going to stand around long enough to be jealous of a dog. Not at all. “We’ll walk you.”

  “Right across the street.” Sophie jerked her head in the direction of the small parking lot.

  They headed over, Sophie falling into step next to Forte. She didn’t try to take his hand or tuck her own around his arm. They weren’t like that. Besides, she knew he didn’t like to be all wound up with a person when walking out in the open. And she demonstrated it all the time. It was a regular reassurance. A comfort.

  Better than free cupcakes.

  “Has Haydn met Atlas?” Sophie asked casually.

  The first rehabilitation case at Hope’s Crossing Kennels had been Atlas, a dog suffering from PTSD after his handler had died. One of Forte’s trainers and close friends, David Cruz, had worked with Atlas and still did now that the dog had become a permanent part of the kennels. But Atlas’s challenges had been psychological. With the help of Lyn Jones’s approach to working with dogs, Cruz had successfully brought Atlas back up to speed.

  “Briefly.” He glanced at Sophie and caught her making a face. “The dogs don’t need group therapy sessions.”

  The psychology aspect of the rehabilitation was something Forte was only willing to entertain so far. Lyn got results with her work, yes, but he was not going to go all the way into the deep end with the dog whisperer approach.

  To Sophie, he made a stupid face right back. “You do not need to come over and sit Atlas and Haydn down to compare notes on what they’ve been through.”

  Sophie was silent a moment, a sure sign his guess at her thought process was on target. “Well, they do need to play with each other sometimes, right?”

  “Dogs are social creatures and, yeah, some playtime is good if they can socialize with other dogs that way.” He’d give her that. Forte made sure the dogs trained at Hope’s Crossing Kennels could socialize well with both human handlers and other working dogs. “Haydn’s the second military working dog to come to us for help after active duty but his challenges are mostly physical. We have to watch him carefully with the prosthetic on until we all know what he can do with it, including him. But, yeah, he’s gone out with Atlas on a couple of group walks without the prosthetic.”

  Honestly, Haydn was pretty spry even without the prosthetic. Dog just had better mobility with it.

  “Okay.” Sophie let it go. “I just think you and your working dogs could use a little more playtime in your lives. Like a doggie field day or something.”

  He snorted.

  Sophie’s car was a sensible sedan, the sort to blend into a lot of other normal, everyday cars. What made it easy to spot was the pile of cute stuffed animals across the back. Not just any stuffed animals. A gathering of cute Japanese and Korean plush characters from her favorite Asian cartoons.

  As they approached, Sophie juggled her shopping bag to pull her keys out of her purse and triggered the trunk.

  “Need help?” Forte came up alongside the car, scanning the area around the parking lot out of habit.

  “No worries.” Sophie lifted the trunk door and carefully placed her shopping bag inside the deep space, leaning in to move things around to where she wanted. “I need to make sure this is arranged so stuff doesn’t shift. It’s delicate!”

  He was not going to admit to anyone, ever, how much he was willing to stretch his neck to catch sight of her backside while she was leaning over.

  Haydn was sniffing the side of the car. Forte tore his attention from Sophie. Actually, the black dog was very interested in the car.

  Then Haydn deliberately sat and looked up at Forte. It was a clear, passive signal. One Haydn had been specifically trained to give as a military explosives detection dog.

  Shit.

  “Sophie. Step away from your car.”

  She popped up from the trunk. “Huh?”

  “Do it.”

  Sophie always listened to him, Rojas, or Cruz when they were urgent. She complied, thank god. He gave Haydn a terse command, then circled around to grab Sophie and get more distance, reaching for his smartphone.

  They got a couple of yards away and Sophie craned he
r neck to look back at her car, even as she kept moving with him. She always did as he asked immediately, but she had a brain and she insisted on explanations after she complied. “What—”

  Behind them, the trunk hatch came down with a solid thunk.

  Forte let out a curse and grabbed her, pulling them down to the ground and rolling for cover of other cars as an explosion lifted the entire driver’s side of her car.

  Sophie screamed. Maybe. She was pretty sure she did, but wrapped in Brandon’s arms and smooshed up against his chest, she wasn’t sure if she’d gotten it out or if it’d only been in her head.

  The explosion was crazy loud. The concussive force of it slammed into both her and Brandon despite the shelter of the cars he’d pulled them behind.

  He covered most of her, one of his hands tucking her head protectively into her chest. His other arm was around her waist. They were horizontal.

  Not the way she’d daydreamed this would happen.

  After a long moment, all she could hear was the ringing in her ears. Her heart thundered in her chest. And she thought, maybe, Brandon’s lips were pressed against her temple.

  Or was it her imagination.

  His voice started to penetrate the roaring sound filling her head. The words slowly started to make sense. “Are you hurt?”

  His weight lifted off her and his hands started to roam over her, gentle and with purpose. Looking for injuries.

  “Haydn?” She sounded funny in her own mind, but Brandon met her gaze for a moment and jerked his chin to one side.

  “Don’t turn to look until I check to see if you hurt your neck or head.” His admonishment came through sharp. It was the way he talked when he was worried. People thought it was meanness, but it wasn’t. He was frightened. For her. “Haydn’s right here. He’s fine.”

  As Brandon continued, a cold nose touched her cheek. Big ears came into view and warm, not so sweet, breath huffed across her face.