by Lyz Kelley
“Wait.” His voice implored in the way a father asked, not a Marine. “Maybe I didn’t ask the right question. If you could map out your future, what would it look like?”
Ashley’s ire softened. “What difference does it make? Since the house is being foreclosed and I haven’t been able to work for the past three years, my choices are limited. I need to get a job, and I have student loans to pay.”
“We can discuss your loans later. You might decide to go back to school.”
“How do you know I didn’t graduate?”
“I’m your dad. It’s my job to know.” His arms released from around her back. “Don’t tell me what you think I want to hear. Tell me what’s in your heart.”
If he’d asked her the question a month ago, she might not have been able to answer him, she’d been so fixated on making it to a temporary destination. So many things had changed recently. She knew at least one thing for sure. Elkridge was her home.
“Mom wanted me to be more like you. Get a degree. Travel the world. Take risks. Experience new things. She didn’t want me to stay here—like she did—waiting. It’s weird how your lives were polar opposites. I land somewhere in the middle. I like to travel. In fact, I have a whole list of places I’d like to see, but Elkridge is my home. No matter where I go, I’ll always come back here. I never thought we’d lose this house. I assumed I’d always have a place to call home.”
Unable to stand the tension, she moved to the sink and started putting dishes in the dishwasher and wiping down the counter. Her father let her work while he settled silently onto a stool at the kitchen island. His head lowered in contemplation.
Concern grew to a boiling point, and she couldn’t stand it anymore. “Why didn’t you help us?”
His pain-filled eyes looked at her. “Your mother…well, you see, your mother…”
“Just say it, Dad.”
Her dad propped an elbow on his knee and rotated toward her. “Your mother refused my help, and she made me promise not to help you after she was gone. She wanted you to learn what it was like to be on your own—to learn how to support yourself. I didn’t question her, ever, when it came to raising you, Ashley. I didn’t feel I had a right. But if you want the house, it’s yours. I’ve paid the back mortgage payments to stop the foreclosure proceedings, and I’ve paid the electric, water, and telephone bills.”
Really? “Why are you telling me this now? Why couldn’t you have said something before I sold or packed everything?”
“You did a damn fine job figuring out how to execute your plans, get your life on track. But after I got your call, I just couldn’t continue to let you struggle. I haven’t been much of a father. I’ve wanted to come home. No, I want to come home, to help, but I won’t if it’s too much, too soon. I know I have a lot to make up for. Is it too late for us?”
Finally. The truth. She moved around the counter to stand by his side. “Dad, how can you not know? You’re my hero. My Superman. The person who made the world safe for me to sleep at night. I love you. In the midst of all my anger, I somehow forgot it. I won’t forget again. But you have to know, some days I didn’t like you. In fact, I hated you for a long time. I needed you, and you weren’t there. That kind of trust is going to take time to rebuild.”
His head was bowed and his fist clenched. He said nothing. When he looked up, his jaw pulsed, but the rest of his features remained stoic. Her papa-soldier had a heart somewhere in his broad, steely chest, and maybe she’d made a little dent, the beginning of a crevice he’d let her carve out for herself.
“Is everything all right?” Chase stood in the doorway, swaying on his crutches, his expression watchful, ready to defend her if needed.
Her dad stiffened, but Ashley placed her hand on top of her father’s fist. “Dad, I’d like to introduce Gunnery Sergeant Marine Chase Daniels of the Second Battalion. He’s recently returned stateside.”
Her father stood, and Chase tried to salute, but shifting his weight, balancing, and saluting didn’t work so well.
“At ease, son.” Her father moved several steps closer. “I heard you busted up my snowmobile pretty bad.”
Chase’s yellowing, bruised face turned a pasty white. “If you’re here to bust my balls, sir, have at it. I can take it.”
Ashley physically placed herself between the two men. They were glaring at each other, but her father’s face cracked first, and he threw his head back. The wheezing, half-gasping sound caught her off guard, and she wondered if he might be having a stroke until he lowered his head with a semi-circle grin. The expression looked so odd, she had to look twice.
He wrapped a guiding arm around her shoulders. “Equipment is expendable. A Marine is not.” The remaining tightness in his lips evaporated. “From what I hear, you’re lucky to be alive, and I’m damn glad to see you’re healing.”
Ashley shifted to see his face. “Have you been spying on me?”
“No. Gathering intelligence, but never spying.”
So he really did care. A warm, hot-chocolate comfort filled her belly. “Who’s your source?” She crossed her arms over her chest.
“Top-secret and classified, young lady.” His lips tightened in a will-not-tell type of way. “I might not have been here. Sometimes I’ve been on the other side of the globe, but where you’re concerned, I’ve never, ever, been that far away. You only needed to call and I would have moved armies to get home. In fact, I did this past week.”
She placed her hand on Chase’s arm for support. “Will you be here long, Dad?”
“For as long as you need me.”
“So the bank won’t be foreclosing on the house?”
“Stay or sell, your choice.”
Ashley released a pent-up breath. “Then you better figure on staying in this house for a good, long time, because I’ve only now discovered you have a sense of humor I knew nothing about.”
Her father’s eyebrow quirked into an arc. “Is that right?”
“Yep. And you should meet your granddog. His name’s Lucky.” Hearing his name mentioned, the mutt appeared at the back sliding glass door, ready to be let in.
Her dad’s eyebrows arched in that fatherly way. “Looks like you haven’t broken the habit of bringing strays home.”
Her protective gazed traveled to Chase. “Yeah, but this time, there’s no one to tell me to get rid of them.”
“The way you’re looking at that young man reminds me of the way your mother looked at me once upon a time. I think maybe I should shower and call it an early night. It’s been a tough day. I assume there’s still a bed upstairs I can use.”
“I didn’t sell Mom’s bed in the master suite.”
Her dad moved to the hall, but before he started up the stairs, he paused. “Ashley?”
“Yes, Dad?”
“I know I have no right to say this, but thank you. Thank you for being the kind of daughter who makes a father proud.”
She wanted to respond, but an emotional wad got stuck in her throat and she could only nod in acknowledgment, hoping he didn’t notice she was also blinking hard against a swell of tears.
After he disappeared, Chase shifted and wrapped a protective arm around her shoulder. “Forgiving him must have been tough.”
Ashley ran a finger under her damp eyelashes. “You have no idea.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Driving through the gates of the Air Force base, Ashley’s stomach tightened, a pending dread making her nauseous. During the night, she’d recommitted to her decision to wait one year for Chase. The decision hadn’t been easy, but every cell in her body believed it was the right one.
The truck doors opened. She and her dad managed to get Chase out of the truck and standing. Chase had refused the wheelchair, preferring crutches. He’d be sorry. He’d have to manage the length of an airstrip to get to his military hop, but knowing the stubborn-ass Marine, he wouldn’t complain, just grit his teeth and manage the pain.
She waited while Chase was checked
in. Her dad oversaw the whole operation to ensure Chase received the care he needed. After all, being a general, he was allowed a few perks.
The stopwatch was counting down, with only a few minutes left.
“Chase, I need to talk to you.” A bit of pride filled Ashley’s heart for keeping her tone level, without a hint of her jittery panic.
He appeared just as miserable. He shrugged on his backpack and moved away to a private corner.
The nerves in her entire body went on high alert. “I want you to know I’ve made a decision.”
His lips tightened as if bracing for bad news. He lifted a loose strand of her hair and secured it behind her ear. “It’s going to be okay.”
“I know. That’s why I wanted to tell you I’ll be here waiting.”
His shoulders dropped several centimeters. “Waiting?”
“Yep, waiting. All these years, I believed my mom was insane for hanging out, waiting for a guy, but I understand now. I’m going to live my life. Go back to school. Start a support care business. And I will be here, waiting. You have one year, so you’d better figure things out. I love you. Simple as that. I can’t imagine loving anyone else as much as I love you.”
He swayed on his crutches, his mouth opening and closing, but no sound emerged.
“Aren’t you going to say anything?” Her impatience came out as a shrill whine.
The emotion started slowly, then gained momentum, spreading across his face, finally bursting into an enormous grin. “I’m glad you’ve changed your mind because I’ve made a decision as well. Your dad and I had a discussion about my future. And he likes my plan.”
“Does your plan include me?”
“As a matter of fact, it does. I asked your dad if he would allow me to ask you to marry me.”
Her breath caught and her heart pounded in her ears. “You asked my dad before asking me?”
“Since you don’t like Marines, I thought I’d wait until I got out, but I wanted to be sure when the time comes there wouldn’t be any more barriers between us.”
“Wait, you’re getting out?”
“That’s part two of the plan. Your dad told me if you agree to a ring on your finger, then he’d loan me tools and enough money to start a handyman business.”
Her dad stood off to the side, talking to a few officers who’d guessed they had a top-ranking officer in their midst. He must have felt her looking at him because he met her gaze, his approval clearly written on his face. He’d mentioned something about making up for lost time to her over a piece of toast and orange juice, but she hadn’t been quite sure what he’d meant.
“Well, then, get your face down here so I can kiss your lips silly and not hurt you.”
Her wish was his command because his lips captured hers in the gentlest, most promising kiss they’d ever exchanged. She sighed and pressed in, sliding her hand lightly down his face.
“I only ask that you communicate. Happy. Sad. Frustrated. Whatever. You’re not alone. I want you to know I’m here. You need to talk to someone about your visions and nightmares.”
“I will.”
Someone in uniform called the flight, and a handful of soldiers picked up their belongings and headed for the plane waiting for them on the tarmac.
Chase hopped over to the group of men to shake her father’s hand. Before her dad clasped Chase’s, he looked at her for permission. This powerful, resilient man wanted her approval as much as she wanted his. The two women in his life had always guided him in matters of the heart. She hadn’t understood that nuance until the past twenty-four hours. Feeling cherished, she also felt a healing had begun. It was even possible she might be able to superglue her heart back together after all.
Chase took a couple of swinging strides and halted inches away. “I will be back. You have my word. I left you something on the back seat of the truck.”
With no more time left, he hobbled away. She lifted her chin and plastered a smile on her face in case he turned back. He would see no tears. He would only see a strong, determined woman who’d be waiting for him when he decided to return.
“You did good,” her dad said when he came to stand beside her.
She folded her fingers around his stiff hand. She waited…one, two, three, four…and then his fingers slowly enclosed hers, and another ice fragment splintered off of her heart. She tilted her head back. “Let’s go home.”
They walked out into the warm afternoon sun. The sound from the jet vibrated the air before she caught sight of the massive plane. The burden of finally making a decision lifted from her shoulders.
“I feel like celebrating.” She tugged on her dad’s arm. “How about a big, juicy hamburger and fries?”
“What, no strawberry shake?”
“If I’m going to fit into Mom’s wedding dress, I think we’d better share one.”
He paused. She could see he had trouble swallowing, and then he opened the truck door for her. “You’ll make the prettiest bride ever. Well, I mean, after your mom, of course.”
Ashley squeezed his hand, then became distracted. Sure enough, on the back seat, wrapped in brown paper, sat a package and card.
She dislodged the card from the envelope. Ashley, I wanted to give you a part of me to keep until I return.
She tore open the brown paper gift wrap to find a worn leather binder. His journal. She opened the book to find pages and pages of poems and introspection written over the years. The sting behind her eyes she’d felt most of the day overwhelmed her stubbornness and tears began to fall.
“That must be a pretty darn good book if it’s making you cry.”
“It’s not a simply a book. It’s Chase’s heart. Like your letters to Mom. He gave me a direct line into his soul.”
Her dad gave her shoulder a squeeze. “How did you grow up so fast and get so smart?”
She leaned her head against his strong, sturdy chest. “You forget, Marine. I’m your daughter.”
Epilogue
The July heat bit down like a mean bulldog and wouldn’t let go. She removed the lemonade pitcher from the refrigerator and placed it on a silver platter lined with an intricate, hand-stitched doily before adding glasses and Jenna’s sugar cookies to the tray. With her elbow, she slid the patio door open, and Lucky ran out in front of her.
“Break time,” she called.
Her dad looked up with two nails sticking out of his mouth, giving him a rather vampire-ish appearance. He rubbed his forehead and gave her the finger—the index finger—meaning he’d be available shortly. Lucky trotted back around the corner with Chase following on his heels.
Sweat glistened on his body and he looked rather sweet, like the sugar cookie she’d just eaten. He walked to the waterspout, filled a plastic bucket, and dumped it over his head and shoulders. The drops of water sparkled off his skin, and her jaw froze in mid-crunch.
“You keep standing there with your jaw open and you’re liable to get flies in your mouth,” her dad said before collapsing on the deck chair in the shade.
Ashley stuck her sugarcoated tongue out at him.
He pointed toward Chase. “He’s a hard worker.”
“Did you expect anything less?”
Chase took his time, but made his way up the three porch steps. “Did you look over the financials I put on your desk?”
Her dad raised his eyebrows with a faint grimace. “I told you, I’m retired. You’re the one who wants to run a handyman business, so that’s your job.”
“Since you put up the capital for my fix-it business, I figured you might want to know what I was up to.”
“I know what a good business looks like. Don’t need to be doing an inspection every five minutes.” He leaned forward and snatched a cookie from the tray. “Never ate sweets until I came home.”
Ashley’s arms encompassed Chase’s waist and gave him a squeeze. “All grandbabies like grandpas with pudgy bellies.”
The priceless look on her father’s face made them both laugh. Ashle
y leaned over, topped a glass full of lemonade, and handed it to him.
“I keep telling you I’m too young to be a grandfather,” he grumbled, but the smile on his face said different.
She put a protective hand over her belly. “Fido’s—I mean, Jimmy’s wife Katie is pregnant, too.”
“Wasn’t that the wedding you attended only a few weeks ago?” Her dad’s old-fashioned values added a disapproving scowl.
“Yep,” Chase said. “What can I say? Marines are efficient.”
Her dad rolled his eyes and scoffed. “Don’t you have some repairs to do or something?”
Chase smiled and leaned down to whisper in her ear, “I want to show you what I’m working on,” he whispered.
She followed him around the corner by the shed and took two steps, then squealed when he pulled her into his arms. He stifled the sound with his lips. His salty flavor blended with her sweet cookie to make a perfect combination. He pinned her back against the wall and deepened the kiss. When he lifted his head, she sucked on his bottom lip, reluctant to let him go.
“You taste awesome.” He dove back in for another nibble on her lip.
She gave him a gentle push. “You were going to show me something.”
He leaned his left arm against the wall behind her head while his right hand dug into his pocket, pulling out a worn, yellowing piece of paper. She accepted the little square and unfolded it, scanning the rhyming lines.
“You wrote me a poem.”
He tapped the paper. “I just now found it tucked away in my stuff. I wrote it the night after we found Lucky. It’s not Pulitzer or anything, but I thought I’d share.”
The love we share is bright.
It grows both day and night.
Do you believe in fate?
I believe you’re my forever mate.