The Soldier's Promise

by Patricia Potter

  “Sorry I’m late,” she said.

  “It’s never too late,” Abby replied. “He’s a delight. Nick is a joy and no trouble. But we’re having a hard time keeping up with him. He can do more on a computer than we can. He’s been teaching us. That young man has so much curiosity.”

  “Tell me about it,” Eve said.

  “I’m so glad you stayed here instead of moving East with your mother.”

  “This is home, Abby. I can’t imagine leaving,” Eve said.

  Abby’s face creased into a warm smile. “I know you loved Russ, but he would want you to be happy, wherever that takes you. One of these days you may find someone else to love. In the meantime, I want as much of this young scamp as I can have.”

  Eve wondered if Abby had heard anything about Josh. They had, for the most part, been careful except for that late meeting at the diner today. But then it was not that unusual for two people in this town to run into each other at Maude’s. “I treasure what you have with Nick,” she said softly. “I couldn’t take him away from you.”

  She saw Abby and Jim visibly relax, and she wondered again whether there was speculation about Josh.

  “And now I had better get him home. I have to look in on the horses and let the dogs out.”

  “Do you want us to keep him tomorrow?” Abby asked hopefully.

  “I think I’ve imposed on you enough,” she said. “I promised him he could go to the office tomorrow and then he has Scouts. It’s time for us to have supper together.”

  Abby smiled. “I couldn’t ask for a better mother for him,” she said. “I’m so glad Russ picked...” Her voice broke. “Now get along with you.”

  Nick was beginning to wake.

  “Hey, guy,” she said softly. “Time to go home.”

  He rubbed his eyes and looked around and gave them all that sweet, sleepy smile that always went straight to her heart.

  “I suspect the crew is waiting for you.”

  At that he stumbled to his feet. He slipped into his shoes and laced them. “We had chicken ’n’ dumplings,” he said.

  “And popcorn, I see.” Her stomach twitched at the mention of chicken and dumplings. Abby was a great cook, and chicken and dumplings was one of her best dishes.

  As if she knew exactly what she was thinking Abby gave her a worried look. “Did you have supper?”

  Eve started to say yes, but Abby interrupted. “Of course you didn’t. You just wait here. I have more than enough for you and us tomorrow.”

  Abby disappeared into the kitchen and returned nearly immediately, a plastic dish in her hands.

  “I thank you and my stomach thanks you,” Eve said.

  Jim opened the door and followed Eve and Nick to the car, holding the dish until she stepped into Miss Mollie, then he handed it to her. “Come over for supper on Sunday,” he said.

  “I’ll try,” she replied. “It depends on how quickly we finish Mrs. Crockett’s house.”

  “I think Abby’s planning to take some sandwiches over there Saturday.”

  “I was hoping she could look after Nick.”

  “She can take him along when she takes the sandwiches. Don’t worry, we’ll take care of it.” He paused, then said, “I hear that Josh Manning will be there.”

  “That’s the word,” she replied.

  “You think he’s going to stay in town?”

  “I don’t know,” she answered honestly.

  “Heard any more about that robbery at Shep’s place?”

  “No.” She hated lying, but she and Tom had agreed that no one other than the two of them and Ryan could know their plan.

  “Well, then, have a good night, Eve.”

  “Thanks, you have a good one, too. And thanks again for taking care of Nick.”

  “Anytime, you know that.”

  She started Miss Mollie and headed home.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  EVE SPENT THURSDAY catching up on city business and resisting temptation.

  She needed to spend time with Nick, including supper, something she’d neglected since meeting Josh Manning. She could certainly wait one day to see him again.

  Couldn’t she?

  She took Nick to work with her, planning to treat him to lunch and then take him to the Scout meeting. Maybe they would even take the horses for a sunset ride.

  Nick brought his book on military dogs. His nose was buried in it.

  “There are about twenty-five hundred working dogs on active duty,” he said, lifting his head from the text. “And they’re training five hundred each year. This says about five percent of dogs on active duty get PTSD. I don’t think that’s fair—making dogs go to war.”

  “They’ve saved lots of lives,” she said.

  “Well, I’m glad Amos is home.”

  “Me, too,” she said.

  “Can I take Braveheart today to meet him?”

  She was ready for him. “Friday,” she said. “I already talked to Mr. Manning about it. I thought we would go riding this evening after the Scout meeting.”

  The promise to ride and a visit soon mollified him. His eyes went back to the book.

  “I have some work to do first and I have to talk to Chief MacGuire. You can stay in my office and read your book, okay? If you want, you can also watch the television.” She kept one in her office in case of breaking news that might affect her town.

  “I want to see Uncle Tom, too,” he complained.

  “I promise you will,” she said, “but this is official stuff. I’ll bet, though, he’ll have time to take you for an ice cream later if you’re real good.”

  “Okay,” he said, “but we can take Braveheart Friday?”

  She nodded. Warmth flooded her as she thought about seeing Josh again. In truth, she’d thought about little else since the kiss. She had tossed and turned all night, her body aching for his touch. If it was just physical need, she could stay away. But it wasn’t. She liked him. She more than liked him. She was intrigued by all his contradictions. There was an innate honesty and integrity and kindness in him that he tried hard to conceal, but it came out when he thought no one was looking. He must have spent a lifetime honing that tough-guy, loner image.

  “Mom?”

  She suddenly realized she’d just been standing there, staring at her son. “Sorry, kiddo. I just remembered something I had to do.” She gave him a big hug. “You know how much I love you?” she asked, hurting with the idea that he may not. Was that because she sensed Josh had not felt that kind of love?

  “A bushel and a peck full,” Nick answered, grinning. It was the game they’d played when he was younger, each trying to outdo the other.

  “And all the stars in the sky,” she replied.

  “And all the dog kisses everywhere.” Only her kid would come up with that one.

  “Hmm, I think you win this time,” she said and hugged him again. “And now I do have to go. See you shortly.”

  She left before she broke down. Drat it, she’d turned into a mushmelon of emotions lately.

  The police department was housed in the other half of the city hall. There was a big bullpen area, where the officers had their desks and the dispatchers had their work area. The chief’s glassed-in office was in the corner. To the left of his office was a small corridor leading to two jail cells and an interview room.

  Today, after a busy night, the office space was empty except for one dispatcher and one duty officer to catch any walk-in complaints. There was one unit out on patrol.

  She knocked on the window outside Tom’s desk and he motioned her in.

  “Any incidents last night?” she asked.

  “Nope. If there was drinking, they did it off city property,” he said. “No accidents. No fights. A good night. Ga
ry and Suzanne are patrolling the roads now. Everyone else has the day off after working last night.”

  “Including Sam?”

  “Yep, had to do it. Couldn’t keep him here more than twenty-four hours without a better explanation. Right now I’d guess he’ll be sleeping for the next eight to twelve hours.”

  “He must be going crazy trying to figure out who has the rifle.”

  “He is. I had him do paperwork yesterday and I thought he would explode. He won’t have to worry long. I plan to give the rifle to Shep this afternoon. Tell him some kids found it in the woods.”

  “Sam has to think Josh had something to do with it.”

  Tom stared back at her. “Josh knows that. He’ll be careful.”

  “What about the roofing party Saturday? He’ll be away from his cabin all day.”

  “There are small cameras all over Manning’s place, and I’ll be checking on it,” he said. “My wife would kill me if I tried to go up on that roof.”

  “Can I tell Josh about the cameras? I promised Nick he could take Braveheart over there tomorrow. He seems to think Braveheart and Amos will reenforce each other’s courage. Sort like the Lion and Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz.” She grinned. “I also promised him you will take him for ice cream.”

  He laughed at that. “I would be honored,” he said. “And you don’t have to tell Manning about the cameras. They belong to him. He beat me to it, but he’s giving me access to them.”

  She looked at him quizzically.

  “He’s no one’s fool. They’re state-of-the-art. Much better than the ones we have,” Tom said with a smile. “He’s also smart enough to like you. A lot.”

  She felt her face flame.

  “I sense it’s mutual,” he said.

  “It’s impractical,” she stated firmly.

  “Why?”

  “He doesn’t plan to stay.”

  “No? He keeps finding more and more projects for the cabin.”

  “He wants to sell it.”

  “He’s done enough to sell it. And if he’s leaving, why is he going to the roofing party?”

  “He says he needs Nate’s help, and Nate is one of the leaders of the project.”

  Tom raised an eyebrow. “Afraid?” he asked.

  “Me? Or him?”

  “Both,” he said. “I don’t know what his problem is, but I think I know yours. You lost one husband. You don’t want to lose another, but in being afraid, you’re cheating yourself out of the here and now...and a happy future. I’m not saying that he’s the one. What I am saying is open your mind to possibilities. Your face lights up when his name is mentioned. I’ve not seen you do that since Russ died. Now I’ve had my say and I won’t mention it again.”

  She just stared at him. He had urged her to run for office and he had always been there for advice and support. But he had never before said anything about her personal life.

  “Sit down,” he said, changing the subject. “How was the graduation ceremony last night?”

  “It went well. No big bumps. No one forgot their speeches or fell on the steps. All the parents behaved themselves. Seven of the kids got scholarships, three for a full ride.”

  He nodded. “Too bad there weren’t more.”

  “I know. I wish we could do more for those who really want to go to college but can’t afford it. Several are thinking about going into the service instead. They hope to save their pay and use educational credits for college. But that’s a rough way of doing it.”

  “Why don’t you suggest they talk to Manning? He can tell them if it’s the right move or not.”

  “You think he would?”

  “I think you know him better than I do,” he said with a twinkle in his eyes.

  “I don’t think anyone really knows him,” she said.

  He shrugged. “Maybe it’s time that someone did.”

  She left on that note. She had let her work slide in the past week.

  Nick was still reading. “Why don’t you go down and say hello to Uncle Tom,” she said. “He likes the idea of ice cream midmorning. You can take your book down there.”

  She didn’t have to ask twice. He was off practically before she finished the sentence.

  She buried herself in work for the next two hours, then Tom called and said he and Nick were off for ice cream. Did she want to come? She did, but she refused, pleading work. She watched from the window as they crossed the street to Maude’s.

  Then she dug back into work.

  * * *

  THURSDAY WAS ONE of the longest days Josh had spent in Covenant Falls. He knew it was because he missed Eve.

  He spent the morning putting the finishing touches on the living room. He painted the woodwork around the windows, then called Nate, who said he was free to help him move his new furniture from the bedroom into the living room.

  The two of them transferred the ugly old sofa into what he termed the guest bedroom. Then they moved the new furniture into place—a big leather sofa, lounge chair, two large bookcases, a coffee table, a desk for his stereo and laptop and the small dining set.

  “Looks great,” Nate said with admiration.

  Josh looked around. The furniture changed everything. It was a home now, not just a run-down cabin. He needed a rug in the living area, a bright one to give it color. Maybe some piece of pottery for the mantel. An odd satisfaction flowed through him. This was his. The first place ever really his.

  He was thirty-five years old and this was the first time he had lived in a house except for one year when he was seventeen and he’d bunked in the basement of his high school coach.

  “The bathroom needs new wallpaper,” he said. “And it really could use a second bathroom.”

  Nate grinned at him. “You keep going. I can use the work.”

  Hell, who was he fooling? Himself, apparently. Rehabbing the cabin, turning it into the house he’d wanted so fiercely as a kid, had become a drug.

  Amos barked from the bedroom, where Josh had put him until they finished moving furniture. Josh opened the door, and Amos came inside the room. He sniffed the new sofa, then looked around and gave a short bark.

  “It’s in the other room,” he told Amos. Amos followed him into the guest bedroom. He walked to the old sofa, then performed his intricate maneuver of crawling up onto it as if he was a thief sneaking up on a prize.

  “The new one is more comfortable,” he said, but Amos didn’t move.

  “Okay,” he said. “Be that way.”

  Nate laughed behind him. “I like that dog,” he said.

  “Well, you can’t have him. A beer, though, is a different matter.”

  They went outside and drank the beer on the back doorstep while Nate regaled him with tales of Covenant Falls people that he might meet on Saturday.

  When Nate left, Josh tested the new lounge chair. He felt like a kid at his first Christmas. Until he realized he didn’t have anyone to share it with. He’d always been just fine with his own company before, but Eve, Nick and a growing number of others were changing that.

  He went to the kitchen and made a sandwich, then wandered outside with Amos beside him. He could see the park from the road, the park where Nick played ball and where the town had held the fund-raiser. He imagined there were children playing on its beach.

  Was this the kind of life he wanted? He’d never thought so.

  But he already missed Eve. He looked forward to seeing young Nick again and watching the huge grin spread across his face when he saw Amos.

  He smiled when he thought of Fancy and he looked forward to meeting the other members of the motley crew. He liked Stephanie and Nate and Mrs. Byars and Maude. He even found himself appreciating the unconventional police chief.

  While he was being honest with himself
, he had to admit pride in the cabin. He thought David would approve. He wouldn’t mind rehabbing other structures. Even build them from the ground up.

  Thoughts piled on each other. He’d never allowed himself to think about the future before, not before or after his injury. He hadn’t been able to see one outside the Rangers. Now he saw Eve, and her warmth and humor and strength filled some of the holes in him.

  The question that haunted him was what he could bring to Eve and Nick except a violent past and a present haunted by ghosts.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  FRIDAY WAS NEARLY half over before Eve drove up to Josh’s cabin.

  He had just finished applying the wallpaper to the bathroom and was cleaning up when he heard the unmistakable sound of Miss Mollie approaching. Eve had said she was bringing Nick.

  He opened the door as she and Nick stepped out of the vehicle, Nick pulling a reluctant, scarred pit bull behind him.

  Amos quietly joined him. When the dog saw Nick, his tail started to wag, but he went still when he saw the dog try to hide behind the boy. Eve watched anxiously.

  “Say hello,” he told Amos. Those were words Dave had used when introducing new members of his team to Amos. Amos used to offer his paw to whomever his alpha wanted him to meet. He hadn’t offered it since Josh had adopted him, but maybe that was because Josh had never used that expression. Or maybe because Josh hadn’t been big on commands with him. He’d given too many for years.

  With Amos at his side, he walked over to Nick and the timid pit bull that broke his heart because he so reminded him of his first glance at Amos in the kennel at Lakeland Air Force Base. Then as Stephanie’s Sherry had done to Amos, Amos did to Braveheart. He walked over to him, sniffed him thoroughly then licked his ear in an invitation to friendship.

  Braveheart stopped shaking. After a moment, he started sniffing Amos. His stub of a tail tried to wag. Nick’s face lit. “See, I told you, Mom. I told you they would like each other.”

  Eve smiled down at her son, and Josh thought it one of the most beautiful expressions he’d ever seen. Her face was so full of love and joy that he ached inside.