Colton: An Army Wives Novel
Page 16
The past was over and done and for the first time, I had the feeling of closing a chapter and starting a new one.
A fresh, clean slate. A new adventure.
When Colton woke, he popped out to say goodbye, before leaving to go meet with Lucas and Miles and get suited up. Becca did my hair and makeup, and I changed into my dress.
I stood in front of the floor length mirror in the bedroom for a long moment, and smiled.
It was right. It was perfect.
Under the afternoon sun, I met Colton at the end of the short dock that lead to a small, white gazebo on the lake. He was more handsome than I could remember and tears danced in both of our eyes as we met with sweaty hands in front of the chaplain that had agreed to marry us.
Lucas, Miles, and Becca all looked on from the grassy knoll at the beginning of the dock, and cheered for us as we exchanged vows, rings, and the sweetest kiss that bonded us in marriage.
I would hold onto that kiss for the rest of my life, just as tightly as I would to the man who gave it to me.
After the short wedding ceremony, we all went out for a celebratory dinner, where we ate too much, drank too much, and laughed too loudly.
When the night wound down, we said goodbye to our amazing friends, and Colton whisked me away to the cottage style bed and breakfast that he had rented out for the weekend. He carried me over the threshold of the historical home, and I giggled as we stumbled inside.
“Now, Mrs. Hawkins, shall we go christen the honeymoon suite?” Colton asked, flashing his signature crooked smile at me, his eyes dark with longing.
“I thought you’d never ask, Mr. Hawkins.”
Colton laughed as he swept me into his arms, and began carrying me towards the grand staircase.
Epilogue
“You know in biblical times, a newly married man couldn’t even be sent to war for the first year of marriage.”
Lucas sighed. “Well, you’re a few thousand years too late for that rule to apply.”
His clipped tone irritated me and I twisted over the back of my desk chair to glare at him. He was laying on his cot, on the opposite end of our shared CHU which was a glorified shipping container with an AC, two sleeping bunks, and a computer desk that we shared. We’d been stationed on a base inside a green zone for the past several weeks, and most of the work we’d been doing had been from behinds desks, rather than out in the thick of it. In the past, I would have been annoyed at being pulled into a deployment only to end up benched at some palace turned Army base, but considering I had a new wife waiting for me back home, my perspective had shifted, and I was grateful to be one step removed.
The AC and indoor plumbing didn’t hurt either.
“I’m sorry Hawk, but you’re driving me bat shit crazy,” Lucas said, catching the tail end of my harsh stare. “All you’ve talked about for the last six weeks is Karena and what y’all are gonna do when you get back home again.”
A retort bubbled up, but I killed it before it escaped my mouth. He was right. And, as my oldest friend, he was one of the few people who could call me on my shit and not get chewed out. “Sorry, man. You’re right.”
Lucas sighed and I heard his boots hit the ground. “We’ll be out of here soon.” He clapped a hand on my back as he exited the container house we shared.
I slapped the laptop on the desk closed when he shut the door. The internet wasn’t working anyway. Even though we were staying at a well-established base, the tele-com wasn’t the most reliable and more often than not, we lost our connection thanks to all resources being directed elsewhere. It made sense. I wasn’t going to argue that checking my email was more important than keeping our troops safe, but that didn’t make it any less frustrating when I couldn’t get online to check in with Karena.
I pushed away from the desk and went to my own bunk. I fished out the stack of letters from Karena, and started to re-read them for the hundredth time, while munching on one of the boxes of cookies she’d sent in the last care package. She’d been sending boxes every few days, so that I never had to wait long to hear from her, regardless of the shitty internet connection. It was the first time I’d been deployed and had anyone other than random strangers sending things to me. My mother was the head of a group of women who boxed up care packages by the hundreds and sent them to the troops, rotating through each squad to make it fair. Those boxes were always a welcome gift, especially on the tours I’d been stuck overseas during the holidays. Hygiene products, snacks, cards, small games, coffees, and chocolates.
But Karena had them all beat, by a mile.
She sent cards, pictures, and long, handwritten letters in each box, and made sure I also had a stash of jerky, cookies, and other small gifts. The best part was that each box smelled like her perfume and when I opened the box, the first whiff was enough to bring tears to my eyes. I hadn’t realized how much I’d miss her. How much capacity I had to miss someone.
After reading her letters again, I wrote one back, and packaged it carefully in an envelope. I smiled at the sealed and addressed letter in my hands, remembering back to how we’d started our relationship. Granted, email and texts were much faster, but in a lot of ways, the way we were beginning our marriage, was the same as we’d begun our brief dating relationship.
I pocketed the envelope in my ACU’s and headed out to get dinner and see what I could find out. After a quick dinner, I went to a room that had been converted to an unofficial break room. Each tour that went through added to it, leaving behind books, games, magazines. There was a flat screen TV on one wall, usually tuned into CNN or some other news channel, but occasionally someone got sick of it and changed to a TV movie or sitcom loop.
Lucas was sitting at one of the tables, apparently in the middle of a poker game with a few other soldiers. He looked up as I neared. “Decided to be social, huh, Hawk?”
A couple other guys looked up and acknowledged my arrival with friendly greetings.
“He has to put in his time before they send his ass back stateside,” one of the soldiers, a man I didn’t recognize by face or the name patch attached to his chest.
“Stateside?” Lucas repeated, cocking a brow at his companion over the top of his hand of cards.
I lowered into the vacant seat beside Lucas and stared at the man, waiting for an explanation.
He nodded and lowered his own hand to the table. “You’re Colton Hawkins, right?”
“Yeah.”
“My Captain told me they’re sending some guys back, the attachment isn’t needed, so they’re going back in a couple weeks.”
My heart slammed into my chest. Home. I was going home.
Lucas flicked a glance at me. “You heard anything about that?”
I shook my head. “Not yet, but you can bet your sweet ass I’m gonna,” I said, pushing up from the table.
Lucas grinned after me. “You think my ass is sweet? Aww, Hawk baby, that’s the nicest thing you’ve—”
“Shut it, Sprigg!” I hollered, rounding the corner out of the rec room.
If there was even a kernel of truth to the rumor, I was going to find out about it, now.
* * * *
Three weeks later, my boots hit US soil, and after a quick meeting with Colonel Reeves, I was on my way across town to see Karena. When I pulled into the driveway, she was waiting on the front porch, with a smile that lit up my insides.
“Just couldn’t stay away, huh?” Karena teased, her honey voice carrying across the yard as I hopped out of my truck.
I grinned as she started towards me. “Not for one more day.”
Karena ran the last few yards and flew into my arms. I held her tight and choked back a ball of emotion. Even though I only ended up being gone two months, it seemed like it had been forever.
“So, what should I call you?” Karena asked, pulling away so she could look up into my eyes.
“I got it, baby!” I twisted so she could see the Captain’s patch on my sleeve.
“Captain Hawkins,�
� she purred.
“Damn, if I wasn’t rock hard already…that woulda done it,” I growled into her ear, breathing in the sweet smell of her perfume. The scent that had accompanied all the gifts and letters she’d sent.
Karena laughed and pulled away again. She paused, looking up at me, her eyes wide and sparkling. “That’s not the only promotion you’re getting…” She reached around and fished something out of the back pocket of her denim shorts.
I looked down at the plastic stick in her hands and my heart stopped. All thoughts of being a newly pinned Captain melted to the background. “Is that…?”
“You’re gonna be a daddy!” She nodded, happy tears slipping down her cheeks. Her hands dropped to smooth the billowing fabric of her tank top flat across her stomach. “We have ourselves a little honeymoon baby brewing in here.”
In that moment, staring down at the slight swell of her stomach, I realized in that moment…I had everything I’d ever need.
~ THE END ~
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Acknowledgements
Thank you! We so appreciate our readers! Without you, our books wouldn’t need to exist. We truly appreciate each and every one of you. The words of kindness and support blow us away and we are truly grateful!
Thanks to all of our beta readers, street team, ARC readers and Facebook fans. You girls are the best!
And a very special thanks to our editor, Tina. Thank you for making our words and ideas make sense.
***Audra would also like to thank her handsome hubby who makes writing about happily ever after possible! (Yay Audra!!)
Copyright © 2016 BookBoyfriends Publishing LLC
About The Authors
Audra Cole lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and three fur-babies, and she adores her eclectic city. When not glued to her keyboard, she enjoys reading, kickboxing, and unwinding with a nice glass of Moscato.
You can connect with Audra on Facebook and AudraCole.com!
KB Winters has an addiction to caffeine, tattoos and hard-bodied alpha males. The men in her books are very sexy, protective and sometimes bossy, her ladies are…well…bossier!
Living in sunny Southern California, the embarrassingly hopeless romantic writes every chance she gets!
When Audra asked KB to co-author her next books, KB was ecstatic! Together, they’ve penned their first collaboration, Colton, and have other exciting Army Wives titles on the way!
Audra and KB hope their stories take you away to Alpha-land where you can relax and enjoy!
You can connect with KB on Facebook and Twitter! And stop by at KBWinters.com!