by Unknown
Daniel sighed. “I hurt you, too, Penny, and I was unfaithful. That’s enough to make me like him. But you’re right, I’m different from him, because I want to make this right. No matter what, I want us to be okay.”
She played with the hem of her dress, still wearing the same clothes she’d been in earlier.
“Penny, what I’m trying to say,” Daniel said, cupping her chin in his palm and lifting her head ever so slightly, “is that you might not be able to forget what I did, but what I can’t forget is you. I know you might not believe me, but I never think of that night, other than to wish it didn’t happen. All I remember is you, and how much I love you. How much I love everything about you, and wouldn’t change a thing even if I could. How much I wish our life could be like it was.”
“But—”
“You’re my wife, Penny, and when you stand in front of me there’s no one else I want.” They stared at one another.
“And I cannot imagine a life without you in it. I can’t let this be the end, Penny. We can’t. We mean too much to one another to just walk away.”
Her lip trembled as she tilted her head higher. “Daniel?”
He nodded.
“Kiss me.”
He moved slowly, pausing before taking her face in his hands and touching his lips to hers.
Penny’s heart was thumping as Daniel’s lips traced a path over hers. She couldn’t deny the mellowness in her body, the pleasure of having his mouth covering hers.
Could she do this? Could she move forward and let him back in again?
Yes. Her mind was screaming out at her, forcing her to put aside her worries. Yes.
This, right now, this felt right. Being in some hotel room had seemed too forced, too staged. Had been sleazy somehow.
But being here, in their own room—hearing Daniel tell her how he truly felt—this was what she’d needed to believe in him again. To know that she was what and who he wanted, to know that she wasn’t second best. That he’d never hurt her like that ever again.
“I love you, Penny. I always have and I always will.”
She couldn’t answer him, but she didn’t pull away.
Daniel was righzy ±€t.
They could do this.
After everything he’d seen, the look on his face when he’d been so honest with her … She knew in her heart he was being honest. That he hadn’t meant to hurt her. That she meant more to him than anyone else, than anything else.
“I love you, too, Daniel,” she whispered. It seemed like forever ago since she’d been able to say that to him. To tell him how much she cared for him.
“Whatever happens, Pen,” he told her, pulling back to caress her face, to talk to her, “I want you to know that you mean everything to me.”
Penny let her head fall back, neck arched as he kissed her, like the tip of a feather being tickled across her skin.
Now she could forget.
Had forgotten. Had forced herself to.
Because Daniel was right. What they had been through together, what they had felt for one another in the past, what they’d created together, was more important than anything else.
And it meant they absolutely, truly deserved a second chance.
Daniel slipped the strap of her dress down over her shoulder, reached for the zip before hesitating.
“Love me, Danny,” she whispered, shy yet bold at the same time.
His lips found hers again as she wriggled and he unzipped her from her dress.
This time she didn’t pull away. Didn’t panic. Because this time it felt right.
Back in the Soldier’s Arms/Here Comes the Groom
CR!93BHZ3MAHS4NVAVVWQG1QCZMZ0ZB
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
DANIEL propped himself up on one elbow and looked down at Penny. It had been a long time since he’d felt like this. The past year had been rough, but things were finally feeling right again. Like they could make their marriage work again and be the family they used to be. The family they’d always wanted to be. “Pen?”
He stroked the edge of his hand across her face, brushing her hair from her forehead to rest on the pillow.
“Yeah?” she murmured, eyes closed as he touched her.
Daniel reached for the bedside-table drawer and fingered the ring he had there. A pretty band inset with a modest row of diamonds that curved around the entire ring.
“Penny, I need you awake for this.”
Her eyes opened, a lazy expression still resting on her face.
He tucked the ring under the pillow before she could see it and went back to touching her, stroking his hand down the curve of her back now as she wriggled closer.
“This is the first time in so long that I’ve been really happy, Penny,” he told her, fighting to push out the words.
It didn’t come naturalrin
“I wish I knew how much you’d been struggling,” Penny said to him, raising her own hand to trace across his cheek. “If I’d known how hard you were finding everything, if we’d been more honest with one another about how hard this was, then maybe …”
He tilted his head, eyes on hers.
“It’s not your fault, Penny. None of this was your fault, and you don’t ever have to worry about anything like that ever happening again. You know that, right? Because we’re going to make this work.”
She didn’t need to respond. They’d both faced their own battles, their own demons, this past year. But she trusted him. After all this, after what they’d been through and how they’d reconnected again, he knew in his heart that she would trust him. It wasn’t going to be easy, but they were going to make this work.
“I asked you for a chance when you came home, Pen,” he said, his voice so low it was almost a whisper. He inhaled deeply, stomach dancing with nerves.
She snuggled closer. “Thank you, Danny, thank you for making me believe in us again. I would never have forgiven myself if we’d never given us another shot.”
“But?” he asked.
She raised her eyebrows. “Does there have to be a but?” “No,” he said with a laugh. “I was just so sure there’d be one.”
Penny raised her head and whispered a kiss across his lips.
“What was that for?” he murmured against her mouth as she pulled back.
“For making me feel like me again,” she said simply. “For making us right again.”
She could have been talking for him. It was exactly how he felt. Like everything within him had finally realigned.
“We only have thirty-six hours left.”
She flopped her head back down onto the pillow. “I know.”
Daniel summoned every drop of bravery within him and slipped the ring out from beneath the pillow where he’d hidden it.
“Daniel?” She was suddenly alert again, eyes wide as she spied what he held.
“You haven’t worn your wedding rings since you’ve been home, Penny …”
“I never should have taken them off.” Penny looked as if she was going to cry.
He sat up properly, facing her on the bed. She did the same, legs crossed. Her hair was long and tumbling forward over her shoulders, long legs tanned and lean, peeking out from beneath lacy boy-shorts.
“You had every right to take them off,” he told her, his left hand touching her knee. “And I want you to leave them here until you come home again.”
He watched as she blinked away tears, confusion clear on her face.
“Why?”
He reached for her left hand and held out the ring he held before slipping it onto her finger.
“This ring symbolizes a promise, Penny, and I want you to wear this unt"Á€ntil you come home. If you want it.”
She watched him without saying anything.
Daniel took both her hands in his. “I want to give you this ring as my promise to you, that I will forever be faithful to you,” he said, voice low and crackly. He breathed deep. “I want you to be my wife, Pen, but I want to deserve that honor.”
She nodded, one side of her mouth curving upward. “Thank you, Danny.”
“For what?”
“For being the husband I always knew you could be.” He pulled her close, into his lap, wrapping his arms tight about her and wishing he’d never ever have to let her go.
“We can make this work, I know we can,” he whispered against her hair.
Penny slipped her hands around his neck, pillowy lips raised to his, waiting to be kissed.
“I don’t want to leave you,” she said.
Daniel fought a choke as it built in his throat. Fought against the sadness and anger that filled his body at the thought of Penny leaving him. Leaving Gabby.
Tried to ignore the worry that niggled in his mind at the thought of her flying back into a situation that could prove so dangerous it could steal his wife from him.
“I’ll be here for you when you get home. Us being okay, together, is the one thing you don’t have to worry about while you’re gone.”
Penny rubbed her face into his shoulder, buried it against his chest.
“I love you, Danny. I love you so much I can hardly breathe.”
“Me, too, sweetheart,” he said, dropping a kiss to her forehead. “Me, too.”
He felt the wetness of her tears against his chest, and hated that he was so powerless to take away her pain. “I wish leaving weren’t so hard.” “I know, baby, I know.”
And he comforted her the only way he knew how. By holding her deep in his arms, lips to hers, and wishing he’d never have to let go.
“Why is it going to be different this time, Danny?”
He let his chin rest on the top of her head.
“Because we’re going to talk, and tell each other when something’s wrong or when we’re struggling.”
He listened to her sigh. “So no more being brave and acting like everything’s okay when it’s not.”
Daniel dropped a kiss into her hair. “We need to talk as often as you can, and I’m going to keep a diary of what Gabby and I do every day. So you don’t feel like you’ve missed out while you’re away.”
She grinned and looked up at him. “And you have to ask for help if you need it, okay? From your mom or Tom.”
He groaned. “Not Tom.”
“Okay, not Tom. But you need to speak up if things get tough. And when your boys are back, you need to hang out with them. Just like you need to make sure you keep up your air time.”
Daniel stroked his thumb across Penny’s cheek. “Why did we not have this conversation before you left last time?”
There was a dampness in her eyes. &ou Á€#x201C;Because we were so busy trying to pretend like everything was going to be okay, and we didn’t want to admit that there could be cracks.”
Daniel didn’t have to think when Penny’s lips found his. Instead, his body moved against hers, responding naturally like they’d never spent a night apart.
Penny being away was never going to be easy, but they were both committed to making it work, and that’s all that mattered.
It’s why he knew that they had a real chance at being happy and in love all over again. Stronger than before.
Penny fought to keep her chin high, shoulders squared. Unlike when she’d arrived, now she wore her army fatigues. And this time she’d let Gabby come with them.
Daniel had been right, it was silly to keep it from their daughter. She might only be five, but she had the right to be proud of her mother, deserved to know why they’d be parted for months again. Serving her country was something to be shouted from the rooftops, to be shared with Gabby. She’d been scared to tell her before in case it worried her, but she was too young to understand what could happen in a worst-case scenario.
Seeing her mother in uniform today had put a smile on Gabby’s face, and anything that helped take the edge of pain off their parting today was worth it.
“Is there anything I can do?”
Penny shook her head and held Daniel’s hand tighter.
“The last time you held my hand that tight you were giving birth to Gabby.”
She sunk her head down onto his shoulder and tried to program the scent of him, the feel of him, into her memory bank.
“How do you always know how to make me smile?”
Daniel dipped down to hoist Gabby up, planting her on his hip before slinging an arm around Penny’s shoulder.
“It seems like forever now, but we’ll be together soon,” he said. “And we’re going to talk and write this time, too, right?”
Penny cuddled into them both, bending forward to kiss Gabby. She wasn’t going to say anything to the contrary, not while Gabby was listening. The last thing she wanted was to upset her when she was being so brave.
But personally, she was terrified. At the thought of leaving, at the worry of what had happened last time she’d been away. Whether she was strong enough to cope without her family, and whether they were strong enough to cope without her.
Daniel bent to put Gabby back down and pulled his camera from his pocket.
“Can I take a snap of my two girls?”
Penny wanted to say no, because she was feeling too fragile to do anything other than have both Daniel and Gabby by her side until she had to board. But she also wanted Gabby to have a permanent memory of this day. Of seeing her mother off at the airport before she headed off for her final tour of duty.
Daniel stepped back, half crouched to take the shot. “Excuse me?”
They all looked over at a woman who’d stopped behind Daniel.
“Would you like me to take a photo of all of you?” Daniel gave her one of his trademark beamers, dimple shining out, before passing her the camera. “Thank you,” he said.
Penny smiled her thanks to the stranger, too, before falling into Daniel’s embrace at the same time as he scooped Gabby back up into his arms.
The flash went off but Penny found it hard to let Daniel go.
“You make a beautiful family,” said the woman.
Penny looked up at Daniel and reached for her daughter. The love she saw in his gaze, shining out from his eyes, made the breath sigh from her lungs.
They did make a beautiful family.
Now she just needed to summon the strength to cope with leaving them, and look forward to the day they’d be reunited. Because they would make this work. It wasn’t going to be easy, it was still going to be tough, but they would work through it.
Penny fingered the new ring she wore around her neck on a platinum chain.
Daniel had promised to be here for her. And with every beat of her heart, with every pump of blood through her veins, she believed him. Because he was her husband and she had to have faith.
“We’re going to miss you,” he whispered.
“I know,” she murmured back. “But when I get back, it’s the start of our new life together.”
Daniel tucked a strand of hair that had fallen from her braid back behind her ear.
“Only four months, three days and eighteen hours until we’ll be waiting here again, right?”
Penny tilted her head back and laughed.
“I’ll take your word for it.”
Daniel put Gabby back down and engulfed her in a bear hug.
“You’re the one, Penny. You always were, and you will always be.”
She kissed him as he dipped his head to find her mouth. “I love you,” she whispered.
“I love you, too,” he said. “Now go board that plane and hurry home, okay?”
She dropped to her knees to kiss her daughter goodbye.
“See you soon, hon. I love you so much.”
Gabby looked sad, but relaxed into her father’s legs as he stood behind her and wrapped his hands around her.
Penny stood up, gave them a salute and hauled her bag over her shoulder.
She forced herself to walk, to keep her legs moving without looking back.
But when she reached the departure gate, she couldn’t help herself.
Penny pivoted, b
ag still over her shoulder, and let her eyes wander to where she’d left Daniel and Gabby.
They were still there, watching her back.
Penny raised her hand in a brave wave and burst into a tearful laugh as Daniel blew her a kiss.
Four months, three days and eighteen hours.
And then they’d all be together again.
But right now, she needed to board that plane and serve her country.
Back in the Soldier’s Arms/Here Comes the Groom
CR!93BHZ3MAHS4NVAVVWQG1QCZMZ0ZB
EPILOGUE
PENNY fidgeted as she waited to walk through security. She was starting to panic.
She knew they’d be waiting. Daniel had written to her constantly while she was away, and they’d been able to talk almost every four days this time, but she was still worried.
Because now her army days were over. Now she was home forever.
Everything they’d talked about, everything they’d promised one another, was about to become reality now.
The security officer waved her through and she walked faster than she ever had in her life. The airport was busier this time than last, but she didn’t care. There were two faces she was looking for and she wasn’t going to stop until she saw them.
“Penny!”
The deep, booming voice that reached out to her stopped Penny in her tracks, heart beating so hard she was in danger of a heart attack.
Daniel.
She would know his call, the sexy richness of his voice, anywhere.
Heat flooded her cheeks as she looked around, eyes searching frantically.
And then she saw him. Gabby was running along beside him as his long legs ate up the ground. “Penny!”
This was it. This was the homecoming she’d been waiting for.
She smiled so hard she wondered how her cheeks didn’t split, but she didn’t have time to think about it. Before she could bend to see Gabby, Daniel had hold of her, swinging her up into his arms as if she weighed no more than a newborn baby.
“Hey, soldier,” he whispered, before skimming his lips across hers.
Penny sighed into his mouth, arms caught up around his shoulders.