by Liz Johnson
Mandy’s form disappeared beneath the water, Tara hovering over her, a deranged smile splitting her face.
Lord, keep me on my feet.
It took hours to reach her. It took only seconds. Finally and suddenly, he made it, pushing Tara to the side and scooping Mandy’s limp form from the sea.
Tara burst out of the water like a sea monster, her arms flailing and eyes wild as she clung to him. “She deserves this. She killed my sister!”
Luke flung her off his back, charging for solid ground. “I’m pretty sure you were driving the car.”
Tara froze, her mouth hanging open and a hand on her cheek as though his words had been a physical slap. The approaching sirens seemed to jerk her from her stupor, and she took off at a slow run through the water.
He couldn’t chase her just then. He had more important things to worry about. Mandy’s unresponsive body rested against his chest, her head lolled back, her chest unmoving.
She wasn’t breathing.
Setting her on the sand, he knelt over her, using his pocket knife to cut the zip tie around her wrists before checking first for a breath—nothing—and then a pulse, thready but steady. Angling her neck, he plugged her nose and sealed his mouth over hers. He released a hard breath, and her chest rose. Then again. And again.
And then she coughed hard, half of the Pacific spewing from her mouth. He rolled her to her side, letting her empty her stomach. After several heaves, she fell back, eyes closed but chest definitely rising and falling in a regular rhythm.
Pressing his palm to her cheek, careful to avoid the red abrasion there, he leaned in. “Mandy? Can you hear me?”
She covered his hand with hers. “I’m here.” The words were more croak than melody, but they still filled his chest, blooming like flowers in spring. The vise on his heart fell away, and it beat normally for the first time in hours.
“You had me worried there, Doc.”
She patted his hand, her eyes still closed, a tiny smirk wiggling into place. “Took your sweet time getting here, didn’t you?”
“Well, you didn’t exactly leave me a map.”
“Obviously I would have, if I hadn’t been stunned.”
His insides felt as if they’d been jabbed with a fork. “Oh, honey. I’m sorry.” He brushed her sopping hair out of the way and ran a gentle thumb near the twin burns on her neck. She flinched and gasped. “I know. It hurts. But you’re going to be okay. We’ll get you some help.”
Her lashes fluttered open, her eyes filled with equal parts pain and relief. “You been stunned before?”
Memories of being thrown into the deep end of a pool, hands and feet tied, during SEAL training brought an empathetic smile. “And drowned, too. You’re going to be fine.”
Slipping her fingers between his, she gave his hand a slow squeeze. “’Cause we’re in this together. ’Member?”
“Yes. I remember.”
Except there was no more this.
Two policemen were dragging a waterlogged Tara across the beach, her head hung low, her fight gone. The operation was complete. Mandy had nothing left to fear. She had no more need of his protection.
But losing her wasn’t an option. And if it had to become his lifelong mission, he would show her they were better together.
SIXTEEN
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Mandy snapped up from tying her shoes to find Ashley Waterstone standing at her screened back door, one hand on her hip, the other cradling a brown paper bag of groceries.
She hopped up and ran across her small kitchen to let her in. “What are you doing here?”
“Well, I thought I was coming to check on the invalid.” Ashley’s blond ponytail bounced with her teasing.
Mandy laughed, the sound rich and true, bouncing off the white cupboards. “Staci and Jess were just here yesterday. I’m fine.” When Ashley arched an eyebrow, Mandy rushed to reassure her. “Re-eally.” Oh, dear. That hitch in her voice was a dead giveaway, and her friend latched on to it like a fisherman reeling in his catch.
Setting the bag on the counter, Ashley crossed her arms and leaned a hip against the counter. “We’ve known each other since Matt’s rehab, so there’s no need to pretend with me. You’ve been through something awful, and no one would fault you for needing a little bit of time. It’s only been four days.”
Mandy stared at her empty hands, suddenly needing something to do. “Let me make you some coffee.” She opened the wrong cabinet and laughed at herself. “I guess I’m still getting used to being in my own home.” It felt as if she’d been displaced for years instead of a few days. But so much had happened in that short amount of time.
“Honey, do you want to talk about it?”
No. She had no desire to talk about Tara or her trip to the police station to make a statement against the madwoman. She didn’t want to rehash the pain of being attacked yet again or the fear she’d felt in the moment before she passed out underwater. Or the sheer joy of hearing Luke’s deep voice when she woke up.
She’d already spent enough sleepless nights reliving, rebreathing those moments.
What she really wanted was to know why Luke hadn’t called her since the beach.
The sick feeling deep inside was all the explanation she needed. After all, she’d told him what they’d shared wasn’t real and they couldn’t be together. She’d pushed him away after their life-altering kiss.
But most of all, she wanted to know how any of this could be part of God’s plan.
The pain, the struggles and turmoil—those were for her growth, right? Scripture said something about rejoicing in suffering because it developed character. It wasn’t fun. It wasn’t easy, but she was growing, becoming more the woman she wanted to be and less the selfish, blind one.
Those hurts weren’t wasted.
But the broken heart?
She wasn’t sure what that was for.
Ashley reached for the mug she offered, and Mandy poured another for herself. Pressing the cup to her lips and inhaling the sharp steam of the dark roast, she closed her eyes and tried to think about anything except Luke. It wasn’t easy when his face had been tattooed on her mind’s eye.
“It’s just that he hasn’t called.” Could she possibly sound any more pathetic?
Ashley offered a gentle smile of encouragement, and suddenly the words were pouring out of her mouth as if Mandy had no filter. “I told him early on that we couldn’t be more than patient and therapist, but he just climbed over that wall like it was a footstool. And then I told him the worst—the absolute worst thing I’ve ever done—and he didn’t even flinch. It was like he saw the best in me and refused to believe I was the same woman.”
“You’re not, you know.”
Mandy’s gaze swung from her coffee to Ashley’s face.
“I didn’t know you very well back then, and what I did know, I liked a lot. You were a great physical therapist and a kind woman. But after Gary, you had this compassion that I hadn’t seen before. The way you talked with the women at PCH, it was clear you knew what it was like to be emotionally battered. And Luke might have mentioned to Matt how impressed he was when you told Gary to get lost or you’d slap a restraining order on him.”
She threw a hand over her eyes. “He didn’t.”
“Oh, he definitely did. And the old Mandy never would have stood up for herself like that.” Ashley squeezed her hand, furrowed her brows and leaned in close. “You don’t have to be afraid of making the same mistakes that you made before, because God is changing you.
“And you’re in a doubly good place because Luke is the kind of guy who will bring out the very best in you.”
A tear slid down Mandy’s cheek, and she knuckled it away. If that was really true, then she was suffering this broken heart for no good reason.
Suddenly her phone vibrated, and she jumped to pick it up off the table. Luke.
Her mouth went dry as she flashed the screen at Ashley.
&nb
sp; “Answer it,” she whispered.
Mandy cleared her throat and did her best to sound put together when she said, “Hey, Luke.”
“Hi.” He paused, and the silence was filled only with the deafening thump of her heart. “So, I think there might be something going on with my knee.”
She flipped the switch to professional mode in an instant. “You have to get it checked out. If you can’t get an appointment with your orthopedist today, go to the ER.”
“I was actually wondering if you would take a look at it.”
“Me?” The word squeaked out, and Ashley shot her a smile.
“Could you meet me at your office in an hour?”
“All right.”
*
Luke took a giant breath and let it out slowly. Then he pulled on the handle of the glass door. The blinds rattled at about the same tempo as his heart, and he scrubbed a hand down his face.
He hadn’t been this nervous when he’d started BUD/S.
But he’d given her four days of space, and he couldn’t wait another.
“Mandy?” he called into the empty office.
“I’m in the back room.”
When he reached her, she was busy wiping down the exercise equipment. “Hop up on the table.” She flashed him a smile over her shoulder, but if he wasn’t mistaken, it carried a definite note of uncertainty.
Then he would just have to be certain enough for the both of them.
Sitting on the table, he swung up his leg and undid his brace. The Velcro cried as it released, especially loud in the otherwise empty building.
Her head still bent over a large exercise ball, she said, “I told you not to walk on sand. Why’d you do it?”
“I just did what anyone else would have done.”
“Really?” She shook her head, stood, wiped her hands down her pants and ran her fingers through her hair. It hung loose and long, a change from the ponytail she usually wore at work, and he had to fist his hands at his hips to keep from reaching for her.
“Because I think anyone who wanted back on the teams wouldn’t have been so careless.”
He tipped his chin down, raising his eyebrows. “Seriously. You’re going to get on my case for saving your life?”
She squirted a glob of hand sanitizer in her palm and rubbed it in. “You’re right. I should probably just say thank you.” She gave him another off-kilter smile.
“You don’t have to—”
She cut him off quickly, clearly needing to change the subject. “So how’s it feeling? Where does it hurt?”
Okay, so it was going to be like that. Professional mode. He could play that game.
“Pretty good.”
She wrapped her hands around his calf and gave it a gentle tug, bending and stretching the joint. Glancing up, she watched his face, but he couldn’t stop the smile there.
“There isn’t any swelling or redness. Is it tender when I pull on it?”
He shook his head. “Not really.”
“Does it hurt when you walk on it?”
“No.”
Her lips twisted into a strange frown. “Then what makes you think there’s a problem? It looks good to me. We can go in for an MRI, but honestly, I think you’re okay. There’s no new damage. And if you don’t make it a habit of running on the beach for a while, then you’re probably okay.”
“I know.”
Her gaze snapped to his, her eyebrows pinched together and the tip of her nose wrinkled. “Then why did you call?”
“I needed an excuse to see you, so I might have stretched the truth a little bit.”
“A little?”
He shrugged, swung his legs off the table and pulled her in front of him. “I’m a little sore, but it’s from using muscles that I haven’t gotten to use in a while.”
She folded her hands in front of her, staring at her fingers for a long moment. “Then why…?”
Finally he released himself to touch a loose wave of hair flowing over her shoulder. It was like fine silk and ten times prettier, and it smelled like the beach at sunrise.
“Because I think what you said the other morning is right. The stress we’ve been under, tension and fear, elevates emotions.”
“Oh.” Her shoulders fell, and she wrapped her arms around her middle, taking two quick steps back. He’d just bungled that.
Fix it, Dunham.
He scrambled for the right words. “But that doesn’t make what I feel for you any less real.” The corner of her mouth quirked. It wasn’t a smile, but it was close. So he kept going. “When I met you, I thought life as I knew it was over. Everyone else told me I wasn’t ever going to make it back on the teams. You told me to put in the effort. My ex-girlfriend said I wasn’t a good gamble. You saw something worth your time.” Walking his fingers around her waist, he gave her a little tug and closed half the gap between them.
“I couldn’t see how any of this could be part of God’s plan. How could this injury ever be a good thing? And then I met you. You gave me a mission and a purpose and reminded me that I have something to give the world, even if I can’t ever return to the teams. And I saw that everything I’d been through had brought me right to you—from my injury to picking locks. God used all of it to bring us together. So when I got to that beach the other night, I didn’t even have to question going after you. If I had lost you, I’d have lost my heart.”
She bit her lips until they disappeared, her eyes glistening. But she didn’t say anything. The emotional silence sent his veins thrumming and his eyes burning. Why didn’t she say something?
The silence was too much. “I know you said that there couldn’t be an us as long as I’m your patient, so if you want me to find another physical therapist, I will. If you want to wait until I’m done working with you, I will. If you just need some time to think about things, I’ll give you time.
“But I just need you to know that I’m completely in love with you.”
She laughed out loud at that, a sharp hiccup of surprise. The corners of her eyes crinkled, and she pressed her hand over his good knee.
“I mean, whatever you—”
She pressed her fingers to his lips as a very slow smile worked its way across her mouth. “I was afraid. I was afraid of making the same mistakes with you that I’d made before. I tried so hard to push you away. Maybe because I knew you were special. But I don’t want to do that anymore.”
His sudden grin was so wide it hurt. Plunging his fingers into her hair, he leaned his forehead against hers. “So that means…”
“We’re in this together.”
He crushed his lips against hers, unable to wait even a second longer. In his arms she was a summer rainstorm over the ocean, refreshing and all consuming. Her scent surrounded him, her heartbeat setting a breakneck pace for his own. As she ran her fingers along his jaw, he pulled back, the fog around his brain parting.
In that moment of clarity, his mouth dropped open. “I just told you that I love you.”
She rested her hands on his chest and shot him a lopsided grin. “Mmm-hmm.”
“And you didn’t say it back.”
“Didn’t I?” She pressed her nose into his neck. His stomach pitched like a barrel on the open sea. And he wondered if he’d ever get used to holding her in his arms.
He cleared his throat. “I don’t think— No. No, you didn’t.”
“Then I suppose I better remedy that.” And she did.
EPILOGUE
Seven months later
The blinds on the front door smacked together as it slammed shut, and Barb, Mandy’s new office manager, yelled, “This is a place of healing. Not a playground.”
The pounding footsteps stopped immediately, and Luke said, “Yes, ma’am.”
Mandy laughed from her chair behind her own desk, imagining Barb glaring over her reading glasses at the young man she secretly adored. She’d never admit it, but when he wasn’t there, Barb couldn’t stop talking about what a kind, courteous, handsome young
man he was.
Mandy tended to agree, but she was probably biased.
“She’s in her office,” Barb said.
The footsteps got louder, and her stomach filled with a thousand butterflies. Even still, he had the power to make her smile on the spot.
“Getting in trouble again, Dunham? Have you learned nothing?”
His laugh made the butterflies take flight as he rounded the corner, waving a bouquet of yellow roses just below his chin.
“Oooh. For me?” She jumped out of her chair and ran around the edge of her desk. “What’s the occasion?”
He shrugged a shoulder. “Oh, nothing big. I just got cleared for active duty today.”
She squealed and jumped into his arms, hugging his neck with all her might. He tightened an arm around her waist, lifted her up and spun in a quick circle. She laughed right in his ear, running her hands over his freshly cut curls.
As he set her back on her feet, she whispered, “I am so proud of you.”
His smile wouldn’t quit as he pulled her palm to his lips, kissing the very center of it. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“Oh, I know.” She held back her giggle for as long as she could until her face broke, and it came tumbling out. “You worked so hard. And I love you so much.”
And he had. It had taken weeks of therapy and months of training to get back into shape, but he’d never complained. And he’d never quit.
She dropped her flowers into the vase that he kept full—always with yellow roses. He’d announced they were their thing and had promptly set about making them her new favorite.
“So, are we going to the barbecue at Ashley and Matt’s or what?” she asked.
Ashley, ever the hostess, had planned a party as soon as her brother Tristan had announced his retirement from active SEAL duty two weeks before. Luke, Will, Zach, Jordan and the rest of the team had ribbed Tristan for getting old, but as a husband and dad of four adopted kids, his priorities had shifted. “Besides, every time I deploy, Staci decides it’s time to adopt another kid,” he’d joked. Only it wasn’t too far from the truth.
Now it was time to celebrate his new assignment, as a BUD/S instructor. Future SEAL classes were going to learn from the best.