How the hell did she sleep through that? I shook my head. Reaching over, I stroked her arm softly. I had no idea how I was going to be able to leave her alone again. Christ…my heart ached just looking at her. Pulling her closer, I pressed a kiss into her hair. She smelled so good. The faint scent of her perfume worked its way through my head--spicy limes and citrus, mixed with the clean, alluring scent of her hair. I paused as I listened to her, mumbling in her sleep.
“Mmm, not yet. Banton, don’t leave.”
My thoughts drifted again to the nightmare that just woke me, and my eyes watered causing my chest to hurt with a hollow pain…for the most painful thought I could possibly have was never seeing Chandler again. What the hell brought that dream on?
The SEALs were all gathered topside aboard the destroyer, gathering gear and preparing to launch back to shore. Glancing up at Ty, I sensed a flash behind his head. INCOMING! The ship exploded around me. As my life flashed before me, I could hear Chandler screaming in the distance, “NO…BANTON…NO! He can’t leave me like this! He can’t leave me alone with these babies! Banton, you promised me! God, NO!”
I placed my head in my hands, running my fingers through my hair again. I’d never been so emotionally unhinged by a dream. Rising slowly so I didn’t disturb her, I walked quietly over to her desk, and removed some blank pages and an envelope. I paused, trying to organize my scattered thoughts. I’d been putting this off, but I felt the need to pour my heart out to Chandler. I would write it all down and give it to someone for safekeeping.
I remembered the first time I’d felt this way. Right after I’d returned from my last deployment, I’d met with my dad and his attorney to draft a will, leaving everything to Chandler if anything were to ever happen to me. Until that meeting I had no idea what I was actually worth. I’d never even worried about it until I got home in the wee morning hours in February, finding her asleep. She’d been so emotional at my homecoming, and I knew she’d been through hell while I was away. It hit me then, the enormous responsibility I had…to provide for her and for the babies she carried.
Dad had a hard time hiding his amusement at the meeting.
“Son, why all the interest in your holdings all of a sudden? You’ve never been interested before,” he’d chuckled, he and his lawyer studying my reactions.
“I’ve never had a wife and two kids before,” I muttered, looking over the figures in front of me. “Can this be right? I’m worth this much money?”
“Yes. I’ve been re-investing for you. You never touch your dividends…always self-sufficient. I’ve even been amazed at how much you make and save on your own,” he added with a smile.
“Yeah, well…I guess you taught me well.”
“Son, every business move I’ve made in the past fifteen years has been to benefit you, Claudia and Julia. I’ve been lucky in business ventures, and lucky in re-investing capital. It’s all there in black-and-white.”
“But ten million? Dad…”
“It’s all yours, son. Claudia and Will have a little less, they’ve lived a little more extravagantly, and invested in some property. Julia’s is about the same. This money is yours…now. Someday, the three of you will have mine and your mother’s to split between you.
I shook my head in disbelief.
“So what should I do?”
“Son, it’s your money. You set this up however you see fit.”
“And if you were me?”
“I’d leave it all in trust for Chandler and the babies, son. She’s your family now. I’ve already changed my will. If something happened to you before your mother and I go, then your part of our estate goes to Chandler and your children.”
I nodded at him, in awe of the love in his voice when he talked about my wife and the babies.
My mind came back to the present. I needed to do this before we deploy again. How can I leave her again? How could I possibly put into words how I feel about her? I began to write, my emotions pouring out on the paper…
Chandler…
If you’re reading this, things must be pretty bad. I’ve given this letter to John, in case anything was to ever happen to me. Baby, I never, ever imagined I could love someone as much as I love you. You are everything to me, and I can’t imagine ever being separated from you. I can feel your love, even across the miles when we are apart…
I hope you enjoyed the continuation of Banton’s and Chandler’s story. Watch for book three of the Southern Series, SOUTHERN SPIRITS, to be released December, 2014. For updates on release dates and new novels, follow me on Facebook and Twitter, or visit www.shelleystringerauthor.com.
Southern Secrets Page 56
