by Jaime Lewis
“Why would he think that? He didn’t know this was going to happen to me. Nobody did.” Mia shook her head and took a deep breath before exhaling. “Mom. I don’t even remember enough to give the police any information. I feel like I forgot something.”
“Don’t worry, honey. Traumatic events affect people differently. If there’s something of importance, it will come to you, eventually. I’m sure. But for now, you need to put all that effort into healing.”
“Tell me, how is Stitch doing? Is he taking good care of you?”
“Of course. I think he has gone above and beyond his call of duty. He’s been super patient and very attentive. Yesterday he got me out of the house, and we drove up Skyline Drive and even stopped in town for dinner.”
“Well, if my instincts are correct, I think that young man has had a thing for you since he first laid eyes on you.”
“I don’t know about that,” she said and then looked out beyond the tree line behind the house. She needed to be honest with her mon.
“I was so afraid of what Ace would think. Stitch said he talked with him that first night, but I’m still not sold.”
“I think you might want to have a chat with your brother.” Mia looked at her mom. “Oh, sweetie, your brother knows you and Stitch are attracted to one another. Alex had to help him out a little. But you know your brother if it bothered him, don’t you think he would have spoken to one of you by now?”
“I feel complete with him. I’m happy around him.”
The amused expression her mother had on her face blossomed into a full-on smile. Charlotte pressed her palm against Mia’s cheek. It was such a motherly gesture. “Honey, I have only wanted the best for you in your life, including a man. And I must say that Stitch is a man of honor, one who I know will have the best intentions for my baby girl. The two of you are perfect for each other.”
Mia sniffled. Damn, she really didn’t want to cry, but this was a happy moment. She lived for the day she could tell her mom about a man that she loved. She was always the one in her family that had sat back and watched her two sisters find love and get married. Then Ace met Alex, and even her mom was dating someone now. She felt the waterworks getting ready to start.
“I love him so much, mom.”
“I know you do, sweetie.”
Mia hugged her mom, then pulled away and picked up her mug of coffee. “So, now that you have the scoop on my love life how about yours? How is that hottie Colonel of yours?”
Her mom and Colonel Johnson, who ironically was the base commander in Afghanistan where Ace and Alex had met, were introduced to one another at Ace and Alex’s place last year during Christmas. They immediately hit it off and started dating, currently running almost six months. Her mom had even moved from the ranch in Oklahoma to Virginia Beach.
Mia watched as a bright smile took over her mom’s face.
“He is wonderful. Things are great between us. There is something that I wanted to talk to you and your brother about.”
“What’s that?”
“Mike asked me to marry him.”
“Oh my god! Mom, that’s wonderful. You said yes, right? Oh wait, does Ace know yet?”
“Yes, Mike actually asked him. Your sisters know too. Are you sure you’re okay with it?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Well, I just thought…”
“Because of dad?”
“Yeah, your father will always have a place in my heart.”
“I know, mom, but you deserve to be happy too. And if Mike is the man that makes you happy, then go for it. Daddy would want you to live your life and be happy.”
Apparently, love was in the air for most of the Chambers clan.
◆◆◆
Ace couldn’t stop laughing at a story Mia was telling. Talk about embarrassing to get caught with your pants down, literally.
“So, you see, Ronnie, one of the kids who lived down the road from us dared Ace to run down our street butt-naked.”
Alex’s eyes widened, and she covered her mouth. She looked at Ace. “You didn’t?”
Ace laughed. “Damn right, I did. That kid was a punk, and damn if I was going to back down from a dare, especially from him.”
“Yeah, but Sheriff Grate had perfect timing. I remember mom and dad getting that phone call telling them to come and pick up their son down the road and to bring clothes,” Mia said laughingly.
“Maybe, but at least I had the attention from all the girls at school the following week.”
Alex slapped Ace in the chest. “That is so wrong.” Ace couldn’t help but laugh. He put his arm around Alex and hugged her, then she reached over and squeezed his thigh. He looked down into her green eyes and couldn’t believe how lucky he was to have found her. She was his heart and soul and another reason to give that extra percent when on a mission to make damn sure that he came back home to her.
“You know I love you.”
She smiled. “I love you, too.”
He turned his eyes back onto his sister. Oh, she wasn’t getting out of this without her own little story. Yeah, little miss perfect wasn’t the little saint everyone portrayed her to be. He took a drink from his glass before clearing his throat.
“I think it’s only fair that we expose the skeletons from your closet, sis.”
She tilted her head at him and gave him a look as if she had no clue what he was talking about. Ace grinned maniacally. Let me refresh your memory.
“Everyone always called her an angel. But you didn’t fool mom.” He glanced over at his mom and winked, making her smile. “Mom always said that you were the little devil, and she was right.”
“I was not,” Mia stated, her voice pitching high. “I’ve got that halo over my head.”
Ace shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe, but what people don’t see are the retractable horns that can sprout out of her head at any given time.”
“What are you talking about? I was the good sibling growing up.” She looked at her mom, who tried to stay out of the bantering, but all she could do was shrug her shoulders.
“Really?” Ace replied as he raised his eyebrows. “Let’s see if you can recall the only time you ever got a spanking in your life.” He didn’t know what was funnier; how red Mia’s face turned, or his mom who looked mortified as if she just had a flashback of that day twenty-one years ago. He gave Mia a wicked grin. “By the look on your face, I am guessing you know exactly what I’m talking about.”
“Ace…” Mia warned. But Ace just smiled. What Mia had done was a classic. It was the day the entire town got to see a glimpse of the “real” Mia Chambers.
“Oh, well, now you have to share, considering how red Mia’s cheeks are,” Stitch said and kissed the side of Mia’s head, making Ace smile. Stitch was a good man and good for Mia. He wished them both nothing but happiness.
He was shocked when his mom interrupted and continued telling the story. He didn’t miss the slight twitch in her lips. Yeah, she was pissed all to hell the day it happened, but looking back now, it was funny as shit, and apparently, his mom thought so too.
“Well, my baby girl here, thought it would be funny to put an Alka seltzer in her mouth right before her baptism ceremony. Ace, Mikayla, and Maxie were all baptized when they were babies. Mia on the other hand, we had waited.” Charlotte covered her face as if she was reliving it. “Oh my god, it was so awful. Here we were in front of the entire congregation because we decided to do it on a Sunday during church. Mia had taken a sip of water while Reverend Shay was talking, when all of a sudden, in the middle of his spiel, Mia started foaming at the mouth and growling like a rabid animal.” Ace couldn’t hold it anymore as he roared with laughter.
“How old were you?” Stitch asked Mia laughing.
“I was six,” Mia said with a pout on her face.
Ace nodded his head. “See six as in the number of the devil.” Mia flipped him the bird, and he threw his back and laughed harder, which made everyone chuckle.
&n
bsp; He missed those times, but prayed when he and Alex had kids that they wouldn’t pull a stunt like that. But considering Alex was a professional prankster, he wouldn’t be surprised if his kids followed in their momma’s footsteps. He looked over at his fiancé, and she was beaming. It hit him square in the chest. He was one lucky bastard. She was a woman of integrity, courage, beauty, intelligence, and pure badass. She moved her hand, and her diamond engagement ring sparkled in the light, and his chest tightened. He needed to put that matching wedding band on her finger. They’d talked in passing about setting a new date. But they needed to have a full sit-down conversation and talk it over. And with both their schedules, it almost made it impossible.
◆◆◆
After dinner, while Mia, Charlotte, and Alex cleaned up the kitchen and spent more time together, Stitch and Ace sat on the patio by the fire.
Ace shook his head. “I still can’t believe you and my sister are dating. I mean, I’m happy for you guys, and I’m fine with it, but it’s just weird.”
“There is something I wanted to talk to you about. I know the relationship between Mia and I is new, but having the last year to really get to know her on a friendship level, I know that she is the one for me. Once we get things settled with her case, I want her and I to discuss our next steps. I’d like to know more about her career path and where that takes her in terms of where she’ll live, though my hope is she’ll join all of us in Virginia Beach. After we get a clearer picture of those and settle down, I’d like to ask Mia to marry me, with your permission. I also plan on talking to your mom, as well. I love her, Ace.”
Ace’s eyebrows rose before he brought his beer to his lips, and Stitch waited.
“Christ, man, can you at least let me get used to you two dating first?”
Stitch chuckled, but then Ace sobered, “I couldn’t ask for a better person to marry Mia. I know you’ll take care of her just as she will do the same for you. Of course, you have my permission.”
Stitch exhaled the big breath he had been holding in.
“Just don’t beat me down the aisle, or I’ll never hear the end of it from my mother or Alex,” Ace followed up with.
“Well, you and Alex better start planning because I don’t intend to wait too long. I’ve already wasted almost an entire year. I don’t have that much patience.”
Ace leaned back into the chair and got comfortable, stretching his legs out. The forecast called for a light dusting of snow in the area.
“Alex and I can’t seem to get on the same page in terms of a new date. I know she wants that wedding just as bad as I do, but we can’t ever find an open date. Shit is just non-stop right now. Between work and her Foundation that has taken off to extraordinary levels, we hardly see each other as it is. I just hate it hanging over our heads. More so for her. She had worked so hard getting our original date planned, and then you saw how that went to shit.”
Stitch took a drink of his beer. “Sorry, man. I know Alex has been itching to get married. You both deserve it.”
Ace smiled. “She deserves the wedding she wants. I mean, after all, you only get one, and if she wants the big dream wedding she planned, then that’s what she’s going to get.”
Stitch chuckled. “But you have to have a date first.”
Ace pointed at him. “Exactly.”
“Well, you have a three-hour ride home. Maybe bring it up in the car.”
Ace nodded his head, and Stitch could only wish his friends the best.
They sat in silence for a minute or two. The only sound was the fire crackling between them. Finally, Ace broke the silence.
“Derek said you had to report to base for that new training you’ve been helping to design.”
“Yeah, it’s this weekend. I thought I’d take Mia down with me. It could be good for her to get together with the others and have some normalcy. Maybe even make plans for Saturday night dinner at Bayside. Derek said things have been quiet, and nothing or nobody seemed out of the ordinary hanging around.”
Ace thought about it, then shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t see what it can hurt. Are you staying at your place?”
“No, I talked to my dad last night and explained everything to him. Mia and I are going to stay with him and mom.”
“You know you guys can always stay with Alex and me. Shit, we have plenty of room.”
Wasn’t that the truth. The house had been bought initially by Alex when she moved back to Virginia Beach. Why she had decided to buy a five-bedroom home still puzzled Stitch and everyone else for that matter.
“Thanks. Mom and dad are excited to meet Mia. Have you heard any news out of New York?”
“Tink spoke with the detective yesterday. They’re following up on a few possible leads, but whatever those are, he isn’t sharing. Yet. Alex and I are taking a trip up there on Wednesday. Some of Tink’s guys are going to go along.”
“Why is that?”
Ace shrugged his shoulders. “Call it intuition. I just want to have a look around her apartment. Tink set it up with the detective. It’ll be a quick trip up and back in the same day.”
Ace leaned back in the chair.
“How is Mia really doing? I know my sister, and she isn’t one to sit around on her ass. She doesn’t know the meaning of taking it easy.”
“She has been taking Dr. O’Neal’s orders seriously. She is down to only one pain pill a day, and that’s at night. If she has some discomfort during the day, she opts for something over the counter that won’t make her tired.
“Is she getting the rest she needs?”
“Yes, yesterday was the first day I even let her out of the house. We took a drive along Skyline, stopped at a couple of the lookouts, then finished up with an early dinner in town. She even passed on stopping in some of the antique shops along the way.”
At that news, Ace raised his eyebrows, clearly shocked. “My sister actually said no to going into an antique shop?”
Stitch laughed and took another slug of beer. “Yeah, that’s how I knew she’d had enough for one day. After dinner, we came home and just relaxed. Well, I finished up that presentation I have to give this weekend on that new medic kit the government wants us to transition to.”
“Well, everyone will be happy to see you back this weekend.”
“Likewise,” Stitch replied, clinking bottles with Ace.
◆◆◆
An hour later, after Stitch and Mia had said their good-byes to everyone, Stitch turned to her.
“Are you okay?” He asked.
Stitch’s voice grabbed her attention, and she looked up to see him standing in front of her with a concerned expression. When had he gotten there? She blinked her eyes.
“Mia…”
“Yeah, I’m okay; why?”
“Well, I called your name a couple of times, but you were staring at that fire like you were in a trance.”
She noticed he had put a sweatshirt on. He smiled.
“I saw how you enjoyed sitting outside last night and again earlier today with your mom, so I thought we could sit out on the deck again and get some fresh air next to the fire.”
God, could he get any sexier. Two qualities she loved about Stitch were his calmness and patience. Even though she had never seen him in action on the battlefield, nor would she like to for several reasons, she sensed that those traits followed him while deployed. Being a medic, he had to be able to keep his shit together in the heat of the moment.
Realizing she had zoned out again, she looked up again and smiled. “That sounds nice. As much as I love sitting here in front of the fire relaxing, Bambi up there is starting to freak me out a little. I feel like it’s staring at me.” She pointed to the stuffed, fake deer head mounted above the fireplace. Stitch laughed, then walked over and placed a jacket around her shoulders. He told her to hang on to the blanket, then he leaned down and scooped her up into his arms. She looped her arms around his neck and held on. As he made his way to the back door, she looked up at him. As m
uch as she loved being carried all over by Stitch, she really needed to start walking and getting stronger.
“You know I could’ve walked the few feet myself. I believe we had this conversation this morning. My ankle is much better.”
He shrugged his shoulders and gave her the cutest boyish grin, and she swore she saw his cheeks turn a light shade of pink. The expression took a couple of years off him. It was rare to witness, as men like Stitch and her brother were hardened trained killers but to be able to see and know the real men under the façade was a treasure.
“I figured I wouldn’t have many more opportunities, so I’ll take them while I can,” he admitted, and she smiled and kissed his cheek. He sat down on the oversized chair, brought her down on his lap, and then fixed the blanket covering them both. She burrowed closer to him. According to the thermometer nailed to the banister, it was close to freezing. The temperature may have been cold, but being snuggled up with a human heater and the man she loved was hot.
For a few minutes, they sat enjoying each other’s company and the peacefulness the scenery provided. Moments like this were what she wanted to come home to every night. At least when her man wasn’t flying off somewhere to serve and protect.
Stitch’s deep voice broke the quietness. “You mentioned your ankle is feeling better. How do the ribs feel?”
“It’s bearable, but I won’t lie; sometimes it hurts when I forget and make a sudden move. Like this morning.”
“Do you think you feel good enough to head to the beach for the weekend?”
She looked up at him and wondered if he was just messing with her. If he were, that would be mean because she would love to see all her friends. Then she thought about the conversation she and Ace had earlier. With no news on her case, would they really take the chance of her being found?