A Soldier Saved--A Clean Romance

by Cheryl Harper

  Switching from only child to big sister would take some adjustment.

  Happy teen in a comfortable, spacious mansion to one sharing life with a new stepmother and a baby.

  “It’s a pretty big change,” Angela said slowly. “How are you handling it?”

  Greer groaned. “I’m confused.” She didn’t say anything else but the tense silence between them spoke for her daughter.

  Angela wanted to jump in with solutions. That was who she was, who she had been for her whole relationship with Rodney Simmons.

  That was why they were divorced. Happily divorced.

  Still, Greer was her daughter, and solving her problems was a part of a mother’s job description. “Why don’t you stay with me for the summer? You can have a break from normal. That might clear up some of the confusion.” Angela straightened in her chair. If this development gave her a chance to spend more time with her daughter, it might have a silver lining. “We’ll go to the beach. We’ll make it to Key West finally. Just you and me, and when school’s ready to start, you’ll have had plenty of time to adjust.”

  “But the internship,” Greer said. Angela was almost sure she could hear a flop, a loose thud of teenage girl bouncing on her mattress. “I worked so hard to get this job with Senator Gonzalez. Do you know how that will work in my favor when I’m applying to law school, Mom?”

  Angela tightened her lips. In a world with some stereotypical lazy teens, Greer had been born with a keen sense of responsibility. And someone had taught her to plan for the future.

  Rodney had been happy to follow all of Angela’s plans until he’d faced forty and decided there was more to life than work.

  More to life than the marriage they’d built and the family that Angela had sacrificed her own ambition to have. He’d risen to faculty chair, while she’d taken a ten-year break and then started at the bottom again.

  But she did have Greer.

  And the poetry. That break had meant the world to her poetry. That work had been what got her the job at Sawgrass, leading the English department. She’d never regret that time spent raising her daughter.

  “Maybe there’s something similar here,” Angela said as she tried to come up with a match, but nothing sparked. Greer’s father had met Senator Gonzalez at a university fund-raiser. Angela stayed near the refreshment table at fund-raisers because she wasn’t a fan of schmoozing.

  Refusing to examine how that might be another good reason her ex had risen faster in his career than she had, Angela bit her lip and reconsidered her suggestion to Greer. “Or not. If you came here, you’d spend the summer stuck in my house or working retail while I teach summer term and deal with preparations for the fall. Staying in Nashville is the smart thing to do. But we don’t always have to be so smart, G.” They didn’t. That was what she’d learned about the same time her husband had changed his mind about their marriage. It was only a working theory, however. She hadn’t done much to test it.

  “Really? We don’t have to be smart?” Her daughter’s drawl eased some of Angela’s worry. “That’s kind of our thing, the whole family. Who are you and what have you done with Dr. Angela Simmons, shining star at Sawgrass University?”

  Angela shook her head. “Sometimes I wish I could unteach you some of the things we worked so hard to give you. Life is short. You need to enjoy it.” When she turned eighteen, Greer shouldn’t have to pick the career that would last her whole life. She should know how to have fun while she was still young.

  “I want to come to Miami. I do,” Greer said, “but how hurt would Dad be if I did that? And Kate? She’s nice, even if I’m not quite ready to welcome a new brother or sister. I’ve been to Senator Gonzalez’s office already and it’s what I always imagined, so...”

  Angela rolled the pen across her desk again. She wanted to fight, but the one promise she’d made to herself after the divorce was that Greer would make her own decisions. She’d chosen to stay in Nashville to complete high school. She’d chosen not to leave her friends or her father, and it was working out well. She and Greer spent weeks together during breaks and talked on the phone at least once every day. Once Greer graduated, Angela would press harder to become her home base.

  Or that had been the plan.

  With a baby brother or sister on the way, that plan was in danger.

  “I didn’t mean to derail your whole day. What are you doing at work today?” Greer asked. “Any handsome freshmen boys I need to know about?”

  Angela laughed as the image of the guy she’d nearly pulled inside the doors downstairs popped into her brain. Handsome? Oh yeah. Boy? Definitely not. “Nah. I’ll keep my eyes open for you, though.”

  “I’m hoping that means they’re all on the East Coast in some Ivy League towns.” Greer had planned for as long as Angela could remember to get into the best university. Which one that was changed now and then, but they all had East Coast addresses.

  “Which one are we targeting this month?” Angela asked, grateful for a change in subject.

  “Senator Gonzalez is a Princeton graduate. I figure he can give me the inside scoop to help me move it up the list or cross it off completely.” Angela and Rodney had both done fine at state schools, but obviously Senator Gonzalez was going to be the expert on hand.

  The knock on the door on Greer’s end of the phone was loud and clear. “Just a minute, Dad.” She waited a second before returning to the call. “Dad’s going to drop me at Senator Gonzalez’s office to fill out some paperwork, so I gotta go. Wish I knew what I was going to say to Dad.”

  Angela closed her eyes. She wanted to help Greer, but she was also so relieved not to be in the same spot. Eventually, she’d have to congratulate her ex, but not yet. “Be honest with him but remember that he loves you, G. This is all going to work out. You will love being a big sister.” Angela hoped it was true. Greer was smart and responsible and yet so young. The road might be bumpy.

  “Are you going to be okay, Mom?” Greer asked, her voice tentative, as if she wanted to know the answer but was scared to ask the question.

  “Yes, ma’am, I’ll be fine. It’s a beautiful day here in Florida, hot enough to make you sweat inside a full-size freezer, with beautiful sunshine and enough students wandering around to keep me busy for a few weeks.” Angela made sure she said every word through a smile because the last thing she wanted was her daughter worrying about her. “You take your time with all these changes. It’s going to work out. You’ll see.”

  Greer didn’t answer at first. Eventually, as Angela was gearing up to contribute something else, her daughter said, “It would be cool if you had an awesome date for the wedding.”

  It might be cool, but it wasn’t going to happen. Until that second, Angela hadn’t even considered attending the wedding. She rested her head against the desk. Before the summer was over, would she be wishing Rodney and Kate all the best in person? Great.

  Why hadn’t she started dating before the ink on the divorce decree was dry? Rodney had.

  Oh yeah. The job. The career. The move. Enjoying the freedom to make plans for one for the first time in a long time.

  Greer was young and as romantic as most teenage girls. She’d never understand that.

  “Um, well, I guess, but...” Angela wasn’t sure about the rest of that statement, so she let it sit there, a big old nothing in the middle of all the unsaid words that paused outside of the frame.

  “They haven’t announced the date yet, but it’ll be before school starts again.” Greer hesitated before she added the last part. “Early August was mentioned.”

  Two months. The idea that it would be that soon had never occurred to Angela. Why? Because she didn’t want to study any of this too closely.

  “Before school starts again.” It made sense. If this weird Parisian jaunt had been out of character for her ex-husband, wanting to be married before the baby came fit his new
character perfectly. “Okay. I’ll keep my eyes open for a suitable guy. How’s that?” Muttering the words knocked her pulse up a notch.

  Actually carrying through with that? Not going to happen. If she went, she’d go solo. There was nothing wrong with that.

  Did ex-wives attend weddings of ex-husbands?

  It depended on the split.

  And the sinking sensation in the pit of Angela’s stomach convinced her that an invitation to the wedding would arrive.

  She’d have to attend. If the school term was eliminated as a reasonable answer, she had no plausible excuse.

  “Check out the other professors. There’s got to be a cute one somewhere on campus. He’d be an idiot not to accept your dinner invitation, but you should get a move on. Inviting dates to weddings is one of those things you only do with someone you’ve been dating for a while. Otherwise, they assume you’re hoping for a ring yourself. You only have a couple of months.”

  “How do you know this? You might as well be a dating expert, and I am certain your parents only allowed you to start dating this spring.” Angela closed her eyes and tried to stifle the words that might have an edge of irritation to them.

  “Mom.” That was Greer’s only answer. She wasn’t entertaining any of this foolishness.

  “I’ll keep my eyes open, okay, boss?” Angela offered. “But how many times have I told you to be the hero of your own story. No sidekick required.”

  Her daughter’s groan eased some of Angela’s worry. “I’m watching out for you, but you’re not going to listen to me, are you?” The last word was a dramatic, drawn-out wail that was sixteen all the way to its core.

  “If I go alone, they’ll sit me at the kids’ table. I’ll be happy there.” It would be there or with the collection of odds and ends gathered together at one table in a dark corner.

  And no matter what, it would be okay. She’d get to visit Greer. That would make it all worthwhile.

  “They mentioned a destination wedding—I hope it’s in Paris,” Greer said.

  “Go do your paperwork. Get your internship. Remember that your father loves you and that you’re going to be an awesome big sister. Whatever destination it is will be fun. We will make sure of that. This is all going to work out. I promise.” Saying it strengthened her own confidence.

  Greer’s “Okay” had a distinct tone of “If you say so” that implied she wasn’t sure.

  “I say so. Call me later and tell me all about the senator’s office.” Angela ended the call after Greer’s usual “loveyoubye” and put her phone next to her computer.

  Before she could stop, one finger slowly scrolled through her ex-husband’s page. The photos in Paris were beautiful. Every picture of him and his bride-to-be shouted romance and happily-ever-after.

  Angela bent forward to study the photo. No baby bump. Not yet.

  When she realized how invested she was getting and how each new photo hammered harder on the “I don’t measure up” spike, she closed the lid of her laptop and turned to stare out the window at the lake.

  She lost track of time as the possibilities floated through her head. She might not even be invited to this destination wedding. What a relief that would be. If she didn’t have to put on a brave, independent face, all of this would be easier.

  But she wanted time with Greer.

  “It’s time to plan a trip to Nashville.” Angela tangled her fingers over her stomach and frowned at the lake. She hated going back. Her whole world had been turned on its head, but the city where she’d spent the biggest part of her adult life went on without her. Greer kept growing. Life kept going.

  And in Miami, nothing changed. Ever. She worked the job she loved. Teaching the classes she wanted to teach was fulfilling. Her condo with a view of the beach was small but it was comfortable. If her life was a body of water, it was the lake outside her window. Nothing much disturbed the surface.

  Except her ex-husband had chucked a big rock right in the middle and the ripples were going to spread.

  “Great metaphor, prof,” Angela muttered to herself. “You should be a creative writing teacher.” She spun her desk chair back around and reopened her laptop. She quickly closed the window on Rodney’s page because there was nothing she could do about that.

  Her lake was here and now and she needed a completed syllabus before class started. Everything else could wait because she had work to do.

  CHAPTER TWO

  JASON WARD HAD helped gather intelligence on several dangerous strongholds in his career. Elementary schools that had been commandeered by rebels. Money-laundering facilities built and staffed by terrorists. The crowded base commissary on payday.

  Neither the all-white, chrome-and-glass buildings of Sawgrass University nor the red-tiled roofs of the Concord Court townhome complex should have provoked the adrenaline spikes that were unraveling his last nerve.

  Adrenaline had gotten him this far. The walk across campus had been a test of his steadiness and stamina, but he’d made it. Unfortunately, that surge of energy was gone. Now he wanted to sit somewhere still and cool forever.

  “Spanish mission style. That’s what they call this.”

  Jason did not glance at the driver’s seat. They’d managed to stick to neutral topics during the quick ride from the university to this parking spot in front of the leasing office of Concord Court, but his mother was half a second from disaster.

  He couldn’t lose his temper. He owed her too much.

  It was a good thing the traffic had been light, for more than one reason.

  His mother drove his truck like it was as big as a semi, perched close and clenching the steering wheel with both hands.

  And their blowup had been building. Too much time to discuss anything other than the weather was dangerous. In southern Florida, talking about the weather didn’t take long. It didn’t vary much. Hot. Humid. Storm in the afternoon.

  Like the one that was gathering slowly in dark clouds rolling off the ocean. He needed to get this all finished before the storm hit. Tripping was too common right now even without wet sidewalks to give him trouble.

  “Spanish mission. Good to know.” Jason gripped the door handle tightly and then forced his hands into his lap. “I’ll be sure to drop that fact in conversation wherever I can work it in.”

  Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the tight knot her arms made across her chest grow smaller, but she didn’t snap. Not yet.

  That was driving him up the wall. They were both on their best behavior. It couldn’t last. They’d made it through his recovery in the hospital, and the time he’d spent in her new spare bedroom while he was suffering rehab. They were about to have some breathing room, each with their own space again.

  All he had to do was pick up his keys.

  They did so much better with half the world between them and nothing but phone lines open.

  “You know I’m a big boy, Mama. What about all the fun, retiree things you could be doing in your new assisted-living facility instead of escorting me up to meet the teacher on my first day of school. I didn’t even need a lunchbox or a backpack today.” Jason winced. If the men he’d led saw him now, huddled in the passenger seat of his pride-and-joy pickup, with his mommy to hold his hand and in full possession of the steering wheel, how much grief would they give him? So much.

  All of it done in love, of course, but the nicknames this would earn him would be embarrassing.

  There’d be no more trash talk from them, though. All he’d had to do was lose part of his leg. He’d gotten a one-way ticket home while his crew went on without him.

  “Do you remember the last time I accepted your word that you were going to go out and do something that could possibly change your entire life?” his mother drawled and held up her hand before he could answer. “Because I do. I remember it sometimes as a bad dream that wakes me up because
I can’t breathe in my own bed at night. I sent you out to enroll in community college. We discussed a degree in business management. What did you do instead?”

  She didn’t need him to answer. It was a waste of time to try because they’d had this conversation more than once since he’d woken up stateside.

  Mae Ward was stubborn. She’d wait for him to try to answer, so he opened his mouth and she immediately said, “Instead of community college, you enlisted. A foolish, brave boy, you did it without talking to me or to your father because...” She tapped her finger to her lip. “Why was it again?”

  Jason cleared his throat. “Because I knew what I wanted for my life.” He’d done it without discussing it with them because he’d known there was no way to convince them to agree.

  “To get out of Nowhere, Georgia.” Her head jerked as if she was agreeing that she recalled the same conversation in the same manner. “And not in two years or four, but to get out of Rosette, the only home you ever had, immediately. Look how well that turned out. You could have died. More than once. Forgive me if I don’t fall for that again.” She slowly turned her head and narrowed her eyes at him. “Fool me once, I’ll never forget it and make you regret it at the first opportunity. That’s how the saying goes, isn’t it?”

  “Can’t happen again. Absolutely no one is recruiting middle-aged amputees.”

  “Employers are always recruiting people with the right skills,” his mother said brightly.

  At least she was talking again. This was the mother he remembered. She’d been spookily kind since he’d been hospitalized stateside.

  “It was a car accident. Not a bullet, not a bomb. A split-second mistake that overturned the tactical truck I was in. Crashes happen here, too, Mama.” The accident responsible for crushing his lower left leg had occurred during an ambush, and whether he’d make it out alive had been touch and go. Jason closed his eyes and tried to count to ten. His mother didn’t need to hear that and he didn’t want to talk about it anymore. Ever. “I’ve already enrolled at Sawgrass University. You were there. Don’t you remember the kid giving me the ‘you gotta be kidding me’ stare when you asked about what sort of meals the cafeteria served?”