My Broken Soldier (Love Conquers Life Book 2)

by Alison Mello

  “Did he take anything?”

  “No, he made a mess, though. The police think he was there for me, and when I wasn’t there he got angry and trashed my place.” I take a few bites of my salad, doing my best to get some food in my body, especially since I threw up my breakfast.

  We finish our lunch, and once we’re done cleaning up, she helps me unpack my bag from the lake house. After I do some laundry, we watch TV while Bella tells me about the shoot she did this morning for a bathing suit ad. She tells me that they want her for a runway show. She’ll be modeling fancy dresses and gowns for formal events. It’s a big deal event, and she wants Carter and me to go. The event is about a week prior to Christmas. I tell her that we would love to go.

  My eyes are getting heavy. When her phone chirps, I jump. She tells me to relax, that it’s just Derek letting her know he and Carter are going to pick up dinner on their way over here.

  “Tell them we have plenty of food from Sunday. They should come straight home,” I say as I rest my eyes.

  ***

  Carter

  I’m really hoping that Patty had a good afternoon with Bella. She didn’t look well when we got back to the apartment earlier. I could tell she was nervous and I felt bad leaving her, but I really can’t take too much more time off or my boss is going to have my ass. I feel like I should have walked her upstairs even though she said she was fine.

  I pull up to my house, and Derek pulls up he right behind me. He parks in a visitor spot next to Bella’s car. I get out and grab Patty’s bags while I wait for Derek. He catches up to me, and we go right in to see what the girls are up to.

  My doorman greets us and says, “All has been quiet, Mr. Montgomery.”

  “Good, glad to hear it. Thanks for taking care of her.” I nod at him as we walk by, and I say to Derek, “I told Patty I had to see the manager about something this morning. I told him what happened and let him know that Patty was staying with me. I told them that under no circumstances is anyone besides you, Bella, Dr. Cardoza, and our parents allowed up.”

  “What did he say?”

  “He was very understanding and told me not to worry about it and that they would take care of it.”

  When we get to my apartment, Bella greets us and tells us to keep it down because Patty fell asleep on the couch a short time ago. We all tiptoe off into the kitchen so we don’t wake her.

  Derek asks me, “Do you want us to take off?”

  “Nah, if she wakes up and you guys are gone, she’ll be mad that she didn’t get to hang with you. I’ll let her sleep a little longer, and then I’ll wake her for dinner.”

  “Okay. What do you guys want to do? Should we get a movie on Netflix?” Derek asks.

  “We’ve been watching TV all day. How about we do something a little more fun,” Bella says.

  I nod. “Okay, like what?”

  “I don’t know. Do you have cards or any games we can play?”

  Derek and I look at each other. At the same time, we say, “Cribbage!”

  Bella’s right eyebrow shoots up. “What?”

  I laugh. “Cribbage. It’s a card game that we played in the Army all the time. You can play it with a board or keep track of points on a piece of paper. I have cards and a board from when I was in the service. I’ll pull them out, and we can play in teams.”

  “There’s one problem,” Bella says as she sits on the stool.

  “What?” Derek asks her.

  “I have no idea how to play that, and I’m pretty sure Patty doesn’t either.”

  “We can teach you. It’s really easy. All you need to know how to do is add. We can play a couple of hands while you play against Patty, and Carter and I will show you what to do,” Derek says to her as he puts his arm around her and kisses her on the head.

  “Okay, sounds good to me.”

  “I’m going to warm the oven so I can put the appetizers in. When they’re done, we’ll pull out the lunch meat so we can make some sandwiches.”

  The oven beeps. I put the appetizers in and start getting plates and utensils ready. I place some chips and condiments on the counter. As I’m finishing, Patty’s phone rings, but I don’t want it to wake her so I run over to answer it.

  “Hello?”

  “Who the fuck is this?” someone screams in my ear. I assume it’s Ben.

  “You called me, dude. Who’s this?”

  “No, I called Patricia.”

  “Well, she’s sleeping right now.”

  The guy laughs into the phone. “Okay, Carter, give her a message for me. Tell her I’m not giving up that easy, and I hope she likes the gift I left her at home.”

  “You’re a sick bastard, and if you call her again, I’ll change her number and report you to the police. You have already broken your restraining order.”

  He cuts the call, and I put Patty’s phone on the counter. Derek says, “Maybe you should talk to her about changing her number now.”

  I nod my head and get the lunchmeat out. Now that I have everything set up, I go to the couch and sit next to Patty. I start rubbing my fingers through her hair, hoping to wake her gently, but instead I scare the crap out of her and she jumps up.

  “I’m sorry, baby. It’s just me.” She hugs me, and I tell her, “It’s time to eat.”

  She stretches and climbs off the couch. When we get into the kitchen, she apologizes to Bella for falling asleep. I pull the appetizers out of the oven while they start making sandwiches. Patty smiles at me.

  “What?”

  “Nice job. You didn’t burn the house down,” she says with a grin.

  “Very funny, you.” I wrap one arm around her and start tickling her. I’m glad to see her laughing and in a good mood.

  While we eat, we fill Patty in on our plan to play cards. Derek and I explain the game to the girls and how it works. I show them the pegs and how you move on the board. We explain that you can peg while playing your hand, and when the round is over the object is to be the first team to reach the opposite end of the board. They appear to be following what we’re saying, so once we’re done eating, we put the lunchmeat away but leave the appetizers out in case we want to pick at them. We move to the living room and sit around the coffee table.

  We start playing with Patty against Bella until they seem to have the hang of it. Then Derek and I switch seats, and we play in teams, Patty and I versus Derek and Bella. Patty and I beat Derek the first game and they beat us the second, but it’s getting late so we decide to have a tie breaker round on Friday night, when they come over for dinner again.

  Derek starts talking trash and says that he’s going to train Bella all week. Patty steps up and says, “No worries, my friend. We’ll be ready.” Derek laughs as we all say our good nights.

  I lock up and then find Patty in the kitchen, cleaning up the remainder of the appetizers. We decide to toss them since they’ve already been reheated once. There isn’t too much left, so I don’t feel bad about getting rid of the rest of them.

  Patty yawns as we finish up. I turn to my girl. “Come on, baby. Let’s go to bed.”

  Chapter 12

  Patty

  Today is Thursday, and the dining room set is being delivered. We’re excited that the table will be arriving today because Thanksgiving is next week. Carter is very nervous about the delivery because of the stuff Ben is pulling, so he is working from home today.

  He and Derek have been working on a benefit dinner to raise money for vets in need, and the benefit dinner has become Carter’s baby. He started doing research on some different ideas and what they can use the money for. They’re also looking to do a toy drive so the families in need can still give their kids a good Christmas. They have a list of families they would like to support, and Carter has reached out to some of the local toy stores to see if they’ll help.

  While he sits at the snack bar, working, I’m on the couch with my laptop, reading through notes that my beta readers have left for me. I love that I can share my book with my
beta readers in a document and they can leave notes in it. Then I decide if I want to accept the changes or decline them and fix my book in my own way. Since they see each other’s notes, they aren’t changing the same things over and over. I can also respond to their notes. Sometimes I’ll make a change and ask them to read it again. It takes a little time to get their feedback sometimes, but I love hearing from them and getting their input.

  I’m about a quarter of the way through my notes when my mother calls me.

  “Hello, Mother.”

  “Hello, darling. I’m calling to let you know that I’ve spoken with Richard, and although he is very disappointed in me, we’re going to work it out.”

  “Okay. Well, I’m glad he’s willing to work it out with you.”

  “Me too. We’ll see you on Thanksgiving. What time would you like us there?”

  “Around two is fine,” I say to her. She sounds off, but I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt. She could be nervous about talking to me.

  “I’m sorry, Patricia.”

  “I know you are, but I’m not the only one you need to apologize to.”

  “I know, and I’m working on it.”

  “I hope so,” I say, not really sure I believe that part, but we’ll see what happens.

  “Well, I’m going to get back to work now, but I’ll see you next week.”

  “Sure, darling. I’ll see you next week.” She cuts the call.

  I realize I forgot to tell her I’m changing my number today because I keep getting calls from random numbers, and we know it’s Ben. Carter told me about the most recent call. Now I refuse to answer the phone unless it’s a number I know. It’s probably pissing him off, but I don’t really care. If he’s mad now, wait until he dials my number and it’s been changed. I shake off my thoughts and go back to work.

  I continue going through the book, and it dawns on me why I had such a hard time putting this book on paper. It sounds way too much like me and my life. I’m getting older, and I never really knew love until I met Carter. I was lonely and tried to tell myself I was fine with my life the way it was, but in reality I was really miserable and ready to divorce B.O.B.

  I panic slightly at this realization. I don’t want the book to echo my life. It’s not a big deal; I’ll just go back to the beginning and make some changes. There are some key things about the character and her personality that stood out to me. I start renovating my book by changing her appearance and some of the things she says that makes her sound like me. This will make her more of her own person. I’m hoping these changes don’t screw up the book too much.

  As I’m making the changes, it occurs to me that this means I will need the betas to read the book all over again. I go onto our group message on Facebook and type out a quick message to them.

  P.A. Fitzgerald: Hey my wonderful betas! I know you all thought you were about done with this book, but I made some major changes to the first few chapters, so I would really appreciate you going back through and reading it to make sure everything flows and sounds okay!

  Karen: No problem! I’ll get right on it.

  Cassie: I’ll be able to read it tonight after I put the kids to bed.

  P.A. Fitzgerald: Thanks ladies, you’re the best!

  I close Facebook. Then I continue skimming the book and going through the changes the betas suggested. I’m deep in thought about a section of my book when my phone rings. I jump half out of my skin. It’s my agent.

  “Hey, Joan. What’s going on?”

  “Hi, Patricia. I wanted to see how you are doing after the break-in at your house and see how the book is coming.”

  “How do you know about the break-in?”

  “There was a leak that the one and only P.A. Fitzgerald’s home was broken into and trashed.”

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” I scream into the phone.

  “No, I’m not. Patricia, I’ve never heard you talk like that.”

  “Sorry, I just can’t believe there was a leak. Damn it!”

  “I went by your house to check on you and there are reporters camped out outside. I didn’t even get out of my car. I didn’t want to be bombarded with questions I didn’t have answers to, so I thought it’d be best to call you to check-in instead.”

  “I’m fine. I’m not staying there right now because the place was trashed. My father is arranging for a cleaning crew to go through and clean it all up for me.” Carter is by my side with his hand on my leg as I take a deep breath. “I guess I won’t be going to my place anytime soon.”

  “Please tell me you have your book documents with you. I really don’t want you to have any issues with piracy if it was a jealous author.”

  “I do have them with me. As a matter of fact, I was making some changes to the book when you called. I have a few more chapters to write, and I should be just about done with it…until I go through editing, anyway.”

  “That’s great! When do you think you’ll be done?”

  “You’ll have it around the first of the year. Like I said, I still have a few more chapters to write and I need my betas to finish reading it. It’ll be about seventy-five thousand words by the time I’m done.”

  “Sounds good. I’ll let the publisher know so they can start thinking about a time frame for you.”

  I sigh. “Okay. Keep me posted.” I cut the call and turn to Carter. “The break-in was leaked, and now I have a team of reporters camped out at my place. Joan went by to check on me and saw them all.” I shake my head. “God only knows how long they’ll stick around.”

  “Baby, why don’t you move in with me?” he says, looking deep into my eyes.

  I smile. “You realize, although our parents have known each other all of their lives, we’ve only really known each other for a short time.”

  He shrugs. “Who cares? I love you and I know you love me. What does the amount of time we’ve been together matter?”

  “I’ll think about it, okay?”

  “That’s all I ask. I love you, and I love you being here with me.”

  “I love being here with you too, but I’m a little nervous we’re moving too fast.”

  “I understand. Think about it, and we can talk about it again after Thanksgiving.”

  “Thanks, Carter.”

  “No problem. Now get back to work. Your agent is waiting for that book,” he says as he gets up to go back to his computer. I check out his ass as he walks away.

  He must have been able to sense it because he calls me on it. “Stop checking out my ass!”

  I burst out laughing, and I turn back to my laptop. I start going through more of the edits and changing some of the language in the book. I scan through the first three chapters again. I feel better now that Bailey is sounding more like her own person and less like me.

  I need to stretch my legs, so I get up from the couch and wander into the kitchen to start some lunch for us. I look in the fridge and find everything we need for a nice salad. I get to work cutting veggies and placing them into two large bowls. I take the rest of the turkey from the meat platter and cut it up to place on top.

  When I turn around, I see that Carter is deep in thought. I watch as his expression changes. Suddenly, he smiles.

  “What are you so happy about?”

  “Two of the local toy stores have agreed to match the toys. For every toy that’s bought at the store for one of the families, they’ll add a second one. They’re going to put a tree out at the front of the store two days before Thanksgiving so that Black Friday shoppers can contribute,” Carter says proudly.

  “Honey, that’s awesome. We’ll go to the two stores and put some toys under the tree. That will help to get others to participate. Oh, and I’ll put it on my Facebook page as well. Send me the names of the stores and the dates people can go in to donate.”

  He gets up and walks around the snack bar. “Thank you so much.”

  He has a huge smile on his face. Just as he leans down to kiss me, the phone rings.

  He
sighs. “The dining room table must be here.”

  He answers the phone, and the doorman confirms it’s the furniture company.

  “Did you check their ID’s?” Carter asks.

  I assume the doorman tells Carter that he did because he tells the doorman that he can send them up.

  “You know what this means, don’t you?”

  “What?” He says with a grin.

  I bite my lip and say, “I can have you for dessert after lunch.”

  He laughs and shakes his head as he walks over to the door to wait for the guys. I place our salads on the snack bar and search the fridge for some dressing. He shows the guys to the dining room while I finish getting our lunch together.

  A short time later, the guys are gone and the dining room table is in place. Carter stands in the entrance to the dining room and admires the table set.

  “Thanks for getting the table for me,” Carters says. “I love it.”

  “I’m glad you like it. I was going to go with a ten seater, but I figured if we grew, then we wouldn’t have enough seats and I thought this was such a great deal.”

  “It was a good deal, and it fits nicely in here,” he says. Suddenly my stomach growls. He looks down at me. “Come on. Clearly you need to eat, and you promised me dessert if I ate all my lunch, like a good boy.”

  I giggle as we walk back out to the snack bar. We sit down in front of our salad and decide to play a game of cribbage while we eat. Derek and Bella are coming over tomorrow, and we have our tie breaker game to play. Even if you practice a lot, practicing can only do so much. It’s all in the cards, but it’s a fun game. Carter beats me so badly that I didn’t make it over what he calls the skunk line. It’s a line on the board that means you’ve actually lost by two games instead of just one.

  I take our bowls from the snack bar and place them in the sink. I decide to tease him. “You know, if you keep laughing at me over the game, I may be forced to take dessert off the menu.” He comes up behind me and scoops me off my feet.