Meagan's Marine (Halos & Horns)
Read Meagan's Marine (Halos & Horns) Online
Authors: Lori Leger
Meagan’s Marine
Halos & Horns: Book
Three
By
AMAZON BESTSELLING
AUTHOR
Lori
Leger
Cajunflair Publishing
Copyright © 2013 Lori
Leger
This story is a
complete work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either
products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to
actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
All
rights reserved.
No
part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from Lori Leger
P.O.
Box 641
Kinder,
LA. 70648
http://www.facebook.com/CajunflairPublishing
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To my wonderful husband, Michael. You will
always be my hero.
Our five great children, who support me in so
many ways,
and to our grandchildren…from eighteen to a
year…you are all adored!
Special thanks to Kim
Killion
of The
Killion
Group
for the fabulous cover design, yet again.
Once again, to the two tiny book stores with
big hearts
who carried my books long before anyone else
did:
Sean and James Gayle of
Patti’s Book Nook
in
My old hometown of Gueydan, La.
and
Christy
Lepretre
of
Java
Joltz
in
Jennings, La.
| |
Other books by LORI LEGER
La
Fleur de Love Series
Book One:
Some Day Somebody
Book Two:
Last First Kiss
Book Two and a Half:
Hart’s Desire
(Novella)
Book Three:
Brown Eyed Girl
Book Four:
Heaven in Your Eyes
Halos & Horns
Series
Book One:
Green Eyed Temptation
Book Two:
Sarah Smile
Book Three:
Meagan’s Marine
Seasons of Love Series
Book One:
Hearts, Hearths & Holidays
Book Two:
Spring Promise
Book Three:
Sweet Summer Romance
Book
Four:
Candlelight & Christmas
(title subject to change)
(Release
date of November 2013)
DEDICATION
To MOM, I hope you’re gardening to your heart’s
content, and watching Saints football on the biggest
jumbotron
in heaven…with surround sound! I surely do miss our game time discussions over
the phone, only one of many things.
And to the Book Club ladies: Melissa Landry,
Dolores
Derouen
, Lee
Derouen
,
Joan Granger, Margaret
Viator
,
Debbie Andrews, Renee Bertrand, Trish Leger, and
Sherrill
Sonnier
.
Thank you for your honest critiques and for forcing me to read books out of my
‘box’ every now and then.
Special
thanks go out to the techs from
Talecris
Plasma
Resources in Lake Charles, LA, for all your hard work and help in researching
the subject matter. Plasma donations save lives, so always remember that you’re
all doing a good thing.
1
the
armpit of the middle east
2
weddings, receptions, and misconceptions
4
bartending tricks and feeling like a dick
8
birthdays, brawls, and brothers in arms
10
cowboys,
crowds, and competitions
11
the
normalcy of paranormalcy
13
broken
bones, bald tires, and blood money
14
hovering
marine and a message
15
big
needles and bigger promises
17
disappointments and decisions
19
feverish
not-so-friendly fire
21
accusations, denials, and restless nights
The
Armpit of the Middle East
September1
st
“Well, I’ll be damned!”
Master Sergeant Mitchell Hebert fell on
his cot with a pensive sigh. The lean, muscular Marine lifted his arms over his
head, and stretched to his full 6’ length.
Sergeant Matthew “Tex” Broussard
swaggered over to Mitch, leaned his massive frame against the makeshift desk
made from wooden crates. “You’re already in Afghanistan, the arm pit of the
Middle East. How much more damned could you be?” The East Texas drawl that
prompted his nickname in boot camp twenty years earlier, still present and
accounted for. “What’s up, Cajun Heat?”
“Looks like I’ll have time for that
barbeque at your place after all, Tex. My sister, Sarah, is getting married in
two weeks. My soon to be brother-in-law emailed me to see if I could walk her
down the aisle in my dress blues two Saturdays from now. He doesn’t want her to
know he contacted me, but wants me to show up just in time for the ceremony.”
Mitch grinned at his friend, his Marine brother he considered as close as
blood.
Tex beamed at him, revealing his pearly
whites. “That’s great, man. She still doesn’t know you’re going home for good?”
“Nope. I want to surprise her. Sarah’s
wanted this for so long.”
“She’ll be surprised, all right,” Tex
snorted. “You’re
gonna
give that poor girl a heart
attack on her wedding day. So, what gives with the guy she’s hitching? You
think he’ll be good to her?”
Mitch scratched at his two-day stubble.
“I think this one’s worthy of her, Tex.”
“Well, if he ain’t, I’m sure you’ll be
there to whip him into shape.”
Mitch stretched out on the cot. “You got
that right. I dropped the ball for years with that first son of a bitch she
married. That ain’t happening again.”
“Man, you couldn’t stop what you didn’t
know about. She kept all that from you.”
“I know. She took beatings so I wouldn’t
be distracted over here.” He muttered a low string of curses. “I owe her, man.
She had to deal with my mom’s cancer, then dad dying, and she did it all on her
own. She was just a kid when I joined up, and she’s had it rough.”
Tex grunted in agreement before tossing
a dirty sock at Mitch. “Well, if that dude’s really a brain surgeon like you
said he is, she won’t have it rough anymore. Big brother will be around this
time to make sure nobody’s mistreating his little sis. I can understand how you
feel, though. God help the poor bastard who
ever
lays a hand on my
little sister, Haley.”
“Damn straight.” Mitch shuddered at the
stinky sock and threw it back at Tex, who caught it before leaving the room. He
settled back on his cot and thought about his sister and her impending nuptials
to Dr. Tanner Collins.
For nearly a year, he’d beaten himself
up about nearly losing her to an abusive husband. She’d tried hard to escape,
had moved into a woman’s shelter and began divorce proceedings. The controlling
bastard had tracked her down, kidnapped her and her twin babies. After beating
the hell out of Sarah, he’d left her and the girls locked up with no food for
nearly a week while he went to work on a land rig. Her breast-feeding had
sustained the infants, but had nearly killed their mother. Finally, someone had
heard the cries and they’d been rescued.
Mitch clenched his fist, regretting his
no good brother-in-law had met an untimely demise in the treacherous storm
waters of the Gulf of Mexico. What a waste. He’d longed to give the bastard a
painful reminder of what a man could and would do to protect his family.
He settled in for an unaccustomed nap,
on what would be his last afternoon in Afghanistan. He owed it to his sister
and nieces to be
there
for them. After twenty years as a Marine, maybe
he owed it to himself as well.
His eyes drifted shut, and his thoughts
shifted from his sister, to a pair of cobalt blue eyes framed by long, black
lashes. A face materialized suddenly, one with a perky nose, slightly cleft
chin, and high cheekbones, with hair as black as coal. He pictured the engaging
smile of a certain bar maid in Lake Coburn, Louisiana—her straight, white teeth
and pouty red lips—lips made for kissing, though he hadn’t had the opportunity
on their one and only date his last visit home. Not one that counted, anyway.
He’d wanted to, but she held back, pulled herself away from him. It hadn’t
stopped him from fantasizing about her, holding her tight little body in his
arms.
The initial image faded, turning instead
to one of her, this time holding a little boy…the spitting image of his mama.
His gut wrenched painfully. No way in hell was he ready for the commitment of a
woman with a child.
He winced as Tex’s drawl floated to him
from outside the tent. Why, he asked himself, for the thousandth time, did
Meagan have to speak with the same twang as a guy he saw and heard nearly every
day since he’d been back here? Each time he heard it, he couldn’t help but think
of her.
Mitch folded his pillow over his head,
issuing a silent plea that Tex would just once, shut the hell up. It didn’t
work, of course, as the twang filtered through the barely there pillow.
Meagan
.
Not good. Not good at all.
Weddings, Receptions and Misconceptions
Meagan Hutton released her breath in a
rush as she entered the room where the bride waited impatiently. “Oh, honey!
Tanner is going to flip when he sees you.”
Sarah faced the full-length mirror and
ran both hands down her sides. “I can’t believe it’s me in this gorgeous
dress.” She looked up, catching the reflected gazes of her friends. “It still
feels like a dream. No way could I ever be this happy.” She smoothed down the
delicate layers of champagne colored silk and lace clinging to her slim
body. “I just wish my brother could have been here to give me away.”
Meagan stepped forward, taking her by
the shoulders. “Today’s not the day for regrets, Sarah. None, whatsoever. You
know he’d be here if he could, and he sure as heck wouldn’t want you to be sad
about it.”
Sarah dabbed at the corner of her eye
with a tissue. “I know, and you’re right, Meg. No regrets, not today.” She spun
around, letting the dress flare out around her. “I’m so ready to marry Tanner.
Is it almost time?”
A swift rapping on the door had them all
pivoting in that direction.
“Is it safe to come in?” Daniel
LeBlanc’s voice sounded muffled through the thickness of the wooden door.
Tiffany McAllister headed to the
door and opened it a crack for her own father. “As long as you don’t have
Tanner with you. I don’t want him seeing his bride until she’s walking down
that aisle.”
Daniel chuckled, tugging on his elegant
black tux. “No, but someone almost as important to her. It seems I’m being
robbed of my bride escorting duties for the day.”
Tiffany released a shocked gasp a second
before she pulled the door open for the U.S. Marine to enter the room.
Sarah flew to Mitchell and threw her
arms around him. “What are you
doing
here, big brother?”
Mitch wrapped his sister in a bear hug.
“You didn’t think I’d miss your wedding, did you?”
Sarah laughed, straightening her dress
as he finally released her. “I didn’t think they’d give you leave again this
soon. How did you manage this?”
He shrugged a sharply jacketed shoulder.
“Turns out your timing was impeccable. I’m out, Sis. For good, this time.”
Sarah waved her hands in front of her
eyes, trying not to cry. “Seriously? I don’t want to ruin my make up, but this
would be so worth it.”
Even through Sarah’s tears and squeals
of excitement, all Meagan could do was stare at the vision before her. Mitch
Hebert in plain old jeans and a tee shirt had been a pleasure to behold nearly
a year earlier during their first meeting. The sight of Master Sergeant
Mitchell Hebert in full dress blues, complete with his cover and white gloves,
was enough to turn her insides to liquid heat.
Out for good. Permanently. No more
praying for his safe-keeping while he was in Afghanistan, without his
knowledge, of course.
Maybe now she could manage to relax a little?
A second later, his gaze found hers,
pinning her to the spot.
Meagan’s breath hitched in her throat at
the perceptible widening of his eyes.
Maybe not.
Red cleared his throat and spoke,
breaking her out of her trance.
“Time to get this thing rolling, people.
Father Carlos has another wedding in two hours.”
Meg managed to slip out of the room
without a word to anyone, and made her way to the pew reserved for wedding
participants. Although Sarah only had one bridesmaid, Melanie Finley, she’d
thoughtfully included her other friends for readings, gift-bearers during the
communion for mass, or as witnesses. She’d chosen Meg as a reader for her
favorite reading from Corinthians.
Meagan stood with everyone else in the
church as Melanie and Red McAllister appeared, each carrying one of Sarah’s
twin daughters. Audible gasps of admiration rippled through the guests at the
sight of the toddlers. Sarah’s adorable girls, dressed in matching pink gowns,
pristine white shoes, with their glossy curls framed in delicate flower braids,
worked the crowd like the little hams they were. The gasps turned to laughter,
as
Sammi
and Danni shrieked with delight upon
catching sight of Leah and Daniel LeBlanc, seated in the first pew. For all
intents and purposes, the couple filled in as welcome replacements for Sarah’s
deceased parents, and the twins adored them. Since generously opening their
home to Sarah and her girls a year earlier, the
Leblancs
were the only grandparent figures they’d ever known, up until Sarah and Tanner
had begun dating. Now his parents claimed them as grandchildren as well.
The bridal march began and all eyes
turned to where Sarah and her brother began their leisurely walk up the aisle.
Meagan tried…honestly she did, to direct
all her attention on Sarah, the beautiful and glowing bride. She must have
given up at some point, because her gaze zeroed in on Mitchell. Sarah’s escort
carried himself straight and tall beside his sister. Already agonizingly
handsome, his impeccably clean shave and neat uniform gave him an air of
masculine elegance that called forth heroes from decades gone by.
She hadn’t even realized her mouth had
fallen open until his soft brown eyes found hers, rooting her to the spot. She
blinked, and closed her mouth in order to swallow a groan of appreciation at
the sight of him, all six feet of him, buff and sexy as hell.
Meagan watched his approach—close—closer
still. Close enough to notice a scar at his left temple, just missing his eye.
Had that been there before? She didn’t think so. What horrors had he seen since
he’d been away? What horrors had he survived in his twenty years in the
Marines?
Survived. A cold sweat overcame her at
the thought. She’d spent weeks tracking down Christopher’s brothers in arms,
hoping to find someone who could fill her in on the last days of her
fiance’s
life. No one else had understood her need to know,
but at the time, it had been important to her. In the end, she’d heard more
than she should have heard, seen more than she should have seen. Everyone else
injured in the same incident had survived, in one form or another. Some without
limbs, but with enough strength of character to bear their losses well. Others,
either with more severe injuries, or with more psychological than physical
damage, hadn’t coped so well. One man had called
her
dead Marine, the
lucky one.
During the months that followed
Christopher’s death, pregnant with his child, heartbroken and alone, she’d even
found herself agreeing with him occasionally. Until the night she’d given birth
to her son.
She pictured her handsome little boy,
with his mother’s dark hair and blue eyes. That’s where her genetic similarity
ended, though. Once she’d set eyes on him, she knew Chris hadn’t left her
completely. He was there, in the shape of his son’s head, to his ears, chin,
and shape of his nose. He was Christopher made over, only with her hair and eye
color, and he’d been her reason for battling her way out of the darkness.
All too soon, it was time for Meagan’s
reading. She approached the wooden lectern on shaky legs, suddenly terrified at
having to read in front of the church full of people. She took a deep breath
and tried to relax her shoulders. What was
she
, an unwed mother, doing
up here in a church about to read from the holy bible? Where was that
archangel—the one on the lightning bolt committee? Any second now, he’d throw a
bolt in her direction, just for being present in God’s house.
Heat infused her face through and
through, accompanied by a feeling of complete unworthiness. She managed to look
up, intent on finding an escape route, but instead found Mitchell. He sent her
a nod of encouragement from his seat directly in front of where she stood
shaking in her three inch heels. For some reason, it helped to know he was
there. She took a deep breath and found her passage.
“Love is patient. Love is kind. It does
not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud…
” She continued,
making a conscious effort to read slowly, steadily, with full range, finally
reaching the end.
“And now these three remain: Faith, Hope, and Love; and
the greatest of these is love.”
****
She stood with everyone else, applauding
the newly married couple, and grinning from ear to ear as Sarah and Tanner
clasped hands and headed down the aisle, practically at a run. Red, the best
man, took Melanie’s arm to lead her out, leaving Mitchell standing alone.
Meagan met him at the center aisle and he smiled down at her, placing his
hand at her lower back to lead her out of the church.
“Well done, Meagan.”
“You think so? Lord, I have never been
so terrified in my life. I seriously thought I was going to lose it up there
until I saw you.”
Laughter rumbled in his chest. “I was
channeling courage in your direction. Did you feel it?”
She chuckled. “I believe I did, Mitch,
thanks for that.”
“Glad I could help. Where do we go from
here?”
She craned her neck, barely able to see
Sarah and Tanner standing off to the side, surrounded by well-wishers. “I’m
sure you’ll need to stick around here for pictures, but the reception is at Red
and Tiffany’s ranch, at the pond out back by the pavilion.”
He gave her a curious lift of one brow.
“Will you be there?”
“For a while. I have to go pick up my
son first. My roommate watched him during the ceremony, but she has other plans
tonight.”
“Oh…yeah. Your little boy.”
She shouldered her purse strap, trying
not to feel hurt at the immediate change in his demeanor—the tightness in his
face, tension in his shoulders she couldn’t ignore. “That’s right—my son, Buck.
I’m glad you could make it in for this, Master Sergeant. I know it meant the
world to Sarah.” She headed off in the opposite direction without another word.
****
Jesus, she can’t get away fast enough.
He knew he’d upset her, though he sure as hell hadn’t meant to. He’d barely
laid eyes on her, and just for a few moments, he’d forgotten about the kid. The
son…
her
son…Buck. Totally disgusted, he asked himself how the hell he
could have forgotten the existence of a child.
“Jackass—” he mumbled to himself with a
sharp shake of his head. Unfortunately, that was just the first of many
reasons he wouldn’t be good for her.
After enduring twenty minutes of a
photographer barking orders like a sharp-tongued drill instructor, the group
headed over to the reception venue.
Against all good reason, Mitch began
searching for Meagan as soon as he arrived on site. Not so much to hang out
with her, as for observation purposes. The soft drawl reached him even before
he spotted the bluest eyes in this part of the state. Settling at the portable
bar across the dance area from her, he accepted a beer from the guy tending the
drinks.
Meagan’s son, Buck, had grown a good
several inches since he’d seen him last. His face had thinned out, giving him
more the look of a little boy, rather than a toddler. Despite his mom’s
best efforts to rein him in, the boy wanted to cut loose. Meagan knelt in front
of him, pointing to the pond in the distance before poking him gently in the
belly, most assuredly warning him about going near the water. The child took
off toward a group of other children, most were older, but a few a little
younger than himself, including Mitchell’s own nieces, Sarah’s twins.
He sat through his sister and new
brother-in-law’s first dance as a married couple, and then danced with the
bride. After handing her back to her new husband, he found himself touring the
floor with the maid of honor.
Melanie Finley’s eyes creased with
secretive laughter. “Hello Marine. How’ve you been?”
“Since you left me alone in a Lake Coburn
hotel last year, letting me wake up to a post-it note on the pillow, you mean?”
She gave her head a quick shake. “It
wasn’t a post-it note, it was a deposit slip from my checkbook, and it had my
info on it…which you did
not
use to contact me, I might add.”
“Oh. I didn’t realize that.”
Her face blanched. “What did you do with
it?”
“What? The note?” He shrugged. “I think
I just left it where it was.”
She paused their dancing to stare up at
him. “Seriously? Well, that’s just great. Whoever found it knows I had a
one-night stand with a Marine, not to mention my name and all my contact info.”
He laughed softly at the look of horror
on her face. “I wouldn’t worry too much about it. I saw the housekeeper. She
was seventy if she was a day and barely spoke English. I doubt seriously she
could read it.” He nudged her into continuing their dance. “Besides, that was
nearly a year ago. If she wanted to steal your identity, I’m fairly certain it
would have happened by now.” He stopped suddenly and stared down at her. “You
don’t have any other surprises for me do you?”
“Like what?”
“Like ‘Guess what? The condom broke and
you’re the father of a bouncing baby… whatever…”