by Lee Kilraine
He’d spent years avoiding commitment; that was the too-easy path. Lonely, but easy. The path he’d walked for too many years. But the more he was around Lu, the more it seemed maybe he hadn’t been avoiding commitment so much as he’d been waiting for Lu to come along.
Did he wish they hadn’t had to lose Joey to get here? Hell yeah, he did. But life had already forced some hard choices. And he was choosing a life with Lu. If she’d have him. He wasn’t even worried about marriage or children; he just hoped he could talk her into happy right now, and they’d take it a day at a time.
If he was intent on creating this new life with Lu, something had to change. Not a single November 21 would go by without remembering, but just as Doc said, it was time to let them go. Time to say good-bye.
He looked out into the darkness and they were there, his men, sitting around the small fire of those faraway nights.
He nodded at them all and quirked a bittersweet smile.
“Hey now, Sergeant. None of that.” Alphabet crossed his eyes at him. He never did take life seriously until you needed him to. “It’s time. You knew it was coming.”
“I know.” Ty’s throat squeezed tight and he swallowed past the pain that sliced like ground-up glass in his throat. “Doesn’t make it any easier.”
Shughart shook his head. “It’s not like we’re going anywhere. We’ll be here. You know, if you need us. Like we came through for you over there, right?”
“Every time. You guys couldn’t have performed better.”
“Would you mind, every so often, just checking on my family? Maybe just a Christmas card. It would mean a lot to them. Don’t you forget, we were family after our first tour.” Murph pointed at him. “That’s never going to change.”
Ty nodded across the darkness, and the men he loved like brothers faded away until there was just one left.
Wouldn’t you know, the guilt hit him like a boulder on his chest. He opened his mouth, but he couldn’t get any sound to come out. His eyes burned something fierce. Probably the wind had changed and blown a leaf in his eye.
“Joey—” Hell, the words he needed didn’t exist. Tynan shook his head and lifted a hand toward him.
“Sergeant Cates, I couldn’t have picked a better man to watch over Lu if I’d tried.”
Tynan choked back a laugh. “You did try. About near drove me crazy with the letter to Stanley.”
“Yeah, sorry about that.” Joey smiled a quiet smile and scratched his cheek. “But she needed time to grieve.”
“She missed you something fierce. Still does.”
“You’ve got her now. You’ll take care of her now?”
“That’s my plan.”
Joey sat back and nodded once. “Good. It’s all good.”
Tynan sat under the sky. The cloud cover was solid and low and starting to spit rain at him again. When the wind gusts picked up he wrapped himself in his sleeping bag, drew the waterproof tarp from his tent up over himself, and fell asleep. The first good night of sleep he’d had in months.
Chapter Twenty-six
After letting Agatha and Beatrice know she was spending the night at Tynan’s with his pets, Lu crashed on Tynan’s couch. She managed to toss and turn for a few hours before the dog alarm woke her with a slobbery lick across her face. Ugh. And she’d thought she hated her alarm clock. She sat up, pushing the dog out of the way so she could find her shoes.
“I’m up. Let me put on my shoes, okay?” Shoving her feet into her sneakers, she leaned over to tie the laces. “What are the odds you’ll let me make coffee?”
One loud bark next to her left ear answered that question. Ouch. The dog was already panting and dancing on his three paws. Impatient to go find his master.
“Okay, I get it. But I am going to pee first and then we’ll get going.”
It had taken thirty minutes and three phone calls to find the fake rock with the key to get into Tynan’s house yesterday. It was just plain weird to walk around his house, knowing she hadn’t been invited.
Kaz knew she was there of course. He was the one who’d told her where the key was. The guy sounded so relieved Lu was watching Tynan’s pets while he dealt with the downed tree at his parents’ house that she decided not to mention she was planning to head out with them.
She’d packed the car last night after finding a fair amount of camping and safety gear in Tynan’s garage cabinets. Tynan’s dog and cat watched her every move as she packed the equipment. “Don’t get excited. This is only a precaution. We aren’t planning on using any of it.”
His garage, by the way, was the most beautiful job of organizing she’d ever seen. Everything neatly shelved into bins or boxes, labeled and lined up alphabetically. Not a speck of dust on the shelves. Control freak much? This wasn’t a surprise after working with him for two weeks, but wow. She hoped she could talk him out of hating her, because even if he never wanted to sleep with her again, she’d love to invite him over to reorganize her closets.
“Here’s the plan: Drive the one hour to the cabin. See if Tynan is there, and then drive back—all before the storm hits.” She glanced over to the animals sitting in the car next to her. “Are we clear on this?”
Sad puppy and kitty faces; that’s what she got from them.
“Don’t give me those faces. This is the best I can offer you.” She looked straight ahead, ignoring their pitiful faces, as she pulled onto the road and away from Tynan’s house.
She wouldn’t be worried about Tynan at all if it weren’t for his crazy pets. She’d zoned out with a lot of TV documentaries during the first year after Joe’s death. It was a fact that animals could sense some things, sometimes even before they happened, like earthquakes, seizures, illness. It seemed silly, but what if it were true? What if his pets had sensed something was wrong with Tynan and she ignored them? Guilt, that’s what. And she didn’t want to do guilt anymore.
So it wouldn’t hurt to drive to the cabin, let Tynan’s pets see he wasn’t there—and, to be completely honest, she’d like to cross that worry off her list, too—and then drive back. From looking at the maps in Barbara’s office, Lu knew the cabin property sat just east of the parkland, butted up against it. Huh; come to think of it, the access to the park was probably one of the reasons Tynan had wanted to buy the cabin so badly.
A light rain had started falling about a half hour into the drive. Probably one of those outer bands meteorologists loved talking about. That was when she realized she’d made two mistakes. First, she’d let the animals rush her out of the house before checking the latest storm reports this morning. Because it shouldn’t be this windy or raining yet. The storm should still be twelve hours away—unless it had picked up speed overnight.
But also there was the second mistake she’d made: When she’d calculated the timing of the round trip with the storm, she’d based it off the Climax forecast. Not the cabin’s, which sat south and east of Climax. Closer to the storm path.
“Dumb, Lu. Really dumb.” Sometimes her inclination to leap before looking got her in trouble. They could turn around, but the GPS indicated they were almost at the cabin, so they might as well check.
She would have missed the entrance to the cabin, if the “For Sale” sign hadn’t been stuck in the ground. It was leaning over sideways, but this had to be it. Slowing down, she steered the car onto a gravel drive toward . . . well, hopefully toward the cabin.
It looked like no one had been along in forever. The drive was overgrown with weeds and grass. Tree branches reached into the lane and brushed the roof of her car. It seemed as if they’d be driving forever, but then a clearing appeared and the most god-awful ugly cabin sat falling apart in front of her. Home sweet home.
“Well, I feel like I’ve been had. Here’s a piece of advice . . .” Lu leaned forward and squinted through the rain-washed windshield to gaze at the cabin. “Never invest in real estate out of anger.”
The dog and cat began scanning the space around the cabin. She wasn’t sure if
she should point out the obvious . . . Tynan’s truck wasn’t here. Eh, better not. Maybe she’d just let them sniff around and figure it out for themselves. She checked her phone for service, and just as she’d figured: nothing. Not a big deal. They’d be driving back out soon.
Lu zipped up her rain coat and clipped the leash onto Houdini. She hadn’t found a leash for the cat, so she really hoped the cat stuck next to the dog like a burr on a horse’s tail. She opened her door and they trampled over her, jumping down before she could even swing her legs out. “Okay, I get it. I’m a little worried that Mr. Control Freak didn’t return when he said he would, too, but a little show of restraint would be appreciated.”
Houdini at least waited until she’d slammed the car door before he dragged her behind him on some scent trail. They went a full circle around the cabin, Houdini’s nose sniffing along the ground. Every so often he would lift his head and sniff the air, changing direction before sniffing along the ground again.
She’d never reasoned with a dog before, but she figured she’d give him five minutes of sniffing around before they got back in the car and headed home. After five minutes, when the dog figured out they weren’t heading off into the forest, he started barking at her again. “Dude, no. He’s not here. Let’s get back in the car and let Quinn’s forest rangers handle this.”
More frantic barking, which Lu refused to cater to. This damn dog was as stubborn as his master. She was about to tug the dog back into the car when the cat streaked past them both and shot into the woods.
“Stop!” Lu yelled over the wind and rain, but it kept on going. The dog sat on his haunches and stared at her as if to say, well, what are you going to do about that? Dammit. She pulled the dog over to the car and grabbed the hiking backpack. It was Tynan-sized, so it kept smacking her in the backs of her thighs as she walked, but she knew from all her years of hiking and camping with Joe, always go into the woods prepared.
“Let’s go, Houdini. Let’s go get your damn cat.”
It didn’t take long to find the cat, but by that time Houdini had caught some scent, and Lu learned a very important lesson: If a sixty-plus-pound dog doesn’t want to turn around, there’s pretty much no way a five-foot-three-inch woman is going to change his mind. Especially when the ground is covered with wet leaves and she can’t get any traction.
She held on to the leash for dear life and the dog pretty much dragged her all the heck around. And then he stopped in his tracks, lifted his head, and cocked it to one side. Sure enough, over the pelting raindrops and the wind whistling through the trees, she heard it too.
A whistle. Three short bursts of a whistle. Someone was blowing their safety whistle. Houdini’s head turned back to her.
“I hear it. Good boy, Houdini. Wait one second, though.” Lu swung the soaking-wet backpack down to rest on the ground and riffled through it until she found the safety whistle in her pack. She raised it to her lips and blew as hard as she could. No response.
No surprise. The weather was making a racket and the wind must have carried the other whistle downwind to her. Looping the cord of the whistle around her neck, she threw the pack back on. “Lead the way, Houdini.”
Lead he did. Through a small stream, over logs, through prickly undergrowth. He pulled with such intent, she barely could see where they were heading. Houdini followed a scent but every so often seemed to correct course when he heard the whistle blow. Branches whipped across her face, tangling and catching in her hair. She tripped over tree roots and slipped down a steep hill on her ass. Twenty minutes later she was sopping wet, muddy, tired, and ready to give up. And that’s when they found Tynan.
He was sitting, casual as you please, leaning against a boulder with his long, powerful legs stretched out in front of him, his crazy eyes bright in the storm-darkened air. The whistle resting between his lips fell to hang around his neck when his lips slid into a grin. He was covered with mud, his clothes a bit tattered, and had angry-looking scrapes on his hands, his right cheekbone, and a bruise along his jawline under his three-day beard. The man looked dangerous and hot as hell.
“Tynan Cates.” She let go of the leash and bent over to rest her hands on her knees and catch her breath while the dog and cat showed him how happy they were to see him.
He fought his way out from under his animals to stare at her. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Like I haven’t been asking myself that for the past hour.” Lu wanted to laugh and cry. She wanted to sink down onto the wet, musty leaves next to him and sprinkle kisses all over his scratched-up, muddy face. She wanted to punch him for worrying her and being such a jerk. Only she couldn’t, because she’d been a jerk too. “So, Tynan, nice to see you. How are things?”
“Sorry. I’m damn glad to see you; it’s just a surprise.” He moved his gaze, looking behind her to see who was with her. “Who else came with you?”
Lu stood back up, still breathing heavily. The rain and wind both had increased, as if Mother Nature had turned the dial up a few notches. She pushed the wet hair off her face, then gestured toward his pets. “You’re looking at them.”
“Oh, okay.” His brow creased and he wiped at the rain pelting his face. He had to yell to get his voice over the noise of the storm. “How about you go back and get one of my brothers or one of the park rangers for help?”
She shook her head and walked forward, sinking down on her knees next to him. “This storm? Late-season tropical storm. Everyone’s pretty busy right now. Where are you hurt?”
“Ankle, bad sprain. Hit my head too. I rigged up this splint this morning and have been working my way toward the cabin. I don’t get too far walking before I get light-headed and have to rest, so possibly a concussion.”
Or walking on a horribly sprained ankle was so painful he was almost passing out from it. Stubborn man. Lu was no nurse, but she looked at his pupils anyway. From the crime shows she’d been watching with Agatha and Beatrice, she knew she should check to make sure they were the same size. Beyond that, she had no idea. “Okay, here’s what I suggest. We’ll retie your splint and get you to my car. Then we can head home, maybe even get back before the worst of it hits.”
He didn’t look happy about being told what to do. Well, tough cookies. His dog and cat had pushed her around for long enough; now she was making some decisions. In fact, she decided not even to wait for him to decide anything.
She slung her backpack off and got out some aspirin. She shook out four and slapped them in his hand. “Here; chew these.
He must have been in pain because he chewed them without a word.
Next she decided what to do about a brace for his ankle. He’d rigged it pretty well, but between walking on it and the rain, it had loosened too much to give him the support he needed. “Okay, two options for your ankle. One: You lean on me like a human crutch and we walk out of here. The height difference might slow us up. Or two: We cut your spiffy raincoat into strips to reinforce the splint you made so you can walk on your own.”
He held up two fingers.
She nodded. “Okay, option two it is.”
They got to work. She started to remove his hiking boot but he stayed her hand, shaking his head.
“No. It’s too swollen. You’d have to cut it off and I’ll need it to walk.”
Good point. Between the two of them, they got it done. Tynan cut long, three-inch-wide strips out of his Gore-Tex rain jacket. After Tynan retied the boot tighter, Lu wrapped it with the strips, pulling as tight as she could. She bit her lip when he groaned a few times. “Sorry.”
He grunted, then reached out a hand to push away the wet hair plastered to her cheek.
“All set.” She ran her gaze over his face, paler now than it had been ten minutes before. “Ready?”
He shook his head, leaning in so she could hear over the wind and rain. “I need a walking stick.”
Right. She stood up and began a search for a large, sturdy stick. Hickory or oak would work best. It took at l
east ten minutes to find one she hoped would work. Holding it up for Tynan to see, he nodded.
She set it down on the ground next to him so she could use both her hands to help him up. He powered himself up for the most part. Leaning back down, she grabbed the stick and handed it to him “Are you sure you don’t want to stay while I go find help?”
Tynan took the walking stick with a sure hand as his grimace of pain smoothed out into a lopsided grin. “And miss the chance to stare at your sweet ass walking in front of me? Not on your life, Lulubelle. Lead the way.”
Chapter Twenty-seven
Tynan stabbed the stick firmly into the ground and put his weight on the injured foot. Oh, fuck, he was about to pass out from the pain. He bit the inside of his cheek to keep his groan from escaping. He gave a curt nod and they moved forward, one painful step at a time. It turned out Lu’s sweet ass was hidden by the borrowed backpack, so he distracted himself from the pain with a mental after-action report of The Bear Incident.
What had been his initial plan? Simple: to hike the shit out of the mountain. What had happened? He’d become so hyperfocused on his goal as to forget basic hiking safety in bear country: make noise. He could kick himself because he damn well knew better than to let his mind wander out here. What had he learned? Stay focused and don’t run into a fucking bear.
A flash of white-hot pain shot up his leg, causing him to make a quick assessment of his options. By his estimate they were less than a mile from the cabin. Normally a twenty-minute hike for an average person with a pack. But for a guy with a bum ankle and a possible concussion, a pixie carrying a pack made for someone twice her size, a three-legged dog, and a soaking wet cat . . . he’d need to bend the space-time continuum to calculate that. And a tropical storm? He knew for damn sure three days ago it had been a tropical depression with a trajectory keeping it out over the ocean.
He refused to allow the pain in his ankle to stop him because that would either leave them all vulnerable or mean Lu would have to head back through the woods and the storm by herself again. No way in hell would he let that happen. He wasn’t happy that she had come out here alone to begin with. After he had a long talk with her about safety he’d have a word with his family too. How could they have let her come out here by herself?