Right Here Waiting (Ward Sisters Book 3)

by Lucy Gage

“Okay. Fine. Change of subject. Oh, look! Fruit. Something that won’t make me gain ten pounds looking at it.”

  Meg laughed. “As if you have that problem.”

  “Not all of us look like supermodels without trying.”

  “No, some of us look like pinups instead,” she said with a wink.

  Em smiled. “Still my biggest fan?”

  “You know it, Emma Bean.”

  **********

  Hamilton College, Clinton, New York, four years ago…

  His phone played the standard ring, which meant an unknown caller. Tempted to ignore it and continue studying, Neil pushed answer on the last ring.

  “Hello?”

  “Murph,” Owen said, his voice hoarse.

  “Sarge? You okay, buddy?” The boys would be home in a couple weeks from their Iraq deployment. Owen had called once or twice, but not often. They’d mostly kept in touch via email and letters.

  Owen cleared his throat. “Tiger is dead.”

  The weight of his best friend’s statement slammed into Neil like Thor’s hammer to the head. Willing his throat not to close, he said, “Holy shit. What happened?”

  Owen’s voice wavered. “Took a bullet to his carotid on patrol.”

  Oh, no. Owen had been promoted to Sergeant when the guys had first arrived in Iraq 18 months ago, which meant he’d been John’s commanding officer at the time he died. Neil knew Owen well enough to understand he had a sense of responsibility for Tiger’s death.

  “Jesus, Owen. You know it’s not your fault, right?”

  Clearing his throat, Owen replied, “I know. Jack…”

  “Is Jack okay?”

  “I don’t know if I’d say okay. He’s alive. He wasn’t injured. But he held Tiger in his arms as he died, Murph. If you heard him when we got there…fuck. I’ve never heard a sound like that.”

  “You still back in a couple weeks?”

  Drawing a deep breath, Owen said, “Yeah. I don’t think…I’m not so sure Strongman is staying in, Murph. He’s pretty fucked up over this. CO is talking about honorably discharging him.”

  “I’ll be there when you guys get back, no matter what it takes.”

  “Good. Good. Jack needs us right now. Sarah…”

  Neil understood. Jack not only had to deal with his best friend’s death, he had to face Sarah, John’s fiancée. He had to tell the woman he loved that he’d watched her man die and didn’t save him.

  “I’ll be there. We’ll handle it. Together.”

  “Thanks, Murph. I knew I could count on you.”

  “Always, brother. Love you, man.”

  “Yeah. Love you, too.”

  Chapter 6

  Los Angeles International Airport, Eight months ago…

  As the plane touched down at LAX, Meg breathed a sigh of relief. The retreat she’d attended in Thailand had been grueling. Why she’d chosen to stay an extra week, she had no clue.

  Oh, right. Bryce.

  Two days into the sweaty, lonely process, Meg met the tall, dark and handsome Boston doctor. Exactly the kind of guy she usually found attractive, and all the signs pointed to his pursuit of her. He had easily convinced her to stay another week.

  Not even a day into week two, a new guy, Chaz, sat with them at lunch. Bryce made it obvious that his attraction to Chaz far exceeded any interest in Meg.

  Whether Meg’s gaydar malfunctioned or Bryce leaned toward bisexual and fickle, it didn’t matter. The point of the retreat had been to get away from the end of a crappy relationship and reboot her chances of finding a guy who wouldn’t disappoint her. Rather than jump into a full-on sexual relationship with a guy straightaway, she was trying to go back to the way she’d been in her early college years, getting to know someone well before she slept with them and no more using a fling as a means to erase a bad breakup.

  Thankfully, nothing had happened between her and Bryce – the retreat didn’t lend itself to sexual relationships – and she’d hoped that the reset had worked.

  With a three-hour layover, Meg knew she couldn’t sit in the gate area the whole time. The boredom and jet lag would catch up to her, and she’d fall asleep. She decided to wander around on the other side of security, thinking she might get lucky and see someone famous.

  It might be five o’clock somewhere, but Meg really wanted a steaming cup of coffee. After two weeks of drinking tea, detoxing her body and losing weight that wasn’t really extra, she wanted to go back to her normal routine. That meant a big, black cup of java first thing.

  Next time I need a break from life, she thought, I think I’ll go back to the Keys instead. Or Hawaii. At least they have coffee.

  Thankfully, she discovered an internet cafe with free Wi-Fi and charging stations. Getting back to normal meant getting back to work.

  Might as well start now.

  She ordered a black coffee, located an empty charging station, and booted her computer. While she waited for Windows, she plugged her phone into another outlet and nearly fainted when she saw over twenty voicemails and eighteen text messages. What could be so urgent? As a marriage and family therapist, her clients were typically stable.

  Knowing that this wasn’t the place for private, work-related calls, she thought it would make more sense to check email first.

  Mistake.

  Her email in-box surpassed her phone and text mailboxes. At least Gmail sorted that stuff for her, and she saw that Em’s sister, Charlie, was responsible for ten of the emails that weren’t filtered into various junk mail or work folders.

  She clicked on the string from Charlie and it quickly became apparent that Em’s little sister had forgotten that Meg had left for the retreat. The two of them were friends outside their connection to Emily, partly because they mutually admired movie star Deac Roberts. The title to Charlie’s first email had been, You will NEVER believe who Deac is dating… Given that Deac hadn’t officially dated anyone in years, Meg understood Charlie’s fascination, but the incessant emails seemed a bit excessive, until Meg read the interior of the message.

  Meggie, you will die when you hear this. Call me. I’ve been trying to call you for two days. I’ve sent you a dozen texts and left at least that many messages! Why won’t you pick up?

  Meggie, why are you ignoring me? I know you haven’t talked to Em. Oh, crap. I forgot you’re on that retreat. You’re back tomorrow. I’ll try again then.

  Meggie, I left you a half-dozen new messages and several texts! Why aren’t you answering me!!? Crap! Mom just said that Sarah told her you stayed a second week. It better be for a good reason, because you will NOT believe what you’ve missed! Call me as soon as you get back from Thailand! It’s urgent!!

  Meg sighed. She bet her phone call log and the text strings would show that most of the missed calls and texts would be from Charlie Ward. What the hell could possibly be so critical? She skimmed the logs and didn’t see anything from Em. Then again, her best friend knew about the trip to Thailand and the extra week.

  Whatever the issue, she expected to need a second cup of coffee.

  In line at the counter, Meg saw a guy in military fatigues leaning against the half-wall, his back to her, waiting for his order. He scrolled through his phone while he sipped an open cup of black coffee.

  Under the uniform, muscles obviously bulged and even with a hat on his head, she could see that he sported a buzz cut – too much like Toby, always a turnoff. After a couple months without any intimate contact, her selective dating seemed pointless when she found a guy attractive, especially when she’d been rejected for Chaz.

  Glancing at the guy’s left hand, she didn’t see a ring. That meant nothing, as she well knew, but at least it was a place to start. Her eyes roamed his backside, and a grin crept across her face.

  What a great ass.

  The guy turned around, perhaps sensing that she’d been staring at him. When he faced her, she was confronted with green eyes that went from wary to sparkling in a split second. A smile quirked his lips, an odd loo
k of…recognition? But she didn’t know this man. Did she?

  Before she could ask him, the barista said, “Can I help you?” The spell was broken. Meg relayed her order, intending to reengage the soldier, but when she returned her gaze to him, she found a female soldier touching his face in a loving gesture.

  No ring, but taken. Right.

  The barista handed her the cup of coffee and she thanked the girl. Immediately after, another barista said, “Sir, your latte,” and the guy stepped in Meg’s direction. They did a little ‘which-way-are-you-going’ dance and both laughed when he finally stood still and said, “After you.” A chill went up Meg’s spine at the sound of his voice, but she couldn’t place why.

  It doesn’t matter, she thought. He’s not available. Go back to your computer and forget about him.

  Head ducked, she renewed her attention to her laptop and ignored the sensation of being watched. She heard a voice say, “Let’s just go. I want to get home, baby. I need to be alone with you.”

  “Yeah, okay,” that deep voice said, sounding resigned. Huh. Well, he might be taken, but Meg would bet there was trouble in paradise.

  When it seemed safe to look up again, Meg tilted her head just in time to catch his tail as it departed the shop. He glanced back and caught her eye for a split second. Embarrassed to be caught looking again, she blushed and quickly darted her eyes back to the keyboard.

  Her heart raced, like a teenager with a crush.

  It made absolutely no sense. At twenty-seven, she wasn’t some inexperienced, lovestruck girl who fell in love at first sight. That guy wasn’t even her type! He was opposite her type. Or at least too much like Toby Hill in appearance to make her even think twice.

  And yet, she’d thought twice. She had been seconds from asking the guy if he knew her, even if it sounded like a line.

  It had to be the celibacy. Meg didn’t sleep around, but she had long ago learned that it was impossible to get an ex out of her brain until she’d replaced that sexual experience with someone else. The aim of the retreat was to go all Eat, Pray, Love on herself and see if she could train her brain to find another route to get over the last breakup.

  Yeah, apparently, it didn’t stick, because here she was, entertaining the idea of some random stranger in a coffee shop. God, she was so pathetic. What was she thinking? That she’d go bang him in the airport bathroom? Had she really stooped that low? No. She hadn’t. She could at least wait until she made it home and met someone more realistic.

  Whenever this type of shame happened, she tried to take a deep breath and think about the boy in the gym lobby, the one who’d made her feel like she was a good person underneath it all, that she could be more than what all those kids thought she was. He’d believed in her once, and she didn’t want to disappoint him. Who knew why he’d become her talisman or her patron saint, but he had.

  There had been very few moments over the years when she’d slipped and let sex soothe her heartache. Of course, everyone she knew assumed it was her usual thing, not the exception, even Em, Charlie and Nina, to a degree. Aside from Jason, there had been that musician she’d met at a concert in Boston, Eric. That had been after another humiliating turn as someone’s ‘other woman’. God, did she know how to pick the adulterers or what? But that had been it. Most of the time, while she fooled around and kissed many guys, she didn’t sleep with them. Everyone she knew would be shocked to learn that she’d actually slept with fewer than ten guys and only two of them hadn’t actually been boyfriends.

  Sighing in resignation and relief that fate had intervened, Meg returned to her previous task and called Charlie.

  Despite the early hour, Charlie answered on the first ring. “Holy crap, Meggie! It’s about damn time!”

  “Hey, Charlie Brown. What’s shakin’? You have some urgent news? Are you pregnant or something?”

  Charlie snorted. “No. It’s crazier than that. You will never guess who Deac Roberts is currently dating.”

  “Charlie, you didn’t seriously inundate my inbox on email, phone and text to tell me about a celebrity’s girlfriend, did you? Even if he came out of the closet, that’s still not important news.”

  “It’s Em!”

  “What?”

  “He’s dating Em!”

  “Em? As in Emma Bean? My best friend, your sister?”

  “Yes!”

  “No fucking way!” Realizing that she’d yelled in a public place, Meg blushed and lowered her voice. “I mean, how is that possible?”

  “She met him in Minneapolis. Like, literally ran into him. Or he ran into her. Something like that. You’ll have to ask her. But she’s dating him. She’s sleeping with him, Meggie! Deac Roberts! Em is having sex with Deac Roberts!”

  “Wow.”

  “I know, right? And she’s going with him to the Globes.”

  “The Golden Globes?”

  “Yes! Isn’t that insane? She’ll be on TV! He’s presenting and Shattered Glass is nominated for Best Drama. Imagine all the famous people she’ll meet! And she’ll get Louboutins. She already got some, for the gala.”

  “What gala?” She dropped her voice further, “How is Em sleeping with Deac Roberts when she’s living with Josh? And what is she doing in Minnesota?”

  “Oh, you have no idea what happened. Right. Well, she’ll tell you the story, but she told Josh she wanted a break.”

  “A break? Like a Rachel-and-Ross break?”

  “Well, sort of, I guess. I think Josh expected it to be short-term, but Em was ready to be done.”

  “Finally. God, I thought she’d never end it with him.”

  “Well, technically, he ended it. She went to Minneapolis for work and to escape the whole marriage-pressure deal. I guess she met Deac the first day and the next morning, I found a video in my Twitter feed of them kissing at a club. Josh caught wind of it and dumped her first.”

  Josh caught wind of it from Annie, no doubt, always looking for a way to stab Em in the back. Josh being her A-1 reason for jealousy the past five years. Em seemed to be the only person who didn’t see that Annie was in love with Josh. Well, maybe Gail was clueless, too.

  “Did she sleep with him?”

  “She said she didn’t the first night, and I’m inclined to believe her. You know what a good girl she is. If I was in her shoes, I’d have been all over that man like white on rice as soon as he spoke to me.”

  “Maybe that’s why he likes her. He does like her, right?”

  “I’d assume so, given that she’s actually dating him. Not to mention that she has been practically living with him.”

  “Living with him? She made Josh wait two years to live with her.”

  “Right? But she’s been living at either his suite at the hotel or his house near Minneapolis since she arrived. She went home with him for Christmas, Meggie. With his family. She went to church with them. They posted a selfie in front of his Christmas tree on Christmas Eve and his assistant blasted it all over his social networking.”

  “So it’s official. This is huge. He hasn’t dated anyone since…”

  “Since Lola. Right. I don’t know if Em realizes how big this is.”

  “No, I doubt she does. She’s not into celebrity stuff.”

  “Call her. She needs you. She’s in over her head.”

  “That’s an understatement. Thanks for the heads up.”

  “Where are you?”

  “LAX on a layover. I need to meet a new guy soon. I just saw this soldier and almost jumped him, until I realized he had a girlfriend.”

  “If you like soldiers, Dan’s best friend is in the Army. I think he’s taken, but I bet he has some hot friends.”

  “That’s okay. It was just the celibacy talking. I’m not into beefcake of any sort. Deac is about as muscular as I want.”

  “You’re missing out. Call Em. I bet she’s dying to talk to you.”

  “I’ll have to wait until I get home. It’ll be a long conversation, and I have to go back through security to c
atch my flight. My next two layovers are only long enough to use the bathroom.”

  “Call me later. We need to catch up, too.”

  “Will do. We have wedding details to discuss.”

  “I asked Em to send naked pictures of Deac, but she declined. Oh, and she calls him Rob.”

  “Rob? I know that’s his real name, but no one calls him that.”

  “Apparently, his family and friends call him that.”

  “Oh. Well. She’s in deep if she gets to call him his real name.”

  “I don’t think she has ever called him Deac. He introduced himself as Rob. She says she’s in love with him, Meggie.”

  “Oh, shit. And does he feel the same?”

  “He told her he does. Can you imagine a man that beautiful being in love with you?”

  She wanted to say, No, I can’t. I’ve never been in love. No one has ever been in love with me. Except Nico, and I wasn’t in love with him.

  Instead, she said, “It’s a little crazy.”

  “Can you shrink her? She needs more than just a friend.”

  Meg laughed. “Don’t worry. I always do.”

  They hung up and she sighed. Of course Em landed the hottest guy on the planet without trying. It was the story of her life.

  **********

  Neil had wanted to stay in the cafe and finish their coffee, but Beth said no. What he didn’t tell her was that he wanted to talk to the girl he’d seen in there.

  Just before Beth had arrived, Neil had read an email from Danny about Meghan Miles being one of Charlie’s bridesmaids, teasing that he should find a way to be in the wedding party come hell or high water. Because the girl of his dreams had been on his mind, Neil wasn’t surprised to turn and see her. Except, he was sure that he’d been imagining that the girl in the airport coffee shop was Meghan. Was it possible? Maybe. Was it likely? No.

  He thought for sure he’d been right when the woman looked like she might recognize him, but this girl appeared a little gaunt, and he couldn’t be positive at that moment. He was intending to ask if she was Meghan, when the barista asked for her order, and then Beth stepped into the shop and staked her claim. He’d wanted to stay and get a better look, but Beth’s sixth sense of jealousy had alerted her to Neil’s distraction, and she loudly declared her need to leave and jump his bones.