Miles for Love Series Box Set, page 106
He ignores my jibe. “Warm, babe. Getting warmer.”
“How am I now?” I ask, talking from behind the tree.
“Still warm…warmer…warmer.”
I go past his classic car ornament, one that he got a duplicate of for Drake as a Christmas gift. “Ty, you didn’t get another Chevy one, did you?” I guffaw, half-unimpressed.
“Nope.” He licks his lips. “That one I bought last week and I showed you. You lose points for forgetting that one, babe.”
“Oh…God.” I gasp, tripping over the cord in the back of the tree.
“What?” he’s giggling.
“We have so many goddamn ornaments,” I laugh. “I can’t see the cord.”
“Just be careful, babe. You’re so close.”
In between a baby Jesus sitting in a Maserati and Rudolph guiding a Harley instead of a sleigh, I see it. I freeze. Pulling it off the branch, I’m silent. It’s the most beautiful diamond solitaire I’ve ever seen.
“Babe?” Ty’s voice is low. He’s standing next to me. When he sees that I’ve found it, he drops down to one knee.
I gasp, feeling the tears pour down my cheeks, dividing my glance between this beautiful ring pinched between my thumb and my forefinger, and this beautiful man kneeling in front of me, holding our unborn child’s soother in his hand. I’m so overcome with emotion that I lean down and grab his neck, pulling him into an embrace.
“Babe.” He grunts. “Let me stand up, you’re choking me.” he grunts a laugh.
“I’m sorry.” I laugh/cry, lifting so that he can stand.
Once he’s upright, we hold each other tight. “It’s…kinda hard to do this standing, but here goes.” Tyler says, pulling back so he can see me. His eyes are red. When he speaks, his voice cracks. “I…I don’t have a speech prepared or anything. I knew…I knew I would never be able to put into words how much I love you…and how much I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” A tear falls down his cheek and I whimper. I’ve never seen him cry before.
“Ripley…you’re…it. There’s nothing else to say. There are billions of other women on this planet, but there might as well be none…well, except for my mom and Mallorie.” He smiles, and I love him for trying to make light of this.
He speaks softly, slowly. “I love you. And...we’re having a baby together. You are my life. You are my future. Will you marry me?”
I nod and gasp a yes, and he squeezes me tight. “Oh, man!” he says again, making me laugh. “Here.” He pulls back, reaching for my hand. “This is the most expensive goddamn Christmas ornament I ever bought.” He says matter-of-factly, making me laugh again, as he slides it on my finger. It’s gorgeous. “There. That isn’t actually a Christmas tree ornament.” He says. “Just so you know.”
Looking at it, I grin tearfully. “No, it’s not.”
“Do you like it?”
I sigh. “It’s…beautiful. I love it.”
“You’re not just saying that, are you?”
I look at him. “No, baby. I would never lie to you.”
His eyes search mine. “I know.” He kisses me softly once, then deepens the kiss, and kisses me again and again, softly, slowly, making my toes curl. Then he pulls back. “Your parents know. I hope that’s okay.”
“Please.” I say flatly. “My mom adores you. I’m sure she did a happy dance when you told her.”
“Close.” He sighs. “But she did help me pick out the ring, and she gave the jeweler your ring size. That’s why it actually fits. If it had been up to me, you would have had a ring with a car on it.”
I laugh out loud. Only Tyler would do or say such a thing.
“Does anyone know about the baby?” he asks.
“Just Frankie. I figure that we should wait until my first trimester is over before spreading the good news.”
He rakes a hand through his hair. “Oh, man! I’m never going to survive!”
I laugh. “It’s bad luck to tell before the second trimester.”
“Oh, alright.” He relents.
“How do you think Grant is going to react?”
“Oh, that’s another story, babe.” He says, concern registered in his voice. “There’s a lot that you don’t know that happened there. And there’s a lot that is happening now. I need to get to the bottom of what’s going on.” He pauses. “There’s a reason why that woman moved to Canada, and even worse, there’s more reason why she came back.”
“Well…let’s not worry about that tonight, okay?”
“Okay.”
He kisses me chastely on the mouth.
And just as one life, my life, has been put back together, another life is developing in my belly, and yet another in Kayla’s belly, but little do we know that there is one life that is being torn down, bit by bit, and there is only one person who can save it…but they don’t know it…yet.
Crossing Borders
Miles for Love Series
Sandra Alex
Keep in touch with the author by Subscribing.
ISBN 978-1-989427-44-6
ISBN 978-1-989427-45-3
Copyright © 2021 Sandra Alex
All rights reserved.
Chapter 1
Grant
My brother Tyler is giving me that look again. The one where he thinks I’m a dumb fuck for doing what I’m doing. Only this time he’s not kidding. We’re packing our stuff into duffel bags, waiting for the chopper to pick us up and take us to the airport. Our mission is over. And something tells me that there are a lot of other things in my life that are over now, too. Unlike Tyler, I have someone to go home to, at least that’s what I keep telling myself. The last time I went home on leave from Afghanistan, I found her in bed with another man. Sure, the terms of our relationship had been in a hopelessly gray area for a while, compounded by the fact that I was out of the country overseas for eleven months of the year, but the terms were hers, not mine. My heart remained with her the whole time, in hopes that somehow hers would, too.
“You don’t show up at a girl’s house unannounced. Especially Stacey’s. Don’t be a fool, man. I’m telling you, she’s going to be with him, and that’s that. Deal with it.”
“And that’s exactly what I plan on doing, Ty.” I argue, even though my eyes betray me. In the back of my mind, my hopes are showing. I want Stacey to ditch that Canadian asshole and be with me. She told me she loved me, and I reciprocated. It was simple. Why this other guy is still in the picture is beyond me. He’s just a band-aid to get her through the rough spots while I’m away. Stacey even admitted that to me once the dust settled when I came home the last time. I can live with that.
“Really?” Tyler barks. “You mean I’m not going to get a call at like three in the morning, with you all tanked, crying over this chick again?”
“Thanks, man.” I say quickly. I knew he’d react this way.
He changes the subject. “Look, I’ve got a buddy of mine, a realtor, looking at houses. You want in with me or what?”
“You mean, like, buy a house together?” I clarify.
“Yeah,” he nods. “I’ve been thinking about it since we got discharged. I don’t want to go back to the Lynch house, man, not that I don’t love mom and dad, but it’s time. There’s this one house that’s really bitching. I want to look at it as soon as we get back on American soil.”
“Yeah. That sounds good.” I nod.
Countless hours later, we’re crashed at our parent’s place, having arrived in during the wee hours of the morning. Dad is still in the hospital, and mom is in another hospital, but they’re both on the mend. Dad, from his stroke, and mom from her nervous breakdown. I suppose that after a man has served countless decades in the service unscathed, and then turns around and has a stroke out of the blue, it weighs on a person. Hence, despite mom’s seeming nerves of steel, that was the straw that broke the camel’s back, so to speak.
Don’t remind me how awful that whole ordeal was for me and Tyler, having been stationed in Afghanistan and receiving the news of our parent’s ailing health. Not just the guilt of being away, but the compounded guilt that Daniel had to take the brunt of the responsibility, since our brother Christopher is a waste of time sack of shit who was spoiled all his life by our mother. He’s currently cruising his way through medical school on our parent’s dime, seeing more ass than a donkey farm, sleeping with anything that moves. Well, that’s Daniel’s take on it, anyway.
Dad is pleased to see us, and he looks good, as Tyler and I arrive at the hospital for a visit.
“He’s going to be released in a couple of days.” Daniel says. Poor bastard. Daniel is the one who is huffing it through medical school, on his own dime, trying his best, and looking after mom and dad. Mallorie, our sister, is still stationed overseas.
“How about mom?” Tyler asks. “How’s she doing?”
Daniel stares at a spot on the floor. “She’s heavily medicated but doing well. Not sure when she’ll get out. They let her out once and she had another spell, so they’re taking their time this time around.”
“What do you mean she had another spell?” Tyler asks. “You didn’t say anything to us about that.”
“It was a few weeks back, man. You’d just gotten your discharge papers. There wasn’t anything you could have done.” Daniel’s tone is apologetic.
“Well, we’re here now.” I say. “What can we do to help?”
“We can take turns with keeping an eye out.” Daniel says. “I need someone to go clean out mom’s fridge. It stinks like ass. I asked Christopher, but he’s too busy with the architect.” He says snidely. Christopher is having a house built. Yeah, great timing on that front, eh?
“Fuck him, man. We’re here.” Tyler says.
Dad opens his eyes. An oxygen tube rests on his upper lip. It’s so heartbreaking seeing my father laying in a hospital bed, completely helpless. Here is a man who stood in a cloth tent, amongst shrapnel, bombs and gunshot blasts, performing surgery and saving people’s lives in the middle of a battlefield, for more than thirty years. Now he can’t even piss by himself. “Hey, dad.” I say, kissing him on the cheek.
“Oh, you’re home boys.” He says, his voice is frail.
“Yeah, we got in late last night, or this morning, depending on which way you look at it.” Tyler says, bending over to kiss dad’s cheek.
“You look good.” Dad says.
“Hey, that was supposed to be my line.” I wink at dad.
“Did you go see your mother?” dad asks.
“That’s our next stop.” Tyler says. “How are you doing, dad?”
He sidesteps the question. “Are you boys all wrapped up overseas? Daniel tells me the mission is complete.”
“That’s right, dad. Ty and I are going to go look at a house this afternoon. We’re done in Afghanistan.” I explain.
“Your mother will be so pleased.” He smiles. “That’ll make her feel a lot better.”
“Let’s hope, dad.” Daniel says. “We need to get you both well again.”
“What will you boys do now…now that you’re home?” dad asks.
“Figure it out as we go along, I suppose.” Tyler shrugs. “We’ll go buy this house and get settled. Take it from there. We both have our degrees, so the sky’s the limit.”
A nurse walks in with a cart that holds various medical supplies. “Alright, handsome. Let’s check your vitals.” She smiles at dad. He smiles back.
“We’ll catch you later, dad.” I say.
“You guys staying at the house?” Daniel asks after we say goodbye to dad.
“Yeah,” I nod. “We’re going to go look at a few now, but yeah, we’re at the house.”
“Okay. I’ll see you.” Daniel pats us both on the shoulder. “Glad to have you back.” He shakes his head and chuckles. “In more ways than one.”
This can’t have been easy on Daniel. I’m glad we’re here to help him out now.
Turns out, the first house is a bust, as it’s in horrible shape, but the second one we put an offer in immediately, and we receive word from the realtor later, that we got it. As we’re sitting in our parent’s kitchen, cleaning out the fridge and giving it a scrub, along with the rest of the place, we hear Daniel come in.
“Hey, guys. Thanks a lot.” He says as he sees us finishing up. “That’s really helpful. I noticed right away that the place no longer smells like an armpit.”
“No problem.” I say, wiping my hands on my pants.
“How’s mom?” Daniel asks.
“She was asleep, man. We didn’t even get to visit with her.” Tyler says. “We’ll try again tomorrow.”
“She does sleep a lot.” Daniel admits. “How did it go with the house hunting?”
“Good. We got a place. Put an offer in.” I say. “We close escrow in a couple of weeks tops.”
“Cool. You need help moving in?” Daniel asks.
“Probably. We’ll let you know.” I say, just as we hear the front door open.
“Heeyyy!!” Christopher says, seeing me and Tyler. “You’re back!”
I can’t help but notice the snide expression on Daniel’s face as Christopher walks into the kitchen. Things can’t be that bad, I think to myself. He pats us both on the back. “Hey, how long are you guys back for?”
“For good. We’re done in Afghanistan.” I say, sizing my youngest brother up. He looks good. Nothing has changed since the last time I saw him, except that maybe his hair is a little longer.
“No shit?” Christopher says.
“That’s what I told you, numb nuts.” Daniel seethes. “Did you pick up that wheelchair for dad that I asked you to pick up?”
“Yeah, it’s in my car.” Christopher says, half-listening. Daniel heads outside, I’m assuming it is to get the wheelchair. “So, you guys are really back for good?”
“Yep.” I nod. “Got our discharge papers and everything.”
“Wow.” Christopher is impressed. Next thing we know, Daniel is struggling to get in the front door with this fully assembled wheelchair.
“What the fuck…Daniel.” I say, running to the door to help him. “Why don’t you ask for help?”
“Because I figured the stupid little shit would have brought it in, but I suppose that picking it up was well beyond the call of duty.” Daniel’s tone is snarky.
“Daniel, man, take it easy.” I say, helping him inside. We wheel the chair into the living room and set it beside the couch.
“Don’t worry about him, man.” Christopher says. “He’s been riding my ass for weeks. I’m used to it.”
“Well, you shouldn’t get used to it, man. You should help out more.” Daniel says.
“I have been helping out.” Christopher barks.
Daniel just shakes his head. Then he addresses me. “You and Ty feeling like going to cruise for chicks tonight?”
Tyler frowns. “Sure.”
I scratch my nose. “No, man. I was going to go over and hang with Stacey tonight.”
Craning his neck, Christopher’s eyes widen. “Stacey? Are you serious? Does she even know that you’re back in town?”
Tyler takes a seat at the kitchen table. Daniel starts putting things back into the fridge. “This ought to be good.” Tyler says.
“Fuckoff.” I mutter to him, and then address Christopher. “No, she doesn’t know that I’m back in town. I wanted to surprise her.”
Lifting a brow, Christopher scoffs. “Well, that’s putting it mildly.” He lifts his chin. “You know that she’s been with that Mark guy since you left the last time, right?”
“And how the fuck do you know that?”
“I saw them. A couple of times. Once at a restaurant, and once at a bar. They were pretty tight.” Christopher explains somewhat gently. “Have you talked to her recently?”
“A couple of months ago.”
Daniel chimes in. “Didn’t you break up with her the last time you were in town?”
“No. She broke it off with me. After I caught her in bed with that asshole, she came clean and said that she’d been with him the whole time. Said she didn’t want to live a lie anymore.”
A ‘v’ forms between Daniel’s brows. “And you’re going to see her…why?”
I sigh. “Call me crazy. Call me stupid. Hell, call me masochistic. There’s something about her, man. She’s the one. A little fucked up, I’ll admit, but I just…I get this feeling when I’m around her…like we’re meant to be together.”
Christopher pats my back. “You should get that checked out, man. I had the same feeling once…turned out to be fucking crabs.”
Tyler has the grace to tell him to shut up. Daniel doesn’t laugh, either. A look crosses his face, like Christopher just told a crude and inappropriate joke.
“Look, man.” Tyler says. “We just don’t want you to get hurt. But we’re here for you.”
“Thanks.”
And as I sit in my truck, feeling my nerves get the best of me, I keep rewinding the last conversation that Stacey and I had, in my head. The tone in her voice was borderline flirty, and she outright said that she missed me. Did I miss something? I don’t think so. Everything in that conversation pointed to the fact that she wanted to see me when I came back. It wasn’t known then that the mission would be over this time around. That date was never known, which I’m guessing is the reason why Stacey could never commit to me. I get it. It’s a lot.
I’m parked two houses down, and I can see the fucker’s car in her driveway. He has a Canadian car dealer’s licence plate holder, so I know it’s him. I’ve driven by a couple of times and I can see them sitting in the living room together. There isn’t anyone else there. She might recognize my pickup truck, which is what I’m hoping for. And as I’m about to turn back, I see the fucker appear and get into his car. He pulls out and drives up the other side of the street, away from me. My nerves unclench.
