Guarding Hearts (Living Again #3) (42 page)

“Mommy!”

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~
Author LL Collins

Living Again
Series Reading Order

Living Again

Reaching Rachel
(Living Again #2)

Guarding Hearts
(Living Again #3)

Finding Forever
(Living Again #4)—releases Summer/ Fall 2014

Contact Author LL Collins

www.authorllcollins.com

Twitter: @authorllcollins

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/llcollinsauthor

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“C
olt! Coming to you, buddy! Get ready!”

Colt widened his feet and slightly bent his knees, getting into his stance as the batter took a swing. Just as his coach predicted, the ball flew in low toward him in his shortstop position and bounced off the ground once before he caught it and whisked it to first base.

“Out!”

“Great job, Colt!” Colt heard his father call from the stands but he didn’t take his eyes off the field. The sun was in his eyes but his baseball cap helped some in shielding his face. The bright spring day was perfect weather for a game. The vividness of the tulips, pansies, and daffodils in bloom colored the landscape. The slight breeze kept the sun from being too hot, but the heat didn’t matter to Colt. He played all summer in the sweltering heat and loved every second of it. But this, this was a perfect spring Saturday for baseball with his dad watching.

Colt punched his glove a couple of times and took his stance again as the next batter swung. He loved this—the smell of the dirt, the feel of swinging the bat, and the sting of catching a line-drive. He was only seven, but he knew he wanted to be a professional baseball player when he grew up. That would make his daddy so proud.

“Let’s get ‘em, son!” He knew his dad’s voice anywhere. He could pick it out of the crowd of parents on both sides of the dugouts with his eyes closed. He loved the game, he loved the crowds, he loved everything about baseball—but none of it compared to how much he loved his father.

His father, John, worked a lot of hours and had to travel frequently, but he never failed to make time for Colt. Every day that he was home, John spent time doing something—anything—with Colt. He taught him everything he knew about baseball in their backyard. They had just started working on football, too, since Colt was close to being old enough to start playing on the local recreation league team. But Colt insisted that baseball would always be his first love.

John also made it a point to teach Colt from an early age how to treat a lady. Even at seven years old, Colt could see how much John and his mother, Beth, loved each other. They unfailingly showed one another complete respect and trust. They were affectionate with each other and with Colt—keeping their small town Alabama home as cozy as possible. Colt felt loved, safe, and secure with his parents.

After Colt’s team won the game, John took the family out for the standard celebratory dinner of pizza and ice cream. Afterward, John and Beth strolled hand in hand toward their home on the oak-lined street of their small town. Colt was secure on John’s broad shoulders and thoroughly enjoyed being able to touch the lowest branches of the trees as they walked and chatted.

Late that very night, Colt heard voices coming from the kitchen. Sneaking out of his bed, he crept down the hallway, crouching low against the wall to keep out of sight. Just as he reached the opening to the kitchen, he heard his parents speaking in hushed tones. He could tell they were concerned about something but he couldn’t hear what they were saying. When they started moving toward him, Colt rushed back to his room and jumped in the bed. Several minutes later, John knelt at Colt’s bed, ran his fingers through Colt’s hair and whispered, “Just remember I love you. Always, son.”

The next morning, he woke to his mother’s quiet sobs. Walking softly to his parents’ room, he saw his mother holding a piece of paper. He silently crept closer and closer to her until he could read the note over her shoulder. She never knew he was there and he silently made his way back to his own room.

He was only seven, but he could read the one line the note contained. And he knew he was forever changed because of those eight little words.

“You and Colt are better off without me.”

The reception for the newlyweds, Mr. and Mrs. Noah and Brianna Steele, was in full swing. They intentionally kept the wedding small, with only immediate family and close friends invited. Some of the close friends in attendance—like Shadow, Rebel and Bull—were all also employees of Steele Security, Noah’s security firm located in downtown Miami. The unbreakable bond was sealed between the “brothers” when all the men served together in the Army as Rangers, and finally in a remote area in the Middle East in the clandestine Delta Force unit.

Noah and Brianna exchanged vows at sunset on the beach, with the bride radiantly glowing in her early pregnancy and the groom smiling from ear to ear, like he was the luckiest man in the world. Noah and Brianna’s relationship had been through hell and back over the past several years. But with Brianna’s return to Miami, they managed to pull the pieces back together and move forward as man and wife, stronger than ever.

Engrossed in their nuptials and having eyes only for each other, neither Noah nor Brianna noticed the figure lurking in the shadows. The one person that was tracking their every move while keeping out of sight of the guests, the wedding planner, the caterer, and other workers. The one uninvited guest had crashed their private party but remained unannounced, unseen, and unheard. The one who patiently waited for the right opportunity to make a move toward the happy couple.

When the wedding party moved to an outdoor event tent, the uninvited visitor patiently waited outside. There were plenty of ways to blend into the background—to be invisible and silent—when it was absolutely necessary. This was one of those times. It was absolutely necessary to keep quiet and stay hidden. The intruder’s sole focus was to wait them out, knowing that they eventually would
have
to leave the sanctity of the tent and head for their waiting limousine.

The intruder patiently waited as the wedding guests danced, laughed, and thoroughly enjoyed themselves inside the fully air-conditioned tent. For everyone except the blushing bride, the champagne flowed freely.

Bull, Rebel, and Shadow all met Brianna in the Middle East when she was on assignment as an investigative reporter. They were actually her assignment, but in a short span of time, they developed a close relationship. They became her brothers, in the same manner that Noah was their brother, and they each took that unspoken oath seriously.

Bull’s commitment to Brianna and Noah was unconditional and unwavering. As Brianna and Noah’s brother, he felt a keen responsibility to keeping them safe, watching their backs, and being available whenever they needed him. He loved Brianna like the little sister he never had and she had more than proven her worth in his eyes.

Brianna shared dances with her new husband, Noah, and then with Shadow and Rebel, throughout the evening. But Bull waited until the end of the evening to request his dance. He viewed his relationship with Brianna as a special one. He didn’t easily trust people and she had earned his trust—actually twice in one lifetime.
No one
had ever lost his trust and then won it back again. No one until Brianna, that is.

“Can I have this dance?” Bull’s smile lit up his handsome face as he leaned down and offered his arm to Brianna. She had just taken a seat next to her husband to rest her weary, swelling feet when Bull approached.

When Brianna first met the team, it was Bull who was the hardest for her to get to know. She knew right away that he regarded loyalty and trust as the ultimate test of friendship. If anyone failed that test, they would never get another chance. For those who passed the test, they would never find a more loyal friend.

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea, man. Her feet are-,” Noah started to respond, but Brianna cut him off.

“It’s okay, Noah,” she patted his arm and turned to Bull, smiling warmly, “I would love to dance with my brother. I thought he’d never ask.” Brianna smiled as she stood and walked to the dance floor with Bull.

Noah smiled proudly as he watched one of his best friends walk off with his glowing bride on his arm. There was no jealousy in their relationship. Noah knew very well how Bull viewed allegiance, honor, and trust in their tight-knit group. He knew when he met Brianna in the desert that he would one day marry her. There was absolutely no reason to ever question her love and faithfulness to him. She’d already proven that to him with everything they had been through.

Bull was hurt when he thought Brianna had betrayed him. His trust in her was temporarily shattered. After she revealed the truth, and Bull understood all the events of the past, he realized he had been wrong about Brianna’s intentions.

When Noah thought about it, he had to admit to himself that he was relieved that Bull was able to forgive Brianna for her breaching his –trust—even if it was for a good cause. It would’ve been hell living between the two strong-willed, hard headed people he loved had Bull not relented.

Arm in arm, Bull escorted Brianna to the dance floor and gently twirled her around to face him as they began swaying to the slow music. Bull looked around the tent, taking in all the happy faces, the toasts and cheers of glasses clinking. The bride and groom’s deep-rooted love was evident to anyone who even glanced at either of them. He knew his friends would have a perfect life together. Not that there would never be problems, but their trials had only made them stronger and better prepared to face whatever the future may bring.

Bull had accepted long ago that he would never have
this—
a wife, someone who holds his heart, someone with whom to share his thoughts or someone he could trust with every facet of his life. He was happy for his friends but it just could never be in his cards. That decision was made for him—inside him—long ago. He didn’t share his feelings, dreams, fears—or his love—with anyone outside of his group. He sure as hell didn’t give his heart away to anyone who could hurt him.

“You look gorgeous, Sunny,” Bull said, referring to her with the nickname she’d earned when she first met them while on assignment. “It was a beautiful wedding and Noah is a lucky man. I can’t wait to be an uncle and help Noah teach that baby boy a few hand-to-hand techniques.”