To Love and Heal (The Power of Love Series) (17 page)

Anna closed her
eyes, her hand dropping to her stomach as nausea took hold.  It had been
four months since that earth-shattering day in the hospital, and only now could
she comprehend that maybe things did happen for a reason, even when it was
difficult to fathom in the moment.  Because the notion of now having a
child with someone who couldn't be bothered to even acknowledge her existence …
Anna halted her thoughts, refusing to let them slide into even more painful and
darker territory.  A chapter in her life was over, and all she could do
was move on.  She had been there for Caleb when he needed her, a crutch to
hold him up until he had the strength to plow forward on his own … and the
aftermath now spoke for itself.

SEVENTEEN

Anna tapped a rake
against the ground, trying unsuccessfully to dislodge wet and crumbled leaves
that were stuck in its teeth. 

"This is all
your fault," she announced sternly as she turned around to view the large
oak tree that took up residence just behind her bedroom window.  But she
quickly apologized as she recalled all of the pleasantly shady moments it had
provided over the summer – not to mention that she truly believed its stately
presence was a source of much-needed good energy in the world.

She shook her head
and laughed at herself as she resumed raking, wondering if she was on the verge
of becoming a certifiable "tree hugger". It felt good to be outdoors,
with the warm sun melting away the slight chill of mid-March.  Though it
was a bit early in the season to be tackling spring cleanup, the hint of milder
days ahead was enticing enough to draw her outside on this lazy Saturday
morning.  Yard work – tiring as it could be – was still the perfect
antidote for too many hours sitting cramped in front of an eye-blurring
computer screen, and between flowers and weeds and now leaves, there never
seemed to be a shortage of projects.

Three large leaf
piles later, Anna plopped down in a lawn chair for a much-needed break. The
chatter of birds at the backyard feeders was a comfortingly familiar sound, but
it was soon drowned out by a helicopter flying overhead.  Anna's relaxed
face immediately tensed, and she shielded her eyes with her hands in order to get
a better view.  Unable to discern anything specific about the helicopter,
her thoughts travelled back to when she was a child, and how the mere sound of
a helicopter when she was playing outside would send her cowering and screaming
back into the house. Over the years, she never really thought much about this
intensely fearful reaction that seemed to come out of nowhere, but the irony
was not lost on her now.  She was glad when the helicopter faded into the
horizon and silence returned – the last thing she needed was a reminder of a
man she had fallen in love with who was no longer a part of her life. 
Yesterday's news article had made that perfectly clear, and the hurt was still
too raw.

After several more
minutes of rest, she heaved herself up from the chair and headed over to a
section of the yard still buried under a carpet of leaves.  Since the
repetitive motion of raking kept her focused on the task at hand, she didn't
immediately notice as a pile of leaves to her side swooshed up in the air like
a greenish brown volcano. 

Catching the
commotion out of the corner of her eye a few moments later, she swung
around.  "Haley, I just raked that pile…" Mouth agape, Anna
dropped the rake to the ground.
"Haley?!"

The black Lab mix
playfully pounced on top of the pile once again before bounding over to
Anna.  Too numb to react, she simply braced herself and stared in
disbelief as Haley jumped up and rested her paws against her hips.  A
familiar large red bow adorned her neck, and as she nudged at Anna's hand with
her nose, reality began to slowly take hold.   Her heart began to
quicken as she realized that where there was Haley, there also must be …
.  Anna's eyes frantically darted around the yard, until strong hands
reached out from behind and covered them.  She gasped, her knees wobbly as
she felt a lingering breath against the back her neck.  As the tickle of a
breath turned into the warmth of a kiss, Anna reached up, tracing the hands
still clasped over her eyes until she now grasped sturdy forearms. The hands
dropped from her eyes and grabbed her shoulders, swinging her around. 
Before she could even get a word in edgewise, Caleb pulled her close and drew
her into a passionate kiss.   

"What are you
doing here?" she asked breathlessly when the kiss ended minutes later,
slightly woozy from shock combined with the familiar pleasure of his lips.

"Wow – it's
nice to see you, too," Caleb said, looking every bit as ruggedly enticing
as before, but also more relaxed.

Anna glanced down
at the ground, then back up as she looked into Caleb's eyes.  "I
wasn't expecting to see you again at this point.  Well, maybe on TV, but
not in person."

 "Anna
…" Caleb paused, shaking his head.  "There's so much I need to
say that I don't even know where to begin.  But I figure we'll have plenty
of time to talk when we go to Washington in a couple of weeks."

When the
implications of his words finally hit her, Anna's eyes turned into saucers.

"What?! 
When
we
go to Washington?"

"I know I'm
springing this on you all at once, but everything has been happening so
fast.  There were certain things that I needed to do before I felt I could
come back into your life, and just as I was about to do that, Senator
Flannigan−"

"I
know," Anna interjected.  "I read about your upcoming
trip."  She paused, troubled puzzlement etched on her face.
"None of this is making any sense. Why didn't you ask me before you did
the interview?"

"I didn't
have a chance.  Senator Flannigan had only contacted me that morning about
his plans.  I first spoke to him a couple of weeks before.  He saw my
interview on TV and said he agreed that more needed to be done to reunite the
dogs and returning soldiers, and that he would look into things and get back to
me.  I guess he wasn't just talking a good game.  By the time he called
again, he had arranged for the hearings before both the Senate and Congress,
plus he had brought Representative Lawton on board."

Anna's unease
returned with the mention of the congresswoman's name.  "Does she
know you were planning to ask me to go as well?"

Caleb
grinned.  "Are you kidding?  That was her idea from the get-go,
and she wanted to call you herself to ask you to be part of these hearings. I
had to explain to her how I needed to reach out to you first since we hadn't
been in contact – and why.  I'll tell you one thing – she'd make a good
four-star general.  Pretty much read me the riot act and told me you were
the whole reason why she started to take an interest in the situation with the
dogs, and that if it wasn't for you, Haley wouldn't be here with me
now."  Caleb's smile faded as his face grew serious.  "And
she's right.  I owe so much to you, Anna.  I can't even begin to tell
you."

"You owe me
nothing," Anna said quietly. 

Caleb cupped her
face in his hands. "You're wrong.  I don't even want to think about
where I’d be right now if I hadn't met you.  It's like everything from
that point on was leading to this moment … to me standing here in front of you
after hitting the lowest of lows, and then coming full circle.  So many
soldiers never come back from Afghanistan, and others do, but without arms or
legs.  I think about Joel and about …" Caleb paused, his eyes
glistening as brushed away a tear that had just rolled down Anna's cheek. 
"There's so much that I still have to tell you, but all I know is that
someone said I was given a second chance at life, and they were right.  I
could have died on the battlefield over there, but I didn't.  I'll never
know why it happened that way … in a split second it could have been me who was
killed instead." As Caleb looked away in an effort to compose himself,
Anna took a deep breath and forcibly pushed down the emotions that were welling
up inside her.  Though she knew about Dwayne's sacrifice from Joel, she
would wait for the day when Caleb was ready to share that painful memory himself. 
He turned back to her with reddened eyes that nevertheless emanated a steely
resolve. "And I will do everything I can for the rest of my life to honor
the memories of those who didn't come back."

Anna squeezed his
hand.  "I know you will."

"But I can’t
do it without you."

Anna wanted
desperately to believe him, but he certainly didn’t seem to have needed her
help to come as far as he had now.

"I know it
seems like I've just suddenly popped back into your life," he said, as if
sensing her doubt. 

Anna glanced down
at Haley, who sat anxiously at their feet, her head bobbing back and forth as
the conversation jumped between them.  "Well, you pretty much just
did.  It's been almost four months."  The hurt in her voice was
seconded by her eyes.  "I never heard from you even once."

Caleb looked up at
the sky and drew in a deep breath.  "Anna, being with you was the
best and worst time in my life combined.  The best because …" He
paused, searching deep within her eyes.  "… because I fell in love
with you.  And the worst because I was still tortured inside.  I
think you knew this before I even did, but I needed to figure it out for
myself.   And after finally dealing with things, I wanted to be with
you again, but I wasn't sure if it would be too much of a reminder of a time in
my life that I never want to go back to."

"And yet
you're here," she finally said quietly, her eyes questioning.

"I did a lot
of soul searching."  He paused, adding with a grin, "So you'll
be glad to know I do in fact have one."

Anna shook her
head slightly and smiled.  "I suspected you might."

"And I
realized that what I had with you is too good to throw away. If I fell in love
with you when everything else in my world was falling apart, just think how
much better it will be now that everything else is coming together."

Anna did a
double-take before easing into a smile.  "Geez, therapy really did a
number on you."

Caleb
smirked.  "I know – I'm beginning to scare
myself
with where
my mind's been going lately.  I kind of miss the days when my deepest
thoughts were limited to beers and burgers."

Anna smiled,
knowing well that there was always an introspective side to Caleb, all too
evident in his inner torment after the war.

"So you
really want me to go with you to the hearings in Washington?"

"Reuniting me
with Haley … that made such a huge difference for me and I want to be able to
do this for other soldiers and dogs.  And it never would have happened if
you hadn’t gone out on a limb like you did.  So you're as much a part of this
mission as I am."  He paused, a twinkle in his eye. 
"Besides, who else can I find to put together a web site free of charge
for the dogs and veterans organization that I started?"

"Oh,
really," Anna replied, playing along.  "Just for that, I'm going
to insist that I be given the title of vice president for this
organization."

Grinning, Caleb
leaned in for a lingering kiss.  "Done."

"And Merlin
will be the official mascot."

"Now you're
pushing it," Caleb pretended to warn as Haley let out a sudden bark,
prompting them both to laugh.

"He'll be
helping me create this web site from his spot on top of my computer tower, so I
think he deserves some recognition, too."  She paused, her smile
faltering. "Not to mention that he helped me get through some very sad and
lonely months after I saw you last. Dogs aren't the only pet therapy animals,
you know."

Caleb clasped her
hands, his eyes locking onto hers.  "I have a lot of time to make up
for – I know.  And I will – I promise."

"I love
you," Anna said softly as she nuzzled his cheek, finally voicing the words
that she had kept sequestered for so long.  "In a way … I feel like I
have since the day you first knocked on my door."

As they walked
back to the house with Haley at their heels, Caleb paused and looked
upwards.  The sun was at its zenith now, with almost blinding rays
swirling through the pale blue sky.  As he squinted into the brightness,
he thought of Joel and Dwayne … knowing they would always live on in his
memories, but wondering if somehow  … somewhere ... .

"Are you
okay?" Anna asked, tracing his line of vision to the sun. "You look
like you just saw an angel or something," she said kiddingly, her face
growing serious when he turned back to her and she saw the earnestness in his
eyes.

He brushed her
cheek with his hand, thinking about all they had been through … of how her love
had literally saved him, even when he was convinced that he didn't deserve to
be saved.

He kissed her on
the forehead, then looked into her eyes.  "I did."

THE POWER
OF LOVE SERIES

BOOK ONE:  TO LOVE AND PROTECT

When dedicated veterinarian Shelley Dougan is called into
emergency surgery for an injured police dog, she is immediately drawn to
Officer Matt Reardon, whose touching concern for his canine partner is as
appealing as his quiet confidence and air of inner and outer strength. However,
as the young widow of a police officer who was killed in the line of duty,
Shelley’s fear of loss drives her to fight their mutual attraction, which
becomes increasingly difficult as circumstances bring them closer together. But
when a series of anonymous threats against Shelley escalates, Matt is
determined to protect her – and to win her love and trust in the process. Can
he succeed before the sinister threats become a deadly reality – and before Shelley
pulls away altogether rather than allow her situation to put him in harm’s
way?