Bombshell - Jane Harvey-Berrick
Page 25
“I didn’t think you were interested,” Smith teased him.
“Okay! Okay, I’m interested,” ground out Clay, hands held up in surrender.
Smith looked at him thoughtfully.
“Obama … nice guy. Shitty golfer.”
We all waited for more.
“That’s it?” queried Zada.
Smith just winked, then changed the subject.
“I’m recruiting if anyone’s interested.”
Amira grabbed Clay’s hand and frowned at Smith.
“Absolutely not!” she snapped. “We already have jobs, Mr. Smith.”
Clay grinned down at his wife.
“You heard her. We’re already gainfully employed, so thanks but no thanks.”
Smith shrugged then turned to me and James.
“Sure I can’t tempt the two of you to join me?” he asked, raising one eyebrow. “Lots of danger, not much money, but I have a really cool undercover name for you: Lady and the Tramp.”
I jumped when James laughed loudly.
“Nope, not interested,” said James. “And neither is she.”
“She can talk for herself!” I replied. “And she concurs. We will have to gratefully decline your gracious offer, Mr. Smith.”
“Pity,” he smiled. “It’s a waste of a good undercover name.”
Then he turned around and loped away, hands shoved deep into his pockets.
“I have a feeling that won’t be the last we see of the enigmatic, Mr. Smith,” I said.
James smiled at me and placed a soft kiss on my cheek.
“I concur,” he said teasingly. “The dude keeps turning up like a bad penny.”
We took one last look at the graves of two people that I’d never met but whom none of us would ever forget; two people who were there at the start of our story, and were there for the beginning of the next chapter. Because life does go on. Battered and bruised, dented and changed, we go on.
The man at my side had a lot of healing to do, and I hoped that I would play a large part in that process. Knowing him, knowing James, loving James—those things had already changed me for the better. My life’s work would be to make his life better, too.
God willing.
Or as James would say, Inshallah.
Nine months later…
James
THERE ARE NO certainties in life. I’m proof of that. Living proof.
When Amira died, a part of me died with her, but it seems another part of me was saved. I didn’t know the reason for the longest time, but now I do.
I have to live the biggest life I can—for her, for me. Arabella, my Bel, she understands that—and it’s why she means so much to me. I love her with every part that’s left of my heart. A piece was buried with Amira, but life goes on. I go on. With this amazing woman.
She’s different from Amira, and yet the same in strength, the same devotion to her cause. And somehow, I’ve become Bel’s cause. And she’s mine. Everything else? That’s just decoration.
Life can be short, brutal and cruel. It can also be beautiful. Sometimes it takes another person to point out that beauty to you. Or maybe you find it with them.
I’m standing with the brutal African sun burning down on my neck, staring at a dusty minefield in a dusty, forgotten country, with men and women looking to me to help them make their land safe again.
Officially, Bel is the Director of Events Fundraising at the Halo Trust, and she travels the world raising money for the charity. Unofficially, she heads up the Mine Risk Education programme here while Zada runs a clinic. Well, Zada is taking it easy at the moment as she has precious cargo on board.
Yep, Clay finally managed to get her in the family way, and they’re expecting the birth of their son in three months. I was right, too, because Zada refused to be sent home, although she has agreed to travel to the best hospital in Angola’s capital city, Luanda, to give birth. Other than that, she refuses to leave Clay’s side.
I give them two years, maybe three, before they decide to go back to the States to live, and Clay will go on to the next stage of his life.
As for me, I’ll go where the job takes me, wherever I can do some good.
Do good.
That’s what Amira wanted, and I’d like to think that I honour her name when another mine is neutralized, when another cache of munitions is taken out of the equation.
I’ve been lucky to have loved two women in my life—that’s more luck than an unwashed squaddie like me deserves.
The Right Honourable Lady Arabella Elizabeth Roecaster Forsythe goes by Mrs. Spears these days, unless she’s working on some snooty donor who wants her illustrious connections to the British peerage. Her dad taught her more than he knows, but I think he learned from her, too. I know I have. Every day she teaches me to be a better man.
Bomb disposal: I do a dangerous job in a dangerous world, but it’s not the sum of who I am. Bel taught me that, as well. She taught me a lot of things. She taught me that I am worth loving—I am worth the effort. If a woman like her can love me, maybe there’s something worth saving.
We’re living in a mud hut village in a no-name desert, and she still wants me. She doesn’t need Paris or Rome and five-star hotels. I am enough. It’s humbling.
Because I am loved.
Who the hell expected that? Love takes some getting used to.
Our life won’t be easy—we haven’t chosen an easy path, but we’ve chosen it together and that’s what counts.
Me and Bel against the world. And you know what? I’m betting on us.
THE END
Reviews
Reviews are love!
Honestly, they are! But it also helps other people to make an informed decision before buying this book.
So I’d really appreciate if you took a few seconds to do just that by clicking this link Goodreads
Thank you!
Series Titles by Jane Harvey-Berrick
* The EOD Series
Blood, bombs and heartbreak
*Tick Tock (EOD series #1)
Bombshell (EOD series #2)
*The Traveling Series
All the fun of the fair … and two worlds collide
*The Traveling Man (Traveling series #1)
*The Traveling Woman (Traveling series #2)
*Roustabout (Traveling series #3)
*Carnival (Traveling series #4)
*The Education Series
An epic love story spanning the years, through war zones and more…
*The Education of Sebastian (Education series #1)
*The Education of Caroline (Education series #2)
The Education of Sebastian & Caroline (combined edition, books 1 & 2)
Semper Fi: The Education of Caroline (Education series #3)
*The Rhythm Series
Blood, sweat, tears and dance
*Slave to the Rhythm (Rhythm series #1)
*Luka (Rhythm series #2)
With Stuart Reardon
*Undefeated
*Model Boyfriend
*Touch My Soul
Gym Or Chocolate? (September 2019)
Standalone Titles
Battle Scars
One Careful Owner
*Dangerous to Know & Love
*Lifers
At Your Beck & Call
Dazzled
Summer of Seventeen
The New Samurai
Exposure
The Dark Detective
Novellas
Playing in the Rain
*Behind the Walls
Audio Books
One Careful Owner
(narrated by Seth Clayton)
On the Stage
Later, After: Playscript
Later, After: DVD
Trailer
* These titles are published in languages other than English. Check my website for details.
More books by JHB
Standalone Titles
Battle Scars
One Careful Ow
ner
*Dangerous to Know & Love
*Lifers
At Your Beck & Call
Dazzled
Summer of Seventeen
The New Samurai
Exposure
The Dark Detective
Novellas
Playing in the Rain
*Behind the Walls
Audio Books
One Careful Owner
(narrated by Seth Clayton)
On the Stage
Later, After: Playscript
Later, After: DVD
Trailer
* These titles are published in languages other than English. Check my website for details.
Series Books
(click here)
“Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none”—this is one of my favourite sayings. Oh, and ‘Be Nice!’ That’s another. Or maybe, ‘Where’s the chocolate?’
I get asked where my ideas come from—they come from everywhere. From walks with my dog on the beach, from listening to conversations in pubs and shops, where I lurk unnoticed with my notebook. And of course, ideas come from things I’ve seen or read, places I’ve been and people I meet.
If you’ve seen me at any book signings you’ll know that I support the military charities Felix Fund in the UK and EOD Warrior Foundation in the US. Both are charities that support the men and women who work in bomb disposal, and their families.
Sales from SEMPER FI go to support these charities.
www.felixfund.org.uk – the UK Bomb Disposal Charity
www.eodwarrriorfoundation.org – the US Bomb Disposal Charity
www.nowzad.com – helping servicemen and women rescue stray and abandoned animals in former and current warzones
This story has heavily featured the work of the Halo Trust, but my information on demining around the world comes from two sources, neither of whom want to be named, but I thank them both unreservedly.
If you want to find out more about the work of the Halo Trust (Hazardous Area Life-support Organization), go to www.halotrust.org
Don’t forget to claim your free book!
My acclaimed novella PLAYING IN THE RAIN was featured in Huffington Post’s list of Top Ugly Cry Reads! Click here to see the whole list.
You’ll receive it for free when you sign up to my newsletter, as well as the opportunity to read ARCs of new stories.
Sign up --> http://janeharveyberrick.co.uk/newsletter-signup/
Find me!
And I really love to hear from readers, so all my contacts are below. Please do drop me a line.
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
Pinterest
Website
Goodreads
Book and Main
This story is personal to me in many ways. I have friends amongst the EOD community, so it’s important to me because of that. I’ve tried really hard to get the details right, although I have no military background myself. Yes, I did have people I could go to ask for further information. But any mistakes are mine, and mine alone, as is any creative licence with the story.
Wanting to write, being a writer, it’s a lifelong lesson, and one that I’m still learning. But there are a number of people who have helped guide and sculpt this book. So I’ll start with these women, all amazing in their own rights, all different, all supportive.
To J and J. Again. To Danny C.
To Krista Webster, for stepping in to help when I needed it, and for sorting out those pesky timeline issues.
To Kirsten Olsen, friend, confidant, editor, whose support never fails me.
To cover model Gergo Jonas, who is so much more than a handsome man, and has become a good friend, too.
To cover model Ellie Ruewell, whose good humour and big smiles made the photoshoot the best fun.
To the real Alan Clayton Williams who asked me to give him an awesome death, but became a hero instead.
To the real Rose Hogg, who is standing in for James’s ‘first time’, the lucky lass.
To Tonya ‘Maverick’ Allen, travel buddy and my own personal cheerleader.
To Sheena Lumsden and Lynda Throsby for many things, including their friendship and wicked organisational skills.
To all the bloggers who give up their time for their passion of reading and reviewing books—thank you for your support.
And to my readers. Not only do you have great taste, but you rock!
Thank you Jane’s Travelers. You know how much you mean to me and you never let me down. You are my go-to gals, advising, supporting, making me laugh when I need it, reporting pirates, and generally being the best reader group and friendship group I could want. I love all your messages, and thank you so much for being my eyes and ears out in our amazing book world while I hide in my writer’s cave.