Breaking Out (Military Romantic Suspense) (SEAL Team Heartbreakers Book 6)

by Teresa Reasor

  She checked the time and set the timer for two hours. Sondra was still training the woman they’d hired to do orders, and had been called into the office to take care of a materials issue. Since this was the first time she’d been left alone with the difficult patient, tension had knotted her shoulders.

  Kathleen eyed Jameson’s color when she wandered back into the family room. For the first week he’d slept quite a bit, but he seemed to have found his balance today, and felt able to sit up long enough to visit with her.

  He closed the computer when she came into the room. “Cal knows more about the industrial plans than I do since he does steel work. They look very impressive.”

  “Thanks. I’m just one part of a team. Once the guys have their part of the design completed, we’ll combine them and print them out for the owners.”

  “Did you do the house plans for clients?” he asked.

  “One was for my brother and his wife. One was for a client who contacted me after seeing my brother’s house. Two of the others were for a company who sells house plans. I get a commission for them each time they’re sold.”

  “And the other?”

  “It’s my never-ending dream project. I keep revamping the plans every time I get a new idea.”

  “Show me which one it is.” He handed her the computer.

  Kathleen opened it to her dream house and scooted her chair next to his. “It has four bedrooms and four baths.”

  “So you don’t plan to have nine kids like your parents.”

  “No. Two would be plenty. But I think a guest room and a sofa bed in the downstairs den would be a must for when family comes to visit. Thus the full bath downstairs.”

  “With property values so high in California, you’ll both have to go into debt to your eyebrows to build it.”

  Kathleen’s cheeks heated. He was talking as though she and Cal were already talking marriage, houses, and children. “I couldn’t afford to build it in Massachusetts, either. Which is why I call it my dream plan. I couldn’t do a basement in California anyway. They’re not permitted because of the earthquakes.”

  “Property values aren’t as high here. We could probably build it for about three hundred thousand, maybe three twenty-five, basement and all, including the land to put it on. One of the crews we have in place now could have it under a roof in about three weeks. Has Cal seen it?”

  “No.”

  “Why not?” His dark brown eyes scanned her face. “He took you to see the house he liked, didn’t he?”

  “Yes. It was beautiful.”

  “Can’t hold a candle to the one you’ve designed here.” He tapped the computer screen with his index finger.

  “I meant to show it to him, but it slipped my mind.” And she hadn’t wanted him to think she was pushing for something he wasn’t ready to offer on his own.

  Jameson laughed. “If you don’t think he’s ready, Kathleen, you’re blind as a bat. I don’t understand why the two of you are dancing around this, like you’re walking barefoot over tacks.”

  Kathleen studied him. Because they both had issues, and they wanted to be at their best for each other. PTSD was a bitch. “Don’t you think this might be between me and Cal, Mr. Crowes?”

  “Jameson,” he corrected her.

  “Jameson,” she repeated.

  He smirked. “You’re telling me to mind my own business.”

  “Well, yeah.” She bit back the duh.

  He laughed, the sound deep and masculine like Callahan’s. “You know you could get a job at any architectural firm here. You’re probably one of the best I’ve seen, and I’ve been in the business a while.”

  “I’m glad you think so. But there has to be a need before you can apply for a job.”

  “Have you looked around?”

  “No.” If she did and Callahan didn’t ask her to stay with him, she’d be devastated.

  “I’ve worked for quite a few firms. I could put in a good word when you do.”

  When? “If I decide to relocate, I think I can probably come up with a few references from people I’ve actually worked for.”

  He gave a quick bark of laughter. He closed the laptop and handed it to her. “Sondra always wanted a girl, but there were complications after we had Doug, and they told her she shouldn’t have any more children. She hemorrhaged, and we almost lost her.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Seems like you’ve bonded with her.”

  “She’s easy to like.” Sondra had gone out of her way to make her feel welcome and part of the family. And she hadn’t even said anything when she caught Cal sneaking out of her room at six in the morning.

  “Unlike me?”

  She wanted to love him because he was Cal’s father. But he was a difficult man. Abrasive, opinionated, and impatient. “I don’t know yet. This is the first conversation we’ve had that’s lasted longer than two words.”

  “I suppose it is.” His smile was more a grimace. “Damn ticker.”

  “You’ll get through this, but it will take time. You’re young, and they have better technology to diagnose and treat heart problems, plus there are medications to keep your cholesterol and heart enzymes in good shape.”

  “Young, huh?” He raised a dark brow and looked dubious.

  “Well my grandmother is in her seventies and diabetic, and she’s back to fighting form now. She had open heart surgery two years ago.”

  “Two years?”

  “You’ll have to make use of the pool out there, walk, maybe do more exercise, eat healthier.”

  He scowled.

  “Cal fought his way back. You can do it, too.”

  “How satisfying is it for you to say that? Cal’s bound to have told you what kind of asshole I am.”

  “It isn’t satisfying at all.” She shook her head. Even after all the pain he had caused Cal, she couldn’t feel that way toward him. “And I know Cal doesn’t feel that way either. He never wanted to see you in pain. But I would like to know why you didn’t want him to work with you.”

  He remained silent for a long moment. “He… The idea of him walking atop a roof or even climbing a ladder scared the shit out of me. Now he’s doing it, and I’m not there to watch out for him.”

  “He does a job ten times more dangerous in San Diego. And does it well.”

  “He’d be safer closer to the ground. It can still be dangerous now and then, but never as much. If he’ll come back to Texas.”

  “You should be saying this to your son, not me.” Kathleen rose. She held the laptop against her. “Talk to Cal. Tell him how you feel.”

  “I could tell you to do the same.”

  “He knows I love him.”

  “Then what the hell’s the holdup?”

  Kathleen laughed, then grew serious. “We’ve both been through some difficult things. I thought I’d be able to shake it off and go back to my life, but it hasn’t been as easy as I hoped. I want to be the girl Cal first fell in love with again, but I’m having trouble getting back there.”

  “You can’t go back any more than I can. All you can do is go forward, Kathleen. And he must love the woman you are, because he’s still with you, isn’t he?”

  His no-nonsense, no-holds-barred attitude left little room for argument. Too bad he couldn’t stand back and see himself with such clarity. “It doesn’t hurt to look back on what was good in the past to shape your goals. How were you and Sondra when you first met?”

  He fell silent for a moment, contemplative. “A lot like you and Cal. She was the flower and I was the bee.”

  Kathleen laughed. “Things could still be that way with a little work. My parents can’t keep their hands off each other. After nine kids and forty years of marriage.”

  As if on cue she heard steps in the living room. Sondra’s blond hair curled under her chin becomingly, and soft pink tinted her cheeks from the outside heat, giving her pale skin some color. She was slim and athletic like Callahan. A pretty woman. “I’m sorry I was longer
than I thought I’d be.” The anxiety in her gaze receded when she eyed Jameson first, then moved back to Kathleen.

  Kathleen gave her a smile. “We’ve been discussing house plans. I’ll go put this away.” She held up her laptop.

  She put the computer in her room, checked the roast, and went into the entrance foyer to look out the window. The surrounding neighborhood appeared deserted.

  Hearing Jameson and Sondra’s voices in conversation, Kathleen opened the door and stepped outside. Her skin immediately blossomed with moisture from the heat. She walked down to the end of the sidewalk and paused for a moment, looking up and down the street. The smell of hot asphalt reached her. They seemed to be having a heat wave, which did nothing to soothe her. The reflective light from every concrete surface forced her to squint. Next time she’d wear her sunglasses.

  Her heartbeat speeded up when she looked back toward the house. The distance between her and the front door seemed to stretch, but the anxiety it caused didn’t seem quite as intense as yesterday or the day before.

  She walked farther down the sidewalk to the corner of the lot, where the green scent of freshly cut grass wafted to her. She faced the house again. Her pulse beat in her throat and wrists, and her skin took on the hypersensitive feeling of eyes watching her, crawling over her body. Though the need to run back to the shelter of the house rose up so strongly she trembled, she forced herself to stand firm. No one was there to hurt her.

  A man with dark hair wearing shorts and a T-shirt exited one of the houses, got into a cherry red Mustang in the driveway, and backed out into the street. As the car approached, Kathleen attempted to focus on the vehicle. She’d always wanted a Mustang. And cherry red would be the color she’d choose. The man waved when he drove by, and she threw her hand up.

  She was in control. She was not going to allow anxiety to destroy her life.

  One-one thousand, two-one thousand… she counted out three minutes.

  The front door opened before she ever reached it, and Sondra handed Kathleen a bottle of water as she joined her inside. “You went farther today and stayed out longer.”

  Kathleen nodded. “And a car went by, and I actually returned the man’s wave.” Her hands felt numb and her face hot. She pressed the cold bottle to her cheeks, until her breathing finally eased, and with it her pulse.

  She’d had no choice but to share her anxiety issues with Sondra when she’d talked Kathleen into joining her for a walk around the neighborhood. Though having Callahan’s mother with her had eased some of her symptoms, she’d been hyperaware of their surroundings and distracted enough that Sondra was concerned.

  In crowded spaces, she was fine. Indoors she was good. Out in the open she experienced the sensation of being watched, vulnerable, open to attack.

  Most of Hillary’s attacks on her had taken place in enclosed spaces. Why was she experiencing anxiety outside? It made no sense.

  She still had issues visiting the building sites. What had been a slight case of vertigo had grown worse. She couldn’t afford for it to take over, because it would affect her livelihood. So she was determined to face her fears.

  “What did you say to Jameson?” Sondra asked, leading the way into the kitchen.

  “What do you mean?”

  “He was just less…”

  Kathleen waited for Sondra to find the right word, though several flitted through her mind, nosy being one of them.

  “He seemed less angry.”

  “We just talked about the business of building homes. And family.” What would it hurt if she tried to do a little matchmaking between the two? They had lasted thirty years together. Maybe if she encouraged them both to think back on how things were in the past, they’d be able to reconnect now. It would never be that easy, but it was worth a try.

  “He said Cal and I reminded him of the two of you when you were dating. You were the flower, and he was the bee.”

  Sondra’s cheeks flared pink and she laughed. “We were quite young back then, and adventurous, and we couldn’t get enough of each other.”

  Kathleen cocked her head and smiled. “When he gets back on his feet and the doctor gives him the go-ahead, there’s no reason why you can’t be adventurous again. He’ll have some time on his hands, and he’ll need to exercise.”

  Sondra laughed and gave her a hug. “Cal talked about you whenever I called, and I thought he was exaggerating. He wasn’t a bit. I’m so glad he convinced you to come for a visit.”

  Chapter 34

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  Zach opened the back door of Piper’s car and lifted Gracie onto the seat. He talked to the Malinois while he secured her with the seat belt through her harness. “You’re now a certified therapy dog, Gracie. Your master chief is going be so happy to see you. I’m sure you’re going to be tickled to see him, too.” He cupped the dog’s chin in his hand and rubbed up her nose and over the top of her head. Her tail thumped on the seat. He was going to miss her like hell when he had to hand her over in a few more weeks.

  Piper came out of the house. “You’re sure you have a ride home?”

  “Yeah. Bowie’s going to come by and visit with the master chief and give me a ride home. Chances are Flynn and Gracie will be worn out by then.”

  He closed the back door and hopped into the passenger seat of her car. Neither of them discussed whether or not he’d checked the vehicle before they put Gracie inside. As per Flash’s suggestion, he checked her car every time she had to go anywhere. And they either went together or he followed her.

  “I know you’re getting tired of driving back and forth to my office.” Piper said. She glanced into the rearview mirror before changing lanes to get on the interstate. “I thought maybe we could change back and forth between my house and your apartment. That way no one would know where we’d be staying from one night to the next. Why stay in one spot and make it easy for him?”

  “Are you getting homesick?”

  “Maybe a little. It isn’t that I’m not comfortable at your apartment, Zach. And I love waking up with you there. It’s…”

  “Your own space,” he finished for her. “It’s what I miss when I’m down country. I’m talking seven other guys, sometimes more, piled into a space the size of my bedroom, unbathed, unshaven, and…well, you get the picture.”

  Piper laughed. “And I complain when Trouble rolls in something smelly to change his scent, then jumps in my bed.”

  “You smell so good in the mornings. When we go wheels up and I’m trapped in some cramped barracks with my teammates, I’m going to try to remember how you smell in the mornings.” Warm, sexy woman with just a hint of jasmine. He got aroused just thinking about it.

  He couldn’t believe he was talking about clinging to something so personal when he had assured her he didn’t want to get too involved. Where was the guy who’d lectured her about keeping her distance?

  “Maybe I’ll take your pillow home with me,” she said, with one of her secret little smiles. She checked her rearview mirror again, switched lanes, and turned on her blinker to exit the interstate. “I’ll give you a handkerchief to carry with my body spray on it.”

  “It won’t be the same, but I’ll take it.”

  Her cell phone rang and Zach reached for it. He listened for a moment and relayed the message about an emergency. A dog having puppies in major distress. “You need to go straight to the office. Gracie and I can go onto the hospital alone while you deal with this.”

  Piper glanced at him. “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah. We’ll be fine.”

  Piper wove through traffic, and, bypassing the hospital by a couple of blocks, turned northwest. Her hands gripped the steering wheel, her focus on the distance between her and the distressed animal. Ten minutes later, when she turned into the office parking lot, Zach climbed out and went around to take her place behind the wheel. “Good luck,” he said and brushed her cheek with a kiss. “See you at nine.” He could tell her mind was already on the dog.

  “B
e careful,” she said over her shoulder and broke into a run toward the front door.

  Zach called Bowie to let him know about the change of plans. The drive to the hospital was less fraught, but he found himself looking in the rearview mirror every few seconds for Lester’s black car. He did catch a glimpse of Bowie’s Camaro following him to the parking lot, but he arrived at the hospital without being stopped, parked the car, and he and Gracie caught a tram from the lot to the front of the hospital.

  His phone rang before he went into the building. “I’ve decided to keep an eye on your vehicle. I can visit Master Chief Flynn tomorrow,” Bowie said.

  “Okay. He’ll probably be entertained better by Gracie than either of us.”

  “Roger that.”

  He approached the information desk. “Gracie has an appointment up on the fifth floor to see a patient. Master Chief Flynn. She’s his therapy dog.” He pulled the paperwork the hospital had sent Piper out of his jacket pocket.

  The young woman behind the counter studied the paperwork, then the Malinois. She got out a badge for Zach to wear in the hospital, and he and Gracie walked down to the elevators. Gracie stood at attention, her eyes on the elevator doors and her tail waving the entire ride. The staff and visitors who got on gave the dog a wide berth, though she made no move to approach any of them.

  He exited the elevator and once again produced the paperwork for a nurse at the nurse’s station. She eyed the dog with a good-natured smile and offered her hand for Gracie to smell. After the introduction, she gave her a tentative stroke. “The master chief talks about her all the time. He’s going to be so thrilled to see her.”

  Zach glanced at her name tag to put name with her face. “She’s going to go wild. So I’m preparing to be dragged through the door.”

  “He’s sitting up in a chair right now, which will be good for them both. I’ll go with you just in case you need some ballast.”

  Zach laughed.

  Gracie’s three-legged progress had become familiar to him, but he didn’t know how Master Chief Flynn would respond to it.