“Don’t you dare!” Beth grinned. “What if Emily hadn’t been there, that day, when Kyle hopped into the pool at Luke and Kelly’s?”
Zach’s expression suddenly turned serious as he stared at Beth. “Not to mention a few other things that probably wouldn’t have happened either—like us?”
“No kidding,” Beth answered, as she fingered the pendant she was wearing around her neck. “This was from you—wasn’t it?”
Zach had his hands stuffed into his front jean pockets, when he looked her over grimly and muttered, “Don’t tell me that you’ve gotta another boyfriend, hanging around somewhere, that I’m gonna have to worry about?”
Beth blinked, and suddenly laughed, and Zach began laughing along with her, as they continued to walk along the edge of the water.
Zach was so easygoing these days—it was great to see the real man behind the scars, and Beth was falling a little more in love with him every day. Even though he’d had another skin graft procedure done, he’d decided to spread the operations a little bit further apart because of the exercise factor. It was difficult to stay in shape if he was constantly laid up for weeks afterward.
And it might’ve had a little to do with the fact that it was problematic for them to make love; not only because of the positioning of the grafts, but because of the harvesting of Zach’s skin, to be used for the grafting—from some very inconvenient areas.
And Zach’s other scars? Today, he was wearing a T-shirt, and the scars along the right side his neck were clearly visible—but he wasn’t nearly as concerned about them anymore.
Abruptly, Zach halted, staring deeply into her eyes. “I think that we’d better get married, Beth.”
Beth knew that her eyes were wide as she gazed into Zach’s. Even though Zach was pretending to be casual when he asked her the question, she saw right away that he was completely on edge. She felt such a deep outpouring of love for him, right at that moment, that she almost began to cry.
“Okay,” she answered quickly, and grinned. “Since we’re already living together anyway.” Zach had moved in with her and Kyle only a few weeks after Mother’s Day—it was silly for him to live next door, when they spent nearly every free moment together, anyway. Everything between them just felt so right.
His stance immediately relaxed. “It’ll be a heck of a lot easier for you and Kyle, with me around, to help you out.” Zach continued.
“And it’s a great idea that you had, about making the house next door available—to some of the families of the wounded warrior patients receiving care at the clinic.”
Zach grinned. “My idea? Ah, Beth, you’re something else.”
He’d been talking about the families, of some of the future patients, when they’d been eating dinner one night. He’d been wondering—how would they be able to be included in the therapy sessions, if they had long distances to travel?
Zach grabbed Beth by the hand, and they continued to stroll along the beach. His glance was seemingly thoughtful, when he asked. “What about Kyle’s father?”
“How come he’s not in the picture?” She hesitated. “Well—we met in college. I married Greg before I really got to know him very well. He passed away nearly ten years ago, by the way.” Beth gave Zach a wry smile. “Let’s just say that he wasn’t very accepting of Kyle, and wasn’t ready to take on the responsibility—so he divorced me.”
Zach raised a brow.
“After that, he didn’t think he needed to pay any child support.”
“What an ass.” Zach’s voice was vehement.
Beth shrugged. “You know—he drank too much, he partied too much—he went from job to job after he graduated college.” She rolled her eyes. “He was on his fourth wife when he died—at only thirty-six years old.”
Zach grimaced, looking down at her. “What a guy.”
“He was an overweight wreck when he passed away—it’s weird how sad I felt, when I heard about his death from liver failure, though.”
They halted, and Zach gazed into her eyes. “You still had a connection with him, Beth, since he was Kyle’s dad. You probably always tried to look for something good in the guy—because there’s so much good in Kyle.”
They both gazed at Kyle, and there were tears in Beth’s eyes when she turned back to Zach. “I never thought it’d be possible, for me to love you, any more than I already do,” she told Zach emotionally.
Bending down, Zach kissed her gently on the forehead, and pulled her into his arms. “You know, this place is notorious for bringing people together—who should be together—according to Luke,” Zach whispered into her ear.
“Dragonfly Pointe? You mean all the stories about everlasting love and new beginnings?” Beth grinned, falling back in Zach’s arms and looking into his eyes. “I even heard about those, while I was visiting here as kid.” She hesitated. “I never would’ve thought, back then, it’d take me over forty years to actually fall in love.”
Zach grimaced. “Yeah, Beth—until I met you, those kind of words had always remained unspoken by me.”
She nodded. “Even though I was married—that relationship was pretty much over before it began.” Beth became thoughtful. “Unspoken? Yeah, that about sums it up for me, too.”
Zach looked around at where they were standing on the beach, and grinned. “This spot looks awfully familiar.”
And before Zach could say another word, he was knocked down onto the sand by Kyle—who’d apparently come running down the beach, because he’d decided to torpedo Zach again.
Beth covered her mouth in horror. “Kyle!”
Emily began to howl, when Kyle started to giggle.
But Zach just kept on laughing, harder and harder.
The End
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Tamara Ferguson is the multi-award winning, #1 international bestselling author of the Tales of the Dragonfly Romance Suspense Series, the Kissed By Fate Series, and the Two Hearts Wounded Warrior Romance Series.
Her warrior romance novella, Two Hearts Unspoken, is featured in the top-ten bestselling Holiday Anthology, Mother’s Day Magic…With Love, and is also included in the #1 International Best Seller Love In Times Of War, featuring 12 award-winning, USA Today and bestselling authors.
Since being released independently, Two Hearts Unspoken has become a #1 International Best Seller at Amazon and Kobo, as well as a #1 International Hot New Release, and is the 2016 SILVER MEDAL WINNER at Readers’ Favorite International Book Awards for Military Fiction.
Two Hearts Surrendered was a #1 International Best Seller at Amazon, on 16 bestseller lists, as well as a New Adult Finalist in the Romance Reviews 2016 Reader’s Choice Awards.
Her wounded warrior romances, Two Hearts Unspoken. Two Hearts Surrendered, and Two Hearts Undone have all become WINNERS at the 2016 READERS’ FAVORITE INTERNATIONAL BOOK AWARDS.
Along with The Romance Reviews Readers’ Choice Award Winner, That Unforgettable Kiss, Two Hearts Surrendered and Two Hearts Unspoken were also finalists for the IAN Book of The Year.
Presently, Tamara’s working on Emergence, the third book in the multi-award winning, #1 bestselling Tales of the Dragonfly Novels, and a novella for the next installment of the bestselling Wedding Pets and Kisses anthologies, featuring stories by multi-award winning, bestselling and USA Today authors.
Since she remains a full-time caregiver for an autistic son, you can usually find Tammy working at home, where she spends a lot of time not completing her numerous home improvement projects, because she's writing or helping author friends promote their books on twitter.
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An Excerpt
#1 INTERNATIONAL BEST SELLER
Two Hearts Surrendered
(Two Hearts Wounded Warrior Romance Book 1)
Kindle
2016 READERS’ FAVORITE BOOK
AWARD WINNER
Military Fiction
2016 IAN BOOK OF THE YEAR Finalist
2016 Romance Reviews Finalist
; Reader’s Choice Awards
PROLOGUE
His eyes scoped out the beach as he struggled to reach the pathway from the parking lot, steering away from the crowd. Following the trail to the very edge of the sand, Luke stumbled over moss and patchy grass, until he found shelter under a canopy of scrubby pines bordering the park.
He groaned, when he finally dropped down to the sand. His stepdad had really done a number on him this time–the pain was pretty intense. Resting his shoulder gingerly against the trunk of one of the pines, he sighed. It was such a hassle, having to constantly be on his guard–especially when he was always having to come up with excuses for teachers, explaining why he was missing so much school.
Luke grimaced. And hiding the welts and bruises? It was becoming nearly impossible–since a couple of the idiots in his class had decided to say something to his counselor, after seeing Luke without a shirt on in the locker room. Everything was beginning to catch up with him, he realized, as his eyes filled with tears.
But he was way too old to cry, he decided. With a shaking hand, he swiped away his tears.
He got a whiff of the smell of popcorn, as it drifted through the air from the nearby concession stand–and his stomach growled. Damn, that smelled good. Luke took in a deep ragged breath as he focused his attention on the crowded beach. That little Callahan girl was at it again, making the rounds. With her white-blonde hair and deep-blue eyes, she sure was a pretty little thing. And, man, what a personality–he was guessing she was only about six-years old. Even at thirteen, Luke knew he’d been cursed with a bad reputation. And ever since he’d acquired that tat, not to mention the scar that ripped through the side of his face, most little kids, and nearly all of his classmates, seemed to be scared of him–like he was someone out of a horror flick.
But not her. She reminded him a little of his younger sister, Cassie. Just remembering Cassie made him cry a little harder.
For some crazy reason, Luke had always been drawn to this beach. Probably because deep inside he knew—all the stories and superstitions were true—Dragonfly Pointe was magic. It was the only place in this world where he seemed to feel alright. Here, he could forget about the deep, dark problems in his life, and chill out just long enough to recharge before returning home.
Home? He snorted. He hadn’t had a home for a very long time, he realized, as he began dozing off.
An hour later, when Luke began to slowly awaken, he felt like something was off. Studying his surroundings, he turned his eyes to the far end of the beach, where sixteen-year old Dan Callahan was standing amidst a group of his friends. Although her twin brother Jeff was playing with some kids in the sand nearby, Kelly Callahan was nowhere in sight.
Luke gazed across the sand to the lake. Suddenly noticing a pair of arms flailing, far out in the water, he jumped up to his feet, glancing quickly over at the abandoned lifeguard station. Where in the hell was the lifeguard? Racing across the sand, and whipping his shirt off from over his head, Luke cringed as the scabs from the welts crisscrossing his back ripped open. Barely noticing the pain, he slipped off his sneakers and began to plow through the water, until he was deep enough to begin swimming.
After what seemed like forever, he was finally close enough to Kelly to pull her into his arms. It appeared that he’d reached her just in time.
“It’s okay–I’ve got you, Princess,” he reassured her, as he began treading water. Luckily, she was light as a feather, because it took a few moments to calm her down, while she coughed and spit out water.
“I’m sorry,” she said, still sputtering. Clinging more tightly, Kelly wrapped her arms over his shoulders. “I’m never supposed to go swimming by myself,” she said, in a shaky voice.
“Well, at least you’ll probably never do it again,” Luke said calmly. He was beginning to feel light-headed. He’d already been exhausted after biking five miles just to reach Dragonfly Pointe. Plus, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d actually had something to eat. “I need to get you back to the shore, Princess.” Prying arms loose, that were wrapped like an octopus over his shoulders, he stared into sapphire blue eyes, filled with fear. “You’re gonna have to trust me.”
Hesitating, she agreed with a jerky nod of her head. Luke was guessing Kelly was beginning to sense the urgency of the situation, when she peeked around him nervously at the shore.
“You’ll need to let go of me–so you can lie back in the water.”
She looked ready to panic again, so pulling her more tightly into his arms, Luke rubbed her shoulders with his hand reassuringly.
Kelly spoke uncertainly into his ear. “Like doing the backstroke?”
“That’s right. I’ll be sure to stay underneath you, too, while I’m swimming–so that I’m holding up your head.”
Although she was obviously terrified, she allowed Luke to flatten his hand against her back while she followed his directives. Wrapping an arm around her neck, and holding up her chin, he propped up her body as her feet floated close to the surface of the water. With smooth, rhythmic kicks, Luke swam through the water effortlessly, until they were closer to the beach.
Luke felt Kelly being lifted from his arms. When he slowly stood up, and his feet touched the ground, he found himself staring into the eyes of Kelly’s older brother, Dan. “You should’ve been watching her,” Luke muttered reproachfully, expecting resentment.
But, instead, he saw gratitude. “I know. Thanks, man,” Dan said quietly, before returning his attention to his sister.
Luke was taken aback–he hadn’t expected Dan to agree with him. So he answered Dan with quiet reassurance, “Shit happens.”
“Not to me it doesn’t. Just because Jeff was hanging around with me, I shouldn’t have assumed Kelly was nearby too. I’ve been off my game lately.” Dan began searching the faces in the crowd. “And, besides, where’s that damned lifeguard, who’s supposed to be on duty?”
Luke began to notice the slew of curious onlookers lining up alongside the beach. When Kelly continued to remain quiet, he gazed down anxiously to where she sat in the sand, and realized she was staring hard at the bleeding wounds on his back.
“Oh, Dan,” she finally moaned. “Look how bad he hurt himself, while he was helping me.”
“I’m fine, Princess,” Luke muttered, still scoping out the beach nervously. “I didn’t get hurt pulling you out from the water.”
She continued to plead with her brother, “Dan–please–you need to make him better.”
Luke squirmed, while Dan stared at him grimly.
“Don’t worry, sweetie. I’m gonna start making him better soon,” Dan reassured Kelly.
Luke started. But his legs were getting wobbly, and he found himself sinking to the sand.
“Princess, huh?” Wearing a half-smile, Dan studied Luke keenly before turning back to Kelly. “Are you sure you’re okay, Kel?”
She nodded.
“I think that she just swallowed lots of water,” Luke muttered.
Dan stared at his sister with obvious concern. “Okay, Princess–we’re gonna have to talk this over with Mom and Dad later. Since you don’t appear to be suffering any side effects from nearly being drowned, why don’t you run over to the park with your friends for a little while? One of the moms took Jeff and the rest of the kids over there, when Luke, here, was pulling you out from the water.”
Just in case Kelly hadn’t been breathing. Dan didn’t need to complete the sentence when his eyes met Luke’s.
After glancing over at the park, Kelly hesitated, before stepping towards him, and gazing down to where he sat, hunched over in the sand. “Thank you for saving me,” she said, softly.
At that moment, the sun broke through the clouds. A beam of light shown down brightly on Kelly, leaving her backlit by a smoky-blue haze. But the strange thing about it was, Luke wasn’t seeing her as a pretty little six-year old girl anymore. He was envisioning her as the beautiful woman she’d undoubtedly be someday. Her white-blonde hair was dancing ove
r her shoulders, but her fiery-blue eyes were staring accusingly into his.
Luke blinked, before shaking his head in disbelief. He was exhausted, and most likely delirious. He swallowed uncomfortably. But maybe it had something to do with the magic that he’d sensed here at Dragonfly Pointe?
Suddenly, he became aware of the soft, light brush of Kelly’s lips on his shoulder; like the touch of a butterfly, as she kissed him gently on one of his wounds. Luke felt a strange sense of longing. Her kiss made him feel like he’d been blessed–like its power could heal all of his wounds.
And unexpectedly, his eyes began to fill with tears.
When Kelly scrambled away, and began skipping along the beach, she was totally unaware that she was making Luke question his sanity. Reaching the bench where she’d left her beach bag and sandals earlier, Kelly dug through her bag for her hat, first, and plopped it onto her head, before covering her eyes with a pair of stylish sunglasses.
Luke raised a brow, turning to Dan.
Dan rolled his eyes upward and shrugged. “What can I say? Mom calls Kelly a six-year old fashionista.”
Luke found himself laughing along with Dan. They watched as Kelly strutted along the path, first glancing left and then glancing right, pulling down and peeking through her sunglasses like a celebrity on public display.
“I have no I idea where she gets that from,” Dan said dryly. “It must have something to do with those charity fashion shows, she and my other sisters participate in.”
Luke shook his head dazedly. The resilience of kids was kind of amazing. His little sister had behaved exactly the same way, too. “At least she seems okay.”
Dan silently nodded his agreement.
Kelly finally reached the park, and joined the other kids on the swing set, where she and Jeff remained clearly in view.
Dan suddenly turned grim, as he dropped down to the sand beside him. “Alright, Luke Bryant–I’m gonna stick to you like glue. I owe you, and I owe you big. I wanna know who’s responsible for knifing that nasty cut into the side of your face. The first thing you’re gonna do is tell me about yourself. I’ve been hearing some rumors. I wanna know why that scumbag, that you call your father, has been whipping you so hard, you’re probably gonna be disfigured for life...”
Two Hearts Unspoken (Two Hearts Wounded Warrior Book 2) Page 9
