A Reason to Love

by Alexis Morgan

  Actually, it came as no surprise that Uncle Vince hadn’t bothered to tell anyone. The coldhearted bastard didn’t give a flying fuck about anybody but himself. He’d hated Spence from the day he was adopted into the family. Vince had made it all too clear that his feelings toward him hadn’t changed when the army sent someone to notify him that Spence had been found. Spence had planned to call Callie and his friends, but Vince had taken great delight in informing him that his best friend and the woman he’d wanted to build a life with had hooked up.

  Spence’s initial reaction had been relief that he hadn’t been the only one to survive the blast from the IED that day in Afghanistan. His second was a towering rage that fed on the knowledge that Leif and Nick were busy rebuilding their lives on the ruins of Spence’s life right in the town where he had grown up. It was his home, and his former friends had no place there. So rather than calling ahead to warn anyone of his impending arrival, he’d flown halfway around the world to arrive in Snowberry Creek unannounced and unexpected.

  Damn, he couldn’t wait to see the expression on Nick’s face when he realized Spence had returned from the dead and wanted his life back. The only question was how Nick had managed to steal it in the first place, the sneaky rat bastard.

  Melanie had finished drying her tears. She thrust the handkerchief back at Spence and then grabbed his other hand. “Speaking of letting people know, did you know that Callie is getting married? In fact, the wedding is about to start. She’s marrying Nick Jenkins, a guy from your old unit. If we hurry, we should just make it.”

  “Yeah, I’d heard.”

  If Melanie noticed his lack of enthusiasm, she gave no sign of it as she towed him up over the hill to the small parking lot on the back side of the cemetery. He’d left his motorcycle parked on the other side of the mortuary building, where it was unlikely Melanie would have seen it. Would she have recognized the old Harley if she had? He’d just gotten it out of storage, but it was the same one he’d driven in high school.

  Before he walked away, he asked, “Are you okay to drive, Mel? You still look pretty shaken up.”

  She kicked her smile up a notch. “I’m fine, Spence. Better than fine, in fact. After the past few months, I could use some good news, and finding out you’re alive is as good as it gets.”

  It sounded as if she really meant that even though he and Melanie hadn’t known each other all that well back in high school. She and Callie had been tight, but her parents had kept her on a pretty short leash. For sure, they would never have liked her hanging around with him. Back then, he’d had a well-deserved reputation for running wild.

  He watched her walk away, telling himself he was just making sure she was all right. Even so, that wasn’t the reason he admired the gentle sway of her hips and that thick tumble of wavy red hair that reached nearly halfway down her back. The combination was the kind of thing that grabbed a man’s attention.

  Now that he’d gotten a better look at her, he realized Melanie had changed a lot since the last time he saw her. That must have been nearly ten years ago, right after high school when she’d left Snowberry Creek to go to some college back east. In those days, she’d been cute enough despite the dark-rimmed glasses that had threatened to overwhelm her delicate beauty. Melanie had been shy, and he’d always suspected she’d worn those glasses as armor to hide behind.

  Not anymore, though. Now that she’d regained control of herself, she moved with more confidence. It looked good on her. Maybe later she’d catch him up on her life. That is, if she was still speaking to him after the wedding.

  She glanced back in his direction and frowned, a reminder that it was time to get with the program. He hustled his ass around to the other side of the building and traded his cap for his helmet. He’d rather ride without either one, but he also didn’t want to draw the attention of the police on his first day back in town.

  After tonight, though, all bets were off. He revved the engine and roared off to catch up with Melanie.

  • • •

  Ten minutes later, Spence followed Melanie’s car into the church parking lot. She pulled into the last available slot while he drove his motorcycle onto the grass and turned off the engine. When he took off his helmet, he could hear music coming from the church. Evidently, the wedding was already in progress. His temper instantly flared hot and furious.

  He’d been running on the edge like that ever since he woke up in a hospital to find out all of his friends thought he was dead. He might not have died after their vehicle had hit an IED, but there’d been plenty of times in the following months that he wished he had. That part of his life had been filled with darkness, pain, fever, and fear. Rather than get sucked too far down into the mire of the memories ripping through him, he dug his fingernails into the palms of his hands, using the small pain to help him focus on the present.

  He didn’t want to miss a single minute of what was about to happen.

  Melanie caught up with him. “It sounds as if they’ve already started. I’m guessing we’ll have to wait to be seated until after the bridal party is up front.”

  When they slipped inside the narthex of the church, Callie and her father were already halfway down the aisle. Spence leaned closer to Melanie. “You can go on in, Mel. I think I’d better watch from out here.”

  That much was true. He wasn’t sure he could keep his mouth shut if the minister actually asked if anyone had any objections to the marriage. Hell yeah, he did. However, even if he did want to kick Nick’s ass up and down that aisle a few times, Callie didn’t deserve to have her big day ruined with a brawl.

  He watched as Mr. Redding lifted Callie’s veil and kissed his daughter’s cheek before stepping back to join his wife in the front pew. Mrs. Redding pressed a tissue to her eyes as she watched her daughter move up to stand beside the groom in front of the minister. With a huge lump in his throat, Spence forced himself to look at the man who used to be his best friend.

  Watching Nick hurt too much, so he dragged his gaze to the woman standing next to Callie. Leaning forward a little, as if that small distance would help bring everything into focus, he recognized Bridey Roke. It made sense that she would be Callie’s maid of honor.

  Shit. Leif was up there, too. He should’ve expected him to be there, but his presence only served to make their betrayal that much worse. The three of them had gone through hell together. When men put their lives in one another’s hands, it formed a bond that was unshakable. At least, that’s what Spence had always believed.

  But as he watched Nick smile down at Callie, his expression intensely possessive, that bond shattered into jagged shards of pain. He must have made a sound, because Melanie took his hand in hers and gave it a quick squeeze.

  “Are you all right, Spence?”

  He didn’t trust himself to speak, but she seemed satisfied when he squeezed her hand back and nodded. A full-out retreat would probably be the smartest thing to do, but he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the drama playing out in front of him. Right now the minister was talking, probably asking a question since first Nick and then Callie nodded and answered.

  Then the happy couple turned to face each other. There was a movement that had the entire wedding part staring down toward the floor with huge grins on their faces. What were they waiting for?

  He got his answer when Mooch, the dog that he and the rest of the squad had adopted back in Afghanistan, stepped into sight with a small basket dangling from his teeth. Nick reached down to pat the dog on his head and then took something out of the basket, no doubt the wedding rings. After that, Mooch dropped the basket at Nick’s feet and sat down to watch what happened next. The entire congregation broke into applause.

  Now it was Spence’s turn to have his knees turn to jelly like Melanie’s had back at the cemetery. While he’d languished as a prisoner of war, feverish and wounded, he’d suffered through unending nightmares that both
Nick and Leif had died in the explosion. His captors had been only too glad to taunt him that he’d been the lone survivor.

  But even after he’d been rescued, the one question no one had been able to answer for him was what had happened to Mooch. On that last deployment, they’d been on a foot patrol when that silly-looking mutt trotted out of an alley, half-starved and filthy. Spence had tossed him a couple of strips of beef jerky, which was evidently the dog’s price for undying loyalty. In return, it was Mooch who’d sounded the alarm right before they would have walked into an ambush.

  The fur ball’s good deed had been rewarded with a bullet in his shoulder. Against regulations, Spence had carried the wounded animal back to camp while the rest of the squad formed up around them to hide what he was doing. With the help of one of the vet techs, they’d nursed Mooch back to health, and the dog had become an unofficial member of their squad. Unfortunately, Spence’s plans to ship him to the States had yet to be finalized when he was captured. He was so afraid Mooch had been left behind to starve.

  Spence’s eyes stung as he studied his four-legged friend. Mooch’s coat was shiny and clean, and his spots stood out in stark contrast to his white fur. Hell, it even looked as if the mutt had put on a couple of pounds. Good for him. At least one nice thing had come out of the war.

  While Spence’s attention had been focused on the dog, the service continued. It looked as if the pastor was bringing things to a close, and any second now Spence’s friends would be headed his way. When Nick and Callie turned to face the wedding guests, the need to get the hell out of there hit Spence hard. Feeling as if all the oxygen had been sucked out of the air in the church, he stumbled back toward the door, dragging Melanie right along with him.

  Damn, he’d forgotten he was still holding her hand. When he released it to rush out into the night, she followed him anyway. At least he could breathe again, but damn, he wished Melanie hadn’t come with him, not when all he wanted to do was punch something. He settled for cutting loose with a string of curses he’d have to apologize for later.

  Rather than retreat, Melanie planted herself right in front of him. “Spence, tell me what I can do to help.”

  He shook his head, still fighting for control even as the foul words poured from his mouth. For the second time that day, Melanie wrapped her arms around him, holding him close. It didn’t help; he was too far gone for a simple touch to be enough to soothe his fury.

  He managed to keep his touch gentle as he tugged her arms off him. “Get away from me, Mel. I don’t want to hurt you.”

  Her chin took on a stubborn tilt. “You won’t, Spence.”

  She sounded sure of that. He wasn’t. “I wouldn’t mean to, but I can’t promise anything right now.”

  Before she could respond, people came pouring out of the church, laughing and having a great time. They all formed up in two lines in the glow of the front lights of the church as they waited for the bride and groom to make their appearance. Spence lost track of Melanie in the crush. Rather than risk being recognized too soon, he faded farther back into the shadows and waited for his former friends to appear.

  He hadn’t thought through what he wanted to say to them, but he’d make damn sure it was memorable.

  Chapter 3

  A handful of minutes later, Leif and Bridey finally made their appearance, followed closely by Callie’s parents and another couple, most likely Nick’s folks. It wouldn’t be long now. Spence’s gut did a slow roll as he waited to confront them. His conscience, what was left of it, was screaming at him that he should just leave. He was mad at Leif and even more so at Nick, but before tonight he would’ve sworn there was no way he’d ever risk hurting Callie.

  As it turned out, he was wrong about that. He couldn’t seem to find the strength to jump on his Harley and haul ass out of there. Even if he had been able to go, it was too late now. The happy couple had just stepped out of the church.

  Then Nick yelled something, but Spence couldn’t hear anything above the roar in his own head. Whatever had Sarge hollering also had Leif charging through the crowd and—oh, shit!—heading straight for Spence.

  And he wasn’t alone.

  Mooch cleared the crowd of people, his nose to the ground. Two more steps and he brought his head up to look straight toward the shadows where Spence had taken refuge. He yipped and charged forward. A few feet out, the dog took to the air, clearly trusting Spence to catch him. He held out his arms and stumbled back several steps from the impact of the happy dog hitting his chest.

  The furry beast wriggled with everything he had, which made it impossible to hold on to him. Rather than risk dropping him, Spence knelt down to set Mooch back on the ground. He remained at the dog’s level, letting the dog lick his face like crazy, the whole time whining and wagging his tail at a million miles an hour.

  For the first time since touching down in the States, Spence felt as if he was back with family.

  A pair of shiny dress shoes appeared at the edge of his peripheral vision. Leif. It had to be. Spence kept his face buried in Mooch’s fur for another few seconds before releasing the dog to stand up.

  The familiar sound of Leif’s voice washed over him. “Damn it, dog, let the man stand up. Sorry, buddy. Mooch likes soldiers.”

  Spence lifted his eyes to meet Leif’s gaze head-on and waited for the man to make sense of what he was seeing. It didn’t take long. Leif’s eyes widened in shock and his mouth opened and closed soundlessly like a damn guppy’s.

  He managed to choke out, “What the fuck? Wheels, is that really you?”

  Spence nodded as he stood up and moved back out of reach when Leif would have started toward him. “Yeah, it’s me.”

  Evidently, some of the other guests heard what Leif had said, because a shocked silence spread through the crowd, punctuated by a series of stage whispers as people spread the word. It took everything Spence had to step into the soft glow of the lights of the parking lot and stand his ground in front of all that intense scrutiny. It was too late to retreat. All he could do was let the drama play itself out.

  Eventually, the news reached the bride and groom, because he heard Callie cry out as Nick shouted his name. A few seconds later, the pair broke through the line of people facing Spence. He glanced briefly at Nick, noticing he wore a tux instead of dress blues. Guess that confirmed that Sarge had left the military.

  “Wheelman, where the fuck have you been?” Spence’s friend’s voice was little better than a growl choked with emotion.

  Spence ignored both the question and the man, choosing instead to focus on the woman who had been his best friend for most of his life. “You look beautiful, Callie.”

  Her eyes were huge and shiny with tears and her face looked ghostly pale in the dim light. “Spence.”

  He wanted to grab her, hold her, maybe stake his claim, but that sparkling diamond band on the hand that she held out toward him stopped him in his tracks. She already belonged to someone else. He understood that. She’d thought he was dead, and she’d moved on. He hadn’t expected her to pine away for him and wouldn’t have wanted her to. It was who she had chosen that had him clenching his hands into fists.

  When she tried to close the distance between them, he shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest. She gasped and looked to Nick for help. Spence hated that his actions had hurt her, but he couldn’t stand the thought of her touching him. Not now.

  When she tried again, he shook his head. “No, Callie, don’t.”

  Nick pushed his way in between them. “Wheels, what the hell happened to you? Where have you been?”

  “Like you care, you bastard!”

  When Spence tried to shove him away from Callie, Leif joined the party. “Spence, cut it out. It’s their wedding.”

  Yeah, like that truth didn’t just pour gas on the fire. “Believe me, I know.”

  He got right up in N
ick’s face. “What’s the matter, Sarge? Feeling a little guilty for stealing my life when you couldn’t find one of your own?”

  Nick gave him a hard shove. “What the hell is wrong with you? We thought you were dead! The whole fucking squad dug through the dirt with their bare hands looking for you. All we found were your bloody dog tags!”

  He ran his hands through his hair, leaving it standing on end. “Damn it, Spence, I thought I got you killed.”

  What could Spence say to that? Even if he had the words, right now his throat was nearly closed shut with pain and regrets. He closed his eyes, trying to figure out what to do next. When he opened them again, all he could see were the tears streaming down Callie’s pretty face.

  He did an end run around Nick to get to her. Already he could feel Leif’s hand on his shoulder, trying to pull him back. He shook him off. “Let go of me, damn it. I just want to tell her something.”

  He stared down at her, memorizing how she looked at that moment and feeling sick that he’d put that expression on her face. “Sorry, Callie. I shouldn’t have come. Forget I was even here. Be happy.”

  He pressed a kiss to her forehead and went into full retreat. Turning his back on her and on the future he’d hoped to have was the hardest thing he’d ever done, but he did it anyway. He had no memory of how he reached his motorcycle without falling apart completely, but somehow he made it. Shoving his helmet on his head, he straddled his bike and tore out of the parking lot.

  • • •

  Melanie hovered on the outskirts of the parking lot, horrified by what had just happened. Yeah, she hadn’t heard that Spence was alive before seeing him at the cemetery, but she’d figured that was only because she’d been out of town on business and only just returned. If she’d had any idea that neither Nick nor Callie had known about his return from the dead, she would have done something to soften the blow. Called Callie or maybe her mother. Anything to have prevented this whole fiasco.