Once and For All: An American Valor Novel (11 page)

A Purple Heart.

Bree knew what this meant. Everyone in the country had to know what it meant and what had to have happened in order for him to receive it.

Her throat tightened to the point it became difficult to breathe. Yes, she knew there was a war going on. For a long time there were casualty counts every time she listened to the news. But her life in college and then after was so far removed from the war it never affected her. She knew Danny was in the military and her father had told her Danny’s job was a dangerous one. But she told herself her father had a way of exaggerating, not to mention she’d done one hell of a job of hating Danny for the past decade. It wasn’t until this very moment she had ever considered the possibility of losing him forever. He could have easily been just another casualty of war in the news.

Now, knowing he’d been wounded, that he came so close to losing his life, it shamed her. All these years he’d been fighting for his country and not once had she asked God to watch over him and keep him safe. A mistake she dared not repeat.

Bree said a quick prayer for Danny, for his friends in 1st Batt, and for all of those serving overseas.

She closed the medal case and tried to push the thought of him returning to war out of her mind.

Bree dug deeper into the box, thumbing through stacks and stacks of 4x6s. Most of the photos were of guys she didn’t recognize, drinking beer in the desert. Then they were drinking beer on a boat. Then drinking beer in the woods. There were rude gestures and bloodshot eyes and big smiles. Few, if any, were appropriate to frame, but she pulled out the best ones that included Danny.

Beneath those she found an 8x10 photo with Class 09-02. This was just what she’d been looking for. A graduation photo, it would seem. The men stood tall in their uniforms, shoulders back, arranged much like a primary school photo. It took some searching, but she found a baby-faced Danny and Ben, both so young they couldn’t have been more than nineteen or twenty at the time. She set it aside knowing exactly which frame it would fit.

Then, at the very bottom of the box, was a photo she recognized. One she had a copy of somewhere in the many photo albums at her parents’ home.

It was taken of them at the beach the summer before they headed off to college. She and Danny sat side by side on the beach, the Ferris wheel in the background. Her long, sun-streaked hair blew in the wind while his arm was thrown casually over her shoulder. They were so young and in love. So unbelievably happy. And somewhere in a box of her own she had a million pictures as evidence that what they had was real.

But even so, this picture was special. The way she looked at him. The way he looked at her. Both so focused on the other it was as if they existed in a bubble. Nothing and no one else mattered.

Back when she believed their future included a lifetime together.

Until the bubble popped.

She smiled one last time at the photo and returned it to the box, burying it deep beneath all his other mementos. Just as he’d kept it.

A
SI
DE FROM THE
one night when he arrived home to find Bree asleep on the couch, he hadn’t seen her all week. That didn’t mean he hadn’t noticed she’d been quite busy. And for one brief moment, as he checked out the throw pillows and candles and fancy towels, he jokingly wondered if she had drained his bank account while he was away at work.

Then he noticed the framed pictures on the shelves, most of which were taken during his second deployment to Iraq. Which meant she’d gone through his things in order to find those. He waited for the feeling of violation that came with someone going through his personal items. It never came. Instead, he found it to be an incredibly sweet gesture.

Danny dropped his ruck inside the front door and called her name. Bree appeared in the hall, dressed in jeans and a plain top, the v-neck displaying a large expanse of soft skin. Her makeup was soft and pretty, and delicate dangling earrings framed her face. But the very best thing—no wig.

“Are you about ready to go?”

Upon the suggestion of his platoon leader, Danny had arranged for the guys to meet Bree at a local sports bar. Hopefully, after their long, hard week, they would be short on energy and Bree wouldn’t find them so overwhelming.

“I don’t know.” She rubbed her hand over the fuzz on her head. “Maybe I should wear the wig. I mean, you have more hair on your head than I do.”

“Is that all that’s bothering you? I can take care of that.” He scooted past her, heading for the bathroom, pulling off his shirt as he walked. “Give me ten minutes and I’ll be ready to go.”

He pulled a shaving kit from beneath the sink and removed the guard. Soon, the hum of clippers filled his ears as he made the first pass down the middle of his skull. Normally, Danny kept his hair longer on top with the sides and back short. But it was only hair and in the end didn’t matter that much to him. If it made Bree feel more comfortable, all the better. After cleaning up, he stripped off his remaining clothes and hopped into the shower for just a quick rinse since they were short on time. Using one of the new towels he found hanging on the rod, Danny dried himself as he headed back into the bedroom, the plush white cotton heaven on his—

“Oh! Oh!” Bree immediately covered her eyes with her hands. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you’d finish so quickly and I decided to wear the boots instead of the flats I had on.”

“Nothing you haven’t seen before, Bree.”

“I know,” she said, still refusing to uncover her eyes. Although she hid her face, the cut of her shirt revealed the flush of her skin, the color deepening with each passing second.

“And we’re married now, Bree.”

“I just—” As she blindly attempted to maneuver past, she collided with him instead, her palm meeting his wet chest. “Shit,” she cursed under her breath.

Danny chuckled in response then stepped to the side, allowing her to run away. He quickly changed and found her waiting in the living room. This time, instead of covering her eyes, she couldn’t look away.

Her eyes welled with tears and she tentatively reached out to touch him, her fingers trailing over his newly shorn scalp. “What did you do?”

Danny shrugged his shoulders. “It’s not the first time I’ve done it. Not a big deal.”

“Not a big deal, huh?” Bree smiled through the tears. “You shave your head for all the girls?”

He smiled but said nothing else. She could pretend she wasn’t special, but for him she was the only woman worth any amount of trouble.

Chapter Twelve

T
HEY DR
OVE TO
a sports bar located near the river, a place far enough away from HAAF that it wasn’t a regular hangout for Rangers. As they made their way through the parking lot, Danny could sense her hesitation in the way she kept touching the hat on her head. He was so very proud of her for taking this step. Not only for meeting his friends, but for also being strong enough to go out in public without her wig. Danny held Bree’s hand a little tighter, mostly for her benefit, but he needed a little reassurance himself. There would be no going back from this.

Barely inside the front doors, Gibby’s voice boomed from the back of the bar. “There they are!”

His friends were a rowdy group to begin with. They would willfully say anything and everything to him, but at the end of the day they were all really good guys. In an attempt to keep the initial look of surprise from their faces and reduce the potential of staring, he had given Gibson advanced warning of Bree’s condition.

Gibson met them halfway, smiling first at Bree then giving him a double-take. “Nice look there, Sarnt,” he said, pointing to Danny’s head. Then he turned and offered his hand to Bree. “Jeff Gibson. You must be the brand-new Missus MacGregor.”

She smiled. “You can call me Bree.”

“And
you
can call me anytime.”

Jesus. That didn’t take long. “Are you flirting with my wife, Gibby?”

“Why, yes, I am.”

Thank goodness he was a short, ugly little fucker with big ears and beady little eyes. No way would Bree go for him.

Or would she?

“Now, Bree.” Gibby took her hand from Danny’s and looped it through his arm, escorting her back to where the others stood. “I don’t know what this ugly bastard has on you. Obviously, MacDaddy must have blackmailed a beautiful woman such as you into marriage. Whatever it is, I can help. I’ve got a good friend in the 160th. Just say the word and he’ll commandeer a real nice MH–60 and you and I can fly away into the sunset together. How does that sound?”

He guided her to an empty bar stool where she seated herself to face the group, much like a queen holding court.

“Wouldn’t that be a lateral move?” Bree said, answering his question with a question. “If I’m going to all the trouble of dumping ‘MacDaddy,’ shouldn’t I at least make it worth my while? Upgrade to a colonel or general, perhaps?”

A roar of laughter went up from the guys crowded around them as Gibby’s mouth dropped open in astonishment. Danny had to pick up his jaw, as well, since his wife had just rendered Charlie Company’s resident loudmouth speechless. Even better, she did it with the sweetest of smiles on her face. His earlier feeling of pride multiplied tenfold.

After an opening like that, the rest of the guys pushed forward, ready to meet the new Mrs. MacGregor. He introduced her to Capt. Anthony first, then Bull, Rodriguez, and Lucky. Several guys from his squad were there, as well, including Jenkins, his newest private. Ben came only to serve as a familiar face and left after the first beer, heading out with Rodriguez, who also had a family at home waiting for him. Soon after them, Anthony left so the enlisted guys could relax and let their hair down, so to speak.

His own brother, however, never responded to the invite.

L
IKE ANY G
OOD
bodyguard, Danny never sat, choosing instead to stand just behind her. Occasionally, he would caress her back or rest his hand upon her hip. Maybe lean down to whisper something in her ear. She liked it, the intimacy, the closeness, although she feared making out his affection to be something it wasn’t.

So she distracted herself with the conversation around her, the men and their stories. Sometimes she found it difficult to keep up, especially when they kept calling each other different things, switching back and forth between last names and nicknames.

The guy sitting next to her, though, his name she could remember. Bull. Easily he was the tallest of the group with the looks of a Nordic god and baritone voice. He was also one of the few she’d noticed wearing a wedding ring.

“You’re married?” she asked. He answered with a curt nod then drank down what remained in his glass. “What does your wife do?”

“Whatever she wants.”

Oh. Definitely not the answer she expected. “I’m sorry.”

Bull waved off her apology. “No, I’m the one that’s sorry,” he said, flagging down the waitress, ordering another Scotch for himself and a second glass of wine for her. A peace offering, she supposed. He folded his arms atop the table and turned to speak. “Word on the street is you two have known each other forever.”

“We grew up together.”

Having overheard her answer, Gibby jumped into their conversation. “Then you know Doc, as well?”

It took her a moment to figure out who he was talking about. “Michael? Yes, of course.”

“This one here is a tight-lipped son of a bitch,” Gibby said, pointing at Danny. “He’s told us he’s from Myrtle Beach, but that’s it. It’s as if he didn’t exist before joining up. Not one story, nothing. And believe me, we’ve tried everything short of waterboarding.”

“Oh, really? What do you want to know?”

Danny leaned closer to speak directly into her ear. “Bree,” he said with mock warning.

She pushed him away with one hand. “I doubt I have anything interesting to share, since he joined the army after our first year in college.”

“He went to college? Where to?”

“South Carolina. He had a baseball scholarship.” The look of surprise on each of their faces was unbelievable. “You mean he’s never told you about signing day?”

Danny muttered under his breath. “Here we go.”

She turned to face him. “Just this one? I promise.”

His hands settled on her hips and he whispered in her ear. “Let it be known there will be payback then.” His warm breath on her neck sent a shiver down her spine. Payback might not be so bad, after all.

“All the hype started our junior year when college coaches and major league scouts came out to see him play in the state championship. So he was kind of a big deal in Myrtle Beach. By our senior year, several schools had offered baseball scholarships. But instead of just announcing where he was going and signing his letter of intent, he decided to make it a big production.

“You know how guys will pick up one hat out of three or four options and put it on their head? Well, Danny decided to do something different. There were a couple of reporters, some photographers, and a local TV station all waiting to see who he was signing with. Danny walks in wearing a hoodie and when the time came he stood up, unzipped his jacket and revealed his shirt. A shirt that said ‘Got Cock?’ across the front. He was so proud of himself. The paper cropped the photo to his neck. The local news ran a still photo and some old highlights. I’m convinced the whole reason he chose South Carolina was just so he could wear that stupid T-shirt.”

It took a while for the laughter and the jabs to die down, but Danny took it well.

“Were you drafted?” This from the guy they called Lucky.

“Yeah,” Danny answered. “White Sox.”

Gibby, who’d clearly had more than his share, stood on the rungs of his bar stool, his finger stabbing the air over the table. “You could’ve played professionally!”

“Jesus, Gib. They draft just about anybody out of high school. And very few ever make it to the majors.”

“But you got a scholarship!”

“Which I promptly lost my first year of school.” A hush settled over the table. “I flunked out of school and they kicked me off the team. I wasn’t drafted high enough to get a signing bonus. And what they pay you in the minors isn’t enough to live on. So I enlisted.”

Danny shrugged his shoulder in that “shit happens” kind of way and took another drink of his beer.

The guilt knotted her stomach.

She’d only meant to tell a funny story, not embarrass him in some passive-aggressive way. Or had she? After all he’d done to help her? He’d shown her nothing but kindness and this was how she repaid him? By retelling his failures to get a laugh from his friends?

The waitress delivered a tray of appetizers, and the conversation at the table restarted on a different topic. But Danny remained silent behind her. He might try to sell it to them as not a big deal, but she remembered it all, just how big of a deal it really was. How it changed not only his life, but hers, too.

Clearly, he had the right idea all along. It was better to leave the past buried and forgotten.

W
HAT AN ARROGAN
T
little shit he’d been.

To hear Bree tell the story, it made him wonder why she’d tolerated his dumb ass for as long as she did. But she’d been there for almost every game, hair swept back into a ponytail, ball cap on her head, cheering him on from the stands. No matter if he was playing in the state championship or hanging out at the batting cages.

Now she stared into her glass, her thoughts likely lost in the past, back when everything changed for them.

It hadn’t been as simple as he told them. Losing his scholarship was a major turning point in his life. He couldn’t afford school without it. Which meant he couldn’t stay in Columbia. She tried to talk him into getting a job, any job, so they could move in together. And then, after she graduated, she’d support him and he could go back to school.

She’d support him.

He couldn’t remember them ever fighting before. But in a matter of days, everything between them crumbled.

This was why he never talked about his life before enlisting. During his time in regiment, he had stood shoulder to shoulder, fought side by side with some truly brilliant men. Even led guys with advanced degrees in mathematics and science and economics and engineering. It was difficult enough to earn the respect of your commanding officers, your peers, and later your subordinates without being known as the idiot who lost his full ride. So he’d kept it all quiet, determined to completely start over from scratch.

It was why he understood Bree’s desperate need for a new beginning. On some subconscious level, it was probably why he proposed.

The waitress returned to the table with a round of Jaeger shots and the guys shoved one into his hand.

The men raised their glasses as Gibson began. “Here’s to the kisses we’ve snatched—”

“Gibson!” he yelled, interrupting before he could carry on with that particular toast.

Gibby stopped midsentence. “Hooah?” Danny shook his head and looked toward Bree. Only then did the man come to his senses. He cleared his throat and began again as he held out the shot glass. “To Danny and Bree.”

A smile returned to Bree’s face, not nearly as bright as earlier ones, not quite as authentic, either. Instead, she put on her brave face.

And it killed him to know that the pain he caused long ago still cut so deep.

B
REE DIDN’T MOVE
when he shut off the engine. Too much wine. Too many people. Maybe it was all too much too soon. He’d best remember she still wasn’t one hundred percent and make certain to not run her ragged. Not that he’d dare say that out loud. When he opened her car door, she still didn’t stir.

“Bree.”

Although he said her name no louder than a whisper, she jumped in surprise, those big brown eyes opening wide as she tried to figure out her surroundings. “Did I fall asleep?”

“Seems that way,” he said, offering a hand to help her out of the vehicle. “Did you have a little too much fun?”

She placed her hand in his, so much smaller than his own with thin, delicate fingers. When she wobbled a bit on her heels, he steadied her with another hand at her waist.

“I’m sorry.”

“For falling asleep? Not a big deal.”

“No. About what happened at the bar. I’m sorry I told that story.”

Shit. The last thing he wanted to do was rehash that again. He shifted her sideways so he could close the door.

“I need to apologize. You’ve done so much for me and . . .” She was still holding his hand when the first tear fell.

The need to comfort her overwhelmed him. He dabbed her tears away with his fingertip and pressed a kiss to her forehead. Using both hands she clutched the front of his shirt, burying her face into his chest. Unable to see her face, he could only assume a flood of tears followed, her body shaking from the force of it. Danny set his chin upon the top of her head and wrapped his arms tightly around her, one hand smoothing circles over her back.

She pushed away from his chest, but stayed within his embrace. Just putting a little space between them as she tried to catch her breath. “This isn’t right. You’re the wronged party here, not me. You should be angry with me, not trying to make me feel better.”

“Maybe I’m holding you for purely selfish reasons? Maybe it’s not about you at all and I’m just trying to make myself feel better?”

She froze in place. “Really?”

“No.” He laughed and Bree took a playful swipe at his chest.

“Here’s the truth. What I realized tonight is it’s okay to talk about the past and my failed college career. If it hadn’t been for me losing my scholarship, I’d never have enlisted. I wouldn’t have become the person I am today or be doing the job I do. And I like who I am. So I’m glad that skeleton’s out of the closet. Of course, you didn’t need to have so much fun doing it.”

Then came another round of tears she couldn’t fight back.

Even with tearstains on her cheeks and reddened eyes, she was beautiful. He cradled her face in his palm. “Now, come on. I’m just teasing you. It’s not a big deal.”

Taking a deep breath, she put on her brave face and leaned back against the side of the car. She smiled, just a little, and sniffled through the remnants of her crying jag. She smoothed one hand over the top of his head. “I still can’t believe you did this,” she whispered.

His eyes drifted shut, relishing her touch as those delicate fingers stroked what remained of his hair and traced the shell of his ear. He could hear the scrape of stubble against her palm as she caressed his cheek. The warm press of her lips against his surprised him, along with the press of her body against his. Her lips were soft, her kiss tender, but uncertain, as well. Before he could react, she abruptly ended the kiss and looked away, somehow embarrassed by her actions.