"I requested a hardship discharge." Grant"s heart felt lighter than it had since he"d gotten the news of Lee"s death. "Just got off the phone with my CO."
Stella"s frown sagged, deepening the lines around her mouth. "Still, you"re a bachelor. What do you know about raising two children?"
"I"ll figure it out as I go along," Grant said.
"We"ll see what our attorney has to say about that." Stella lifted her chin. Her eyes went bright and cold.
The baby fussed, and Hannah picked her up. "Actually, I reviewed the will this morning. Lee and Kate named Grant as the kids" guardian, so you really don"t have any legal standing."
Stella turned and scooped her coat off the chair. Staring at the floor, she wiped a tear from her face with the pad of her thumb. "Will you still let us see them?"
"Of course," Grant said. "You"re welcome to visit whenever you like."
Bill got up with a disappointed sigh and held his wife"s coat. "If you change your mind, you know how to reach us at the inn."
They each gave Carson a quick hug. Stella kissed Faith on the head before leaving.
"You"re not going to let them take us, are you?" Carson rested his head against Grant"s shoulder.
"No way, buddy." Grant rubbed his back. "You"re going to stay with me. Is that OK?"
Carson nodded and curled his arms around Grant"s neck.
"Are you really staying?" Hannah asked.
"I am. I"m not sure whether it was Lee"s death or too many tours of combat that changed me, but I have no desire to go back to the military."
"What are you going to do?"
"After I pay Freddie his twenty thousand?"
"I already requested the funds from my bank. I a.s.sume he wants cash."
"Good a.s.sumption." Grant smiled at his sister. "We can split the bill."
"Nah. I got this one." Hannah shook her head. "Do you have any plans after the payoff?"
"I don"t know. I have a lot of options." And as soon as he got written verification from Lieutenant Colonel Tucker that his discharge was in process, he wanted to talk with Ellie about some of those options. Grant"s grief was still tender, but for the first time since he"d received news of his brother"s death, he didn"t feel hopeless.
Lieutenant Colonel Tucker"s words were still ringing in his head. Grant, you"ve given your country thirteen years of your life. This operation is winding down over here. Go. Have a life. Enjoy a little of what you"ve been protecting all these years. You"ve served with honor, but you"re needed elsewhere now.
Two days later Ellie shoved her goggles onto her forehead and lifted the kitchen cabinet she"d just ripped off the wall. She half dragged, half carried it out the front door, past the flower bed and tiny shoots of daffodils poking out of the soil, past the greening lawn, to the curb. The air still held a sharp bite, but spring was finally coming. There would still be some cold, nasty days, but new life was on its way.
"Can I help you with that?" Grant pulled into the driveway.
Her heart thumped as he got out of the minivan. She couldn"t believe how much she"d missed him in the last two days. It would hurt when he had to leave for good. "How are the kids?"
"Quarters at Mac"s place are tight." Grant walked closer. He picked up the cabinet and tossed it into the Dumpster effortlessly. "But Hannah goes back to work after the funeral on Wednesday, and Mac is leaving for South America in a couple of weeks. The three of us will fit there just fine for a while, and AnnaBelle loves the woods. She"s brought me enough sticks to build a tree house."
"The funeral will be small?"
"Just family and closer friends. You"ll come?" Grief shone raw in his eyes.
Her heart ached for him. He hadn"t had a chance to mourn his loss. "Of course."
"What will happen to the house?" She nodded at the burned-out sh.e.l.l of Lee and Kate"s home.
"It"s not salvageable."
He hadn"t shaved, and her fingers itched to touch the s.e.xy rasp of his beard. She restrained herself. The moments they"d shared had been stolen. There would be no more of them. "That"s a shame."
"It is, but this way the kids will get to start fresh. Once the lot is cleared, I"ll put it up for sale. There are too many dark memories here for Carson."
She"d miss the children, too. Ellie swallowed the grief in her throat to get her next question out. "When do you leave?"
"I don"t." Grant stopped in front of her. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her lips.
Shock kept her from kissing him back. "What?"
"I"m not going back. I"m leaving the military."
"I don"t understand. I thought the army was your life."
Grant brushed his fingers over her cheek. A tiny piece of wallboard floated to the ground. "Mac said something to me the other day that made me think. I"ve been living my father"s dream, not mine. I don"t want to be away. I want to watch Carson and Faith grow up. I want to be there for them the way Lee was always there for the family. I want to make sure my father is taken care of the best that I can." He took Ellie"s hand. "I want to get to know you better. I"m not sure what is developing between us, but I don"t want to walk away from it. I"ve left good things behind in the past. I"m done with that."
Ellie couldn"t believe what she was hearing. He was staying. Her heart fluttered with possibility. "Do you have to give up your career? Can"t you try to get stationed in New York? Or go to reserve status?"
"I could, but I don"t want to. If I stay in the military, even as a reservist, there"s always that chance I"ll be called up." He took both her hands in his. "IEDs. Suicide bombers. Snipers. The risks are always there, even if I see far less combat now than I did when I was a lieutenant or a captain. Carson and Faith already lost both their parents. I can"t control the future, but I can do my best to stay alive for them. They deserve stability."
"What will you do?"
"I don"t know. I haven"t made any decisions. I have some savings. I"ve been banking most of my pay for years. There"s the life insurance. I really enjoyed demolishing your kitchen. I"d like to help you renovate it. Gutting rooms and building something new sounds appealing right now."
Joy swelled in Ellie"s chest. Her eyes filled with tears. "I was all ready to say good-bye."
Grant wiped a drop from her cheek with a thumb. "So it"s OK with you that I"m staying?"
His words finally sank in. He wasn"t going to Afghanistan or Texas or anywhere else. Ellie flung her arms around his neck.
"I"ll take that as a yes." He kissed her. "Tell me there"s still something to demolish in there."
"No worries." She laughed. "It takes me a long time when I have to do it all myself. It"ll be a lot easier with some muscle."
"That"s me. The muscle." Grant flexed an impressive bicep. "The next two days will be hard. I don"t know how Carson will do at the funeral. He says he wants to go, but who knows how he"ll react? Kate"s parents are upset with me for not letting them have the kids and for scaling this funeral back to the bare minimum."
"What can I do to help?"
"Put me to work?" He turned her and guided her back toward her front door. "I could use some sledgehammer therapy."
Remembering the last time they"d worked in her kitchen together, warmth rushed into Ellie"s cheeks. She wrapped an arm around his waist and leaned into him, savoring the solid and real feel of his body against hers. "You can demolish my kitchen any day."
Chapter Thirty-Nine.
Four months later.
"What do you think?" Grant wrapped an arm around Ellie"s shoulders. "You"re the expert."
Side by side, they squinted through the setting sun at the old farmhouse. July heat waned as the sun dipped below the trees. It was traditionally designed, with two stories and a wraparound porch that called for a swing.
Behind them, the real estate agent had stepped away to stand patiently by his car and let them talk. Again.
"It has good bones." Ellie flipped through a home inspector"s report. "Structurally sound. No lead paint, termites, or radon."
"Five bedrooms and a mother-in-law suite would give us plenty of room to spread out." Grant nudged Ellie"s arm. This was their sixth trip to view the house.
"And the kitchen is enormous." Ellie could already see the kids doing homework while Nan cooked.
Carson and AnnaBelle raced past. Mud encased the dog"s paws and the boy"s sneakers.
"What do you think, Carson?" Grant yelled.
The boy slid to a stop in a patch of dandelions and threw a stick for the dog. "There"s a creek out back! We almost caught a frog."
The creek was barely six inches deep. If Grant listened, he could hear the faint tumble of water over rocks.
"Carson"s a yes." Ellie laughed. "You realize the entire house needs to be gutted? And we"ll never be able to keep either one of them out of the mud."
"I do." With lots of babysitting help from Julia and Nan, after her ankle healed, Grant had done the majority of the kitchen renovation in Ellie"s old house and loved every minute of hard labor. Working with his hands became his therapy, and in the same way that Faith"s crawling had eliminated her nighttime screaming, daily physical exertion improved his sleep. Though he suspected sleeping with Ellie would work even better. Another reason he wanted to buy this house. Plus, Mac was due back from South America soon. The cabin was cramped enough with just Grant and the kids.
"Nan? Julia? You two want to vote?" Ellie called.
Julia carried Faith on her hip. The baby squirmed. Now crawling, she wanted no part of being carried. Grant held out his arms, and Julia handed her over. He pretended to drop her, and she squealed in delight.
"I love it." Nan crossed her arms and scanned the yard. "You could put a gazebo right there. It would make a lovely spot for a wedding."
"Nan," Ellie sighed.
Her grandmother feigned innocence. "Just saying."
Grant tucked Faith under his arm, football style, and kissed Ellie on the lips. "I like the idea."
They"d talked about getting married. They weren"t rushing things, but buying the house together was a step in the right direction. They already spent as much time as possible together. For now, Grant would be satisfied having her in his bed at night.
"Did I tell you what happened at work today?" Ellie asked. "Roger fired Frank."
"Really?" Grant wasn"t surprised. Frank was slime.
"He"d gotten himself into some debt in his quest for partnership and decided some fraudulent checks were his only way out." She shook her head. "If he could have held on another month or two, he would have gotten the partnership."
"Some people never get enough." But Grant had plenty. Faith complained and pumped her fists in the air. "OK. We have to make a decision. The boss is getting impatient." No doubt she wanted to stick every one of those dandelions in her mouth. "What"s it going to be?"
"Please." Julia pressed her palms together.
"Let"s do it," Nan encouraged.
"It"s a big project," Ellie warned. She scanned their faces. "All right. We"ll buy it."
Grant pa.s.sed Faith back to Julia and wrapped his arms around Ellie. He planted a kiss on her mouth. "I love you."
"I love you too, Ellie." Carson hugged their thighs.
Ellie ruffled Carson"s hair and kissed Grant back. "I love you both."
Grant leaned away and shouted to the real estate agent, "We"ll take it. How soon can we close?"
The latest chapter in his life had started out in the worst possible way, but Grant had finally found the life he wanted. He wasn"t going to waste one more second.
Acknowledgments.
Publishing a book is a group project. As usual, thanks go to my fabulous agent, Jill Marsal, for her indispensable help with this book and her guidance with almost every aspect of my career. Additional thanks to developmental editor Shannon G.o.dwin, and to the entire team at Montlake Publishing, especially editor JoVon Sotak.
Shout out to my morning sprint buddies Kendra Elliot, KM Fawcett, Rayna Vause, and Chris Redding. The daily cyberflogging helped me power through the tough spots on this book. Special thanks to Rayna for techie help, to KA Mitch.e.l.l for plot ideas, and to Kendra, whose offhand comment about the sharpness of skate blades put the big finale scene in my head.
A final thank you goes to Michael Parnell for his help with military terms.
About the Author.
Photo 2014 Marti Corn Photography.
Melinda Leigh abandoned her career in banking to raise her kids and never looked back. She started writing as a hobby and became addicted to creating characters and stories. Since then, she has won numerous writing awards for her paranormal romance and romantic-suspense fiction.
Her debut novel, She Can Run, was a number one bestseller in Kindle Romantic Suspense, a 2011 Best Book Finalist (The Romance Reviews), and a nominee for the 2012 International Thriller Award for Best First Book. Midnight Exposure was a 2013 Daphne du Maurier Award finalist. When she isn"t writing, Melinda is an avid martial artist: she holds a second-degree black belt in Kenpo karate and teaches women"s self-defense. She lives in a messy house with her husband, two teenagers, a couple of dogs, and two rescue cats.