Once and For All: An American Valor Novel (10 page)

To fight would be pointless, but still she held his arm in weak protest as the hairpiece slid from her head only to be tossed on top of the bathroom countertop nearby. Using the flat of his palm, he smoothed his hand over her head, caressing the baby-fine strands just as she did every time she removed the godforsaken thing. But his touch was far softer and warmer than her own and far more intimate than anything she’d experienced for years. Tears pricked the backs of her eyes and she fought like hell to contain them. But the dam cracked then crumbled, spilling those long, pent-up tears down her cheeks.

For some reason she halfway expected him to walk away, to declare it all too much and abandon her there. Instead, Danny pressed a kiss to her forehead, caressed her face, brushed away her tears with his thumbs, all the while whispering nonsensical words of comfort.

Only when she opened her eyes did she realize she clutched the front of his T-shirt with both hands. He couldn’t have escaped if he wanted to.

“No more wig.” He tipped her face upward to look at him. “Unless you really like it?”

“God, no.” She choked out the words as she half laughed, half cried. “I hate the damn thing.”

He laughed at that then wrapped her up in his embrace. “Good. Now you’re on your way to that fresh start.”

She relaxed into him, buried her face into his chest and let his warmth seep deep into her body. “I like the sound of that.”

He held her for what seemed liked hours, but really wasn’t more than a few minutes. Giving her time to soak it all up, like he knew it had been a very long time since someone just held her close. Finally taking her hand in his, Danny escorted her the short distance across the hall to the bedroom. Just inside the doorway he pressed one last lingering kiss to her temple, whispered good-night then left her to sleep.

Alone.

Chapter Eleven

J
U
ST BEFORE 0600,
Danny and Ben reported to One-Charlie’s office. Their platoon leaders, Capt. JT Anthony and Sergeant First Class Calder “Bull” Magnusson were already there for their leader huddle. A minute or so later a loud, booming voice followed by laughter echoing down the hall alerted them to the arrival of fellow squad leader and platoon loudmouth, Jeff Gibson. Behind him was Tomas Rodriguez, the quiet intimidator of the group.

Once they were all settled, the captain got down to business.

“Due to the significant number of casualties A-Co suffered during the last rotation, Ruiz and Kozak are being promoted to squad leaders,” Anthony informed them.

Damn. Danny hated that he was losing Kozak. Not only because he was a great guy, but also because he was always cool, calm, and focused under pressure. “Ice Man” was what he called him since nothing ever rattled him. Both he and Ruiz had definitely earned their promotions to squad leaders, but that also meant both his and Ben’s squads were now a man short.

Danny looked to Ben, who shook his head in disappointment. They knew what came next.

“Your brand-new, shiny privates, fresh from RASP, have already arrived from Benning. Lucky for you guys, they’re both single without kids, so it should be a fairly simply transition. Bull will introduce you to them when we’re done here.”

Ben leaned toward Danny, keeping his voice low. “You know what I’m thinking?”

“Epic smoke session?”

“Absolutely.” They both laughed and bumped fists.

He and Ben had developed quite a reputation in C Company as squad leaders who loved the physical challenge of regiment. As far as they were concerned, what better way to welcome their teams from block leave than with a morning run at a faster than normal pace, followed up by a series of flutterkicks and push-ups and pull-ups before finishing it off with a little friendly competition on the obstacle course. All before lunch.

Oh, yeah. This was gonna be fun.

“And people think I’m an asshole.” This from Gibson.

“It’s good to torture them,” replied Danny. “The pain lets them know they’re alive.”

The captain finished going over the schedule for the week, which included fast roping insertion, extraction training, and a parachute jump planned for Thursday night. The following week C Company would travel the hour to Stewart where they’d spend the entire week doing live fire exercises on the various ranges, not returning until Friday.

Things were just wrapping up when Gibson took hold of his hand and lifted it into the air. “What the hell is this, MacGregor? Is this a goddamn wedding ring on your finger?”

Shit. He’d meant to stow it away in his ruck before first call. Now, four sets of eyes were zeroed in on him, awaiting an answer. He glanced over to Ben, who wore a smug smile. Clearly, he was enjoying this. Despite things not going exactly as he’d planned, Danny decided he might as well get it done and over with.

“It is.”

“You’re married? Did you know about this, Soup?” Gibson looked to Ben, who answered with just a nod of his head. “When the hell did you get married?”

“Friday.” Danny turned to his platoon leader. “Are we done here? The sooner Soup and I can start breaking in the newbies, the better.”

“Yeah, we’re done,” Anthony replied.

Danny rose from his chair, ready to make his great escape, only to be called back by the captain. “Give us a second, guys.”

The rest cleared out and Bull closed the door behind him.

“I guess congratulations are in order,” he said, offering his hand, which Danny accepted. He casually reclined against his desk. “I have to admit, I’m as surprised as everyone else given from what I’ve heard, you’re the highest ranking member of 1st Batt’s players club.”

“Not anymore. Guess I’ll have to pass that baton on to someone else.”

“Not Gibson, I hope?” Anthony laughed, but soon turned serious. “Do you need some time off to get your wife settled?”

“No, sir. Got her all moved in over the weekend. She’ll probably be draining my bank account and throwing out my shot glass collection by the end of the week.” Which wasn’t even remotely close to being true. But what was the fun in being married if he couldn’t complain about his wife like all the other husbands around here.

“You still have a ton of paperwork that needs to be filed ASAP. To be honest, I’m not really sure what HQ requires these days. Seems like they change the policy every time I check.”

But Danny knew. Once Bree accepted his offer, he called headquarters to get his ducks in a row. “I’ve got it all straightened out. Just have to make some photocopies and drop it all off at HQ by Friday.”

“This is too important to put off until the end of the week. I’m not trying to be Debbie Downer here, but the last thing you want is for something to happen to you during training and your wife ends up dealing with a mountain of governmental red tape all because you delayed turning your paperwork in. Bull can oversee your teams when we start FRIES training this afternoon. When you and Wojciechowski have had your fun with the new recruits, get on over to HQ and get your stuff turned in.”

Having been dismissed, Danny turned to leave.

“One last suggestion,” Anthony said just as he opened the door. “Figure out a time and place to introduce the guys to your wife. Might as well get it over with.”

Bull and Gibby were waiting for him in the hall and quickly fell in step as Danny headed for the squad bay.

“You’re not getting off that easy,” Bull began. “For all the years I’ve known you, you’ve somehow managed to avoid the gate honeys and the trap. You’re our hero. Every time I turn around you’re banging some hottie and instead of her going all crazy stalker on your ass or calling the commander, they just give you a kiss on a cheek and say thanks for a good time.”

“Are you going somewhere with this?”

Now it was Gibson’s turn to get in on the fun. “Why in the hell would you go and get married when you are actually living the life every man wishes he could have?”

“Gibby’s got a point. Sex without commitment. No money drain. Blowjobs out the wazoo. You told me once the worst thing I ever did was get married. And you know what? You were right.”

Danny felt bad about saying that. After all, Bull might have been hoodwinked into marriage before their last rotation, his wife suddenly miscarrying just weeks after their wedding. Only Bull had never seen any confirmation aside from a positive pregnancy test. And just last month a guy in Delta Company found an ad on Craigslist where a pregnant woman was selling positive sticks as a way for others to trap a guy into marriage. So now everyone questioned whether or not Bull’s wife was telling the truth to begin with.

“What have you done with Danny MacGregor? The man who always says ‘if the army wanted us to have a wife they would’ve issued us one,’ ” Gibby asked while shaking Danny’s shoulders. “My only guess is that he must have met a hot piece of ass that wouldn’t put out without a ring on her finger.”

Danny pulled from his grasp and turned on him. “Watch it, Gibby. That’s my wife you’re talking about.”

Bull’s eyes widened in surprise. “Damn. He’s serious about this. Who the hell did you marry?”

“My high school sweetheart,” Danny answered. Although he’d never referred to Bree as that before, it felt right. “Any other questions? I’ve got to get my squad ready.”

“In all the years I’ve known you, you’ve never once mentioned anything about a ‘high school sweetheart.’ ” Bull added air quotes for emphasis. “And now you show up with a ring on your finger. Did you just walk up to her and say, ‘Hey, let’s get married?’ ”

Danny laughed. “Something like that.”

“She must be one helluva woman to drag you into the depths of marriage hell,” Bull said.

“Or a Siren.”

They both turned to Gibby, speaking in unison. “A what?”

“You know, those beautiful women who sit on the shore,” Gibby explained. “They seduce you with body and song only to make you crash your boat on the rocks? It’s mythology.”

Thankfully, Bull saved him from asking the question. “How the hell do you know about mythology?”

“I watch movies, jackass!”

Finally, the three went their separate ways and Danny caught up with Ben in the squad bay, still chuckling to himself as he prepared for their morning PT session.

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

“Of course I am.”

“I’m never going to live this down, am I?”

Ben never even answered. Just burst into laughter as he walked away.

Damn. It was going to be a long day.

B
RE
E WOKE
M
ONDAY
morning to find Danny already gone, the blanket he used left neatly folded on the couch with the pillow stacked on top. He’d forewarned her of his schedule, how he left early in the morning, often arriving well before sunrise. As to when he would return home, well, that was a completely different story. Life in regiment was far different than most other military units much less a typical 9-to-5 day job. There would be times he would be back for dinner and there would be times he wouldn’t return home for days. So, true to his word, it really did seem she would have the place all to herself for the most part.

After breakfast she resumed her old routine, firing up her laptop to surf the net. There were no emails from old friends, no messages on Facebook. No job opportunities from LinkedIn. It all went to show she could get married, move to a new city and nothing would change if she didn’t change. And the last thing she wanted was to get stuck in the same damn rut with a different view. Danny had gone out of his way to help her, turning his personal life upside down in the process.

She would not disappoint him.

He deserved better. She deserved better.

She closed down the computer, grabbed a knife from the kitchen, and headed into the spare bedroom. As music blared from the small speakers of her laptop, she got down to the business of unpacking. Danny had told her to make herself at home and she intended to do just that. No more cramming all her things into a ten-by-ten space so as not to impose on someone else.

The first box held many of her favorite books and a small collection of DVDs, which now filled some of the once-empty built-in shelves in the living room. The second contained home decor things from her place in Columbia. It hadn’t been her intent for this box to be brought along, but one of the boys must have grabbed it by accident. Since it was here, why not put it to use? After all, Danny’s bachelor minimalist decor could use not only a style update, but a splash of color, as well.

A chenille throw and coordinating pillows added life to the living room. Barely used pot holders and dish towels prettied the kitchen. Her plush bathmat and oversize towels added luxury to the boring bathroom. At the bottom of the box she found several picture frames of various sizes, all containing photos from the time she lived with her ex.

She wanted to destroy them years ago, but her mother convinced her not to, saying they were a photo record of someone once important in her life. It was a bullshit reason then and it was still bullshit now. Bree flipped over each frame, wasting no time pulling out the photos, tearing them apart with her bare hands, and dropping them in the trash.

That felt good. Freeing.

Surveying her progress in the living room, she enjoyed a sense of pride and accomplishment. In her opinion, it now looked homey without being overly feminine. No doubt she’d drastically improved its appearance, but the room needed more of Danny’s things, too.

She headed into the spare bedroom again, this time stopping at his stack of boxes. Bree chewed on her thumbnail.

He said he had nothing to hide.

“Mi casa es tu casa,”
he’d said.

Surely he wouldn’t get upset if she snooped around a bit in the hopes of finding things of his to put on display?

Before she talked herself out of it, she returned to the spare room and sliced through the packing tape on one of his boxes. She folded back the flaps to find a cornucopia of shot glasses stacked in long strings, not carefully wrapped in paper or any sort of packaging material. Which was odd, considering the organization of his underwear drawer. It also contained a dozen or so paperbacks, mostly Tom Clancy and Robert Ludlum, along with several old music CDs ranging from Eminem to System of a Down.

Surprisingly she hadn’t come across any photos. But digital cameras had been the way to go for most of his time in the military so it only made sense she didn’t find any. Of course she hadn’t looked in this closet.

She pulled open the doors for the reach-in closet and found hanging there all alone his army dress uniform. A bow tie draped loosely around the neck of the hanger. Gold emblems on the sleeve displayed his rank for all to see. Unfortunately, she didn’t know anything about the army and what it all meant. She’d have to Google it later.

Her finger traced the patches, the light blue braid looping one sleeve, his last name engraved across a plastic pin. Row after row of bright colored ribbons adorned the left front of his jacket, displaying his accomplishments. She once knew Danny better than anyone, but his uniform served as a reminder she didn’t know much about the man who wore it now. On the shelf above sat a tan beret with yet another brightly colored insignia: a red lightning bolt slashing across a blue and green shield. Next to the beret were black dress shoes polished to a high gleam. And next to them a file box.

Bree lowered it to the floor and removed the lid.

Inside the box, on top of everything else, were a couple of flat jewelry boxes with the words United States of America embossed in gold lettering. Not giving much thought to it, she opened the first one, the hinges on the back tight from a lack of use. Inside was a bronze-colored star hanging from a red and blue ribbon with a “V” in the middle of it. Very regal-looking. She couldn’t help but wonder if there was a medal like this to go with each ribbon. If so, then there would be a lot of medals hanging on his chest.

She closed the case and exchanged it for the second one. Again, the black case squeaked with newness and at first glimpse, her heart stuttered.