by Dalia Wright
“I cared a lot about you, too.”
“It didn’t seem like it.” She could hear the hurt in his voice.
“I… I know you won’t believe me, but I really did think it would be best for both of us…” Guilt tugged at the pit of her stomach. She knew she shouldn’t have lied to him, but it’s not like she ever thought she was going to see him again. Now this just sucks.
Danika prayed he wouldn’t be there when she woke up. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to face him after last night. They’d spent the night talking, and she’d stayed up longer than she had in a long time.
This morning she was feeling it. She stepped into the kitchen and took a deep breath. The scent of coffee filled her lungs.
“Mommy!” Beka looked up from where she was sitting on the ground. Danika’s jaw dropped. She stared at the scene in front of her.
Beka was fully clothed, sitting in front of Seth, who held a Barbie in his hand. He looked up, no shame whatsoever crossed his face.
“Morning! We didn’t wake you, did we?”
Danika’s mouth fell open, and try as hard as she might, she couldn’t bring herself to say a word.
“We played really quiet so we wouldn’t! It his idea!” The little girl beamed.
“No you didn’t wake me. Thank you.” Danika smiled. She really couldn’t tell the man how much it meant to her that she’d managed to get a good night’s rest- and that someone else had gotten her daughter dressed. At this age, it was always a battle.
Chapter Seven
Seth’s brow furrowed as he tuned out his future brother-in-law. At least tried to.
“I just don’t get what anyone sees in small-town living. It’s gross, and is it just me or do people look… dirty?” Well yeah, that’s what happens when most of the town is farmers and they all work 16-hour days. Seth thought, but he didn’t say it out loud. Just remember your sister’s in love with him. “And I don’t think I like Ally’s old friends. I mean, do you see them? They dress…”
“Like they can’t afford to blow a grand on a watch because they have bills to pay and mouths to feed?” Seth offered.
“Yes!” His future brother-in-law actually thought that was an insult.
Seth resisted the urge to groan. Mouths to feed… he thought about Beka. He couldn’t shake the feeling of how much she looked like Ally when Ally was that age. She said she was 3. That would line up with the night they’d spent together. His heart skipped a beat. It had been a long time ago, but he still hadn’t had another night like it. With Danika… he’d felt connected to her. No other night had made him feel like that.
That’s not true.
His pulse raced. It wasn’t true, not anymore. Not after last night.
“I just can’t wait to get out of here and get Ally some place….”
Seth scowled. What the fuck is he talking about now? Without a word to Connor, Seth headed for the door. He had to pick Danika up, and there was something he needed to ask her. Something he needed to get an honest answer about.
The drive over to get Danika hadn’t been very good for him. Between slamming his finger in the door and all the questions going around in his head, when Danika stepped out of the door he was hardly smiling. He looked her up and down.
“My sister has something close to that,” he stated. The second he said it, he felt guilty. Her cheeks turned a deep red and he understood what his sister had done after he told her about Danika’s comment. She gave her some clothes so she would have something to wear. He didn’t like it. “It looks better on you, though.”
He hated the idea of her wearing his sister’s clothes. It made it hard to appreciate just how gorgeous she was.
“Thank you,” she stammered.
“Anyways, let’s get going.” He led the way to the car.
As they drove they didn’t say a word. Why did she stay here? Was it just for Beka? She wouldn’t have given up on her dream, would she? No, he couldn’t imagine the woman he’d fallen in love with as a teenager giving up on her dreams because of a kid. She’d have found a way to make it work.
Chapter Eight
The night didn’t go too bad, except that everyone was staring at her when she came into the house with Seth. Micky’s eyes narrowed but she didn’t say a word. Like, at all. Micky didn’t talk to her the whole night.
The rehearsal went pretty fast, and then there was the dinner which looked like was being catered.
Ally sat beside Danika, most of the night the talked about everything that they had planned for tomorrow. Her eyes sparkled as she talked about the way the backyard of her parents’ home would be decorated.
“It’s going to be beautiful,” Danika reassured her friend. Despite the fact it had been a few years, she could still tell that Ally was nervous about everything.
“And you’ll be there tomorrow, right? To make sure it is?”
“I’m still waiting to hear back… about a couple things but I think I might be able to.” Now that she had some nice clothes she kind of wanted to put them to use, but she hadn’t decided yet.
Beside her, Seth cleared his throat. “Speaking of things, we’d better get going.”
“But it’s still early!” Ally protested.
Danika glanced down at her watch. For Ally it might be early, but it was getting close to Beka’s bed time.
“Sadly, I think Seth is right. I’ve got a couple things I need to wrap up before bed.” She stood, her friend following suit. Danika pulled Ally into a tight hug.
“Thank you so much for inviting me.” She meant it, she truly was thankful.
“Anytime. And by the way, I love your outfit.” Her eyes sparkled as she said it.
“Thank you.” That was all Ally had said about the clothes that, until the other day, had been hers. She hadn’t made any comment about the fact that she’d given them to Danika, and for that, Danika couldn’t say how thankful she was.
Together, her and Seth made their way out of the house and down the parking lot to his black BMW.
His hand touched the small of her back, slipping lower. Danika didn’t mind. They came to a stop in front of the passenger door of his car.
His hands grabbed her hips and pulled her into a kiss. Danika tried to pull away, hoping no one saw but gave in, her body craving his kiss. She could taste the alcohol as they kissed. His hand slipped up her skirt gently.
“Seth,” she moaned. “Not here… not…”
Seth pulled away from her. “Danni, last night you said that Beka wasn’t mine. I know what my sister looked at that age-”
Shame filled Danika. She looked away from him, she couldn’t bring herself to meet his gaze.
“You did lie to me about it, didn’t you?” She could hear the hurt. The anger.
He pulled away from her, leaving her cold as she circled around the car.
“Seth-”
“Just get in the car,” he said as he slid into the driver’s seat himself.
Danika did as she was told, guilt overwhelming her. I did the right thing, she told herself.
They made their way back to her house without a word to each other. It wasn’t until he shifted the car into park that he turned to her. A single tear streamed down his cheek.
“How could you do that?”
“It was for the best! If you’d have known, you wouldn’t have left. Everyone knew you were going to be successful. Everyone knew you were going to make it big. I couldn’t stop that.” She refused to feel sorry.
“It wasn’t your choice to make. I left because I didn’t realize I had-”
“You don’t! You don’t have anything. Just because…” Danika tailed off. She wouldn’t be hurtful. “She’s got a mother, and she’s turned out just fine.”
“But-”
“You meant the world to me… and when I found out… you were already gone. I wanted you to be successful, if I’d have told you… you don’t deserve to be stuck here like I am. You deserve to be happy.”
He stared at h
er, his mouth open.
Tears pushed against the corner of her eye. She took a deep breath.
“Thank you for the ride home,” she whispered as she opened the car door and stepped out. Her heart sank as she made her way back into the house. Tears rolled down her cheeks without even realizing it. I can’t believe it. She felt numb. Like nothing would ever be okay again.
She stepped into the house, thankful to see that neither her daughter nor babysitter were around.
Well, I’ll have to find an excuse not to go to the wedding.
Danika lay in her pajamas. Really, what was the point in getting dressed together? She had cried herself to sleep last night, but it didn’t make her feel any better. She didn’t even look up when someone knocked on the door.
“Mommy, are you going to get that?” The little girl asked.
“No.”
“Okay.” She didn’t sound upset or confused.
Danika stared blankly at the TV. She wasn’t actually watching it.
“It’s you!”
“Hi Beka,” Seth said.
No. Danika’s head spun to see who stood in the doorway. Oh no. Beka had taken her “no” as a sign that she should open the door!
Danika’s heart raced. “What are you doing here?”
“What do you mean?” Seth stood, “I’m here to pick you two up. For the wedding, of course.” Danika stared blankly as he held out a plastic bag. He handed it to Beka. “I didn’t know what size you were, so I picked out a couple sizes. Why don’t you go get dressed?”
“Okay!”
He watched her rush off before turning to Danika. “You know, you’ve always meant more to me than I can put into words. You’re right, if I’d know about… I would have stayed and I would have given up on my dream. For you. But that’s all in the past now. Now, I don’t need to give up on my dream. And I’m not going to, but my dream is different. You’re my dream.”
The End
A Soldier’s Last Hope
By: Stephanie Hunt
Chapter One:
Scott sighed, leafing through the thick sheaf of papers in his hands. The end of his career. A career that he’d thought would take him to retirement was over before his twenty fifth birthday. He looked out the window, focusing on the landscape instead of the cold black and white words.
The landscape wasn’t much better. What should have been a verdant and flourishing cornfield was dry and stunted. The crop had failed while he was gone.
A bitter smile curved his mouth. Maybe he had something in common with this place after all. He’d heard his parents talking last night about selling some of their stock. Not for a vacation or to do some of the repairs the old place desperately needed, but simply to pay the bills that were piling up. Feed and seed bills, utility bills, the payment for the tractor that they would owe for another three years. He’d left with plans to help them take care of all of that. Now he was back, jobless and humiliated. They’d been so proud of him when he’d left.
“Scott!” his mother called up the stairs. “Suppers on the table!”
And he was simply another mouth to feed. With a heavy sigh, he pulled himself upright and went down the stairs. The paper was lying on the table and he picked it up, pulling the want ad section out. Every day he hoped for something different, but there weren’t very many jobs in the farm town.
He was desperate enough to take anything now, but even that hadn’t turned up any luck. The grocery store wasn’t even hiring. He scanned the ads. A law firm needed a paralegal, but he didn’t have the qualifications to do that. And the local dentist’s office was hiring a hygienist. He had even less qualifications there. At least he’d been in court before.
His father laughed suddenly. “Hey, I might have found you the perfect job,” he said as he looked over his own section of the paper.
Scott looked up eagerly and saw a large ad surrounded by roses. “Looking for love?” It read in curlicue cursive. “Come out to Cargill Estate Friday, April 22nd to meet Miss Catherine Cargill, our lovely daughter! The lucky chosen man will be her groom!”
Scott stared at his father who was chuckling and then at his mother was looking at the paper with wide eyes.
“That can’t be serious!” she said, dropping a pan of cornbread onto the table. “No one in this day and age would--”
“That’s the Cargills for you,” Eric said with a shake of his head. “Nothing crazier than a person with money and too much time on their hands.”
Linda shook her head too. “All the money from those hotels and this is how he spends it? Publicity to marry off his daughter?”
Scott took a thick slab of cornbread and crumbled it into his potato soup. “Hotels?”
Linda handed him a napkin. “You know who he is,” she said. “All those luxury hotels? From the rocky peaks of Vail to the shores of Hilton Head,” she said in a refined and soft toned voice. “Come and relax while the Cargills take care of your every need...and want.”
“Oh,” he said, plunging his spoon into his bowl of soup with a grin at his mother’s acting. “Yeah, I’ve seen that commercial.”
She smiled back before dishing up her own bowl of soup. “And just think!” she said dramatically. “You could marry into all of that! Scott Cargill, hotelier!”
He laughed, but the idea stuck with him. Not the idea of running a chain of hotels...that seemed like much more trouble than it was worth...but the idea of being the one to win Catherine Cargill’s hand. With that much money at her disposal, she could help out the ranch. And if she was disinclined to do it...well...even with a good prenup, the other half usually got a good settlement in these cases. He barely tasted the rest of his meal. Maybe he wasn’t quite out of options yet.
Chapter Two:
Scott stood outside the Cargill mansion staring. There was a massive wrought iron gate and an impeccable lawn stretched behind it. The Cargill’s actually had a fountain. He hadn’t thought people really bought fountains.
Or that the fountains they bought could look like they were worth more than his father’s truck. This one was gold. A huge fish stood on its tail in the middle, spurting water liberally into the air.
He pressed the buzzer and a cool voice asked his name.
He leaned forward, trying to match the accent less voice. “Scott Lawson. I’m here to meet with the Cargills about--” The gate swung open and the voice talked over him.
“Come in. Through the front door, first hallway on your right.”
“Okay.” It was pointless to answer, because the intercom had already been cut off.
Scott took a breath and walked up the driveway. The first hallway on his right turned out to be what he would have called a living room, but what the butler had called a drawing room. A butler, for God’s sake. He hadn’t thought people had those anymore than they had fountains.
He wasn’t the only man in the room. It was a big room, but there were at least 20 other men milling around it. Some of them, leaning near the fireplace, were talking together. In their well cut suits and with their soft hands, he knew that they came from money as well. He couldn’t figure out why they were here.
Some men stood in corners, not looking at anyone else, seeming twitchy. He’d had a friend on base that got twitchy like that when he wanted a smoke. They were more obviously there for the money.
He walked over to a large window and looked out. So far so good. He was the only man in uniform. He adjusted his crisp Navy whites just slightly, making sure that they were straight.
“What branch?” a man to his right asked.
“Navy,” Scott said. And then, unable to resist. “SEALS.”
“Hell, every woman goes crazy over a man in uniform,” the man said with an unfriendly smirk. “Wish I’d thought to dig one up. Maybe hit the Army/Navy supply store.”
Scott gritted his teeth, determined not to speak. Even more determined to keep his hands to himself. The last thing he needed to do was start a fight and call too much attention to himself
. There was a chance...slight...but a chance, that they would take him at face value. That they wouldn’t go digging through his career.
He’d earned his uniform. Every stripe and bar on it too. But there was more to it than met the eye and he really didn’t want to have to explain himself before he had the money in his hands.
Chapter Three:
More than half the men in the room had gone before Scott heard his name called by the impeccable butler. He followed the man down a hallway lined with Oriental rugs and then stepped into a room lined with books. The Cargill’s didn’t seem to believe in having empty spaces.
“Come in, come in,” called a red haired man. “Scott...Lawson,” he said, looking at a sheet on his desk. “Military man, eh?”
Scott resisted the urge to ask if Andrew Cargill thought he’d picked up the dress uniform at the Army/Navy store and settled for a nod. There was a blonde woman behind the desk, but there was no way that this was Catherine. Though the woman hid her age cleverly, Scott knew that she had to be in her middle 40’s. Her pale blue eyes scanned him as if he was merchandise on sale.
“Have a seat,” she said at last, gesturing to a leather chair in front of the desk.
“Thanks.” He sat down and looked around. There was no one else in the room. Wasn’t he even going to get to see the woman he was hoping to marry?
“Sorry!” A voice said from behind him. “I had to step out for just a--”
She trailed off as Scott stood up. He’d taken off his hat and now he almost dropped it as he put it under one arm and held his other hand out to her. Catherine Cargill was gorgeous.
Red hair fell down her back in waves and her large green eyes looked boldly into his. Her skin was pale and fair, telling him that the red hair was natural. Though she’d tried to cover them with makeup, he saw a faint dusting of freckles across her small nose.
