Two Hearts Find Christmas (Two Hearts Wounded Warrior Book 5)

by Tamara Ferguson

  Josh grimaced. “It’s been a while.”

  “I’ll take care of it,” she said.

  He felt her loss the minute she stepped off from the bed.

  “Keep the bed warm,” she said, pulling the covers up over his shoulders. “I think it’s snowing out there again.”

  “If you’re not back in ten minutes, I’m coming after you,” he growled.

  She laughed, walking from the room and calling out when she reached the kitchen. “Promises, promises.”

  He chuckled.

  Wrapping his arms around Nina’s pillow, just loving the scent, Josh grinned. It smelled like cinnamon apple and spice, and even a little bit of eggnog, he realized, waiting for Nina’s return.

  Being with Nina like this made him feel like they were the only two people in the world. They’d have to get back to reality next week.

  But the day had been pure magic, and Josh knew he’d remember it for the rest of his life.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Josh was feeling pretty good the next morning, despite his lack of sleep. He’d lost count of how many times they’d made love, and they’d finally shared a late night dinner around midnight.

  Josh and Nina were eating breakfast when someone knocked on the back door, and Ralph stood up, barking sharply. Their time together was dwindling since Nina would have to go back to work this afternoon for an eight-hour shift. And since tomorrow was Monday, she’d be returning to her regular schedule.

  Supposedly there was a video screen for the security camera that Nina was able to check out before answering the door, and Jake had made sure there were others placed in key areas of the house. Nina had mentioned that she was already getting in the habit of looking at the screen before going outside or answering the door.

  Not that anyone besides Jake had been here. Nina claimed that it wasn’t usual, and she rarely had company because she saw most of her friends at work.

  “Hi, Jake. Come on in. Josh and I were having breakfast. Would you like something to eat?”

  “I’m fine, guys,” Jake answered, sounding troubled. “Sit down and finish your breakfast. Nina, I’m going to help myself to some coffee though, if you don’t mind?”

  “Of course.”

  “Good morning, Ralph,” Jake said.

  Apparently, that was all Ralph needed to hear, and Josh heard Ralph’s nails click on the floor as he returned to lay on his bed, while Jake sat down beside Josh, resting his coffee on the island surface.

  “Ah, I see you’ve been going through the box?”

  “Yeah. But we’ve only sorted through a few of the things that Luke had packed away for me.”

  “Yeah. You know what? I notice there’s some sketches here that I’ve never seen.”

  “You mean the ones I drew of Nina?”

  Josh grinned when Nina punched him in the shoulder.

  Jake laughed. “Sorry, Nina. I did happen to get a glimpse of those.”

  “Well, they were based on Josh’s vivid imagination,” she answered.

  Interesting how she didn’t seem to be embarrassed, Josh thought with satisfaction.

  “Is that so?” Jake asked, with humor in his voice.

  “There’s some others in there that you haven’t actually seen yet, Nina. They’re much more...,” he cleared his throat, “tame,” Josh said, grinning again. “Luke said he threw in the old sketch pads I used when I was hanging around the house as a kid.”

  He heard her sip on her coffee before beginning to shuffle through the box.

  “Here they are,” she finally said. “He’s got them all divided into an accordion file for you.”

  She appeared to be thumbing through some of the sketches while, apparently, Jake was looking over her shoulder.

  “Damn it,” Jake suddenly roared, slamming down his coffee. Can I have a closer look at that sketch Nina?”

  “Sure. What is it Jake?”

  Josh heard Nina slide the notebook across the island, where Jake must’ve been sitting back down.

  “This murder attempt? Maybe we weren’t far off thinking that this could be about something Josh saw in the past.”

  Jake was shuffling pages, when he finally asked, “How far back do these notebooks go, Josh? They’re like your life’s diary. I wish I would’ve known about them before.”

  “Well, I think my mother bought the first notebook for me. Probably only about a year before she left us. I guess I would’ve been about ten years old. I scraped up the money here and there later on for the others. I used to stuff them under the mattress of my bed. You know how some people like to read before they’re ready to go to sleep? I used to draw. Out of everything I used to do when I could still see, I miss drawing the most.”

  “Is it alright if I take these along with me?” Jake asked. “I’ll get them back to you after I make some copies.”

  Josh shrugged and answered, “Sure. What’s going on?”

  “Let me look into what I think might be going on, and then I’ll check back in with you tomorrow or the next day. Meanwhile, here’s the schedule of events for the upcoming week that I’m planning on having you attend. I’m giving it to Nina. Luke said you wanted to keep your appointments with Dr. Endicott if you could, so you’ll be going into the center twice a week. You notice how I’ve highlighted the fundraising event for the Crystal Rock Wounded Warrior Home that will be happening a week before Christmas?”

  “Yes,” Nina answered.

  “That’s the day we’re planning on bringing whoever’s after Josh down. Josh will be sitting at the head table cause he’s being honored at the event. And it’ll be easier setting a trap with military reinforcements around if I need them. Plus, since Josh will be coming into the center for some follow up appointments, we’ll be keeping a closer eye on our employees at the wounded warrior home until the day of the banquet.”

  “Thirteen days?” Josh asked. “You’re just kidding with this stuff about me being honored. Aren’t you?”

  “Yep,” Jake answered after a long silence.

  Josh sighed deeply, not thinking too much about the banquet. Thirteen days was still too long as far as he was concerned, but at least he’d be spending that time with Nina.

  * * *

  Josh was relieved when the tone between him and Nina continued much as it had the night before. There’d been no awkwardness at all when he’d awoken with her this morning, and they’d made love again. Not only was he amazed at his ability to perform, he couldn’t believe how many times he was ready to go at it. He’d already worked out this morning, and when he’d taken a shower afterwards, nothing has surprised him more than having her step in and join him.

  “What are you smiling at,” Nina said, not with humor.

  “What do you think?” Josh laughed softly. Damn, he really wished he could see her face.

  Nina laughed. “Is there anything in particular you want to do today?”

  Josh answered, “I’ve been working on something that has to do with returning to active duty, and I was wondering if you might be able to help?”

  “Sure. Is it something you can talk with me about?”

  “Yeah, it is. I’ve come up with an idea about where I might be useful if I decide to remain in the military.”

  “Really? How can I help?”

  Josh grinned. “Can you type up my proposal? After the first of the year, I’m going to have to take some communication classes because of my blindness, and Jake is looking into acquiring some special equipment for the wounded warrior home for those of us dealing with vision loss.”

  “What sort of proposal have you come up with?” she asked.

  “Did you know that there are actually some visually impaired soldiers who’ve been able to remain on active duty?”

  “You know what, Josh? I think I might’ve seen something about that recently, when I was doing some research.”

  “I’d like to be in charge of a rigorous physical therapy program to retrain disabled soldiers so they can remain
on active duty. Now that I’ve been faced with a shitload of problems myself, I feel like I’m more than qualified to do it.”

  “I’ve never asked what it is you did in the Air Force. Is it something you can tell me about?”

  Josh smiled. “Yeah, what I did isn’t much of a secret, it’s where we were operating that is. I’m part of the Air Force Special Operations, Tactical Air Control Party, called TACP. We work with Army and Marine units on the frontline targeting air strikes. The timing can be crucial.” He frowned. “But the last mission we were on didn’t go so well. We were following the Marine unit’s lead. Someone got us before we could get them, and we ended up losing a lot of good people.”

  “Oh, man, that’s awful. It must be rough having to handle something like that.” Nina stayed quiet for a moment. “But, wow, Josh. I’m really proud of you. And that’s a fantastic idea about the retraining. I mean some of the guys that go through what you’ve been going through never snap out of the depression, and a lot of it has to do with not knowing what they’ll be able to do with their lives if they can’t reenlist. Sometimes the military is the only life they’ve ever known.”

  “Kind of like me—and Luke, too. What would he have done without Jake offering him that job?”

  “I’d love to help you out with your project. I’ll be your eyes,” she answered quietly.

  * * *

  Returning to work later that afternoon, Nina kept thinking about the wonderful weekend she and Josh had shared, and she had a smile on her face for most of the day.

  Sitting in the office filling out a few reports before heading home, Nina was at her desk when Mel walked into the office.

  Apparently, she figured out what’d happened between her and Josh right away because of the smile on Nina’s face. “Okay. How did it go?” Mel asked right away.

  Nina laughed.

  “I wanted to let you know how much I like Josh, now that I’ve gotten to know him a little better. I was a little too quick to judge,” Mel said, giving Nina a rueful grin.

  Nina grinned. “I like him a lot, too. More than a lot, actually.”

  Mel sat down in a chair, wearing a worried frown on her face. “What about the future? What’s he going to be able to do with his life?”

  Nina smiled widely. “Apparently, that’s something I’m not going to have to worry about, Mel. He’s come up with this terrific plan for retraining disabled soldiers. I guess it’s been in his mind from the moment he arrived here.”

  “Aw, Nina. Isn’t it strange how things like this seem to happen in Crystal Rock?”

  Nina giggled. “It’s time for us to seal our fate at Dragonfly Pointe.”

  “I wouldn’t laugh about that. Steve and I decided long ago that everything they say about Dragonfly Pointe is true.”

  Nina could see Mel was serious. There had been something magical about the kiss Nina and Josh had shared all those years ago.

  Nina stood up. “Okay, I’ll have to think a little more about that.”

  “Yeah, you’d just better do that,” Mel answered, smiling.

  “See you tomorrow, Mel.”

  Mel kept smiling. “Enjoy your night.”

  “Oh, yeah,” Nina answered, smiling back.

  * * *

  When Nina arrived home, she figured that Josh had already fallen asleep in his bedroom since Ralph wasn’t around. Although she was a little disappointed, she needed to go back into work at eight in the morning anyway.

  She puttered around in the kitchen and straightened a few things up. It was amazing how little of a mess Josh made when he was getting himself something to eat.

  Finally, she began shutting off lights, and headed to her bedroom. Walking into the attached bath, she took a quick shower and brushed her teeth.

  It was when she slid open a drawer to pull out a nightgown to slip into, she found everything inside the drawers rearranged with men’s clothing folded neatly beside hers.

  Laughing, she walked up to the door and opened it, looking through the doorway. Sure enough, there was Josh leaning against the wall with Ralph sitting beside him.

  And both of them were smiling.

  “C’mon in here.”

  For a second, Josh appeared concerned. “I’m not presuming too much?”

  Nina snorted, and reaching out for Josh’s hand, she pulled him inside.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Does it really surprise you?” Jake was asking Josh, where he sat in Jason Matthews office at the wounded warrior center three days later.

  “No. It’s funny, it was so long ago, that it never even crossed my mind that I might’ve sketched anything important. It was something I did at the end of the night, but I never went back and looked at what I’d drawn afterward.”

  “Except for those pictures of Nina?” Jake asked dryly.

  Josh answered with a grin. “The clothes didn’t come off until after I was overseas.”

  Jake snickered.

  “Alright,” Luke said, walking into the office. “I think I’ve narrowed it down to a couple of guys, and possibly a woman who works here in the cafeteria part-time.”

  Jake must’ve been considering Luke’s list. “Brandon Farnum? That wouldn’t be cool. I’ve been using that company for years, ever since I discovered our security had been breached at my wedding.”

  “All I know is, he was making a phone call on a cell phone immediately after Josh came into the office here with you. I almost didn’t notice cause I was walking off in another direction.

  “Alright. Good job, Luke. I’ll get these three checked out deeper. Meanwhile, we’ll put the word out about the charity event at the inn, which Josh will be attending the entire afternoon.”

  “Okay, so there’s something you needed to talk to me about too?” Luke asked.

  “I was looking through Josh’s sketches, and I missed a few of them the first time around. I guess you had several more notebooks that I never knew about?”

  “I didn’t realize that,” Luke answered. “Sorry, Jake.”

  “Hey, it was my oversite. You were looking for stuff that you thought Josh would want someday, so it didn’t occur to me that Josh might’ve noticed something important without realizing it. I had no idea he sketched as much as he did.”

  Josh heard the crinkling of paper. Jake was apparently handing over some of Josh’s sketches to Luke.

  “Yeah, that was my mom’s car,” Luke answered quietly. “What are they doing?”

  “First of all, I’ll warn you—this isn’t something we can use, since it’s just a drawing. But since I’m somewhat of a laid back mechanic, it appears that John Turner is having Zeke switch out the brake line in your mother’s car.”

  Josh sat up attentively. “What’s this about the brake line?”

  Luke answered, “Well, Bro. We figure that the kind of proclivities John Turner has never just go away, so we need to put him behind bars for good. Didn’t Jake tell you? He’s trying to find evidence that your Dad is responsible for Cassie and my mom’s death.”

  “Shit, no. I mean I always thought it was suspicious, but I never knew that the reason the car went off the road had anything to do with the brakes.”

  Jake asked, “It looks like you might have witnessed them doing it, Josh. Do you even remember?”

  Josh became thoughtful. “Not much. Seems to me all of this was going on right before the terrible stuff happened with Luke, and Dad gave me the beating of my life,” he added grimly. “And then me and Luke were mourning for his mom and Cassie after their deaths.”

  Luke agreed. “Yeah, there was a clusterfuck of crap going down back then.”

  “Could it be as simple as that, that they’re trying to get rid of me because of something I saw fifteen years ago?” Josh asked.

  Jake sighed deeply. “I don’t know, Josh. Maybe. I heard that Turner didn’t fare too well in prison. And if Zeke was involved, that might explain his connection here. John is probably hanging it over his head if he was the one responsible
for switching the line out. I did check back, and Zeke was working as a mechanic in Eau Claire back then. That beat up white truck that Nina noticed when you guys were out at the tree farm had a plate that didn’t check out, by the way, so someone was probably trying to follow you. It’s good we’ve been taking precautions. Maybe John’s afraid you’ll be able to send him back to prison? The thing is, seeing them messing with the car doesn’t actually prove that they did anything. The line wasn’t cut—it just gave out during icy conditions.”

  Josh sighed, nodding his head in agreement. “Yeah, they were always fiddling around in the garage. That was Dad’s hangout.”

  The three of them remained silent for the next few minutes.

  “I hear you have an idea to pitch to Jason Matthews, about retraining wounded soldiers?” Luke asked Josh.

  “Yeah, I do. How’d you know?”

  Luke laughed. “Nina told me. I was supposed to pretend that she didn’t, but I’m so proud of you Josh. Plus, I have a big mouth.”

  “Yeah, you do,” both Jake and Josh agreed in unison.

  Luke continued laughing and they both joined in.

  * * *

  Having been awoken occasionally by terrifying nightmares, Josh was amazed at how few he’d been having since moving in with Nina.

  But tonight was an exception as, suddenly sitting upright in the bed, Josh let out a long blood curdling scream.

  “Josh,” Nina said calmly, getting off from the bed. “You’re fine. It’s Nina and you’re here with me.” She’d told Josh once about her first-hand experience with soldiers suffering through PTSD. She’d been banged up more than a few times in her attempts at comforting someone a little sooner than they were ready.

  “It’s alright Josh—you’re home,” she said reassuringly, repeating the words over and over.

  Josh was shaking when he opened his eyes, acting as if he was still in shock.

  “What is it?” Nina asked, sitting back beside him on the bed and taking his hand in hers. “This is different from the other times.”

  Josh cleared his throat.

  Nina began to stand up. “Let me get you some water.”