“Come back soon,” he slurred. Griff dug his fist under his pillow and settled back to sleep. She stood still beside the bed, ensuring his breathing evened out before she grabbed the baby monitor off the dresser and left the bedroom. Even with the monitor in her hand, she couldn’t help veering off and checking in on Livvie. Her baby looked just like Griff. People said that their daughter was an amalgamation of the two of them, but she was all Porter. She didn’t see any Slade in the little girl. Her big brown eyes, silky black hair and beautiful honey skin, they were all her daddy’s. One day they’d take her to Hawaii and she and Griff would look like natives.
Now that she was assured that both of the people she loved were safely asleep, she padded to her little corner of the living room. It was a corner that had a shelf of books, pictures, and a tall window that showed a view of one of the many valleys in the inland area surrounding San Diego. Miranda’s chair looked over both the shelf and the window so she could see pictures of Griff, Livvie, his family, and finally, her mom, all juxtaposed by the vastness of nature.
She settled in her oversized chair and put the baby monitor on the shelf, then snuggled against one of the soft plush arms. She plucked up the small picture of Olivia Rose Slade off the bookcase. Her mother hadn’t been a big smiler, but by God, Miranda had coaxed one out of her that day, and she’d caught it on film. She loved this picture. It was taken on one of those days they’d visited an old Spanish mission in Southern California.
“I miss you, Mom,” she said as she brushed her thumb over her Mom’s gentle features.
She loved that her eyes were sparkling, when many times they’d been shadowed. Miranda had known it was because of the utter bastard who had haunted their lives. Her mother always glossed over who and where her father was, trying to get Miranda to believe that he had died before she was born or some such nonsense, but Miranda saw through that like a clear mountain stream. Miranda figured that even if she hadn’t had that one memory from when she was around the age of four, she still would have known that her father had done Olivia Slade wrong. But because she’d eavesdropped, she would never forget just how cold, how mean and how evil her father had really been.
Miranda bit her lip and locked the memory back in the depths of her mind, where it belonged. He was nothing to her. Less than nothing.
She moved her focus back to her Mom’s smile, that’s what was important. This woman who had sacrificed so much for her to have a good life.
“Griff would have knocked your socks off, Mom.” She brushed back a tear. “No matter what, I can count on him. And so will Livvie, she’ll never doubt for a second that she’s loved and protected, Mom. Not one damned second.”
Yep, she’d chosen well.
She sat back into her chair and pulled the afghan around her, remembering back to all those days when her man, Griffin Porter, had pursued her. That man had gotten her into his sights, and lasered in. How many times had he told her that story? How he had planned to ask her out that day when everything had started out so perfectly.
Miranda stared long minutes into the moonlit night, thinking about her mom, thinking about the train. Finally sleep found her.
* * *
Three Years Earlier
“I love the San Juan Capistrano station,” Miranda said as she pointed to the historic area. “Before my mom died, we visited the mission together,” she told him.
“When did your mom pass?” he asked. Passengers began boarding the train.
“Four years ago. It was always just the two of us. She died in a car accident on the Four-Oh-Five freeway.”
“I’m so sorry, Miranda.” He squeezed her hand. She gave him a small smile. “She was amazing.”
“If she was anything like you, I imagine she was.”
“We started out in Ohio. I don’t remember a lot about it except for making snow men in the winters. She came out here for a better job.”
“Where was your dad?”
“He was dead.”
This time he took her hand in both of his, “That must have been really tough.”
“He left before I was born. He was nothing to us. It was always just me and Mom.”
Miranda loved the warm smile that he gave her. “So she came out here for a job? What kind?”
“She worked as a copywriter. It didn’t pay a real lot, but it was enough for an apartment in a good neighborhood. She was the best, even when she was laid off when I was thirteen, she just went to night school to learn website design so she could start again. Nothing kept her down.” Miranda sighed.
She remembered her Mom working days checking groceries and going to school at night and then coming home and doing her homework until one or two o’clock in the morning. It was up to her to make sure that the house was taken care of. Miranda didn’t mind, considering everything her mom was doing. God, she missed her. She might have been twenty-four when her mother died, but she felt like a little girl when she got the news.
It was still so fresh, that moment when she received the call from Officer Gloria Vasquez of the California Highway Patrol. The woman’s softly-accented voice would be forever burned into her memory. Miranda’s first question had been if her mother had suffered, and the fact that Gloria couldn’t immediately reassure her, had been heartbreaking.
Images of her mother, racked with pain, as she was pinned inside her crushed car still haunted Miranda.
Had her mom cried out for her?
She was so confused.
“Babe?”
Was that Griff’s voice? Where was she?
“Mom?”
“No, Baby, wake up.”
She felt Griff pull her close, right from the chair until his warm body surrounded her. She melted against him. She hiccupped a sob.
“That’s it, let it out. I’m here for you.”
That woke her up all the way. She burrowed her cheek into the crook of his neck, breathing in his scent, taking comfort, but doing everything in her power to gain control. One of his big hands sifted through her hair, another stroked down her back. She tried to jerk out of his arms, not wanting to need comfort.
“It’s okay to cry you know.”
“I know.” Her breath echoed moist air back against her lips, and she tasted his skin.
“Miranda, Honey, talk to me,” he coaxed.
She sighed. He probably wasn’t going to let it go. Maybe that was a good thing.
“You were dreaming about your Mom?”
“I was dreaming about everything,” she finally admitted. “It ended with my Mom.”
“The train wreck, right?”
She hugged him tight, and then he rearranged them so that she was lying on top of him, his back resting against the arm of the big chair. It was perfect.
“Tell me,” he cajoled gently.
“I shouldn’t have to, you were there. It was hell. Anyway, we already talked about it.”
“Did we?” He tipped her chin up forcing her to look him in the eye. “I answered your questions about what happened, but I never really told you how I felt. You never told me what was going on in your head, either.”
She pulled her head away from his hold. “What was the point?”
“Baby, maybe it would help. I worry about you. Miranda, you get pretty wound up about this every year. You have nightmares.”
“Griff they had every head doctor in the universe talk to me after the train wreck. I eventually got a clean bill of health, remember?”
Griff opened his mouth and then closed it.
“Say it. I won’t bite your head off.”
“Physically you got a clean bill of health, but Miranda, I know this eats at you. I just hate seeing you in pain. That’s all.”
Part of her lapped up his care and concern like a kitten with cream, and part of her wanted to rip his eyes out with her teeth. God, maybe she was crazy.
“So what are you saying?” she finally asked.
“Maybe it’s time to lance the boil once and for all.”
“Nice imagery, Porter,” she tried to smirk, but her lower lip started to tremble, and she had to bite it. “What does that entail?”
“We talk more about that day, but include our feelings.” He looked her dead in the eye. “We’ve talked about what happened, but we’ve never really discussed whether we were mad, or sad or scared.”
“Wasn’t that kind of obvious?”
God she hated this.
“Humor me,” he brushed his knuckles over her cheek. “Tell you what, I’ll start. You tell me where your dream left off.”
“It was right before Josiah and Scarlett got on the train,” she reluctantly answered.
Griff smiled. “It had sure been a surprise to see them.” He shifted so that she could lie more comfortably on top of him. After they were comfortable, he began.
Three Years Earlier
* * *
“Ma’am, let me help you with that,” a familiar voice said. Griff turned and saw his captain, Josiah Hale, and grinned. He had gone through BUD/S with the man’s son, Nick Hale. He watched as the captain helped the older woman store her luggage over the lip of the upper metal rack above the seat. Betty saw Griff looking and winked. Josiah saw the wink and turned to look at Griff.
“Griff, is that you?”
Griff stood up and held out his hand. “Hello, Captain,” he smiled easily as the man took his hand. He felt a tap on the shoulder and looked around. A graceful woman in her late forties smiled at him.
“Griffin Porter, the day just gets better and better,” Scarlett Hale reached out for a hug that he gladly gave her. “It’s almost like I have Nick here when I get to see someone from his class. We don’t get out to the East Coast often enough to visit him,” she said.
Griff looked into the warm brown eyes of a woman he had known for seven years. “Mrs. Hale, I can’t wait to tell my mom that I saw you. She asks about you all the time.”
“And how many times do I have to remind you to call me Scarlett?” She gave a good natured sigh.
“About as often as often as my mom has to remind Nick to call her Claudia,” Griff grinned.
Josiah laughed as he brushed his fingertips along his wife’s elbow and guided her to the seat across the aisle from Griff’s and Miranda’s. Griff could see the curious gleam in Scarlett’s eye, but he also knew that she wouldn’t be peppering Miranda with questions. That wasn’t her style. He’d always been impressed by the Hales, and had been pleased when he learned that he would be serving a couple of levels under Captain Hale.
“Miranda, I’d like to introduce you to some old friends of mine. This is Captain Hale and his wife—”
“Scarlett,” the older woman jumped in before Griff could call her Mrs. Hale. She held out her hand to Miranda.
“Scarlett is the mom of one of my best friends. He and I went through BUD/S together. He’s serving on another team out in Virginia.”
“It’s very nice to meet you,” Miranda smiled. “I’m Miranda Slade. I’m a project manager with TAID in San Diego. You arrived at the perfect time. I was just about ready to take Griff up on his offer to have dinner with him, but now that you’ve arrived you can act as a reference for him. Should I go out with him?”
Scarlett’s eyes twinkled as she eyed Griff.
Oh Lord, what was she going to say? It was anyone’s guess. She was as bad a tease as his own mother.
“Well, I have to tell you Miranda, I’m kind of biased. I’m married to a SEAL, and I raised one. These men are a breed unto themselves,” her eyes twinkled.
“I’m beginning to agree with your assessment,” Miranda said as she gave Griff a sideways look. He couldn’t help but preen a little bit that she found him attractive. But Griff knew he was going to have to work on this, because Ms. Slade was awfully damn pretty herself and he’d had to guard his seat pretty zealously over the last two months.
When the train took a heavy lurch and she bumped into him, he took the opportunity to put his arm around her. Okay, he might be pushing things, but it was time. The moment that Griff waited to see what she would do was one of the longest of his life. For a second she looked startled, but then she smiled and snuggled into his side.
“I like this better than being on my phone,” she whispered so just he could hear her.
“I don’t know,” Griff said. “You’re pretty damn sexy when you’re dressing down your subordinates.”
“Dressing down. I like that. It sounds so militaristic. I should be wearing a uniform and carrying a riding crop like General Patton in that movie.”
Griff almost groaned. Suddenly he had a picture of her in a leather dress and high-heeled lace-up boots.
Keep it together, Porter.
Miranda looked up at him and gave him a wicked smile. The vixen knew exactly what she’d done.
Thank God an announcement for another stop sounded over the speaker. Soon more people were coming on board, including a young mother with a toddler and a young child. She had all of the requisite child paraphernalia accompanying her.
Griff and Josiah both got out of their seats to assist her, which seemed to overwhelm both the woman and children. The little girl in her arms started to whimper, then as Griff offered to take the woman’s suitcase, the little girl shrieked.
“No!”
“I’m so sorry,” the young woman said. “Hope’s going through the terrible twos.”
Scarlett, seeing the problem, got out of her seat and stepped between the two men and the small family.
“I think those men are just too darn big, don’t you, Hope?” Scarlett asked.
The small child took a moment to assess Scarlett. She seemed fascinated by her blue pendant. She stared at it and finally nodded her head, her brown curls bobbing around her face.
Scarlett turned to the mother. “My name is Scarlett Hale. The younger man is Griffin Porter and the other one is my husband Josiah. They’re here to help with your things. Would it be okay if they stored some of your items in the overhead bin?”
Griff saw the overwhelming relief in the woman’s eyes.
“My name’s Susan.” She juggled her little girl, then held out her hand to Scarlett as best she could. The older woman shook it, then Scarlett deftly took Susan’s diaper bag and backpack. Nick’s mom always could work miracles.
The little boy, no more than four years old, darted past the three adults. “Jeremy, come back here!” Susan yelled.
Griff watched as Miranda easily caught the kid and swooped him up into a high hug.
“Whatchya doing? Wanna come look out the window with me, Jeremy?”
His eyes widened with pleasure as he turned to his frazzled mother. “Yeah, can I Mom? Can I?” Miranda walked over with her little charge.
“Hi, I’m Miranda Slade,” she said holding Jeremy.
Susan smiled around the other three adults in the aisle of the train. “I’m Susan. Thanks for catching my little monster.”
“I’m not a monster. I’m Ironman,” the boy chimed in.
Everyone but Miranda laughed.
“You look like Ironman,” she said seriously. Then she turned to Susan. “It wasn’t a problem,” she said with a grin. “I played softball, I like a good game of catch. Can he come sit with me while you get settled with your daughter?”
“Are you sure?” the woman asked. Griff and Josiah let the women talk out the particulars as they put the luggage away.
“I’m positive,” Miranda assured her.
“That’d be great.”
Hope took that moment to let her presence be known as she started to wiggle in her mother’s arms. “Want down,” she whined.
“As a matter of fact, he can sit with me as long as he’d like. It’s not a problem.”
Griff sighed. Well, at least he’d gotten Miranda to agree to a date, and had the pleasure of her snuggling up against him.
“I don’t want to be an inconvenience.” Susan shifted Hope in her arms. The little girl looked at everyone with suspicious eyes again s
ince she was being ignored. Then her stare shifted to Griff and suddenly, like the sun showing up after a thunderstorm, she smiled. “Hiya!”
All of the adults laughed and said ‘Hello’ or ‘Hiya’ back to Hope.
“I’m serious, I would love it if Jeremy sat with me,” Miranda reiterated.
“I wanna sit with Mira, Mom,” Jeremy piped up.
“How’d you know my nickname?” Miranda asked the little boy. “That’s what the kids at school used to call me. You’re pretty smart.”
He giggled as she gently poked his tummy. She turned and started walking back to her seat.
The train started again. “Susan, would you like a cup of coffee? I’m going to send the men for refreshments,” Scarlett said.
“You are?” Josiah said with amusement as he stroked his hand down his wife’s straight, blond hair.
“Yep. Miranda, what would you like to drink?” Scarlett called out to her.
“I’d kill for a cup of coffee. Jeremy, would you like apple or orange juice?” Miranda asked.
“Grape. Where are they going? Mommy, can I go with them?” He wiggled to be let out of Miranda’s arms. She let him down.
“You can’t go with them. You have to stay on this car with us,” Susan said. Griff watched as the boy’s face scrunched up.
“Susan, how about we show him how the automatic door works between the railroad cars, then have him go sit back with Miranda? He could even press the button to open the door,” Griff suggested.
“Can I Mom? Can I?” Jeremy asked in a familiar refrain as he bounced on his feet.
Susan shot Griff a grateful smile. “Sure, they’ll show you, but then you go right back to Miranda,” she admonished.
“Okay, Mommy.” He grabbed Griff’s hand and started tugging him toward the back of the car. He and Josiah grinned at one another, reveling in the child’s enthusiasm.
“Hold on, Partner. We need to ask your mom what she would like to drink,” Josiah told the boy. Griff watched as Susan fumbled for her purse.
“I’ve got this,” Josiah assured her. “What would you like?”
“But—”
Her Honorable Hero Page 4