A Time for Home: A Snowberry Creek Novel (26 page)

“Y
ou three look so handsome. Now, hold still so I can take the picture.”

Callie held up the camera and waited for Nick, Leif, and Mooch to get situated. Both men were in uniform, and Mooch wore his dog tags with a camouflage scarf tied around his neck. All three looked solemn, and she knew better than to try to make them smile. She knew what this moment meant to the two men, and Mooch’s mood was a reflection of theirs.

They’d decided to have a few friends over for an official dedication of the gazebo. She’d made sure Nick knew how much it meant to her that he and Leif had built it both for her and in memory of their friend. Although both men were showing definite signs of coming to terms with Spence’s death, it was still hard at times for all three of them. That was why she’d made sure to call this event a celebration rather than a memorial.

After she snapped several pictures in rapid succession, Nick called out, “Hey, Gage. Come take the camera so Callie can be in the next shot.”

Nick and Leif made room for her between them, and Mooch sat right in front of her. She felt dwarfed by her two companions, but she couldn’t imagine anywhere else she wanted to be.

Leif leaned in close enough to whisper, “You know it’s not too late to realize I’m a better catch than Sarge is.”

Nick immediately smacked his friend on the back of the head. “Yes, it is too late, Corporal. Now, shut up and smile.”

Leif ducked back out of reach. “But we both know it’s true!”

The man she loved shot his friend a nasty look. “Yeah, maybe we do, but she doesn’t. Don’t screw this up for me.”

It was time to put an end to their sniping. “Come on, guys, get serious. People are waiting on us.”

Her two soldiers immediately resumed their positions, both smiling down at her before turning their attention toward Gage. He winked at Callie before snapping the picture. “Okay, now, pick up the paintbrush and get busy. Syd’s getting impatient to dive into the food.”

The little girl rolled her eyes. “Dad, I’m not the one who got caught sneaking cookies.”

The lawman laughed. “Okay, guilty as charged.”

Nick led the way into the gazebo. Inside, he picked up a small paintbrush and a jar of paint and held it out to Callie. “Ladies first.”

“No, I think it should be one of you two who signs first.”

He offered the brush to Leif, who also shook his head. “Nope, it was your idea. Besides, you outrank me.”

Nick drew a deep breath and dipped the brush into the paint. Earlier in the day, he’d stenciled the dedication on the back wall of the gazebo. The wording the three of them had agreed on read, “In celebration and remembrance of the life of Corporal Spencer Lang. Wheelman, we miss you.”

Using the paintbrush, Nick signed his name. Leif went next, and finally Callie wrote hers. It was hard to see how legible her writing was through the sheen of tears that filled her eyes, but she managed to get the job done.

When she was finished, she handed Nick the brush and kissed both him and Leif on the cheek. “Thank you both for this. It means so much to me. I feel like it’s the first real step toward making the bed-and-breakfast real.”

Their silence worried her. Was the moment too much for them? Nick had told her he was having fewer episodes where he got trapped in the past, but still.

“What’s wrong, Nick?”

He made eye contact with Leif. “Corporal, stand guard.”

Leif immediately positioned himself in the doorway, his back to Nick and Callie. What in the world was going on?

Nick finally smiled down at her and dropped to one knee. He held up a small box.

“Callie Redding, I know we’ve already talked about this, but I want to make it official. Will you do me the great honor of marrying me?”

As he spoke, he lifted the lid of the small box to reveal a beautiful ring. “I hope you don’t mind, but this belonged to my grandmother. She gave it to me years ago in the hope I would find someone who made me as happy as my grandfather made her. I had my mom ship it out to me from Ohio.”

Callie’s hand was trembling as she reached out to pick up the ring. “Sergeant Nick Jenkins, I would be honored to marry you and wear her ring.”

He grinned as she slipped the sparkling diamond onto her finger. Then he crushed her in his arms for a big hug and a quick kiss.

Leif claimed first honors in congratulating them, although he once again questioned Callie’s taste in men. Word spread through the crowd, resulting in a barrage of hugs, handshakes, and best wishes.

Despite all the happy chaos, somehow Callie found herself alone and staring up at the words written in black on the back wall of the gazebo. Her smile faded just a little as she silently read them again. “God, Spence, I wish like heck you were here to help us celebrate this moment.”

He would have been happy for her, and for Nick, too. No doubt he would have given them some kind of grief over her taste in men, as Leif had, but that would have been for show.

“You know, somehow I think he is here, Callie.”

A familiar pair of strong arms wrapped her in their comforting embrace. Holding her close, Nick whispered near her ear, “Wheels would be happy for us, Callie. I know that for a fact.”

“I was just thinking that very same thing.” Her smile returned full strength. “He wouldn’t want his memory to make us sad, especially today. So, soldier, what do you say we go be happy enough for all three of us?”

Nick grinned and gave her a kiss that held the heated promise of a more private celebration later. “I say that’s an order I’ll be glad to carry out every day for the rest of our lives.”

Don’t miss the next book in the Snowberry Creek series—turn the page for a preview!

More Than a Touch

Coming from Signet Eclipse in January 2014

L
eif made it out of the clinic in one piece. Barely. Right now his leg ached, his head throbbed, and his pride was shredded.

Yeah, on one level he appreciated Zoe Phillips’ efforts to make things easier for him by moving him to the room with the lower table. But damn, did she really think he wouldn’t notice the room was decorated for kids? It was hard to miss all those cutesy zoo animals painted on the walls and the box of toys in the corner.

He hoped he hadn’t been too much of a jerk. It was hardly Zoe’s fault that he was in pain. Hiking his ass all over the cemetery earlier when he was scheduled to see her and that huge guy who was going to be his physical therapist hadn’t been smart. The long-overdue talk with Spence had left him emotionally drained and hurting before he even got to the clinic. Then having the two of them twist and turn his ankle like it was a fucking pretzel hadn’t helped much, either.

He was supposed to come back in two days to see both Zoe and Isaac again. Between now and then, they’d promised to come up with a plan of attack to start rebuilding the strength in his leg. Good luck with that. He wasn’t holding out much hope that anyone could put his Humpty Dumpty leg back together again.

It was time to kick it into gear and head back to the house. Nick had loaned Leif his truck for the day, but he didn’t want to abuse the privilege. He checked the time. Maybe he could squeeze in one more stop along the way. Now that it looked as if he’d be stuck here in Snowberry Creek for a while, he needed to buy his own set of wheels.

As soon as he pulled into the parking lot of the small dealership on the outskirts of town, he knew he’d made a tactical error. He needed something practical, not flashy. The smart thing to do would be to drive straight back out of the parking lot, but evidently he was stuck in dumb mode. Before he could stop himself, he was out of Nick’s pickup and headed straight for temptation itself.

The truck wasn’t new, but somebody had taken damn good care of it. The finish was a bright, shiny red, polished to a fault. The interior was absolutely pristine. He slowly walked around the truck with the hope he’d find something that turned him off. No such luck. Right now he knew what a fish felt like nibbling at the worm while doing its best to ignore the danger.

Approaching footsteps warned him the local angler had noticed Leif’s interest in the truck. The salesman came trolling by hoping to set the hook good and proper.

“Good afternoon, Corporal. I see you picked out the best vehicle on the lot.”

Leif wouldn’t know. He hadn’t bothered to look at any of the others. He peeled his eyes away from the truck long enough to glance around. The salesman wasn’t exaggerating. Everything else looked faded and shopworn by comparison. That was probably an unfair assessment, but then, he’d always been a sucker for red trucks and cars.

“How much?”

If it was way out of his price range, there wasn’t any reason to even take the truck out for a quick spin. That didn’t keep him from opening the door to the cab to take a better look at the interior. Meanwhile, the salesman prattled on about everything but the price: one owner, well-maintained, blah, blah, blah.

Finally, Leif pegged the man with a hard stare. “I repeat: How much?”

The price the salesman quoted didn’t exactly send Leif into sticker shock, but it was a close call. He immediately stepped away from the truck and headed back toward Nick’s.

“Thanks—that’s all I needed to hear. No use in wasting any more of my time or yours. I’ll be going now.”

He hid a smile as the salesman trotted after him sputtering. “Look, Corporal, I should have made it clear that was the price before we apply the military discount. Why don’t you come inside and have a seat? I’ll get us each a cup of coffee and then see what other discounts we can offer you.”

Leif made a point of looking at the time. “I suppose I have a few minutes. But I’ve got to tell you”—he leaned closer to read the man’s name tag—“Chuck, you’d have to come way off that price for me to even consider buying that truck. Way off.”

Chuck looked relieved. Maybe sales hadn’t been so good lately, which could work in Leif’s favor. As he followed the salesman into his office, Leif couldn’t help but wonder which one of them was about to hook a big one.

•   •   •

An hour later, Leif walked out of the dealership twirling the keys to the truck on his finger. He’d already called Nick to tell him why he was late getting back. His friend had immediately offered to come get his own truck so Leif could drive his new purchase home. Evidently, Callie had errands in town and could drop Nick off at the dealership.

They should be pulling into the parking lot at any second. While he waited, Leif circled the truck with a big grin on his face. If he’d had any doubts about the wisdom of buying the first truck he’d looked at, they’d been vanquished by the test drive. The truck hummed with power and handled like a dream.

He’d just finished his second lap admiring all its attributes when Callie pulled into the parking lot. She and Nick joined him in staring at the truck. Why weren’t either of them saying anything?

“Well?”

Nick let out a low whistle. “Hot damn, Corporal, she’s a beauty. I can see why you bought her. Hell, I’d have been tempted myself.”

Callie joined in. “You know, I’m pretty sure I know who used to own this truck. If I’m right about that, you can rest assured it was well maintained. Mr. Wolfe takes good care of everything he owns.”

“That’s the name the salesman told me. He was surprised I wasn’t familiar with it, but I told him I was new to the area. Sounds like the previous owner is one of the big fish in this little pond.”

“That’s true. His family actually founded the town. His company employs a fair number of people in the area.” Callie trailed her fingers along the fender. “Well, congrats on the truck, Leif, but I’d better get going. See you both at dinner.”

She paused to give the sergeant a quick kiss before heading back to her car. Both men watched in silence until she was gone. Leif was getting used to the idea of Nick and Callie hooking up, but it had been slow going. Even so, it was nice to see his friend smiling more often.

Meanwhile, he handed Nick his keys. “Thanks both for the loan and for coming so I could drive this baby home.”

“No problem.”

Nick kept his eyes firmly on the truck, but he definitely had something on his mind. Leif figured it was one of two things. Either he wanted to know what was up with Leif’s leg or whether buying the truck meant Leif was going to stick around Snowberry Creek for a while.

He bet it was the prognosis for his leg that had the man tied up in knots. “Sarge, I wouldn’t want you to choke on whatever it is you’re trying to hold back, so just ask me. Either it’ll piss me off or it won’t. Besides, the suspense is killing me.”

“Okay, fine.” Nick released the breath he’d been holding. “So, how did it go at the clinic today?”

Score one for Leif. “I go back in two days to find out what specific form of torture the therapist has in mind for me. He and Zoe, the nurse practitioner in charge of my case, are going to work up the plan together.”

Nick knelt down to study the front tire on Leif’s truck, staring at it as if the tread depth were the most fascinating thing he’d ever seen. “Are you going to do what they say?”

What choice did he have? None, not if he didn’t want to be tied to this fucking cane the rest of his life. “I’d be scared not to, considering the size of the guy in charge of my PT. I don’t know what Isaac did in the navy, but he could bench-press a submarine.”

“How about Zoe? What is she like?”

“Nice enough. Former army. She said she’d had experience working with injuries like mine.”

Looking back, he bet she’d seen far worse, too. Something about the expression in her eyes had hinted that she’d had her fill of mangled limbs and bodies.

“Was she pretty?”

Not exactly. Her features were a little too strong to be merely pretty. The word “striking” came to mind, especially with the contrast between her nearly black hair and bright blue eyes. He had to say something, though, if he didn’t want to give Nick the idea he’d been attracted to Zoe.

“I didn’t really notice. I was too busy trying not to punch somebody while they screwed around with my leg.”

Nick had moved on to poking around under the hood. “So, does this mean you’re going to hang around long enough to help me rehab Spence’s house for Callie?”

“Yeah, I guess it does, at least for now.”

It wasn’t as if Leif had anywhere else he needed to be. Unlike Nick, he wasn’t close to his family, something he’d had in common with Spence. Part of the reason he’d enlisted in the first place was to get away from his folks. They weren’t bad people, but they’d separated about the time he’d started high school. Overnight everything he’d ever known was gone, sort of like the way the beautiful symmetry of a spiderweb could be destroyed by the touch of a careless hand.

They had each remarried shortly after the divorce was finalized and started second families. That had left Leif bouncing back and forth between two households, neither one of which ever really felt like home.

Oh, he knew his folks had loved him and still did. He’d never doubted that much about them, but that didn’t mean he fit in with their new lives. Everyone, him included, was more comfortable with the occasional short visit between deployments. They wouldn’t know what to do with him if he showed up on their doorstep needing a long-term place to crash.

He could get his own crib, of course, but living in his hometown held no appeal. It had been years since he’d had any contact with the crowd he’d hung out with in high school. Sitting on his ass by himself night after night? No, he didn’t think so.

“I’m glad to hear it, Leif. There’ll be enough to keep both of us busy for a long time to come.” Leif put the hood down. “I have to report back long enough to get processed out. I shouldn’t be gone all that long, but I’ll sleep easier knowing you’re here to keep an eye on Mooch and the house. Callie will appreciate the company, too.”

Nick’s announcement didn’t really come as a surprise. The man had already been waffling about reenlisting when he’d arrived in Snowberry Creek looking for a home for Mooch, the dog their unit had adopted in Afghanistan. Soon afterward, he’d sent for Leif, hoping to use him as a buffer between himself and Callie. Yeah, like that had worked.

It had been obvious from the get-go the man was fighting some pretty strong feelings for her. Well, that battle had been waged or maybe won. It all depended on how you looked at it. Now it would take a crowbar and dynamite to pry Nick out of Snowberry Creek.

Leif didn’t blame the man. Nick had served his time and his country. God knows the man deserved a little happiness in his life. Leif hoped his decision also meant that Nick had shed the shitload of guilt he’d been carrying ever since an IED had changed both of their lives forever.

“I’ll feed the mutt and keep the lawn mowed.” He started to take a step, but as soon as he shifted his weight, his bum leg almost gave out on him. It was definitely time to get back to the house and take one of his pills. Maybe two.

He ignored Nick’s look of concern and opened the door of the truck. As he climbed up, gritting his teeth against the pain, he cautioned his friend, “But all bets are off if Callie starts sending all the cookies she bakes to you.”

Nick laughed. “I’ll make sure she holds a few back for you.”

“A few, my ass, Sarge. I’d better get my fair share, especially if you want me to talk you up to Callie’s parents when they get back. After all, you managed to get engaged to their daughter without their ever having met you.”

His friend swallowed hard. “It’s a deal.”

Leif laughed at the sick expression on his friend’s face. Callie’s parents were coming back from their summer in the sun in another two weeks. They’d wanted to come sooner, but their departure had been delayed when Callie’s father threw his back out golfing. Now Nick would be gone before they returned.

Leif turned the key in the ignition, once again taking pleasure from the smooth rumble of the engine. “See you back at the house.”

And if he burned a little rubber driving out of the parking lot, who could blame him? A man was entitled to have a little fun with a new toy.