by Kait Nolan
“I’m a photojournalist. You happened to catch me on break between stories. I’m flying back out tomorrow. What’s going on with Paisley? Is she in some kind of trouble?”
“You could say that. How would you characterize your relationship with your ex-wife?”
“Brief and intense. We met when she was doing research on a book. I told her there was no better way to learn than on the job. I took her with me to Greece. We eloped before we came back to the States.”
Of course, they had. Elopement seemed entirely in character for Paisley. She’d love the impulsivity and romance of it.
“She traveled with me on job for a while, but it wasn’t conducive to her work, and she didn’t handle the separation well when I was on long assignments.”
“When you say didn’t handle the separation well…”
Mercer blew out a breath. “She accused me of putting the job before her. Which was accurate. She wasn’t okay with that, so we parted amicably after about a year.”
That confirmed what Ty had long suspected and made him feel a little better about breaking things off with her before going into the Army. Deployment would’ve broken them.
“Do you keep in touch?” This wasn’t their guy, but Ty found he wanted to know.
“Sure. I see her when I make it home when we’re both free, and we keep up on social media.”
Ty found himself wondering if those catch ups had been the naked kind. Had this guy inspired the casual stance she’d taken toward dating the last few years? Shaking his head, he told himself it didn’t matter. She was with him now.
“Thanks for your, help. If I need anything else, I’ll let you know.”
“Before you go—are you the Ty she knew in high school?”
Really? Again? “Yeah.”
“Yours is the name she calls for in her sleep. If you’re finally crossing paths again, it seems like a thing you ought to know.”
Ty sat and thought about that for a long time after hanging up. What was she dreaming about years after they’d split that she was calling out for him? Did she have nightmares? He didn’t know why it bothered him, except that, on some level, she’d needed him, and he hadn’t been there for her. He’d put his duty to his country, to his men, to Garrett first. He couldn’t regret that. He’d saved lives, averted disaster more times than he could count. The work he’d done had mattered.
But that work was finished now. It was someone else’s duty. And for the first time in forever, there was absolutely nothing he had to put before Paisley. He was here for her now, and he’d do whatever it took to make up for those years apart.
Chapter 10
“I appreciate you letting me set up here today. Ty’s probably being overcautious, but I’m still nervy about being by myself.”
Ivy shut the door behind Paisley and bent to scrub Duke’s ears. “It’s no problem. Where better to hang out and write than a house with two other writers? Besides, now I can ask all my nosy questions.”
“I knew that interrogation was coming.” A part of her was glad of it. She had some of her own questions, and she didn’t think she could ask Ty. “At least ply me with coffee first.”
Ivy led the way toward the kitchen. “I will enjoy the second-hand coffee fumes.”
“I thought pregnant women could have one cup a day?”
“Doc says yes. Baby says, Ha ha ha ha! No! I’m considering an espresso-scented candle.”
“That might just make me sadder. Where’s Harrison?”
“Already in the writing cave.” Ivy pulled out a couple of mugs and gestured to the coffee pot before turning on the kettle for herself. “He still keeps early hours after all that time in the Army. He’s usually had a run, breakfast, and his first hit of caffeine by the time I surface.”
Grateful she didn’t even have to wait for it to brew, Paisley poured herself a cup. “Ty was a morning person even before the Army. I’m reasonably sure that means he’s from another planet. But he uses those hours to my benefit, so I can’t really argue.”
“Oh really?”
Paisley laughed. “I didn’t mean that. Although yeah.” She definitely couldn’t argue with a sexy start to her morning, even if it meant she’d be jonesing for a nap by two. “He took me to school back in the day, and he’d always bring me coffee in a travel mug. And on Mondays, he’d stop and pick up donut holes so the morning would suck less.”
“That’s really sweet. I have to admit, I’m having a hard time picturing high school Ty. The version I’ve known has always seemed…stony and taciturn.”
“He was less serious, but still kind of quiet until you pulled him out of his shell, which I was really good at.” Paisley sipped, smiling as much at the memory as the hit of delicious caffeine. “He had a chivalrous bent, even then. It’s how we met, actually. I was the new girl in school that year. My parents were big into throwing me into the deep end to make friends, so I was at the Homecoming Dance alone, feeling awkward as hell. This asshole started hassling me, and Ty shows up with punch, pretending to be my boyfriend. So, I did what any red-blooded girl would do in that situation.”
“Played along.”
“I kissed him. At which point we both forgot about the asshole. It was a damned miracle Ty didn’t spill the punch all over us both because I shocked the hell out of him.”
“Wow. What happened to the asshole?”
“I don’t know. I couldn’t see anybody else after that because I’d just been struck by lightning. Ty’s hair was practically smoking, so I knew I wasn’t alone in that. I told him he was my hero and that was more or less it. We were just together after that. Back then I thought we always would be. He was my first love, and I couldn’t ever imagine being with anyone else. I’d picked right, straight out of the gate.”
Ivy joined her at the counter with a cup of tea. “I’m starting to understand how you became a romance writer.”
“It was really great fodder for it, that’s for sure.” But it hadn’t stayed that way. “After we graduated, I thought we had the whole summer ahead of us before we headed off to college. Garrett and Bethany got engaged, which was a shock to no one. They’d been together since the fourth grade. So, one night, Ty picks me up and takes me down to our spot by the river. There was this romantic picnic and Ty starts talking about the future and how much he loves me.” Even remembering, Paisley’s heart began to thrum with anticipation. “Any second, I was expecting him to get down on one knee and propose. And instead, he tells me he and Garrett have enlisted and that they’re aiming for Special Forces. I thought I’d misheard him. We were leaving for college in two months. What the hell was he talking about? He went off on this whole tangent about duty. I didn’t understand it. In my world there was absolutely nothing more important than love. It turned out this had been in discussion for months, and he hadn’t said a word to me.”
“Ouch! Was all the romance supposed to soften the blow?”
“He wanted to make it clear that making the decision to end things wasn’t because he didn’t care about me, which wasn’t at all what it felt like at the time. And he wanted to talk me into staying together until it was time for him to go, making the most of the time we had left.”
“Was that the end right there, or did you get your summer?”
“I held on. Did everything in my power to change his mind. In the end, nothing stopped him from getting on that bus.”
“That must have been awful having him choose the Army over you.”
“It was devastating. But it wasn’t the Army he chose over me. It was Garrett. He’s the only one Ty loved more than me. And I get it. They were brothers from diapers. Nothing was more important to him than having Garrett’s back. Which isn’t to say he didn’t feel he had a duty to country, but I don’t think it would have been strong enough to make him enlist on his own.”
“Did you resent Garrett for that?”
“No. He didn’t make Ty choose.”
“He could have chosen to try to make it work
.”
“We wouldn’t have made it. Ty understood that before I did. He made the right call for us under the circumstances. I would have made a lousy military wife. Which is a lot easier to say with the wisdom of years. But it didn’t make it suck any less or any easier to let him go. I grieved for a really, really long time.”
“And so, he became your hero archetype.”
Paisley lifted her mug in a toast. “Got it in one.”
“This explains so much about your work.”
“I love me some second chance romance.”
“Seems like you’ve got one. How did that happen anyway?”
“In a moment of glorious symmetry that I couldn’t have plotted better myself, there was your asshole cousin at your reception, and Ty swept in with the exact same ploy, pretending to be my date.”
Chin in hands, green eyes sparkling, Ivy grinned. “Did you kiss him again?”
“I did.”
“And that, it seems, is the end of that. Again.”
“Maybe.”
“You two give off fireworks when you’re in a room together. Why the lack of confidence?”
“We started out doing this whole casual thing.”
Ivy snorted. “There is nothing casual about the way that man looks at you.”
“I know. But this stalker situation pushed him when I don’t know if he was ready to be pushed. I’m deathly afraid that this is Speed Syndrome.”
“It’s what now?”
“Like you’re afraid, when the bus stops, everything will go kablooey?” Harrison supplied as he stepped into the kitchen and made straight for the coffee pot.
“Yes, exactly. And please, let’s educate your wife about one of Keanu Reeves’ best roles.”
“It’s not her fault. She was a toddler when that came out.”
Paisley winced. “I keep forgetting you’re so much younger than me.”
“I think I understand the concept well enough. You think when the threat to you is gone, he’ll balk.”
“It’s what I’m afraid of. This whole situation, combined with our history, has escalated things between us. And I’m not convinced that’s a good thing.”
Harrison and Ivy exchanged one of those married-people looks that told Paisley this was a topic they’d discussed.
“I have a different theory,” Ivy offered.
“By all means, enlighten me.”
“Do you know that before the last few days, I’ve never seen Ty smile?”
She’d heard the jokes but hadn’t thought much about it. “That wasn’t just Sebastian giving him shit?”
“No. I didn’t meet him until he was already out of the service, after Garrett’s death. He took it incredibly hard, as you’d expect.”
“They were brothers, in every way that mattered,” Paisley murmured. “I’ve still got friends back home, so I knew Garrett had died, but haven’t asked Ty about it. I’m kind of afraid to. How bad was it?”
Harrison kicked back against the counter with a fresh cup of coffee. “Depression. PTSD. Suicide watch. He gave me a helluva shiner when I stopped him from taking a header off a bridge.”
She covered her mouth, already feeling tears begin to fall at the thought of it. So much pain and grief. No matter the circumstances, he’d blame himself because protecting Garrett was the whole reason he’d gone in. This was what he’d meant by wounds that would never heal.
“He shut himself off from everything and almost everyone. Getting him into law enforcement helped. It gave him a new purpose, and that brought him back from the brink. But he hasn’t really been living. Everything but the job has been temporary. You’ve seen his place. He could move out tomorrow and you’d never even know he was there.”
Ivy picked up the thread. “But you broke through all of that. And knowing what I do now, I think you’re maybe the only one who could shake him out of that inertia.”
“Me? Why?”
“There’s this whole transition period when you get out of military service,” Harrison explained, “trying to figure out how the hell to be part of the civilian world. We’ve all been through some measure of it, wondering where we fit. For Rangers in particular, we’re accustomed to being part of a tight team, to knowing those men have our six. Being out, without that backup, it’s easy to feel kind of adrift, even when leaving was a choice. With Garrett and Ty being a unit well before they joined up, his has just been a thousand times worse.”
“Without his best friend as a reference point, Ty doesn’t remember who he is. It’s helped, him moving here to be near Harrison and Sebastian, but it’s not the same. You, though. You were part of his life before the Army. Arguably the biggest part other than Garrett. Your very presence reminds him of how to be him. That history, those patterns you established years ago, back when he was still happy, remind him that he can still be happy. I can’t begin to tell you how thrilled I am that his feelings for you are strong enough to overcome the survivor’s guilt and the idea that he doesn’t deserve to be.”
Why did the idea of that feel like a suffocating pressure? “I don’t even know what to say to that.”
Harrison studied her. “For what it’s worth, Garrett never stopped giving him shit for letting you go. Every time we were stateside, he tried to get Ty to look you up. Ty insisted you were better off without him. He never used your name, or I’d have put two and two together when I met you.”
What would she have done if he’d come back to her on his own, not as a matter of chance? Paisley didn’t know. She’d had fantasies of exactly that for years. In some of them, she’d let the hurt win and turned him away, but knowing how she’d felt when she’d seen him in that reception hall, as if the world that had stopped spinning the day he’d gotten on that bus for basic training had started up again, in all likelihood, she’d have thrown herself willingly into his arms and whatever relationship he’d have given her. Exactly as she’d done now. But if it had been before he’d gotten out, she might have lost him all over again to Garrett’s death. Or worse, to death in combat as he’d always feared.
But despite Ivy and Harrison’s enthusiastic support of her relationship with Ty, she didn’t know how to trust it. Not with the same no-holds-barred abandon she had as a teenager. They both had a lot more baggage, and she was afraid of the ghosts that lurked within it. Because, despite her inherent romanticism, she knew that outside of books, love didn’t always conquer all.
“I appreciate your cooperation.” The words had become rote for Ty over the past few days.
“No problem. I hope you get to the bottom of it soon. Tell Paisley I said hi.”
“I will.” Ty hung up on Dustin Phelps, a college baseball coach who now lived in Texas.
That was it. He’d officially cleared everybody on Paisley’s list, and he was no closer to figuring out who was harassing her than he had been when he’d started this. The theory that had felt so promising in the beginning wasn’t panning out, and there had been no further incidents since they got back to Eden’s Ridge. Not entirely surprising. Presumably her stalker had a job of some kind back in the Nashville area that would preclude a lot of trips four hours away. It didn’t mean this was over.
After sending Paisley a quick text to let her know he was on his way home, he turned the details over in his head, looking for a new angle. He couldn’t shake the idea that it was someone who knew her offline somehow. There were gifts sent that couldn’t have been parsed out from her social media accounts or the newsletters she’d sent. Someone knew her somehow. The question was who and from where? Paisley was a social creature. She knew lots of people from lots of places, and that didn’t rule out some kind of secondary connection between the stalker and someone who did know her well and might have inadvertently shared more about her than they’d realized. None of that narrowed the scope of the investigation. He needed another thread to tug.
She’d left lights on, he noted. It wasn’t something he normally bothered with, but he found he appreciated how that sma
ll thing made the cabin feel warm and welcoming against the chill winter air. More homey. Everything about having her here made the place feel more like a home than just a place he’d been parking his ass for more than a year. What would it be like to do this for real? To share a house, a life, with her? That wasn’t a fantasy he’d let himself entertain for what felt like an eon. But stepping inside, seeing all the little touches she’d added, all the signs of cohabitation and her sweet, silly dog, it was hard not to think about it.
A car pulled up outside. A minute later, Paisley swung through the door, bags in her hands, Duke on her heels. “I have dinner fixins.”
Because he was still thinking about that fantasy, Ty crossed to her, curling his hands around the bags and bringing his lips to hers. She softened, leaning into him in that moment of surrender he craved. Some of those sharp edges he’d lived with for so long smoothed out a little. “Hi.”
“Hi to you, too.”
They grinned at each other for a moment before Ty remembered the groceries. He tugged them from her hands and carried them over to the kitchen. “How was your day?”
“More productive. The book is finally starting to gain some momentum again. And I spent some time this afternoon helping Harrison brainstorm a social media campaign for his next release. How about you?”
“Less fun. Between patrols and calls, I finished chasing down the last of your exes.”
“Oh?” He heard the instant tension in her voice and hated it.
“Dead end. You are apparently the only woman in history to actually end on legitimately good terms with all your exes. Even the ones you’ve lost touch with were incredibly complimentary of you and concerned about the situation.” She’d been consistently described as warm and fun. To a man, they’d all wished her well and offered to help if they could. “They basically collectively all said hi.”
She blew out a breath. “Well, I can’t say that doesn’t make me feel better. I’d like to think I’m a good judge of character. I haven’t ever dated anyone I didn’t think was a good person.”