Love Survives (28 page)

“And you’re going to tell Bobby about my parents coming?” I didn’t want another fight happening because of me. This time it wouldn’t be my fault since she’d offered.

“Yes, but just so you know, the house is mine. I had it built when I was separated from Bobby. It was part of my trust money. I own it free and clear.”

I was happy for her. Her parents would have wanted that. “I should have known you’d spend it wisely. Your mom and dad would be happy about that.”

“I think so too. They’d want B to have a home that she loved. I always loved where we lived. The only hard part was watching another child moving in after they were gone. Hopefully B won’t have to deal with something so tragic.”

I agreed, “Yeah. You don’t have to worry about me going anywhere. Due to my injury, I’m no use in the field. All I do nowadays is train recruits on procedures. I feel more like a school teacher than a soldier.”

“You’re safe. That’s all I care about.” It felt nice to hear she cared.

She looked away, probably so I couldn’t read her like I was constantly trying to do. “It’s going to be nice seeing you again every day. I really missed you.”

She touched my arm again. “I missed you, too.”

It was hard to pull in the driveway knowing that I was saying goodbye. A part of me wanted to take them hostage and keep them for myself in some undisclosed location. I know it sounded crazy, but my mind wasn’t really on a sane level.

After I managed to unhook my little girl, I hugged her close to my body, kissing her on the head. “I love you, bug.”

Kat was quiet as I handed my sleeping beauty over to her. It was hard knowing they were going inside with her husband. It should have been me, and I think she knew it too. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I swore something was off about her. I kept chalking it up to us having had a nice night together, but she was giving off vibes that she didn’t want to go inside and deal with her husband. I wondered if he’d said something about this whole situation that rubbed her the wrong way. Knowing Kat like I did, I figured she’d tell me if it was important enough to be concerned about.

I looked toward her while wishing I was still holding my daughter. Our eyes met one more time, and I couldn’t help from keeping them fixed there. God, I wanted to kiss her. I wanted to be the one that she called when she was having a bad day, and the shoulder she cried on when she just couldn’t take anymore stress.

I didn’t mean to dislike her husband, but he was taking my place. He was doing my job, and I’m not just talking about in the bedroom. He had every bit of her that counted, well every bit except one thing, and as the words came out of her mouth I suddenly knew why she seemed so worried about going inside.

“I meant every word that I wrote in those letters, Brooks. I could never completely give my heart away, not when it was with you the whole time.” Kat’s last statement to me wasn’t just a shocker. It had left me wondering what I could do to make it all possible for us. She still loved me, so much that she’d just admitted her husband didn’t have that part of her, because it belonged to me.

I stood there wondering what I should do or say. Obviously we were in a complicated situation. She was married by law. I’d promised the man that I wouldn’t interfere in their marriage, yet every part of me wanted to. I didn’t know how to handle it.

I watched her walk inside before getting into my truck. Even after I’d pulled out of the driveway my mind was still on those words. I considered myself a strong man, but it took more willpower than I had to not turn back around and take what was mine.

As a kid, I’d always had to share. Doing so caused me to lose the one thing in life I wanted for myself. I’d been down this road before, and it had ended badly. While driving I wondered if my mistake was fighting for her, or doing nothing at all.

To say I was high on life would have been an understatement. I was in love with two girls, one of which I helped create. Thinking about them made me smile. I felt alive, and overwhelmed with optimism. My future would always consist of my daughter. Even if I couldn’t be with Kat the way I wanted, nothing would prevent me from spending every second with my little bug, not even her husband. That child had my name, and I knew there was no way Kat would allow him to put a stop to my visitations. Still, I felt like the next topic we talked about was going to have to be custody. I didn’t want a big court battle, but I felt as if I needed to have it documented. If this guy felt threatened, there was no telling what he’d do to keep me away. The worst part of it all was the fact that he needed to feel that way, because it was clear after one day I was definitely a threat, even to myself.

I knew it was wrong, but I still wanted her for myself. Married or not.

I wouldn’t cross any lines, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t thinking about it.

Chapter 32

The next morning
I was high on life. I’d been up for a couple hours, and my whistling was beginning to get on everyone’s nerves. They couldn’t understand what it felt like to be this close to heaven. I was so excited about spending the whole afternoon with my girls. This time I was going to take them on a tour of the base. I wanted Kat to know that B would be safe when she was with me overnight. If I needed help, I’d have it. This was all going to be okay.

When my phone started to ring in my pocket I put it up to my ear before answering.

“Sergeant Valentine speaking.”

I heard her laughing right away. Apparently she got a kick out of me being professional. “Hey, it’s me, Katy.”

“You don’t have to say your name. I don’t have a slew of women calling me on this number.” I didn’t mean it to be anything more than a joke, but when the line remained quiet I wondered if she was considering that I did.

“Oh. Well, I’m calling to tell you that today won’t be good to come over. Bobby made plans, and I didn’t know about it.”

This was terrible news. My day was ruined. How was I going to be able to make it another day without them?

“Man, I got off early in hopes to spend extra time there.” I paused and tried to be nice about it. “It’s cool. I’ll figure out something else to do. I guess I can always start looking for places. My roommate in the barracks isn’t going to want me bringing a kid to spend the night.”

“I’m sorry, Brooks. I don’t want you to feel like I’m keeping her from you. I’d never do that.”

“It’s fine. I know you wouldn’t keep her from me.” Kat sounded weird. It got me wondering if something else was going on.

“So, I better get going. It’s early and I need to get B ready for Sunday school.”

“Can you take a picture and send it to this number? I’d love to be able to show the guys.” I was hoping the picture would be one with her in it too. Married or not, she was still the mother of my child. Our child. God, I loved the sound of it.

“Sure.”

“So, I guess I need to hang up now?” I could have spent the whole day talking to her like teenagers do.

“What do you do on your days off?” Her question made me really worry. She didn’t want to stop talking, which could only mean one of two things. Either she missed me already, or someone was putting her up to cancelling our play date.

I decided to give her something to be jealous about, only because I loved hearing her react. Yeah, it was wrong. She needed to stay focused on her husband, but I knew what buttons to push, and still felt like I had some pent up anger lingering toward her. I mean, she did keep my child from me. Making her jealous was a good payback because I knew how mad she’d get at me for doing it. That also meant more phone time for me while she tried to figure out if I was telling the truth or not. “I hook up with random chicks that love a man in a uniform.” Then I realized just how naughty I was being. It was important for me to be a friend to her, not get my jollies over her making her freak out. We weren’t teenagers anymore. I had to act like a grown-up would. “I’m kidding, Kat. Although, there are women that would pretty much do anything for a man in fatigues, I only have eyes for one girl.”

“Stop it, Brooks. Today is not a good day to joke around.” She was so short, almost rude. I’d hit a nerve.

“Sorry. Are you alright? You seem kind of snappy. Did your being with me last night cause problems with you and your husband? Was it what you said last night?”

The line got quiet. I almost started to ask if she was still on the other end of the call. “Talk to me. Am I overstepping? If I’m causing you problems, we can make other arrangements. I mean, I’ll miss being able to see you, but I understand.”

“I’m fine.” That answer was way too short.

“I know it’s been a while, but I’m pretty sure there’s something you’re not telling me.”

I waited for her to tell the truth, but she refused by simply pretending I hadn’t asked.

“Would it be okay if we just talked tomorrow? I’ve got to go get ready for church.”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll call you in the morning.”

It was pretty upsetting for me to end the call when all I wanted to do was hold on for as long as possible.

I’d no sooner got up to refill my coffee and spoke to petty officer about paperwork when my cell phone started ringing in my office. I rushed inside to pick it up, noticing the same number calling again.

I answered it formally to get a laugh out of her.

“Sergeant Valentine.”

Kat was crying as she spoke my name. “Brooks.”

“Kat? What’s wrong?”

Her voice was so shaky. Right away I was worried something was terribly wrong. My mind went back to when Mullins was explaining how he woke up and his daughter was dead in the bed beside him. I didn’t know anything about SIDS, but wondered if this call was going to be the nail in my coffin. I couldn’t handle losing what I just been given.

Kat’s response left me relieved, but also concerned at the same time. “If something happens to me, I want you to take her far away from here.”

“What are you talking about?” She needed to explain what was going on.

Before she was able to explain I heard Bobby in the background. “Is that him? You think he can save you?”

I was on high-alert, searching the desk for my keys when Kat answered him. “Please don’t hurt me.”

I heard her crying, begging him to let go of her hair. I knocked an entire cup of coffee onto the floor as I fetched my key ring and darted for the exit while keeping the phone up to my ear to hear what was going on. The whole time I kept repeating that I was coming.

Kat continued to beg him to stop. Her cries only made me drive faster. When I got to her he was going to be sorry. No man should ever put a hand on a woman, but the fact that it was Kat, my Kat, made me want to use all of my trained skills on him. “Bobby, please. I didn’t do anything wrong. You don’t want to hurt me, I know you don’t.”

In the background I could hear him starting to cry though I didn’t let my foot off the gas pedal.

I heard shuffling next, and then the sound of our daughter, who was right in the middle of it. “Mama, I scared.”

Bobby’s voice was close again. “We need to talk.”

“Not while you’re acting like this,” Kat responded.

There was a loud noise before he spoke again, raising his voice so I was able to hear it without straining. “You see what you make me do? That pretty boy comes anywhere near you and you’re goin’ to be the one to pay, you hear me, Katy?”

That was it. I was going to kill him with my bare hands, just as soon as I knew my girls were never going to be near him again. He’d lost his privileges as far as I was concerned. If Kat wanted to deal with that kind of shit she was going to have to fight me in court because I’d die before I let my child grow up in that sort of environment.

Then the line went dead.

I flew down the highway, praying to God that my girls were okay. While my mind was in a million places, I wondered how many times he’d done this sort of thing to her. I wanted to know if he’d ever abused her before I came into the picture. Was he reacting on rage from me being alive? Was this all because Brooklyn’s real father was stepping into her life?

The worst part of this was the fact that there was nothing he could do. That child was mine, and there was no way I’d stand back and let someone else raise her. From what I’d just heard on the phone, there was no possible way I’d ever feel comfortable with her being alone with him again. Call me old fashioned, or even over-protective, but it wasn’t happening with my child. I didn’t care what I had to do to make sure of it.

By the time I pulled up at Kat’s house a police cruiser was in the driveway. Bobby was outside talking to the officer while Kat was obviously somewhere in the house. I didn’t even look in his direction as I made my way up the stairs to go inside. For all I knew he could have come after me, not that he’d be able to do much. I could take a man down with my eyes closed. Just because I had an injured hand and arm didn’t mean I’d lose a fight. There were tactics I’d been taught to do that would send a person to their knees. One punch to the throat could end his life.