When did I go from dreading seeing Don again to not wanting to live without him? Was it when he opened my eyes to see all I’ve got and all I am? Because without him, I probably never would’ve gotten the courage to leave Savannah and live again.
She was rejuvenated with the desire to live a long and full life. Don better remember to protect himself. He has someone here waiting for him. I don’t want to know what tomorrow would be without him in my life.
Bailey did exactly as Sissie had instructed. She put a smile on her face and went up on that stage and rocked the house. It wasn’t the kind of crowd she was used to. Instead, this group was very interactive. One of the older gentlemen even got up on the stage with her for a short time. Before she knew it, her laughter wasn’t forced, and it wasn’t from her routine either. She’d forgotten how warm and welcoming everyone was in Honeywell. She couldn’t help but imagine living in a place like Honeywell with her puppy in the backyard and Don grilling dinner on the patio when she got home.
Oh Sissie, why do I think you pulled a fast one on me? Was I really here to cheer everyone else up, or did you pull me in here so they could work their magic on me? Either way, Bailey was glad she had gotten up on stage. It was very late, and everyone was exhausted. It’d been a day that seemed like it would never end.
The entire night her eyes had kept going to the main door, hoping Don and the others would walk in. A feeling within her wouldn’t go away. She couldn’t pinpoint what it was. Maybe it was loneliness or fear. But whatever it was, she wished it came with an answer.
Everyone had gone to bed as soon as they were back on the ranch. The house was so quiet it was eerie. She lay with her eyes closed, and all she could hear was her own heart beating. She pulled Buttercup close and kissed her face. I can’t wait for Don to really meet you. He’s going to love you just as much as I do. Don’t love him more than you love me, though. She giggled to herself, but couldn’t truly relax.
She lay in bed recalling how Buttercup came to be in her life. Bailey was only supposed to have been packing the remaining belongings in her apartment. But once she’d seen the flyer about Friends Of Homeless Animals holding their adoption event, she’d totally forgotten everything she was supposed to be doing. They’d had every size, shape, and breed there, but when she’d laid eyes on Buttercup, it was love at first sight. As she scratched her dog’s neck she said, “Were you feeling all ugly and broken on the outside just like me? Did you think no one would ever want you, love you? We were both wrong, weren’t we, Buttercup? We’ve got our imperfections, but heck we’re not ugly at all. It’s just we forgot how beautiful we are. All we needed was love. I needed Don’s love.”
She pulled Buttercup even closer and once again tried to sleep. The room became truly quiet, unsettlingly so, and then the silence was broken by the sound of a cell phone ringing down the hall.
Bailey threw the covers off her and didn’t even grab her robe. She opened her door and went into the hallway to see if she could hear whose phone it was. It was three in the morning, so the call must be urgent.
She heard Derrick speaking but couldn’t understand what he was saying through the door. Pressing her ear to it, she tried again, but still, the words were still muffled.
Bailey had to know; it was killing her not to have any idea where Don was, what he was doing, or if he was safe. She knocked once, then twice. Hannah must have also heard the racket and joined her outside of Casey and Derrick’s bedroom.
“Did you try the door?” Hannah asked.
“No. You can’t just walk into someone’s bedroom.”
“If he’s talking to my husband, I sure as hell can.” Hannah turned the knob and, to their surprise, the door opened.
They walked right inside and stopped abruptly. Casey was in Derrick’s arms crying, and he was trying to console her.
Bailey grabbed Hannah’s hand. Both were trembling, both afraid to ask, neither prepared for the answer.
Derrick softly said, “It was Evelyn. Greg had to be rushed to the hospital. He’s having difficulty breathing. He’s stable at the moment.”
Bailey felt the tension leave Hannah’s hand as it also left hers. They felt horrible to hear about Casey’s father, but they were also filled with relief that the tears she was shedding weren’t for Don, Mark, or Kevin. She felt guilty for feeling so relieved, and she could tell Hannah did as well. We know each other so well, it’s nice not to be alone in this.
Bailey and Hannah stepped back out of the bedroom and closed the door. They knew sleep wasn’t coming for either of them, so they decided to go to the kitchen and make coffee. The call wasn’t for them, but they knew at any moment it could be, and that scared the hell out of them both.
Don couldn’t wait to see Bailey again. All he’d wanted to do was get back to her, hold her in his arms, and never let her go. Yet he was stuck, once again, in the damn safe house. The cabin is nice, great construction, but if I never have to come here again, it’ll be too damn soon. Since Mark’s team took the facility the day before, they’d been on a no-contact order. When he pushed the subject, he was only told there was a breach in communications, and until rectified, they were off the grid.
He knew there was more to it than Mark was sharing, but Mark had been unusually quiet. For that fact, the entire team was. Johnson, who normally had no problem giving Don shit, had spent the night sleeping on the porch.
Sitting there waiting for something to happen was only filling him with anger. He wasn’t even sure why he wasn’t riding on cloud nine. Everything had worked out, hadn’t it? They’d survived a situation where they were outnumbered more than two to one, with no loss of life on their side. Never would he have thought one day he’d need to point a gun and pull a trigger to defend himself. Instinct had taken over. Thank God it had. If not, Johnson and I wouldn’t be trapped in this cabin, we’d be six feet under.
Don couldn’t get the man’s eyes out of his head. They were dark and cold when he’d turned the corner. But the moment his bullet made impact, his eyes and expression changed. All Don had seen was the man’s fear as he’d slowly dropped to the ground.
The coffee cup in Don’s hand tipped slightly, causing the hot contents to spill on his lap. He looked at the cup and rage gripped him. He raised his hand and flung the cup across the room at the opposite wall. A loud smash echoed in the silence.
The guys in the room looked at him but said nothing. Instead, they got up and stepped outside leaving Mark alone with Don.
Mark walked over and sat beside him. “It’s a start.”
“What is?”
“The anger, the frustration. Smashing the cup. It’s a start to facing what happened yesterday.”
“Mark, I’m okay. Just lost my cool for a minute.” Don wasn’t one to lose his composure. If anything, he was the one who could crack a joke through any storm. Right now, he found nothing funny.
“Exactly. And you will again. That’s why we’re here,” Mark said in a calm tone.
“Are you saying we’re all sitting here because of me? That you think I’m . . . what—” Don’s voice was getting louder, and he clenched his fist. No one took his control away from him, not even Mark. “If you don’t get me the hell out of here, I’ll walk out of these damn woods myself.” He got up and started to pace.
Mark sat there watching him, not saying a word. When he did get up, Don got right in his face.
“Try me, Mark. I dare you to.”
Every muscle in his body was tense, and he wanted to—needed to—hit something, anything. It was barely controllable.
“What you’re feeling is what we all feel. We all stay until we can go back to the people we love and not let them feel the rage we hold inside.” Mark reached out and touched Don’s shoulder, giving it a supportive squeeze. “We don’t bring just anyone here to defrag with us. You’re one of us, and you’re not alone in this, Don.” Damn it. They all feel this way? I feel . . . enraged. Volatile. And shit, even disgusted.
“Does it ever get . .
. easier?” Don asked.
“No. If shooting another person no longer affects you like this, you have a problem.”
Don understood why they were off the grid. It had nothing to do with phones or any other form of communication. They were not here to protect themselves, but to avoid hurting others.
It explained the look on the team’s faces. Even people who lived this day in and day out needed to process it. Don nodded to Mark. “You could’ve just told me.”
“And you would’ve understood? It doesn’t work like that; it never does. This is something you needed to figure out on your own. It wouldn’t have helped you at all if I just gave you the answers, not really.”
“So my losing it and smashing a cup says what?”
“That I can call the chopper, and we can head home. We all deal with it differently. I took a run until I couldn’t go any farther. Johnson did push-ups until his arms gave out. We all deal somehow. You’re going to have to buy out a china shop, but I think you’ll be fine. You have to understand one thing, Don. You cannot keep this inside. And you can’t share it with the people closest to you either. You have me, and you have Kevin. Hell, I even think Johnson would be there if you needed him, seeing as you saved his life. But you have to promise me if you need to talk, call us. This is not something you get over in twenty-four hours. A year from now it might flash back, and I expect you to reach out. People who don’t reach out to someone who gets it run into trouble and take it out on the ones they love. You don’t want that for Bailey.”
Hell, no. I couldn’t forgive myself if I ever hurt her. Don finally understood why Mark went into seclusion after each mission. It took walking momentarily in his shoes to get a clear picture. It’s not a life he’d want to live each day, but he didn’t regret his part in this.
“What happens now? Are you going back to Savannah and spending time with Hannah?”
“I’ll spend some time there, but this is not over, Don. We got the second-in-command, which was a big win for us, but the one pulling the strings is still out there. He will recruit and rebuild. Until every single one of them is eliminated, my team will continue to search them out.”
“Do you think they’ll still go after our families?”
Mark shrugged. “I have to go with my gut. And that says they’re going to focus on finding the chemist for now. We hit them hard, but we still don’t know who else they have in their pocket. I never saw General Floyd as one of the bad guys. If he hadn’t begun to feel guilty for being a traitor to this country, these guys might have gotten away with it. Hell, my commander wouldn’t believe it until I presented the file.”
“Anyone else on your radar?”
“Yes, but not to be discussed with you. This was your first and last mission with my team,” Mark said with a stern look.
“God willing and the creek don’t rise.” Don laughed. “If you were worried I was going to go and enlist in the Navy, then you can relax. I think I’ll keep my day job. But seriously, Mark, I’m here if you need me.”
Mark nodded. “Good, because Kevin is out searching for the chemist, and I need to keep hunting for the top dog. How do you feel about relocating your business down south for a while?”
“And watch the home front? That’s something I can do. Hell, I’m honored to do it. I’ll sit on that lawn with Bailey and a shotgun, drinking sweet tea and eating deep-fried everything without complaint. Just promise me one thing.” Don knew Mark was a man who never made promises, but this one he was confident he would.
“What’s that?”
“Make those bastards pay for what they did to Hannah, Derrick’s family, Daniel, and all the others they’ve left scarred along the way.” Don had never known what pure hatred felt like, but he was sure this was it.
The sound of the chopper could be heard from a distance. Mark reached out his right hand. “Don, I promise I won’t stop till this is complete. That you have my word on.” He then shouted, “Let’s go. Time to go home, guys.”
Home wasn’t Buffalo any longer. It was wherever Bailey resided. She’s my home. And I think I have a lot of apologizing to do. I just hope she’s in a forgiving mood.
Chapter Nineteen
When Bailey rescued her dog, she had thought they would spend their time cuddling on the couch or sitting out on the porch. They told her the dog didn’t seem to have a lot of energy, but Bailey was quickly learning that was far from the case. All Buttercup needed was love, and she sprung right back to life. They had been walking Derrick and Casey’s ranch for almost two hours before Buttercup showed any signs of tiring.
They were just heading home when she heard an unfamiliar sound; as it became louder she recognized it. A helicopter. It can’t be, can it? I don’t want to get my hopes up again only to be let down, but I also can’t wait another second without knowing. She searched her pockets for her phone but remembered she’d left it to charge in the house. Darn it.
“Come on, Buttercup, we’re about to find out just how fast you can run.” Bailey took off in a jog and the dog tried keeping up with her. In a matter of seconds, it was apparent that neither of them was capable of that type of exertion.
I keep forgetting my energy level hasn’t come back fully. One day at a time, the doctor said. I’ve got to stop trying to push myself further than I should. I’ll only pay for it later. She looked down at her tuckered-out pup and gave in to Buttercup’s big brown eyes. Bailey bent down, picked Buttercup up in her arms, and had no choice but to walk back at their earlier nice slow pace.
When she came around the barn, she saw the chopper in the yard. Derrick had his arm around Casey who was waving like crazy. Mark was already off the chopper and rushing to his waiting bride. Bailey’s heart leapt for joy watching Hannah be swung around like a doll before Mark bent to kiss her. Now that’s a welcome home.
Her eyes scanned for Don and caught him walking slowly away from the helicopter. “Don,” she shouted.
He spun around, searching for her. Once their eyes made contact she saw his shoulders lift high and his face beam with the same joy she was feeling. It took everything in her not to run into his arms like Hannah had done to Mark. If she did, she’d probably collapse before making it to him. That wasn’t the way she’d dreamed of reuniting with him.
Don must’ve known because he took his time walking toward her. His eyes never left hers, and it was as though their souls had already closed the distance between them. When they finally were together, he didn’t pull her into his arms. Instead he reached out and took her hand in his, brought it to his lips, and kissed it gently.
“I’ve missed you.”
Her heart was beating so fast. She wanted him to sweep her off her feet, but she felt his hesitation.
“Is everything okay, Don?” She held her breath, waiting for his answer.
He nodded. “It will be.” He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her. Buttercup was not happy about being squished between them and wiggled until she could get down. Once Bailey’s arms were free, she lifted them and wrapped them around Don’s neck, holding him close. They stood for what seemed an eternity. I can tell just by looking in his eyes that Kevin was right. Don needs me to be his foundation. I’ll hold him up, just the way he held me.
I’m here, Don, and I’m not letting go.
He had been there for her when she’d needed someone desperately. Don had opened up about his childhood, what his mother had gone through when she’d been sick, and what his life was after she passed away. Bailey knew he’d only done so for her benefit, for her healing. Now it was her turn to be there for him. It was just going to be different. He was so much stronger than she was, yet right now he needed her, and it felt so good to be needed.
When he pulled away he said, “I’m sorry.”
“For what?” she asked softly.
“I left you. I know it must have been . . . difficult not knowing.”
More like pure torture. If my hair wasn’t already gone, I’d have pulled it out with wo
rry. But I’m not going to ever admit that. “You did what you needed to do. But I’m glad you’re back now.” She still didn’t know what it was he’d done, but if he was with Mark and his team, she knew it was dangerous. The details were probably something she didn’t want to know.
Don looked over his shoulder to everyone standing on the porch, waiting for them to join them. He turned back to Bailey and said, “This place is a bit too busy.”
Bailey smiled. “I know a great little hotel in town that holds some fond memories for me.”
She looked down at Buttercup who was sitting there looking up, waiting to welcome Don home with kisses. My turn first!
Then Don shouted, “Casey, how do you feel about dog sitting for a night?”
“Take all the time you want. Come here, Buttercup.” The dog took off and headed to the porch to sit by Casey.
“You want my truck?” Derrick asked.
Don shook his head. “I have a ride.”
Bailey looked around but didn’t see one. “Please don’t tell me we’re taking a horse.”
“Nope. That chopper wasn’t waiting around for nothing.” Don reached out and took her hand, leading the way.
When they approached, the pilot greeted her with a huge grin. “Where to?”
Bailey let Don secure her harness while he gave the pilot directions. The drive normally would’ve taken almost an hour, but they landed in an open parking lot in under ten minutes. She had no issue with that at all, because the only thing she wanted was to hold him again.
The woman at the desk checked them into the same room they had shared seven months ago. When she handed them the key, she gave Bailey a wink.
Don didn’t waste any time getting them into their room and pulling her into his embrace. Bailey pulled away from his kiss for a moment. “Can you wait here for one minute?”
He looked at her puzzled. “Where are you going?”
“Just one minute. I promise I’ll be right back. I forgot something.”
She rushed from the room and went downstairs to speak to the woman at the desk. “I have a crazy question.”
Southern Delight (Southern Desires Series Book 3) Page 21