“I love you, my son.” She brushed a kiss against his temple, and he smiled as he closed his eyes for the last time. He was gone. She slumped over the body of her son, sobbing. Dakota stroked her back, slowly easing her away and into his arms.
“He’s in a better place.” He held onto this woman who had been a mother to him during his childhood, hoping he was doing something to help her in this time of grief. When her hold finally loosened, he helped her to sit down.
“You’re a good man, Dakota Blackthorne.”
He crouched in front of her and looked into her eyes. She was calm now. It was apparent she knew this day was coming.
“I should have been here sooner, Stella.”
“You were here when you needed to be.” She stroked his cheek. “Anyway, it wouldn’t have mattered, he wouldn’t have recognized you.” Dakota looked at the still body of his friend, then back at John’s mother, debating whether or not to tell her of their conversation.
“I have to call Paul. Thank you again for being here, Dakota. I’m sure your presence helped bring peace to our son’s spirit.”
Dakota wasn’t sure about that, but he definitely planned to bring justice to the man he had been.
Excerpt from A Soldier’s Gift
Beyond Valor, Book 1
By Lynne St. James
Prologue
Beth checked her phone again. “Damn him. Can’t he ever get her back on time?” A sharp crack of thunder and strobe-like flash of lightning flooded the living room at the same time her phone vibrated. Figuring it was Doug, ex-husband, ex-army sergeant, and all around asshole, she didn’t bother to look at the screen. “You were supposed to have Dani home a half hour ago. Where are you?” Silence. Then crackle over the phone as another flash of lightning and rumble of thunder rolled through.
“Mrs. Fraser? Mrs. Elizabeth Fraser?”
“Yes. This is Elizabeth Fraser. I’m sorry I thought you were someone else.”
“No problem, ma’am. I’m Officer Reynolds from the Willow Haven Police Department. There’s been an accident…”
“Oh my God.” All the blood rushed to Beth’s head and the room spun. He was still speaking but all she heard was buzzing in her ears.
“I’m sorry. Can you say that again please?”
“Your husband and daughter have been in an accident. They’ve been brought to the hospital.”
“Is Dani going to be okay?”
“She and your husband have been burned badly and both are in ICU. Your husband was brought to the military hospital in Persimmon, and your daughter was brought to Willow Haven Hospital because they have better pediatric facilities. I’d suggest you get there as soon as possible.”
“I…umm…I’ll be right there.” She disconnected the phone without knowing if he was done talking or not. Her baby was in ICU. Shit. A chill washed over her as she looked at the phone as if seeing it for the first time. Accident.
Bo, their standard poodle, jumped on the couch and nuzzled her arm with his nose. “Sorry boy, I need to go see our Dani. She’s hurt.” Grabbing her purse and keys, she ran outside and got into her car. Soaked through to her underwear, she didn’t even notice as she drove through the pouring rain. Her little girl in ICU was the only thing that mattered.
“Hang on, Mac. Don’t you fuckin’ give up!”
Tom MacDonald, aka Mac, tried to sit up but he couldn’t. Tag was still in the Humvee, he had to get him out. Why was it so dark? He couldn’t see a fuckin’ thing, couldn’t move. Horrible pain racked his body as he struggled to get up and go back to the Humvee. Then nothingness as he passed out.
The whoosh of the chopper blades woke him up and blocked out all other sounds. He couldn’t move, couldn’t see. Was he dead?
“Lieutenant? Hang on, we’ll be at the field hospital soon.”
The helicopter landed and he was rushed into triage. He was still alive, at least he hoped. More voices but none of them sounded familiar. Were they talking about him?
“Head injury, doc.”
“What’s his name, soldier?”
“Lt. Tom MacDonald.”
“What happened?”
“Their Humvee was hit. He pulled three guys out before he was hit.”
“We need to get him into surgery now. If we’re lucky we’ll save his life, if he’s lucky he won’t have permanent brain damage.”
Brain damage? They should have left me to die…
Chapter One
“Lieutenant, how are you feeling today?”
“I’d be better if I could see, and my head feels like it’s being split in two.”
“I can up your pain meds. Your brain is still healing and it may take a while for the pain to go away. I wanted to talk to you about something else. Do you remember when we discussed a cornea transplant once the swelling and pressure went down?”
“Yeah. But you said it would take a while. Although, I’d say two months qualifies. Don’t you, doc?”
Chuckling, the doctor agreed. “Well your wait may be over. Your last scan was much improved. We can go ahead with the transplant and you should be able to see again. Of course there are no guarantees.”
“Shit, really? Uh sorry, doc. And yeah I know it’s still possible I won’t see.”
“We believe you will. Your corneas were burned and the transplant should take care of your blindness now that the pressure on the optic nerve is gone.”
“I hope you’re right. I know I should be thankful it’s the only thing wrong with me, but…”
“I know. You’d rather see. Who wouldn’t? You really were lucky. If the field surgeon hadn’t done such a good job you’d probably have permanent brain damage.”
“When can I have the surgery?”
“We’re waiting on the corneas. It’s possible it could happen tomorrow but we won’t know for sure.”
“Tomorrow? You have spare corneas waiting around?”
“Unfortunately there was a bad accident a few months ago and the patient has been on life support with no improvement. The patient is an organ donor and the family could decide at any time to say goodbye. When they do we’ll do the surgery.”
“Damn. Who are they?”
“I’m afraid donors are kept anonymous.”
“Is there any way I can thank them?”
“Well you can write them a letter when you get your sight back and we can pass it on to them. As soon as we get notice we’ll come and prep you for the surgery. In the meantime, you’re off food until after the procedure.”
“No problem. Thanks, doc, I appreciate all you’ve done for me.”
“It’s our pleasure, soldier, it’s the least we can do for the sacrifices you all make. I’ll be back as soon as I know something.”
“Hi, honey, sorry I’m late,” Beth said with an exhausted smile for her best friend and co-owner of the bookstore, Treasured Tales.
Julie looked up from the book she’d been reading and smiled at Beth. “You look like shit. Damn. Have you slept at all?”
Rolling her eyes, she shrugged. “What do you think?”
“That’d be a no. Shit, you’re going to be no good to Dani or anyone else if you drop dead or run your car into a telephone pole.”
“Yeah, yeah. What am I supposed to do?”
“Not spend every night in the hospital with her. She’s twelve, not five. She would understand. She loves you.”
“I’m not so sure about that. She’s miserable, in pain, and I think permanently hormonal.”
Julie laughed as she slid a cup of coffee across the counter to her friend. “Again, she’s twelve, what do you expect. She’s also been through hell. But she’s still your daughter, beautiful and tough as nails.”
Beth took a sip of the steaming coffee before answering. The hot liquid weaved a trail of heat through her frozen body. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept more than an hour or so while dozing in the recliner in Dani’s hospital room.”
“What would I do without you?”<
br />
“You’d be lost of course.”
Beth laughed, and hugged her. It’s true, I would be lost. The last three months were hell. Most of her time was spent with Dani at Willow Haven Hospital, and at least once she’d swing by to check on Doug at the military hospital. Going between the VA hospital to see Doug and Willow Haven to see Dani, She’d hardly been at the bookstore and Julie picked up the slack.
“Thank you. It’s not enough but I don’t know what else to say.”
“Stop. How long have we known each other? Geesh, woman. Get over it. I stopped by to see Dani this morning and dropped off some new books for her. I must have missed you.”
“Probably when I went home to shower and feed Bo. Poor dog doesn’t know what the hell is going on. He looks almost as sad as I feel.”
“He’ll be fine. You need to stop worrying about everything. I know it’s hard, but Dani is getting better, she’ll be home soon and you need to get back to living again.”
“I know. It’s just she’s my baby, and stubborn as hell. She’s still saying she won’t go back to school. She doesn’t want to see anyone. She thinks she’s ugly.”
“Stubborn? Damn you think? Wonder where she got that from? You need to remind her how lucky she is. It could have been so much worse.”
“Yeah, but like you keep reminding me—she’s twelve. Everything is about looks. Even though her face is almost healed. Hell, I can hardly see the scarring anymore, but her right arm, leg, and half her back will never be like they were before.”
“How is she with her friends?”
“She won’t see them. Even Hannah stopped coming to visit, not that I blame her. I’m hoping Dani will be better when she gets home.”
“What if she doesn’t?”
“I don’t know. Her doctor says she needs more than physical therapy. He recommended someone—a therapist—but I haven’t talked to her about it yet. She was in a good mood last night and I didn’t want to ruin it.”
Biography
Lynne St. James lives in the mostly sunny state of Florida with her husband, two dogs and two cats. When she’s not writing, she’s reading, taking pictures and sometimes cooking, which makes her hubby really happy.
Traveling is a passion of Lynne’s and if she had her way she’d travel all the time and write wherever she visited. Maybe someday…
A coffee addiction keeps her Keurig on constant standby as she weaves her stories. Her addiction has fueled a “Coffee” Pinterest board. If you’re looking for coffee recipes, funnies, or just snark it’s the place to go.
Lynne loves to hear from her readers, and you can contact her here:
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorLynneStJames
Website: http://lynnestjames.com
Excerpt from Forget Me Knot
Crawley Creek Series
By Lori King
Chapter One
“You can’t keep doing this to yourself, Romeo.” Drannon stared down at the half-naked form of his brother sprawled out on the front porch. It was lucky Roman had made so much noise stumbling around drunk, or he might have frozen to death before morning. As it was, he’d woken Drannon from a sound sleep, and as usual, Drannon had gone to his brother’s rescue. Dragging Roman’s limp body up over his shoulder, and carrying him out of the February night air, he grumbled under his breath, “Going to end up poisoning your blood with alcohol, or get some sort of damn STD. Why the hell do you think you have to bang every woman this side of the Mississippi anyway? Stupid. Just plain ol’stupid is what that is.”
There was no response from the unconscious man, but Drannon felt better as he spewed out his feelings on the recurrent situation. For months he and the other guys had been bailing Roman out and cleaning him up after his binge partying sessions. Maybe it was time to give the kid an ultimatum. Dry out and straighten up, or…
It was the “or” that was the problem. Drannon would never be able to kick his brother off the ranch, no matter how stupid he behaved. Crawley Creek was all Roman had, all any of them had, and it belonged to the whole lot of them.
With one final curse, he dumped Roman onto the sofa and headed for the kitchen in search of a midnight snack. The bright light of the fridge made him squint as he reached for the milk to go with the cookies he knew Marilyn had just put in the cookie jar.
“I thought I heard something.” Vin’s voice startled him, and he choked on his cookie spewing crumbs all over the counter top. Laughing, Vin slapped him on the back, “Sorry D, didn’t mean to scare you. Didn’t you bring your teddy-bear downstairs with you?”
"Asshole,” Drannon grumbled, reaching for a napkin to wipe his face. “The teddy bear is passed out on the sofa, probably drooling all over Marilyn’s fancy pillows, and mumbling to himself, as usual.”
Vin’s eyes narrowed, and he shook his head. “Not again.”
“Yep. Found him on the porch minus his coat, shirt and boots.”
“Fuck. That kid is trying to kill himself.” Vin took a seat at the breakfast bar, and swiped a cookie from the jar. “Who’d he go out with tonight?”
“No clue, but he smells like cheap perfume and cigarettes. I was half tempted to dunk him in the horse tank before I brought him in, but that isn’t fair to the horses.” Drannon snorted at his own joke. Roman Freemont, aka Romeo, was only ten years younger than he and Vin, but he acted like a teenager. Partying, and womanizing like it was going out of style. “We’re going to have to do something about it.”
“Yeah, but I don’t have a clue what.” Vin scraped his nails over his shaved head in a gesture that was as routine as breathing for him. “He’s been tore up ever since…”
His words drifted off, but Drannon nodded his understanding. Less than a year ago, Abraham Crawley had died of a sudden heart attack while fixing a fence in the west pasture. Roman was supposed to have gone with him that day to help him make the repairs, but he’d spent the night at a lady friend’s house, and hadn’t gotten home in time, so Abe had left on his own. Roman held on to the crazy idea that if he’d been there with Abe he could have saved him, even though the doctors insisted Abe had died almost instantly.
“Guilt’s still eating him alive inside.” Drannon said, sighing heavily as the sweets he’d consumed turned into a heavy lump in his belly. “He needs help.”
“Yep, but he’s too stubborn to admit it.”
“Just like someone else I know,” Drannon shot back with a pointed look at Vin.
His brother’s nostrils flared, and his eyes darkened in the murky kitchen lighting. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Like you don’t know? You go all Incredible Hulk on everyone at the slightest thing lately. That PTSD isn’t something to play around with, Vin. You need to get back on those meds.” Drannon hated pointing it out, especially this late at night, but the opportunity had presented itself, and he couldn’t let it go.
“That medicine makes me numb. I’d rather feel something than nothing,” Vin grumbled. “Besides, it ain’t my fault the guys you hired last summer are morons. Shit, if we had some hands with brains around here maybe I wouldn’t lose my temper so much.”
It was an argument Vin had made for too long, but Drannon let it drop because two a.m. was not the time to get into it with his brother.
“I’m going back to bed. We have an empty house until Thursday, but then we get a guest.” Drannon put the milk away, and wiped the crumbs from the counter into his palm.
Vin frowned back at him as he put the cookie jar away, “A guest? In February?”
“I know, but they booked it a while ago, and it’s already paid for. I can’t imagine anyone taking a trip to the Dakotas in the dead of winter for fun, but whatever. Money is money, and if we’re going to start taking in fosters this summer, we need what we can get.”
Following Drannon into the main hallway, Vin nodded, “True that. Want me to take him upstairs?” He gestured toward the living room where Roman’s sno
res rumbled.
Drannon shook his head, “Don’t bother. Marilyn will lay into him when she finds him in the morning, and he deserves what he gets.”
“That’s stone cold, man,” Vin said with a chuckle, “but I like it.”
The two parted ways, with Drannon heading up the main staircase to the original wing of the house, and Vin heading farther down the hallway to the new wing that was added a couple of decades ago. Abraham and Seraphina Crawley had turned Crawley Creek Ranch into a home for foster children, and as their small clan of orphans and runaways grew, they kept adding on to the main house until it was obvious they needed more space. Cabins sprang up all over the back forty acres, and after the kids grew up and moved away, the buildings stood empty.
Walking through the silence in the dimly lit hallway regularly brought back the memory of how Drannon came to be at Crawley Creek, and he let himself drift back thirty years on a memory.
No one ever told Drannon outright that his mother was dead, but it wasn’t hard to figure out. All around him, people avoided his questioning gaze until he stopped looking altogether. The doctor gave him an uncomfortable one-armed hug, and told him that everything would be okay, but the stately man left unspoken the phrase that would shatter a child’s eight-year-old heart.
It didn’t matter that Kelsey Russo was a drug addict who frequently sold her body to men in order to buy peanut butter and bread to keep in the cupboards of their tiny one bedroom apartment. All that mattered was that she was his mom and the only person in the world who had ever loved him. Now she was gone. A victim of her own demons.
After several hours of lonely boredom in the tiny hospital waiting room, a tired looking woman with dark coffee-colored skin, her hair pulled back in a severe bun, arrived to collect him. By the time she’d completed the hospital’s necessary release paperwork, Drannon was near to falling over with hunger and exhaustion.
Her Loyal Seal Page 20