Two Hearts Find Christmas (Two Hearts Wounded Warrior Book 5)

by Tamara Ferguson

  “Don’t discount yourself Josh, you’re pretty darn special yourself, and I’ve always known it. Look how you tried to protect and take care of Luke, not just when you were a teenager, but through your entire life,” Nina said reassuringly.

  “Having Jake Loughlin believe in me and give me a fresh start had a lot to do with it Nina. I never thought very much of myself.”

  “Hey, speaking of genes, why don’t you look at Jake? He turned out alright, and he’s the son of your dad’s brother.”

  “I never thought about it like that. I guess I’m not such a bad guy anymore.”

  Nina snorted. “I never thought you were. Well maybe about a second, back before you stopped those two idiots from assaulting me. I wasn’t sure what was happening when you joined them here in the cave all those years ago.”

  “I was actually wired with a listening device. We were attempting to get the goods on them. Otherwise, I would’ve been trying a heck of a lot harder to convince you to turn them in.”

  “That explains it,” she answered. “There were so many contradictions going on with you.”

  “Enough of this talk. Let’s get this kissing out of the way, so we can stop by Luke and Kelly’s a few minutes before we go have dinner at the inn.

  “Out of the way?”

  Nina was pretending to be indignant, and Josh pulled her into his arms.

  “You never answered me.”

  “About what?”

  “You know what.”

  “Huh. I was just waiting for a proper proposal,” she muttered, nuzzling her lips against his cheek.

  Josh laughed. “I’m not sure if I know how to do that.”

  “Be creative,” she answered dryly. “I want to hear something I can tell our kids someday.”

  “Our kids, huh?” Josh took a second to cover her lips with his. “Nina Chandler, would you do me the great honor of becoming my wife? I’m not sure what the future’s going to bring, but I don’t want to be anywhere if you’re not there with me.”

  “Yes, Josh, no matter what happens, I’ll be there. I want to marry you too. And let’s put the past behind us for good.”

  “Agreed,” Josh said softly.

  They sealed the moment with a lingering kiss.

  * * *

  They were making the rounds tonight. After visiting Luke and Kelly in their house packed with visitors, Josh and Nina were eating a Christmas Eve dinner with Jake Loughlin and his family before going home and celebrating Christmas with Ralph.

  Nina was helping distribute the presents under the huge tree centered on the main floor inside the Dragonfly Pointe Inn, as Jake Loughlin and his wife Danielle, along with their three kids, were calling out names for the children of guests.

  Amidst the laughter and the Christmas music echoing through the inn, it somehow seemed appropriate that the first sight he’d see was the woman he loved when the dense fog that was clouding his eyes began to dissipate. Nina was even more lovely than he remembered. There was a beautiful light in her eyes when she turned his way and suddenly smiled.

  Something in his behavior must’ve clued her in about his sight being restored, because tears filled her eyes moments later when she approached and sat on the chair beside him.

  And turning, Josh stared into the deep blue eyes he’d been dreaming about for the last fifteen years.

  “Oh, Josh. I’m so happy for you.”

  “You know what I love most about the fact that my sight is coming back?”

  “What?” she asked softly.

  “The fact that I can finally see you, Nina. God, you’re so beautiful.”

  She laid her head against his shoulder and began crying softly.

  “Nina? Aw, come on. Don’t do that,” he told her gruffly, patting her awkwardly on the back.

  “It’s okay. I’m crying because I’m so happy.” She sighed contentedly. “This will be a Christmas I’ll always remember.”

  He cleared his throat. “Well, in that case...”

  Raising her chin with his fingers, and staring deep into her sapphire blue eyes, Josh laid his mouth over hers.

  It’d be a Christmas he’d always remember too, Josh thought, sinking into the kiss.

  Reuniting with his brother Luke, and spending time with caring friends who would always be family.

  But it was here in each other’s arms, where he and Nina found love.

  And love was the true meaning of Christmas.

  A Note from the Author

  I hope you’ve enjoyed Two Hearts Find Christmas, the fifth story in my Two Hearts Wounded Warrior Romance Book series.

  Although I do like to inject humor wherever I can, I tackle some pretty serious subject matter, and Two Hearts’ Find Christmas is no exception. Josh has serious self-esteem issues as a victim of physical and sexual abuse, while Nina has spent her entire life taking care of others, and not considering what would make her happy.

  Until Josh comes back into her life again.

  May all of you have the best and brightest holiday season, as well as a

  HAPPY NEW YEAR!

  Tammy

  Want to do something to make sure our men and women wounded warriors are never forgotten? Why not donate to The Wounded Warrior Project?

  Your generous, tax deductible donation to Wounded Warrior Project® (WWP) will change the lives of over one hundred thousand injured warriors, caregivers, and family members. You will help bring independence back to our nation’s most severely wounded veterans.

  I send out a bi-monthly newsletter where I provide information about new releases as well as free books and available promotional sign ups and giveaways.

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  About the Author

  Writing steamy yet sweet compassionate stories of fate that are wonderfully romantic, Tamara Ferguson is the multi-award winning, #1 international bestselling author of the Tales of the Dragonfly Romance Suspense Series, the Kissed By Fate Series, the Two Hearts Wounded Warrior Romance Series and the Daydreams & Dragonflies Sweet Romance Series.

  Her wounded warrior romances, Two Hearts Unspoken, Two Hearts Surrendered, and Two Hearts Undone were all WINNERS at the 2016 Readers’ Favorite International Book Awards; with Two Hearts Unspoken earning the Silver Medal in Military Fiction. Two Hearts Surrendered is also a 2016 New Apple Romance Selection for excellence in Indie Publishing.

  Two Hearts’ Christmas Wish, the fourth story in the series, spent 6 consecutive weeks at #1 in the Mistletoe Kisses & Christmas Wishes romance set and has become a #1 Best Seller independently as well a 2017 IAN Book of the Year Finalist and was voted #13 BEST INDIE ROMANCE BOOK of 2017.

  Along with the 2015 Romance Reviews Readers’ Choice Award Winner That Unforgettable Kiss, Two Hearts Surrendered and Two Hearts Unspoken were also finalists for the 2016 IAN Book of The Year. Tales of the Dragonfly In Tandem was a romance finalist in the Indie Excellence Awards, while Tales of the Dragonfly In Flight was a romance suspense winner at the Readers' Favorite International Book Awards.

  Currently, she is working on Two Hearts Find Christmas (Two Hearts Wounded Warrior Romance Book 5) for an Author’s Billboard Exclusive Anthology A Christmas She’ll Remember, releasing in October, and Emergence, her third Tales of the Dragonfly Novel, due to be published by Windswept in early 2018.

  A member of the RWA, the Authors' Billboard and the Authors' Independent Book Network, her stories have been included in several #1 bestselling anthologies.

  Since she remains a full-time caregiver for an autistic son (alo
ng with a bunch of adopted pets!), you can usually find Tammy working at home, where she spends a lot of time not completing her numerous home improvement projects, because she's writing or helping author friends promote their books on twitter.

  An Excerpt

  #1 INTERNATIONAL BEST SELLER

  Two Hearts Surrendered

  (Two Hearts Wounded Warrior Romance Book 1)

  Kindle

  2016 READERS’ FAVORITE BOOK

  AWARD WINNER

  Military Fiction

  2016 NEW APPLE ROMANCE SELECTION

  2016 IAN BOOK OF THE YEAR Finalist

  2016 Romance Reviews Finalist

  Reader’s Choice Awards

  PROLOGUE

  His eyes scoped out the beach as he struggled to reach the pathway from the parking lot, steering away from the crowd. Following the trail to the very edge of the sand, Luke stumbled over moss and patchy grass, until he found shelter under a canopy of scrubby pines bordering the park.

  He groaned, when he finally dropped down to the sand. His stepdad had really done a number on him this time–the pain was pretty intense. Resting his shoulder gingerly against the trunk of one of the pines, he sighed. It was such a hassle, having to constantly be on his guard–especially when he was always having to come up with excuses for teachers, explaining why he was missing so much school.

  Luke grimaced. And hiding the welts and bruises? It was becoming nearly impossible–since a couple of the idiots in his class had decided to say something to his counselor, after seeing Luke without a shirt on in the locker room. Everything was beginning to catch up with him, he realized, as his eyes filled with tears.

  But he was way too old to cry, he decided. With a shaking hand, he swiped away his tears.

  He got a whiff of the smell of popcorn, as it drifted through the air from the nearby concession stand–and his stomach growled. Damn, that smelled good. Luke took in a deep ragged breath as he focused his attention on the crowded beach. That little Callahan girl was at it again, making the rounds. With her white-blonde hair and deep-blue eyes, she sure was a pretty little thing. And, man, what a personality–he was guessing she was only about six-years old. Even at thirteen, Luke knew he’d been cursed with a bad reputation. And ever since he’d acquired that tat, not to mention the scar that ripped through the side of his face, most little kids, and nearly all of his classmates, seemed to be scared of him–like he was someone out of a horror flick.

  But not her. She reminded him a little of his younger sister, Cassie. Just remembering Cassie made him cry a little harder.

  For some crazy reason, Luke had always been drawn to this beach. Probably because deep inside he knew—all the stories and superstitions were true—Dragonfly Pointe was magic. It was the only place in this world where he seemed to feel alright. Here, he could forget about the deep, dark problems in his life, and chill out just long enough to recharge before returning home.

  Home? He snorted. He hadn’t had a home for a very long time, he realized, as he began dozing off.

  An hour later, when Luke began to slowly awaken, he felt like something was off. Studying his surroundings, he turned his eyes to the far end of the beach, where sixteen-year old Dan Callahan was standing amidst a group of his friends. Although her twin brother Jeff was playing with some kids in the sand nearby, Kelly Callahan was nowhere in sight.

  Luke gazed across the sand to the lake. Suddenly noticing a pair of arms flailing, far out in the water, he jumped up to his feet, glancing quickly over at the abandoned lifeguard station. Where in the hell was the lifeguard? Racing across the sand, and whipping his shirt off from over his head, Luke cringed as the scabs from the welts crisscrossing his back ripped open. Barely noticing the pain, he slipped off his sneakers and began to plow through the water, until he was deep enough to begin swimming.

  After what seemed like forever, he was finally close enough to Kelly to pull her into his arms. It appeared that he’d reached her just in time.

  “It’s okay–I’ve got you, Princess,” he reassured her, as he began treading water. Luckily, she was light as a feather, because it took a few moments to calm her down, while she coughed and spit out water.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, still sputtering. Clinging more tightly, Kelly wrapped her arms over his shoulders. “I’m never supposed to go swimming by myself,” she said, in a shaky voice.

  “Well, at least you’ll probably never do it again,” Luke said calmly. He was beginning to feel light-headed. He’d already been exhausted after biking five miles just to reach Dragonfly Pointe. Plus, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d actually had something to eat. “I need to get you back to the shore, Princess.” Prying arms loose, that were wrapped like an octopus over his shoulders, he stared into sapphire blue eyes, filled with fear. “You’re gonna have to trust me.”

  Hesitating, she agreed with a jerky nod of her head. Luke was guessing Kelly was beginning to sense the urgency of the situation, when she peeked around him nervously at the shore.

  “You’ll need to let go of me–so you can lie back in the water.”

  She looked ready to panic again, so pulling her more tightly into his arms, Luke rubbed her shoulders with his hand reassuringly.

  Kelly spoke uncertainly into his ear. “Like doing the backstroke?”

  “That’s right. I’ll be sure to stay underneath you, too, while I’m swimming–so that I’m holding up your head.”

  Although she was obviously terrified, she allowed Luke to flatten his hand against her back while she followed his directives. Wrapping an arm around her neck, and holding up her chin, he propped up her body as her feet floated close to the surface of the water. With smooth, rhythmic kicks, Luke swam through the water effortlessly, until they were closer to the beach.

  Luke felt Kelly being lifted from his arms. When he slowly stood up, and his feet touched the ground, he found himself staring into the eyes of Kelly’s older brother, Dan. “You should’ve been watching her,” Luke muttered reproachfully, expecting resentment.

  But, instead, he saw gratitude. “I know. Thanks, man,” Dan said quietly, before returning his attention to his sister.

  Luke was taken aback–he hadn’t expected Dan to agree with him. So he answered Dan with quiet reassurance, “Shit happens.”

  “Not to me it doesn’t. Just because Jeff was hanging around with me, I shouldn’t have assumed Kelly was nearby too. I’ve been off my game lately.” Dan began searching the faces in the crowd. “And, besides, where’s that damned lifeguard, who’s supposed to be on duty?”

  Luke began to notice the slew of curious onlookers lining up alongside the beach. When Kelly continued to remain quiet, he gazed down anxiously to where she sat in the sand, and realized she was staring hard at the bleeding wounds on his back.

  “Oh, Dan,” she finally moaned. “Look how bad he hurt himself, while he was helping me.”

  “I’m fine, Princess,” Luke muttered, still scoping out the beach nervously. “I didn’t get hurt pulling you out from the water.”

  She continued to plead with her brother, “Dan–please–you need to make him better.”

  Luke squirmed, while Dan stared at him grimly.

  “Don’t worry, sweetie. I’m gonna start making him better soon,” Dan reassured Kelly.

  Luke started. But his legs were getting wobbly, and he found himself sinking to the sand.

  “Princess, huh?” Wearing a half-smile, Dan studied Luke keenly before turning back to Kelly. “Are you sure you’re okay, Kel?”

  She nodded.

  “I think that she just swallowed lots of water,” Luke muttered.

  Dan stared at his sister with obvious concern. “Okay, Princess–we’re gonna have to talk this over with Mom and Dad later. Since you don’t appear to be suffering any side effects from nearly being drowned, why don’t you run over to the park with your friends for a little while? One of the moms took Jeff and the rest of the kids over there, when Luke, here, was pulling you
out from the water.”

  Just in case Kelly hadn’t been breathing. Dan didn’t need to complete the sentence when his eyes met Luke’s.

  After glancing over at the park, Kelly hesitated, before stepping towards him, and gazing down to where he sat, hunched over in the sand. “Thank you for saving me,” she said, softly.

  At that moment, the sun broke through the clouds. A beam of light shown down brightly on Kelly, leaving her backlit by a smoky-blue haze. But the strange thing about it was, Luke wasn’t seeing her as a pretty little six-year old girl anymore. He was envisioning her as the beautiful woman she’d undoubtedly be someday. Her white-blonde hair was dancing over her shoulders, but her fiery-blue eyes were staring accusingly into his.

  Luke blinked, before shaking his head in disbelief. He was exhausted, and most likely delirious. He swallowed uncomfortably. But maybe it had something to do with the magic that he’d sensed here at Dragonfly Pointe?

  Suddenly, he became aware of the soft, light brush of Kelly’s lips on his shoulder; like the touch of a butterfly, as she kissed him gently on one of his wounds. Luke felt a strange sense of longing. Her kiss made him feel like he’d been blessed–like its power could heal all of his wounds.

  And unexpectedly, his eyes began to fill with tears.

  When Kelly scrambled away, and began skipping along the beach, she was totally unaware that she was making Luke question his sanity. Reaching the bench where she’d left her beach bag and sandals earlier, Kelly dug through her bag for her hat, first, and plopped it onto her head, before covering her eyes with a pair of stylish sunglasses.

  Luke raised a brow, turning to Dan.

  Dan rolled his eyes upward and shrugged. “What can I say? Mom calls Kelly a six-year old fashionista.”