by Tanya Agler
“Got it. There’s just one more thing,” Owen said, and Seth almost groaned out loud. Just one more thing was the magic phrase that usually preceded bad news. Seth braced himself, the way he had years ago when a caseworker came to tell him he was being relocated to another foster facility. Even at five years old, he’d learned quickly to listen, accept it and not fight it. “What?”
“There’s a guy waiting in lower-level reception who wants to talk to you about some revolutionary cybersecurity program. The claim is—”
“You do what you want with him,” Seth said. “You’re the boss.”
Owen nodded. “Okay. I will. How’s Sarge?”
“When he broke his leg, they said he might have problems walking again, but he’s gone from a walker to a cane and gets around pretty well. It’s been hard, but he’s tough.”
“He’s a remarkable man,” Owen said.
That was an understatement. “When I first came face-to-face with him at the ranch, he was this hard ex-marine, six foot four with big muscles.” Seth chuckled softly, remembering that moment. “He stopped me in my tracks and gave me a needed attitude adjustment.”
“I can imagine,” Owen said.
If Sarge hadn’t broken his leg, Seth wondered how long it would’ve taken for anyone to know he’d been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. He sure hadn’t shared that fact. For the past year, Seth had been working on a project to convert the ranch into a summer camp for foster kids. “I want the camp functioning while Sarge is still aware and can understand what we’re doing for him and Maggie. Most importantly, I want him to participate in the camp for as long as possible.”
Maggie had passed over five years ago, but the camp had been their dream for when they retired from group foster care. Sarge had let everything go when his wife died. But Seth knew he’d still love to see their dream become real. He owed Sarge so much, and establishing the summer camp on the land the man loved was barely a down payment on that debt.
Owen stood. “Okay, you get back there. Do you need me to do anything else before you leave?”
“No, thanks, just go and deal with the guy downstairs who wants to revolutionize our business.”
As Seth stood, Owen looked a bit wistful, an expression that was not common with the man. “That ranch sounds like a whole different world.”
It had seemed exactly like that to a teenager whom the system had written off. Seth had been beyond lucky that Sarge and Maggie took him in, along with other boys who’d been tagged as irredeemable. “It is a special place, and it’s my time to be there. Between Ben, Jake and his wife, Libby, Sarge will have one of us with him all the time to help him remember for as long as possible.”
Owen nodded to Seth. “Good luck, and don’t worry about anything here.”
When Owen was gone, Seth called Julia, Sarge’s nurse and caregiver at the ranch.
She answered right away. “Hey, Seth.”
“Just letting you know the skies have cleared and I’m going to take off at two o’clock our time. I left the truck at Downer’s Landing, so I’ll drive myself back.”
“Good. Sarge misses you a lot.”
He glanced around his living quarters, and all he wanted was to be on the sprawling ranch in Wyoming. “Tell him I miss him, and I’m coming home.”
Copyright © 2021 by Mary Anne Wilson
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ISBN-13: 9781488074509
The Soldier’s Unexpected Family
Copyright © 2021 by Tanya Agler
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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