Forever's Promises (Forever In Luck Series Book 1)

by J. Darling

  “Look, there’s more going on here than you know. I’m fairly certain Nate’s suffering from combat trauma, and possibly posttraumatic stress disorder. If Nate’s aware of it, he’s not saying. I need to figure out what kind of help he needs, and where he can get it, and so far, all roads are leading back to the Army. Problem is, he wants nothing more to do with them. We really need to get a handle on this before we can talk about getting married. Daddy, I know you don’t want us together unless we’re married, but I need to ask you to reconsider.”

  “Why? Why should I allow this?”

  “Because the safest place for us to be is here. I don’t know to what extent he suffers, and I may need to call on the four of you to help me if things begin to spiral out of control. If you decide not to, then we’ll have to get a place of our own, and I’ll be left to deal with this alone.”

  “What about Mikey and Naomi?” Kris asked.

  “The DNA test will be back soon, but I feel fairly certain he’s not the father.”

  “You weren’t thinking that a few days ago,” her father interjected, still irritated.

  “You’re right,” she answered, “but I didn’t know then, what I know now. Here’s what I know.” She filled them in on what she’d figured out. “So you see, I highly suspect that she was, in fact, nine months pregnant when Mikey was born. If we want to find out who Mikey’s dad is, I think we needn’t look any further than her date for prom.”

  “Holy shit! That was Erik Eklund,” Nik said. “Seth had a huge crush on Naomi, and when he finally got up the nerve to ask her to prom, she told him she was already going with Erik. He was devastated.”

  “Well, there you go,” she answered with a shrug. “So that’s everything. You know it all, and I have yet to figure out what I’m going to do about my job in Chicago. I’m due back there in four weeks.”

  “I can’t say I’m thrilled,” her dad answered, “but I will admit you have some valid issues, and I agree it’s prudent to get some of this figured out before getting married.” Pausing, he took a deep breath. “I hate the idea of you moving out with him and being alone in this, and I most certainly don’t want you back in Chicago. I want you here, in Luck, I want you home.”

  “Then I guess Nate’s moving in, and I’ll be looking for a new job,” she answered.

  “There’s no rush,” her father was quick to answer. “Take some time, relax a little.”

  She reached for his hand and held it. “Thank you, I will. I promise. Kris, can I ask a favor of you?”

  “Yeah, what?”

  “Can Nate and I have your room?”

  “What? Why my room?”

  “Because it’s on the main floor, and it’ll be less disruptive to the house if we have the main floor during those nights when he can’t sleep and is up roaming around, or having one of his nightmares.”

  “Is it that bad?” Jake asked, looking skeptical.

  “Yes, it is,” she said, with a nod of her head. “Nate has a huge tattoo covering a large portion of his body in an attempt to cover scars from when he was nearly blown to bits by what looks like a grenade strike.”

  “Holy hell, you can have my room,” Kris said. “I’ll start packing.”

  “Kris.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Thank you.”

  CHAPTER 11

  Nate’s phone dinged. He went to it feeling annoyed. It’d been a week since they’d left their samples at the testing center, and he still didn’t have results. Looking at his phone, he saw it was a text from Linnie. Come for dinner, all’s well, luv u, xoxoxo. Breathing a sigh of relief, he immediately felt himself relax some. He wished they were still at the cabin, he just wanted to hold her. He needed to hold her.

  The newness of being back in Luck having worn off some, he found he was becoming irritable and impatient, jumpy, and he didn’t feel like being around people. He didn’t know if he trusted himself right now. He hadn’t even returned Jake’s calls. Trying to enter some information on the computer, his mind kept skipping around, unable to stay on track.

  Stopping in the hall outside his office, his dad poked his head in. “How’s it going?”

  “Slow,” he responded without looking up.

  “You heading out soon? The days about up”

  Nodding, he answered without any enthusiasm, “Yeah.”

  “You need to talk about anything? I’ll listen.”

  Nate took a long, deep breath and sat back, closing his eyes.

  “Talk to me. What’s going on?”

  “I just feel edgy, irritable, like I’m about to explode.”

  “Alright, any idea what might be causing you to feel this way?” his father asked.

  “Some.”

  “Care to share?”

  Nate took another deep breath, trying to calm himself. “It’s been a week and the test results aren’t back yet, and I can’t stand being apart from Linnie. I’ve waited years for us to be together, and here we are in our twenties, but it’s like we’re teenagers again. Her dad caught me sleeping in her bed this morning, and about had a stroke. I want us together now, I want us married now, and I want those test results now, none of which are going to happen today.” Taking another deep breath, he still felt like he was going to snap, but he did feel a little better being able to let out some of what he was feeling.

  “Thanks for telling me. How about I give Ted a call and see what’s going on with those results, then let’s call it a day and head to Johnson’s to get your truck. Matt’s called a few times, wondering when you’d be in to get it. After, you can go get Linnie, take her out, relax a little, and I don’t want you coming in tomorrow, or Sunday. Work can wait.”

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  “Wrap things up. I’ll go call Ted, then we’ll head out.”

  **********

  Despite picking up his new truck, Nate pulled into the farmyard feeling little better. The test results wouldn’t be back till sometime next week, as the snowstorm had delayed their being sent to the testing center. The truck was nice, but he just didn’t feel much of anything for it right now. Sitting there in his truck, he felt stuck, and couldn’t bring himself to go inside. Linnie walked out of the house and stood on the front step, then smiled the most beautiful smile when she saw him. Oh man, he loved her so much, and yet he couldn’t help but feel sad. Watching as she came to him, he opened his door, and she got up in the cab, kissing him soundly as he pulled her close and held her tight.

  “Hi honey,” she said softly. “I see what took you so long. It’s beautiful, and I love it. You deserve it.”

  She’d called him honey. Linnie never called him anything but Nate, but she’d just called him honey, and she loved honey. He felt genuine warmth spread within him as he looked upon her. Focusing on her lips, she smiled and leaned in, giving him another kiss, one longer and deeper than the first. He felt himself coming down by inches, and then by miles, the tension slowly seeping from his body. He realized then, he was utterly exhausted. He hadn’t slept but an hour or two, here and there, for the last three days. Helped explain how he’d missed leaving her room this morning, having stayed too long and then fallen asleep shortly before dawn.

  “You want to tell me about the truck?” she asked.

  Breaking their contact, he quickly glanced around the truck. “It’s a metallic black, extended cab Silverado LTZ with a five point three, v-eight engine.”

  “It’s sharp. Why’d you pick this one?”

  “Because I liked the color, and because I can move the seat back to make room for my legs, and…” he stopped, glancing at her.

  “Go on,” she encouraged, with a nod.

  “It has room in the back for a car seat or two.” he finished, looking away, not wanting to put pressure on her.

  Putting a hand to his cheek, she turned his face back to her and kissed him. Then smiling a beautiful smile, she said, “I love your train of thought. I can imagine a little Nate in the back right now.”

  “W
ell, I was envisioning a little Linnie. I really want a little girl, one just like you.”

  Smiling widely, she said, “Come inside, I have a surprise for you.” Then she hopped out of the cab.

  Looking to the house, he took a deep breath and let it out slow. He didn’t want to go in there, he just wanted to stay out here with her.

  She pulled on his hand. “Come on, chop, chop, lollipop, let’s go.”

  Reluctantly, he got out of the truck. Walking in the house, his eye’s popped open wide. It looked like a cyclone had gone through it. “Well, this sure is a surprise,” he said, looking around perplexed.

  She laughed. “Come on silly, this mess isn’t the surprise, but it’s the result of it. Come here.” Pulling him down the main hall, she opened Kris’s bedroom door. Jake was in the room pulling tape off the woodwork.

  “Hey Nate, where’ve you been? You haven’t returned any of my calls.”

  Nodding, Nate answered, “Yeah, ahhh, I know, I’m sorry, I haven’t been feeling real social. What’s going on?” he asked, looking around in confusion.

  Looking at him with pure happiness on her face, Linnie answered him, “Jake’s been helping me paint our new room today.”

  Whoa, wait… “What?” he asked, not sure he’d heard right. “What did you say?”

  “I said, Jake’s been helping me paint our new room today. Tonight, we’re going to sleep in my old room, and Kris is going to sleep on the couch. Then tomorrow morning, after milking’s done, we’re going to empty out my old room and paint it for Kris, then move all our stuff into this one. Daddy’s agreed to let us live here, unmarried, for now.”

  Unable to breathe, his muscles having froze, he stared at her trying to make sense of it all. Feeling a little dizzy, then a bit lightheaded, he wobbled some when he tried to move. The stress, the exhaustion, and now the shock from this happy little revelation, had his ears buzzing and the floor falling out from under him. Sensing Linnie in the distance, he heard her calling out for Jake, then everything just went blank.

  **********

  Slowly coming awake, Nate opened his eyes and looked around. He was lying on a mattress on the floor, in Kris’s old room. His clothes were off, with the exception of his underwear, and Linnie was cuddled up to his side, her head rested on his bicep. He hurt, ached all over. He knew this feeling, it was how he felt when he’d been sleep deprived for days, and then slept long and hard, his body rebelling to the harsh treatment. He felt thankful to be waking up to this scene, as opposed to waking up on the hot desert sand next to an M-1battle tank, with nothing but his helmet for a pillow and his gun for a blanket. Been there, done that, he thought. Taking a deep breath, he still felt tired, so he closed his eyes and slowly drifted back to sleep.

  The hot shower helped relieve his aching muscles. Couple that with the best sleep he’d had in years, and Nate felt like a new man. Heading to the kitchen, he could smell fresh coffee. Walking in, he was more than pleased to see Linnie. She was standing at the stove cooking. Walking over, he kissed her.

  “Morning, hun,” she said, rubbing her nose to his, then giving him a quick peck on the cheek. “Go sit, I’m making you breakfast for lunch, it’s almost one in the afternoon.”

  “You eat?” he asked out of concern.

  “Yes, I did,” she answered, then rolled her eyes. “You can even ask Jake,” she said, pointing to him with the spatula.

  He hadn’t realized Jake was in the room. Humoring her, he said, “Jake?”

  “Yep, watched her myself,” he answered. “She did pretty well.”

  “See, told you, now go sit,” she ordered, as she swatted him with a spatula. “You're going to make me burn the eggs.”

  Looking at Jake, he said, “Thanks for helping with the rooms. I really appreciate it.”

  “Yeah, no problem, you can fill in for me on milking when I need it.”

  “Will do, just say the word. So where we at? What’s left to do?” he asked, as he sat at the table. Linnie set a huge plate of food in front of him, and damned if he didn’t plan on eating it all. He was starving. Grabbing her arm before she could walk away, he pulled her down and kissed her quick.

  “It’s all done except for putting your room together.” Jake answered.

  “I need to run to town,” Linnie interrupted. “I’ll be back in a little while. You two can move in the furniture and set up the bed, then put all the clothes and boxes in the room, please. I’ll sort and organize it later.”

  “Where you going?” Nate asked, not wanting her to leave.

  “To the Laundromat to wash the big comforter, and then to see your mom in between. I’ll be back in time to make dinner.”

  “Do you need help getting stuff in the car?”

  “Nope, it’s done. I just need to go. The sooner I leave, the sooner I’ll be back.” She blew him a kiss, and was gone.

  “Jake, what happened? What did Linnie do to get your dad to agree to this?”

  “She just laid it all out on the line. Which pretty much explained why she’s against getting married right now, and dad agreed. He really wants her back at home, and as the threat of her returning to Chicago was real, he saw this as a way to get her here, and keep her here. She agreed to let her job go, and to look for something closer to here. I was a little surprised though, I figured the deal with Purdy was probably part of her reasons, but she never mentioned it.”

  “You think she still loves him?” Nate asked in alarm.

  “Nahhh, not that,” Jake answered, shaking his head. “She never loved him. She only thought she did because you were gone. She was making the best of a bad deal. No, she and Purdy were supposed to of been married and on their honeymoon, the whole time you two were gone. I was just thinking it was bad timing to ask her to get married is all.”

  “I didn’t know that, no one ever said,” Nate answered weakly.

  “They were going to elope, so no one knew the specifics. But last week, when she had her melt down, she mentioned that the other woman would be on her honeymoon this week, so that’s how I know.”

  Nate groaned inside. “I wish she’d talk more, tell me what’s going on in that head of hers.”

  “Yeah, she’s pretty private, but I think we’re all partially to blame for that. She grew up with the four of us teasing and chiding her, talking over her. I think she’s learned to cope by internalize things in an effort to not draw attention to herself, and in a way, it helps her maintain control. As a result, she’s never really learned to express herself with confidence.

  “If you take a good look at it, you and I are responsible for bossing her around and telling her what to do all the time, while Nik and Kris are the teasers. I think that’s why she gets so upset with all the prying questions and interest from people in town. She works hard to avoid attention, and doesn’t want one more person being critical, or telling her what to do. She’s getting better though, she’s definitely more confident since coming back from Chicago.”

  Nate sighed and rubbed his face. Jake was right. When they’d been at the cabin, she’d been very confident in her nursing assessment, and she was spot on in knowing what happened to him. She was also very confident in their love making. All things she’d learned when away from home. But then, when it came to things between the two of them, all he’d done was make demands, order her around, and yell at her. He had to stop that. He had to work harder at listening, and giving her time to speak.

  It’s just that he felt so damn protective of her, and he wanted to take care of her. Just hearing what Jake said now, made those protective instincts go into overdrive, and yet the person she needed protection from was him. “You may be on to something. Twice, Linnie told me she wasn’t into the whole ‘let’s get married thing’ right now. It very well may have been bad timing. I was thinking it might’ve been because of Mikey, but maybe not.”

  “Yeah, I can tell you with certainty, she’s not worried about that. She doesn’t believe Mikey’s yours.”

  “Wha
t? She said that?” Nate asked, incredulous. “She listened to what I had to say, but when I tried to talk with her about it, she silenced me, said she needed to think on it.”

  Jake took a drink of his coffee. “She did some detective work, and after putting two and two together, she believes Naomi’s prom date is the father. Nik said he remembers it being Erik Eklund.”

  Nate’s silverware dropped with a clang. “Jake, that’s whose party I went to, the party was at Erik Eklund’s place in West Sweden.”

  “I don’t know,” Jake said, shaking his head, “but I smell a rat. I can’t help but feel you may have been set up. Or maybe someone was trying to undermine Naomi’s credibility, making it look like she’d been sleeping around. I’m not sure, but I’m with Linnie, I’m leaning towards you’re not being the father. Time will tell though.”

  Nate wanted to shout from the rooftops, he was so damn happy. Two of the most important people in his life were on his side. She believed him. Smiling widely, he knocked knuckles with Jake. “I can’t wait till she comes home. Let’s get this room put together, fast.”

  When Linnie pulled in, Nate was out of the house and at her car door in a flash. Opening it, he pulled her out and lifted her up, kissing her soundly on the mouth. Carrying her to the hood of the car, he set her down and looked at her. “I love you, Linnea.”

  Linnea? Hmmm, what brought this on, she wondered. With a little laugh, she answered, “I love you too, Nathan.”

  “Quit being sassy, you know I hate being called Nathan, and as a result of your impertinence, you will be punished.” He started kissing her neck, then her ear.

  “Ohhh, Nathan, please stop,” she exaggerated.

  “There’s no one here by that name, so no stopping,” he mumbled between kisses.

  She laughed a little more. “Ahhh honey, as much as I’m enjoying this punishment as you call it, the hood’s pretty cold, and I need to get stuff carried in. Then I need to get dinner started.”