Danny's War (Rolling Thunder Series Book 3) (21 page)

Squeezing him tighter, she hung on for long moments until Lex’s southern drawl was heard saying, “They’re probably making out in there.”

Danny chuckled and Tammy found herself chuckling with him. He stepped back and looked down at her, “You okay?”

Nodding she replied, “Yeah. Sorry. Tough day.”

Shaking his head no, he helped her with her coat and grabbed her hand and walked her into the living room. “Dirks, Coop, meet Tammy.”

Shaking each of their hands and giving her brightest smile, she greeted each of them. Danny sat in his recliner and pulled her down on his lap as the others were seated on the sofa and the other chair in the room.

Tammy looked at each of these friends who meant so much to Danny. Coop was a tall lanky man with the brightest red hair she'd ever seen. His deep brown eyes coupled with this hair was very striking. When he smiled at her the dimples in his cheeks created quite a picture.

Dirks was shorter, around five foot eight and a bit stocky. His close-cropped blonde hair gave him the appearance of being bald until the light shown on his hair. He had the most appealing blue eyes she'd ever seen, besides Gunnar and Molly’s. Dirks’ eyes were a deeper blue. He was the prankster if she remembered correctly. Danny had told her he was the one always rubber-cementing their equipment to tables and chairs or throwing popcorn kernels into their shoes and drawers.

She noticed that Lex looked a bit more at ease this evening and Charles seemed to relax as the men all talked and renewed their friendship.

Finally, Coop said, “Tell her, Schaefer.”

Tammy turned to look at Danny. His full lips parted into a perfect smile. “Charles knows a bit about Zeke Hamilton and is going to help us dig into his fascination with Stateside.”

Tammy’s brows raised as she looked over at Charles, who'd leaned forward in his chair, his forearms resting on his knees. “Yes ma’am. I called home this morning and have some of my associates digging up some dirt for us as we speak.”

Bewildered Tammy looked into his clear blue eyes as she noticed his lips tighten. “That’s fantastic, but, why? How do you know about him?”

Lex snorted in disgust as Charles sipped his drink. “Hamilton Enterprises, Zeke in particular, came sweeping into Lexington several years back trying to buy up some of the horse ranches in our area. Some of the other ranchers had done some digging and found out he wanted to commercialize our area. We live in the most beautiful part of Lexington, North, and our land is pristine, our horses highly sought after race horses. When I look out my windows, any window in my home, I see beautiful green rolling hills, a lake on one side of our home, our horses grazing or training and nothing more. Nor do I ever want to see anything more. The thought of him coming in and cutting up our ranches, building malls and commercial businesses, sickened us. We banded together and vowed to never sell to him. Once he realized we were sticking together and not selling, no matter the price, he eventually left. But, I have a bad taste in my mouth for Mr. Hamilton, he’s a sneaky bastard and I don’t trust him in the least.”

Tammy’s lips turned down into a frown. “I’m afraid that’s what he’s going to do to Stateside. The men and women who live there can’t afford to go to a traditional nursing facility. Our home was subsidized since the beginning by the government. With budget cuts, we’ve lost our funding and I don’t know where those folks would go. Their only options are substandard housing where the care is inadequate. I just can’t let that happen.” Tammy’s eyes grew bright with unshed tears as she fought to keep her emotions in check. She swallowed a few times before she spoke again. “Thank you for all of your help, Charles, I appreciate it so damn much.”

Charles smiled at her and slightly nodded, “You’re welcome, darlin’. We’d do anything for Dan and that extends to you. I should know more in a day or two.”

Danny squeezed Tammy’s waist and she turned her head to look at him. “It’s going to be okay, babe. It’s all going to be okay. We’ll figure it all out.”

Tammy nodded as she laid her head on Danny’s shoulder. Maybe things would be alright after all. The perfect moment for the doorbell to ring.

DIRKS STOOD AND STRETCHED
a bit, “I’ll get it.”

Danny raised his voice, pushed the footrest down on the recliner and set Tammy on her feet, “No, Dirks, I’ve got this.”

Dirks blew him off with a wave and quickly made it to the door as he was pulling out his wallet. Opening the door to the pizza delivery man, Dirks smiled broadly and promptly handed him a fifty dollar bill. He took the three pizza boxes from the man and nodded as he stepped back. As the man started to stammer about change, Dirks smirked at him and said, “Go have a drink after work, Bud, this job must suck.” With his free hand he closed the door and walked the pizzas back to the living room and set them on the coffee table, careful not to knock over their beer bottles.

Still standing Tammy said, “Oh, I feel so bad, you guys, I’m happy to make something besides pizza. It seems so rude to order pizza and then have you pay on top of it. You’re our guests.”

Coop grabbed a big slice of pepperoni pizza and inhaled deeply. “You kiddin’?” Taking a big bite, he chewed a few times as Lex, Dirks and Danny all dove into the pizza themselves.

Coop finally swallowed and explained, “I’ve been looking forward to this for months. We used to sit around in Afghanistan and talk about getting home, ordering pizza and drinking beer together without being shot at. When Schaefer got his leg blown off, I didn’t think it would happen.” He shot his gaze over to Danny. “Buddy, honestly, you scared the ever-living-fuck out of me. Us.”

Lex froze mid-bite while his eyes flicked over to Danny, who swallowed hard as Dirks chimed in, “Me too.” Taking a big bite of his slice, Dirks moved it around his mouth a bit. Then, with a full mouth and without swallowing, he muttered, “Shitty way to get attention, man. You could've just gotten the flu or something.” Then he smirked while still chewing his pizza.

Danny picked up his slice and sat back in his chair. “Well, with you constantly pranking us, I figured it was the only I was going to out-punk you.” He chomped down on his slice and smirked at Dirks then his eyes sought Lex, who still hadn’t taken a bite and was warily watching Danny. Danny nodded to him once and said, “Eat up or these two pigs’ll eat it all.” He patted Tammy on the ass. “You to, babe, seriously, these guys eat like horses.”

Tammy looked over the group and relaxed as she saw Lex finally bite into his pizza. She asked Charles in particular, “Would you like a plate? Anyone?”

“No thanks, darlin’. When in Rome…” Charles leaned forward and grabbed a slice as the men all dug into the pizza like they hadn’t eaten in weeks. Lex was beginning to relax and eat and Coop and Dirks were already on their second slice. Tammy wiped her moist palms on her thighs and walked into the kitchen to grab everyone another drink.

***

Lying awake for several hours while Danny slept peacefully beside her, the sound of her phone chiming over and over rang through her head as the evening had progressed, even though she’d left it tucked in her purse. Tammy once again looked at the clock and watched it change from one fifty-nine to two o’clock a.m. Danny was breathing deeply and hadn’t moved much since falling asleep after they quietly made love. Of course, the several beers he had with his friends helped. No telling how he'd feel in the morning, but for now, he was good.

Softly rolling to the edge of the bed, slipping from under the covers and grabbing her robe from the end of the bed, Tammy wrapped herself up and padded to the door. As she softly opened and stepped through the doorway, she looked back and smiled at Danny’s soft snore. Bare feet whispering across the living room carpet, she walked into the kitchen and flipped on the light above the stove illuminating a small portion of the kitchen in a soft yellow hue. She opened the refrigerator, pulled the pitcher of water from the top shelf and stepped over to the counter. As she reached above her head for a glass from the cupboard, she heard footsteps approaching. She turned to see Lex appear in the kitchen, his chestnut hair standing up in tufts around his head, his eyes sleepy, but oddly alert. Tammy held up her empty glass and Lex nodded. Reaching for another, she quickly poured two glasses of water.

She turned toward Lex and nodded to the kitchen table. Each of them pulled out a chair and settled in for a quiet conversation. Taking a sip of her water and waiting until Lex did the same, she smiled at him. “Not able to sleep, I see. I'd have thought the beer would've helped. Danny passed out right away.”

Lex’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “I don’t sleep much these days.” He nervously rotated his glass, watching the water ring at the bottom smear across the top of the oak table. Tammy stood and pulled a napkin from the holder on the counter. She smiled as she laid it down in front of Lex. He smirked as he picked up his glass and set it neatly on the napkin.

“Are you seeing a counselor?”

Lex nervously looked into her brown eyes, seeing only compassion. “Yes. I see him twice a week, every week. It doesn’t help. Nothing helps. When I close my eyes, I see Danny laying on the ground, his leg laying yards away, blood spilling from his wounds and he opened his eyes, but he didn’t seem to register who I was or where we were. I’ve never seen anything like that in my life. I thought I was going to lose him.”

Tammy nodded, sipped her water and waited to ensure he was finished. When he continued to fidget and swirl the water in his glass, she spoke.

“Danny suffered for a long time afterwards as well. Learning your life is forever altered is difficult to get your mind around, especially when you're in physical pain as well. He came home and Kathryn broke up with him when she saw him. He’s dealt with so much. But then, he met Jeremiah from Rolling Thunder and he and his army of men and women raised enough money to build the bedroom and bathroom for Danny. That’s when I met him. Then, he got his job at Rolling Thunder, which he loves. And we love each other and are building a fabulous relationship. Life can get better after tragedy. It keeps going; you must as well.”

Lex stared into Tammy’s eyes as the seconds ticked away on the clock above the stove. “I don’t know how. I need to get rid of the nightmares so I can sleep. Then, hopefully, I'll heal. I thought I lost my brother. He’s the only one I’ve ever had. When I first met him, immediately we had a kinship that's lasted through war. I have to get rid of the nightmares.”

Tammy sipped at her water again and took a deep breath. “I have Molly. She’s not my sister by blood, but she’s my sister in heart. We’ve known each other since early childhood. We went to school together, high school dances, prom, graduation, and some horrible things Molly lived through thanks to her stepfather. Nothing will ever tear us away from each other. I know how it feels to love someone not your blood and see horrors. I’ve helped Molly through the worst kind. I had nightmares after I found out what happened. I felt guilt. Remorse. Sorrow. Hatred. But, I focused on helping her heal. Our friendship grew stronger. By helping her heal, I healed.”

Tammy didn’t look away from Lex. She wanted to drive her point home. He nodded after long moments. She noticed his hand shaking as he wiped the sweat beading on the side of his glass. He dragged his hand through his hair and let out a loud, staggering breath. “What do I do?”

“Follow Danny. Ask him how he's doing. You’ll see, he’s healing and doing well. Go talk to the men at Stateside with him and learn about them and tell them about your experience. Stick close to your buddies. You have some great friends here with Dirks and Coop and of course Danny. See that they're healing and you can, too. Allow yourself to heal with them.”

Lex nodded as they sat in silence for long moments. Tammy wasn’t going to go to bed before Lex and leave him here alone. She'd stay up the rest of the night if need be, but she hoped it wouldn’t come to that; already sleep was calling her name. Lex finished his glass of water and stood. “I’m going up to bed. Thank you for taking the time to sit and talk. I can see how Schaefer fell so hard for you.” He put his glass in the sink and as he walked past Tammy’s chair, rested his hand briefly on the top of her head. Then he softly made his way out of the kitchen and up the stairs. Tammy let a sigh escape her throat as she set her glass in the sink and turned off the oven light. Slipping into the bedroom, she silently slid between the sheets and scooted over to Danny. As she laid her head on his shoulder, he lifted his arm for her to rest her head in the crook. She smiled as she heard him breathe deeply into her hair and relax his muscles as he once again found sleep. 

DANNY WOKE TO TAMMY
’S
soft breathing and smiled as his gaze drifted to the window and the sunlight peeking through the split in the curtains. Replaying the conversations of yesterday, he tried getting all of his thoughts in order. His buddies were here and it felt great. It was past time for this get-together and he owed Jeremiah a big thanks for that. Charles was digging for information about Mr. Moneybags, but Lex, he needed to help Lex. And Tammy. This video business was shaking her. The look on her face last night said so much. When he first walked into the kitchen to greet her, she was on the verge of cracking. If he ever got his hands on that Scott son-of-a-bitch, he'd go insane on him. How could a human being do that to another? Dishonorable. Danny had no patience for people like that.

He looked down at Tammy, still nestled in the crook of his arm and smiled. One of her legs was resting over his and when she breathed, he could feel her breast move against his chest. His cock began to swell. He gently laid his cheek on the top of her head and breathed deeply of her fragrance. Would he ever tire of the smell of her? The feel of her? He doubted it. He finally knew what love felt like and it was fantastic. They hadn’t had much time to just simply be. Once his friends left, hopefully they'd have the time without all of this other work and video business creating turmoil in their lives.