Heart of a SEAL

by Dixie Lee Brown

  She squinted into the newly risen sun to look at him as another of her unending questions turned her attention from the ache in her heart. “Apparently, we suck at hiding, don’t we? How did they find us?”

  Luke’s breath escaped on a sigh.

  Immediately, Sally regretted bringing up the subject. “Forget I asked. I’m sorry. We don’t have to talk about it.”

  Luke stopped, pulling her up short. “The truth is, I’ve been waiting for you to ask…and dreading the look in your eyes when you hear the answer.” He cupped her cheek and teased her lips with a light brush from his thumb. “I’ve given that plenty of thought. Talked it over with my commander and Homeland Security. We’ll never know for sure, but the most likely scenario is, they followed me to the hospital in Bethesda, and when I was released, I led them right to you and Jen.” The tick in his jaw surfaced as he paused.

  “Ahmed knew what you meant to me because of the picture. He knew I’d do anything to keep you and Jen safe. So he used you to get to me. The bomb in your house in Huntington was Ahmed’s handiwork, and later on the road to the lodge—the cars that tried to run us off the road. It was me they were trying to kill, and you got stuck in the middle. I’m sorry, babe.”

  Her heart constricted at the misery and anguish in his eyes. Did he think she blamed him for any of that? “Luke, you have nothing to be sorry for. The responsible person, and I use that term loosely, is dead. He’ll never hurt anyone again.” Sally fisted her hands in Luke’s camouflage jacket and pulled him against her. “I love you, Luke Harding, and I would do everything over again if it meant having you in my life.” There. That was so in-his-face there was no way he couldn’t respond—not say he loved her back.

  A cute-as-sin grin settled on his mouth…and she waited expectantly.

  “Hey, Harding, ya wuss. What’s takin’ you so long?” Travis’s drawl drew their attention to the crowd of people watching them from a hundred feet away.

  Luke’s gaze swept back to her, and the moment was gone. “I guess we’d better join them. The crowd’s getting ugly.” He took her hand, an expression she couldn’t read darkening his brown eyes. “Come on. Let’s get this party started.”

  There were so many people, and they just kept coming. Travis, Coop and Matt had stayed, so they could be there to help Daniel and Ellen rebuild. She gave them each a huge hug, feeling as though they were lifelong friends, rather than the two-week relationship it had actually been. These men would always hold a special place in her heart.

  The rest of Luke’s SEAL team was there too, and Luke clasped hands with them all and introduced her to each of them. Name tags would have been a good idea. Too bad she hadn’t thought of it sooner.

  Luke’s Aunt Peg, a petite figure beside all the brawny men, with shoulder-length silver hair and chocolate-brown eyes, squeezed through the crowd to greet Luke. Then she turned to Sally and dispensed a warm hug. “Thanks for making my nephew so happy, dear,” she whispered.

  Sally’s eyebrow shot up as the friendly woman smiled and winked. What on earth? There was no time to contemplate the odd exchange as Luke’s brother, Garrett, grabbed her around the waist and lifted her off her feet for a bear hug. Setting her down, he planted a platonic kiss on her cheek and reached for Luke’s hand. “Damn, it’s good to see you both in one piece.”

  It touched Sally deeply that Luke’s family had made the drive from Cougar Ridge to help a family they didn’t know for no other reason than that Luke asked them. Cowboy, Garrett’s retired military dog, had come along for the ride too. The shepherd was currently being spoiled and treated like the hero he was by the large Navy contingent.

  Sally scanned the grounds for Garrett’s fiancée, Rachel, and spotted the pretty redhead talking to Jonathan. They were outside the crush of people waiting to be told what their jobs were as Daniel began organizing the workers.

  Luke looped his hand around her neck and pulled her closer for a quick brush of his lips. “Daniel needs some help. You’ll be okay?” Excitement shone in his eyes.

  “I’ll see you later,” Sally said.

  As he strode over to Daniel, her gaze slid back to Rachel.

  Garrett moved alongside Sally. Cowboy loped up to him, checking in, no doubt, before racing off to join a group of young boys with a rubber ball. Garrett and Sally both chuckled when the dog stole the ball and joyously evaded the boys’ attempts to get it back.

  Jonathan stepped away from Rachel, joining the detail beginning to dig postholes at each corner of the concrete foundation. Alone, Rachel fidgeted, and Sally’s heart went out to her.

  “She’s nervous,” Garrett said, stating the obvious. “She was devastated when the truth came out about Luke’s request not to see you in the hospital.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “I love my brother, but…well, sometimes he can be a real ass. Rachel knew how much he hurt you, and she felt responsible, even though she wasn’t. I know it’s been uncomfortable for both of you when you’ve attended the same functions, but she’s missed you—”

  Sally lay her hand on his arm and smiled. “This past year has been one poor decision followed by misunderstandings and topped off with a lack of communication. We’re starting fresh today.”

  The relief that slipped over his face spoke clearly of how much he loved Rachel and wanted her to be happy.

  “Rachel.” Sally called her name when she was a dozen feet away, and Rachel turned. Sally couldn’t tell what was going through her mind, but it didn’t matter. Striding straight to her, Sally threw her arms around Rachel’s shoulders and hugged her tightly. Apparently surprised, it took her a few seconds to relax and return the embrace.

  “I’m so glad you’re here.” Sally stepped back. “Did you change your hair color?”

  Rachel laughed uncertainly. “Only about four times in the past nine months.”

  Sally brought her hands to her hips and studied Rachel’s deep auburn tresses with caramel highlights. She shook her head. “Well…I love it!”

  Rachel’s eyes welled with tears, even as her lips curved in a tremulous smile. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know what to do to make things right.”

  Sally held up her hand. “We’re not going there. You’re here. Come on. There’s someone I want you to meet.” She dragged her by the hand to a row of tables that had been set up adjacent to the work area. “Ellen, this is my best friend, Rachel Maguire. Also engaged to Luke’s brother. Rachel, I’d like you to meet Ellen Mathias. Ellen and Daniel own this place, and they’ve been incredibly kind to Jen and me.”

  Ellen shook hands with Rachel. “Thanks for coming. It’s so nice to meet you.”

  “It’s an honor to be here, actually. You and your husband are heroes,” Rachel said. “So, I came to work. What can I do?”

  “You’re in luck. In the cabin next door, there’s a bunch of women, and a couple of men, working their butts off to get lunch prepared for all these people. You’ll have to introduce yourself because I don’t know half of them. Seems there are people here from all over the western United States who came to do something nice for us just because we ended up in the news. The idea takes my breath away. I’ll have to pay this forward for a long, long time.” Ellen stopped talking and pressed her hand over her mouth, but a sob escaped anyway.

  Sally put her arm around Ellen’s shoulders. “It’s okay. You’re entitled to shed a few tears—we all are.” She glanced to where the men worked and caught Luke watching her.

  He gave her a thumb’s-up and she nodded.

  “Look, Ellen. They’ve started to notch the logs and stack them. You’ll be back in your home in no time.”

  Ellen straightened and smoothed her hair away from her face. “You’ll have to excuse me, girls. I wouldn’t be so darn emotional if I wasn’t pregnant.”

  “What?” Sally couldn’t help but laugh. “Okay. You’ve been holding out on me. Rachel, I’ll catch up with
you later, okay? Right now, I’m going to find a nice, shady spot for this pregnant lady to sit.”

  “Say no more. Congratulations, Ellen.” As Rachel strode by Sally, she grabbed her hand and squeezed. The happiness radiating from her gave Sally a rush of warmth.

  Soon, the assembly of cooks and food preparers were filling some of the tables with every kind of salad, pasta, Jell-O fruit concoction, bread, sandwich meat and dessert. A round, loud-voiced man, with an apron Sally was sure used to be white, manned a huge outdoor grill on which cooked chicken, hamburgers and hotdogs. Stacks of paper plates and plastic utensils lined the end of each table. One person after another carried pitchers and jugs of iced tea and lemonade to spread around the empty tables where people would eat. Sally left Ellen sitting with her feet up, enjoying a quiet moment and a cold drink.

  Jen and Bridgett were passing out ice-cold bottles of water to the sweating workers starting to break in anticipation of lunch. Sally’s gaze drifted to Luke, who was working on flooring with Garrett, Jonathan and a half-dozen other men she hadn’t met. The walls of logs were going up around them as they worked. Obviously engrossed in his project, Luke didn’t look up.

  “Well, sweet thing, you’ve become quite a celebrity. If you can leave your adoring fans for a minute, I’d like to have a word with you.”

  The voice sent cold chills up her back as she whipped around. Sheriff Mike Connors. Jen’s father. Standing across the table from her—the very last person she wanted to see. What was he doing here? She wouldn’t have pegged him as a Good Samaritan. With a narrowed gaze, she stared at him. “Really, Mike? It just so happens I have a word for you. Leave.”

  “Is that right? Where’s my daughter, Sally? If you won’t hear what I have to say, maybe I’ll go talk to the kid.” He started to walk away.

  “No,” Sally screamed. The decibel level, coupled with the alarm in her voice shut down the rumble of the crowd as if she’d turned a spigot. She sensed dozens of eyes on her and a collective holding of breath.

  Darting around the table, Sally placed herself directly in front of him. No way was he getting close to Jen. “Don’t you dare go near her.” Each word was punctuated by rage, the likes of which she’d never felt before.

  “All right.” He grabbed her arm roughly and jerked her close enough his breath blew on her face. “It’s entirely up to you, sweetheart. Let’s you and me find a nice quiet place to be alone.” Still gripping her arm, he started to tug her farther from the line of tables.

  Sally’s stomach lurched at the thought of being alone with the man, and he seemed oblivious to the fact everyone within a thirty-foot radius was listening to his every word.

  Luke was a blur of motion as he slid between them, forcing the sheriff to let go of her. Slamming his palms against Connors’s chest repeatedly, Luke walked him backward until a dozen feet separated them from Sally. Luke’s right hook caught the sheriff already off balance, and blood spurted from his nose. The powerful punch spun him around, and he sprawled face down in the dirt.

  A spattering of applause went up. Sally glanced around and found Garrett standing on one side of her, Travis on the other. Ten feet behind them, Matt lifted Jen and set her on his shoulders.

  So…this is what it feels like to be surrounded by friends. She’d tried to keep herself and Jen from being noticed by the wrong people for so long, their friends had been few. Sally almost didn’t recognize the feeling of total safety that suddenly became a living force inside her.

  Luke yanked the sheriff to his feet, and Connors swayed unsteadily.

  “You broke my nose. You just made the biggest mistake of your life, you fucking squid.”

  Luke chuckled in a totally unamused way, and a chorus of boos and four-letter words rumbled from the crowd at Sally’s back. Evidently, the term the sheriff had used was familiar, and not in a good way, to the sailors on the grounds. Even Cowboy stalked closer, growling low. Garrett called him off with a quiet command.

  “Don’t ever touch her again, Connors, or you’ll have more than a busted nose. If it was up to me, I’d haul your ass through the court system for what you did to her, but I won’t do that to Jen. She’s my daughter now, and no one is going to hurt her. Are we clear on that?” He shoved the sheriff another step closer to the parking area and his vehicle.

  “Fuck you,” Connors sputtered through the blood that covered the lower half of his face.

  Luke’s fist flexed as though he was finding it difficult not to punch the guy again. “Enjoy your last few days on the job, Sheriff. I’m making it my personal mission to see you don’t keep it for much longer.”

  Wait a minute. Did Luke just say Jen was his daughter? A quick glance at the girl confirmed an ear-to-ear grin. Was he planning on a future with them despite his reticence to speak the words? Shamelessly, she admitted to herself she’d take him any way he came.

  Connors glared at Luke but pivoted and almost trotted to his car. As soon as he got it in gear, he hit the gas, throwing up a screen of dust as he flipped off Luke. Beside her, Travis swore under his breath, shaking his head as he headed for the chow line. The hum of conversation picked back up, along with the clink of serving spoons on pans and bowls of food, as though the confrontation had been an everyday occurrence for most of those present.

  Luke turned slowly and regarded her. His sexy grin was a tad weak, as though he wasn’t quite sure how she’d react. “Sorry, sunshine. I probably didn’t handle that very well.” He shrugged, brushing a stray lock of hair out of his eyes. “I went a little crazy when I saw his hands on you.”

  Sally felt his words to her core. She loved him so much at that moment, her chest ached. Striding to him, she slipped her arms around his waist and smiled up at him. “You did just fine, sailor.”

  Relief invaded his expression as he wrapped his arms around her, and the beating of his heart was balm to her soul. Yet one thing remained. “I have to talk to Jen. Connors said things. You said things. I don’t know how much she heard.” Under the circumstances, Jen was sure to be confused about who her father was.

  “If you don’t mind, I’d like to talk to her with you.” Luke’s earnest eyes pierced her heart.

  “Are you two looking for someone?” Matt set Jen on the ground in front of them, and she immediately flew into Luke’s arms.

  He laughed as he picked her up and held her close. “Thanks, MacGyver.” Luke exchanged a solemn nod with the big man before he turned and headed for the food lines.

  “That was so cool, Luke. Are you okay? Did you hurt your hand? Did you mean it when you said I was your daughter now? Did you ask her?”

  “Whoa. Slow down, Jen. Your mom wants to talk to you for a minute. Okay?” Luke set her down but didn’t break eye contact immediately.

  Sally’s gaze swept between the two of them. Why did she feel as though they were communicating on some alien wavelength? She brushed her suspicions aside as she knelt in front of her daughter. “Honey, I’m sorry if anything you saw or heard upset you.”

  Jen looked about as far from upset as a person could, a perpetual smile glued to her lips.

  “Sheriff Connors isn’t a nice man. Years ago, he did something bad that resulted in something very, very good. You were born.” Was Jen understanding any of this? Too bad there wasn’t an instruction booklet for being a single parent.

  “Remember when I told you that every child has a mother and a father, even if they don’t all live together?”

  “Yeah,” Jen said.

  “Well, Sheriff Connors is your father. But because I love you so much, I’ve never allowed him around you. When you’re older, I’ll explain the reasons, and when you’re old enough, you can decide whether you want him in your life. I’m sorry you had to find out this way, sweetheart.”

  Jen shrugged. “I knew, Mom.”

  “What?” Sally nearly swallowed her tongue getting the word out.


  Luke knelt beside them and smiled at Jen. “How did you know he was your father?”

  “Last year, in school, some of the older kids teased me about it, saying I looked just like him…and saying bad stuff about Mom. She’d never talk about him…so I asked Jonathan.”

  “Jonathan told you the sheriff was your father?” Sally would kill him.

  “No, but he didn’t say he wasn’t either. Later, I overheard him talking to Rachel. Don’t be mad at them, Mom. They didn’t know I was listening.”

  “Oh, no, sweetie. I’m not angry. I’m sorry you had to go to someone else to hear what you should have heard from me. Next time you have a question, please ask. I’ll tell you everything I know.” Sally gathered her into her arms and hugged her until the girl started to squirm.

  Pulling away from her mother, Jen glanced toward Luke expectantly.

  Sally heaved an exasperated sigh. “What’s up with you two?” She rose to her feet at the same time Luke did. Was that a blush coloring his whisker-roughened features?

  Jen giggled and skipped a few feet away before turning back.

  “Well, I was going to do this after the dance tonight, when there weren’t quite so many people around, but my support staff is getting restless.” He crossed his eyes at Jen and elicited another giggle.

  Reaching in his jeans pocket, he brought out a small, red-silk drawstring bag and dropped to one knee in front of her.

  Shocked, Sally backed up a step…and might have kept right on going if he hadn’t reached for her hand and held her in place.

  Luke dumped something out of the silk bag onto his knee—something that winked and flashed at her as it moved. Laying the beautiful solitaire diamond ring on the red silk, he held it out, then grinned his sexiest grin. “You are literally my sunshine. Since the day I met you, you’ve never left my mind for a second. The more I come to know you, the more I need you. The truth is, I can’t imagine my life without you and Jen. I love you, Sally Duncan…or Annie Brennan…or whatever name you choose to go by. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”