by Amy Lamont
Serena’s Soldier
A Kismet Beach Novella
Amy Lamont
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Excerpt: Christmas with the Billionaire
A Note From Amy
Copyright © October 2016 by Amy Bender
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Chapter 1
Serena Adessi’s lungs squeezed as she stumbled to a stop. She bent over and braced her hands on her knees as she struggled for every breath. Her heart beat so hard she could feel the blood pulsing through her veins.
She gasped and raised her eyes to look at the cottage in front of her. The small, yellow bungalow with its whitewashed front porch had always been one of her favorites. When she’d first returned to the small southern California town of Kismet Beach, she’d been sad to see it had fallen into disrepair. But in the last year or so, it had been restored to its former charm.
Serena’s gaze took in the bright white paint on the picket fence, the flowerbeds full of colorful blooms, and the cheerful potted ferns hanging from the porch overhang. Everything about the enchanting little cottage welcomed her. But that didn’t make approaching the front door any easier.
As her breath returned to something close to normal, she straightened. She swiped the back of her hand over her forehead, pushing wayward tendrils of damp, dark hair out of her face. A grimace pressed her lips together.
Gross. The first time she’d see Mace in eight long years and she was coated with sweat. And no doubt her face sported red splotches from her run from town.
But that wasn’t going to stop her. She squared her shoulders and inhaled, long and deep. When she’d stopped in Hal’s Hardware to pick up a can of spackle and some paint rollers earlier, she’d thought it was just another day. But voices had drifted over to her from the next row as she tried to decide between medium and fine sandpaper. She’d immediately recognized them. One of them was Hailey, the owner of the hardware store. The other belonged to Mace’s sister, Mandy.
Serena would be lying if she said she didn’t eavesdrop. The last nine months with no word from Mace had left her eager for any crumb of news. And finally, her tenacity was rewarded as Mandy told Hailey that Mace had gotten to Kismet Beach late last night and he’d be staying with their grandmother for the foreseeable future.
Serena had dropped her shopping basket on the floor and sprinted toward the door. All she could think about was getting to Mace.
Standing here now, her breath finally evening out, a mass of emotions churned through her—excitement, fear, hope, nervousness. The rush of them caused her hands to tremble.
“What are you waiting for, Serena? The man of your dreams is waiting right behind that door.” With a quick glance around to make sure nobody overheard her talking to herself, she marched up to the door, smoothed down her hair, rang the doorbell and held her breath.
In a few short seconds, Miss Abigail swung the door open.
“Well, Serena, what a nice surprise!”
Serena smiled and leaned forward to hug the older woman. Miss Abigail returned it with a fierceness that surprised Serena.
“Sorry to drop in unannounced, Miss Abigail. I didn't realize...” She broke off, not sure how to phrase it. It took everything she had not to demand to see Mace right this second.
But thankfully, Miss Abigail didn’t need more information. She was known for welcoming the neighborhood with open arms. She waved Serena inside.
“Come on in, sweetie. You haven’t been by in a while.”
Guilt surged through Serena. “I’m sorry. I should’ve stopped by to see if you needed anything.”
“Nonsense.” Abigail patted Serena’s arm. “I have Mitch and Mandy and now Mason here to help me. You don’t need to wait until I need something to stop by. I love just visiting with you.”
A warmth not due to her sprint from town suffused Serena’s cheeks. She couldn’t help but give the tiny older woman another quick hug. How often did people want to see her just for the pleasure of her company?
“I promise to stop by real soon for a long chat. But to be honest, I came by because I ran into Mandy at the hardware store and she mentioned Mace was home.” She couldn’t keep her enthusiasm at bay. “I'm dying to see him.”
“Then you’re in luck.” Miss Abigail smiled, a twinkle lighting her cornflower blue eyes. “He's right in here.”
They turned the corner into the living room. And there he was. For the first time in so long, she stood face-to-face with Mason Palmer. The man who held a place in her head and her heart since the day she met him on the beach eight years ago.
“Mace.” Her voice came out on a whisper.
“I’ll leave you two to talk.” Miss Abigail bustled out of the room.
Serena’s gaze locked on Mace. He stood behind the overstuffed navy blue couch, his hands braced on the back of it. Her eyes drank in every detail. They’d exchanged photos over the years, but it had been over nine months since she'd gotten an email or letter from him. And it had been close to a year before that since he sent a picture.
The years had turned the boy she knew into a man. His cheekbones had sharpened and hollowed. His dark hair, which hung into his eyes back then, was now cropped close to his head in a standard military cut. His jaw had squared, small lines appeared around his eyes, and there were no signs of the boy in his broad shoulders, wide chest, or the bulge of his biceps.
Laying eyes on him for the first time in forever sent a jolt of pleasure through her and her feet carried her forward before she even made the decision to move. She wanted nothing more than to fling herself into his arms.
She’d only taken a few steps farther into the room when he put a hand up. “Serena, what’re you doing here?”
She stopped in her tracks at the coldness of his voice. It finally occurred to her he hadn’t said a word in the moments since she’d walked in. Hadn’t made an effort to move toward her. While she’d been drinking in every detail, he’d remained stiff and remote, his hard gaze narrowed and pinned on her.
“I came to see you.” She hated the tremble in her voice.
“Why?”
It took all her willpower to keep her knees from giving way beneath her. “Are you serious?”
He offered her a cold smile. “Honestly? I thought when I stopped sending you emails, you’d get the message.”
His frigid tone and emotionless expression sent fear shooting through her. She searched his face for some indication that the boy she knew and loved still existed behind the cold mask.
When she found no sign of him, she wrapped her arms around herself and ignored the hot tingle of tears behind her eyes. “What message?”
“Serena,” he said, his voice gentler this time, “we were kids when we met. I appreciated that you kept in touch when I was deployed, but you couldn’t possibly think anything would come of a silly teenage crush after all these years.”
He couldn’t be more wrong. That’s exactly what she’d thought. She fell in love with him the summer she turned fourteen. She’d been in Kismet Beach because her dad had been assigned there and Mace had been spending the summer with his Grandma Abigail. Feeling lonely and friendless in her new hometown, she’d
taken refuge at the beach early one morning.
Serena would never forget her first sight of Mace. He’d been standing on his surfboard, riding a wave into shore. The moment she’d laid eyes on him, the breath left her body and a kaleidoscope of butterflies took up residence in her stomach. She’d had crushes on boys before, but nobody ever impacted her the way a sixteen-year-old Mason Palmer had. And it turned out, he felt the same way about her.
Being left behind that summer sucked, but he promised to keep in touch and he meant it. For the last eight years, they’d sent letters, emails, texts and photos on an almost daily basis. That had slowed down a bit while they were both in college and then when Mace was deployed.
They each had goals and dreams and things to accomplish before they met again, and they both accepted that. She’d worried the last few months when she hadn’t heard from him, but not for a moment had Serena doubted that, sooner rather than later, they’d get their happily ever after.
At least, she’d never doubted until right this second.
She couldn’t think of a single response to his rejection. All she could do was stand there and stare at him as her mind dredged up the words from every letter and email they’d exchanged over the years.
Only one possible reason for his actions popped into her head. “Have you met someone else?”
The possibility had always been there. And she knew they’d both dated other people over the years, even though it was the one thing they’d left out of all their communications.
Hell, he was twenty-four. She hadn’t expected him to save himself for her or anything. But she’d always known that, while they might not have been each other’s firsts, they’d be each other’s lasts.
His jaw clenched and unclenched and he stared at her long moments before responding. “No. There’s nobody else. We’re just different people than the two kids who met on the beach.”
Something shifted behind his dark eyes, the first emotion she detected since walking through the door. Her eyes narrowed.
“So if we’re different people, why not get to know each other again? If nothing else, we’ve been friends for a long time.” She worked hard to keep a note of desperation out of her voice.
“Serena…” He rubbed a hand over his short, dark hair.
She recognized that gesture. He did the same thing eight years ago any time he got frustrated or aggravated with her. He might want to argue that they were different people, but she knew better. She knew him.
Something was up here. She relaxed a little, some of the tension falling from her shoulders.
“What’s really going on here, Mace?” She moved until she stood on the other side of the sofa from him and plunked her hands on her hips.
His eyes widened. Finally, some emotion! She tamped down the urge to pump her fist in triumph.
“Nothing’s going on.” He pulled himself up straighter and the blank mask once again covered his features. “I didn’t want to give you any false hope.”
“Nope.” She shook her head. “I’m not buying it. Tell me something believable.”
“God, Serena, were you always like this?” His voice dripped with frustration and he rubbed his hand over his head again.
She couldn’t fight back the smile this time. “Yes, Mace. I’ve always been exactly like this.” She leaned forward slightly. “And you liked it. Don’t you remember the summer we spent together?”
“I do. If you remember, we fought like cats and dogs.”
“That’s because you were always trying to be the alpha male,” she said.
“No, it’s because you were always more stubborn than anybody I’ve ever met.”
She shrugged. He wasn’t wrong. And she was about to prove it again right now. Because he could argue all he wanted. She would not give up on him.
“And I’m still stubborn. I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what’s going on with you. Why are you trying so hard to get rid of me?” She put a hand up when he opened his mouth to speak. “The truth, Mace.”
He dropped his head and the starch went out of his shoulders. When he spoke, a new weariness laced his words. “Serena, please. Can you, just once please, listen to me?” He looked up at her. “I didn’t come here for this. I have some things I need to do and then I’m leaving again. I’m not staying in Kismet Beach. And nothing can happen between you and me.”
His words held a finality that chilled her. She studied him for long moments, and something about his posture niggled at the back of her mind. She was missing something, and there’s no way on God’s green earth she was about to give up on finding out what it was.
But right this minute, she was at a loss. Time to regroup.
“Fine,” she said softly. “For now I’ll respect your wishes. I’ll go.”
“Thank you.” His quiet words twisted a knife in her heart. Was he actually thanking her for leaving him alone?
She didn’t say another word, just turned on her heel and walked out of the room and out of the house, without even a good-bye to Miss Abigail.
Back out on the sidewalk once more, her breath came in sharp pants and her pulse pounded. She felt the same way she had when she first arrived, except then she’d had the excuse of having just run a mile flat out to get here.
She stood there and fought to get her breathing under control, trying not to dwell on the fact that the rug had just been pulled out from under her. All her plans for the future changed in a blink of an eye.
But then she thought of Mace right before she left—the weary voice, the curve to his shoulders, the fatigue that showed around his eyes. That wasn’t her Mace.
Her Mace could match her in stubbornness and determination. He wouldn’t ask her to leave. He’d have told her in no uncertain terms to go and then he’d have showed her the door. He wouldn’t have stopped writing to her. He’d have called and told her it was over.
She turned to look back at the cottage. Something was wrong and she wasn’t giving up until she found out what.
She turned on her heel and started a slow jog down the sidewalk. She knew exactly where to go to get to the bottom of this.
Chapter 2
The moment the front door clicked closed behind Serena, Mace leaned down and braced his full weight on the back of the couch and pulled air into his lungs like he’d just swam a mile underwater.
Jesus. Her face had never been far from his thoughts the last eight years. But today she’d looked better than any picture she’d ever sent him or any memory he had of her.
The beautiful girl she’d been at fourteen had nothing on the fiery woman she’d turned into. Her dark hair floated around her shoulders in long waves. Her body, which had been slim and athletic as a teenager, was now rounded out by soft curves. Her dark brown eyes flashed with fire when she reminded him how much he’d always liked her stubbornness.
And she wasn’t wrong. He loved her spark. Most of the time she was sweet and funny. But when she wrapped her head around an idea or found someone she thought needed her protection, she was like a mama lion with a cub—fierce, protective, tenacious.
Sending her away today was tougher even than he’d imagined it would be. He blew out a long breath and straightened from the couch. He stepped around it, his gait slow and measured. He lowered himself slowly into the cushions and stretched his legs out in front of him.
His mouth twisted into a bitter smile as he considered the length of leg sticking out from under his shorts. The zigzagging scar, red and puckered, running down the length of his right leg told only part of the story of what he’d been through in the last months.
The kicker was that right before he’d gotten too close to the bomb that caused his injuries and almost cost him his leg, he’d gotten a letter from Serena with pictures of the small house she’d rented in Kismet Beach. She’d written that she’d accepted a nursing job at the VA hospital just outside of San Diego, and she planned on settling down there.
His first thought when he read her words was t
hat it was time for him to go claim his woman. Being apart from her all those years had been hard. He hadn’t been a monk since they said their good-byes when he was sixteen. But through high school, his years at West Point, and his deployment, he always knew he’d find his way back to her.
An army brat, she’d moved a couple more times before she graduated high school. And then she attended college in Seattle to get her nursing degree. Over the years, fate had conspired to keep them on opposite coasts. But more than once she’d mentioned that getting her nursing degree was perfect because she loved the job and she could do it no matter where she ended up living.
One more reason he loved her. He never wanted to be anything but a soldier. Without a doubt, she’d chosen her career partly because it gave her the flexibility to travel with him as he took on new assignments. She knew what it took to be part of a military family, and never once had she made him feel like she’d be making any sacrifices to be with him.
He flexed his leg and pain shot from his knee up to his hip. Not only had that bomb blown holes in his leg, it had blown holes in all his plans for the future. His healing had been too slow, too incomplete to make him any good as a soldier. When it was time for him to reenlist, he’d gone for a discharge instead. And God knew he had nothing to offer Serena. She’d planned to marry a man with a purpose, a soldier dedicated to his country and his family.
He couldn’t give her that, so the best thing he could do was step aside.
“Did Serena leave already?” Miss Abigail asked as she stepped into the living room.
“Yeah, Grandma. She had to go.”
“That’s a shame. I was hoping to get to visit with her a bit. She always brings the sunshine with her.”
Truer words were never spoken. For one brief moment, Mace allowed himself to stare bleakly toward the door Serena walked through only moments before. She’d definitely taken the sunshine with her.