The Island

by Alice Ward

  “I feel like I’m living a fairytale,” I confessed as we swayed slowly to the music.

  “It’s all real, Willow,” James whispered. “And this is just the beginning.”

  We finished the song in silence, savoring the warm comfort of each other’s arms. When the song was over, it was time to dance with our parents. I walked to Daddy’s table and took his hand as the opening chords of True Colors flowed out of the speakers. James and Renee danced beside us while Matt twirled his grandmother onto the floor. Lucas and his mom showed us all up when he dipped her over his arm on the final note. From there, DJ Jeff picked things up with back to back fast songs and Matt, Lucas, James and I all danced in a group.

  “Are you guys ready to get out of here?” James yelled over the music.

  “Already?” I asked.

  “Yes,” Lucas and Matt answered in unison.

  “The newlyweds never stay at the reception long,” Matt reminded me. “And I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to be alone with my new husband.”

  James looked at me with an impatient grin. “I’ve been waiting weeks to give you your wedding present. Don’t make me wait any longer.”

  “Well, when you put it that way…” I smiled back at him. “Let’s go.”

  Lucas stepped up to the DJ’s table and whispered in his ear. Jeff nodded and cut the music.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, our newlyweds are making their exit. If you’ll get your sparklers ready and form a double line leading to the wagons, we’ll send them off in style.”

  Our friends and family lined up and lit their sparklers. They called out their congratulations and offered us their love as we moved past them. When we reached the wagons, James and I hugged Lucas and Matt before turning to each other.

  “Are you ready, Mrs. Parker?”

  My heart thrilled at the sound of my new name. “Absolutely, Mr. Parker.”

  He climbed onto the driver’s bench and helped me up behind him. Frost jumped in after me. Once we were settled, James popped the reins, sending Seven and Mayhem trotting for the far pasture gate. Lucas and Matt pointed their wagon for the stables.

  “Where are we going?” I asked as he slowed the horses to a walk.”

  “To our house,” he answered, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

  “Our house is a foundation with a bunch of lumber stacked around it,” I reminded him.

  “Just be patient, wife,” James teased. “And let me surprise you.”

  He wrapped an arm around me and we rode silently down our driveway. I was surprised to see glowing lights in the distance.

  What has he done now?

  As we neared our build site, I made out a strange camper parked under our Ash tree. It was strange because it looked like a long cabin, not a travel trailer. But it was definitely set on wheels.

  “What is this?” I asked, my voice seeping with excitement and curiosity.

  “It’s our home away from home,” James explained as he slowed the wagon. He jumped to the ground and lifted me into his arms when I tried to follow him.

  “I believe I’m supposed to carry you over the threshold,” he said as he walked for the trailer. He walked up the stairs, pushed open the door, and stepped inside. My eyes widened as I took in our new home. It was tiny but perfect, with a loft sleeping area and a surprisingly comfortable living space.

  “I can’t believe you did this,” I said as James sat me on my feet. I walked around, taking in all of the details. The hardwood floors were dark and polished and the kitchen counter was made of granite. The appliances were small, but stainless steel, and a glass mosaic backsplash adorned the wall. I turned to him, in awe of his gift.

  “This is all of the stuff we picked out for the big house,” I gasped. “You had this custom made?”

  James nodded and pulled me down next to him on the leather loveseat. “I didn’t want to start our lives together in the cabin. And once the house is finished, we can take this with us when we go on the road. It’ll be like we’re at home, even when we’re not.”

  “You’re my home,” I told him, leaning into his lips. We kissed for a moment before James pulled away, pointing at the ceiling.

  “You haven’t even noticed the best feature.”

  My eyes followed his finger to an enormous skylight. Limbs of the Ash tree partially blocked the twinkling sky. I looked back to James and cradled his face in my hands.

  “I love you, James Parker.”

  “I love you too,” he replied. I kissed him again and he slid a hand to my stomach, stroking the new life we’d created under that very tree.

  THE END

  Continue on to read a special sneak peek of my previous release, SEAL’d Heart.

  A SNEAK PEEK

  SEAL’d HEART

  ALICE WARD

  CHAPTER ONE

  Jake

  “On your mark…”

  I smiled as I watched the small group of children get ready for a race, big smiles covering their faces. The New York Beasts’ mascot sauntered to his “mark” too, wiggling his big red monster butt to the delight of the crowd.

  Hot dogs. Baseball. All that was missing was apple pie, and this would be the perfect American day. A normal day. I took a long sip of my ice-cold beer. Normal. I hadn’t had one of those in a while.

  “Get set…”

  One little guy jumped his mark and took off toward first base. Everyone laughed as he was chased down by a staff member and brought back to the starting line to “get set” again. Even from where I sat in the plush box seat, I could see his pink tongue jut through the space where his missing front teeth were supposed to be. He looked like a happy jack-o’-lantern and had “little boy” written all over him. I could tell he was a stinker just from the way he wrinkled his nose as he laughed.

  The Beasts’ mascot got in on the fun and plunked a big furry paw on the little boy’s sweaty head, clearly trying to hold him still. The announcer raised the starter pistol in the air while the children waited for their cue to run the bases, and—

  Bam!

  The children took off, and in that same instant, I was transported back to Afghanistan…

  Boom!

  The explosion came out of nowhere, followed by the distinct sound of AK-47s. Within seconds, our hostage rescue had turned into a baptism of fire.

  Diving for cover, I brought up my SCAR to return fire to the enemy high above the alley. The rat-a-tat-tat of gunfire surrounded me from every side.

  “We gotta move,” I yelled as I maneuvered to JTAC Mike, who was huddled in a doorway, manning communications.

  Mike turned to me. “Apache’s in route. ETA six minutes.”

  Shit. We didn’t have six seconds. We were totally screwed.

  I began firing at the dark shadows above us again as my team started falling one by one. I was next, I realized. There was no way out of this alley.

  Whoosh!

  “RPG,” I screamed the warning as I dove for what little cover was available. Pain bit into me as the surrounding world exploded and hell’s fury showed itself on Earth.

  In front of my eyes, the building housing our hostages was annihilated, leaving us nowhere to run. As the burning shrapnel fell around us, I realized we’d been setup. The intel was bad. We were wedged in, essentially trapped.

  Trapped.

  Dying.

  Dead.

  A hand clamped down on my shoulder, and I was on my feet in an instant. I reached for my nonexistent gun, and the beer in my cup burst all over my face, the cold liquid and the smell of hops bringing me back to reality.

  It was Rhett Hamilton, the owner of the Beasts, looking at me like I was an out of control animal. Maybe I was.

  He raised his hands, showing me his palms as he took a couple small steps backward. “It’s alright, Jake,” Rhett said in a soothing voice and lowered a hand to push the beautiful woman standing next to him behind his back. Protecting her. From me. “Everyone step back and give him air.”
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br />   I looked back onto the field. The children hadn’t even reached first base yet, so I knew I’d only lost a few seconds of time. But a few seconds was too much. It was all too much.

  I need to get out of here.

  Forcing myself to laugh, I cringed at how brittle it sounded as I took the towel someone handed me to wipe the foam off my face and hands. “Sorry. I…”

  I what?

  How did I explain to these people what just happened? How did I ruin their day explaining how many of my friends died beside me that day? How did I explain how I survived? How I walked away when so many didn’t.

  Was it luck?

  If so, I didn’t know if it was good luck or bad.

  “We were just about to refill. How about another beer?” Rhett asked, navigating me around the need to explain. I nodded, thankful for the diversion. He smiled down at the lovely woman next to him, and she smiled back, love shining in her eyes.

  She turned those unique hazel eyes on me. “I’ll go grab them. Be right back.”

  Before I could stop her, she was heading toward the bar.

  “You alright?” Rhett asked with a lowered voice when we were alone again.

  “Yeah. Sorry. Just had a moment there.”

  “Completely understandable. I heard from Ace that your unit went through hell.”

  Hell.

  It was an understatement, but I only nodded, appreciating the older man’s attempt at understanding and not throwing the crazy man — me — out on his ear. This was why I avoided crowds now. Avoided everything. I wasn’t a man who could be trusted anymore.

  I glanced around to find everyone’s attention was back on the field. Except for an elderly lady heading straight in my direction.

  Rhett groaned, then hid the sound with another sip of his drink. When I shot him a questioning look, he just winked.

  “I don’t believe we’ve been introduced,” the older woman said, sticking a bejeweled hand out at me. I couldn’t help but smile into her twinkling eyes. Or at the jewel-encrusted Beasts’ baseball cap that sat sparkling atop her white head like a crown.

  Rhett cleared his voice and draped an affectionate arm over the woman’s shoulders. “Jake Truman, it’s my pleasure to introduce you to Evelyn Steele, grandmother of our first baseman, Kane Steele. Nana Steele, Jake is Ace Newman’s guest today and is interested in supporting Ace’s housing initiative for veterans.”

  I enclosed Mrs. Steele’s frail hand in mine, but then she wouldn’t let go. Instead, she stepped closer and gazed up at me with bright blue eyes, the lines on her face all pulled up with her bright smile. “Pleasure to meet you, Jake,” she said. “Are you married?”

  Rhett Hamilton laughed and quickly raised his own cup of beer and drained it to stifle the sound. Mrs. Steele narrowed her eyes at him, gave a hmph sound, and turned back to me as she awaited my answer.

  “No, ma’am. I’m—”

  “Engaged?”

  I cleared my throat. “No, ma’am.”

  “In a relationship?”

  I would have felt like prey being stalked by a lioness if those blue eyes hadn’t held such kindness. I liked Evelyn Steele right away and found myself wishing she was fifty years younger. “No, ma’am, but…” I winked and held out my arm to her, “I’m open to suggestions.”

  She giggled, and it was such a soft, musical sound that I found myself relaxing even more, the horror of the flashback sinking even further into the dark depths of my mind. She took my offered arm and tucked her hand through it. “You are a scoundrel, Jake Truman. I can see that right away. I’ll need to introduce you to my granddaughters…”

  Oh. Hell. No.

  “…they are both such lovely creatures, I’m sure you’ll agree.”

  I looked at Rhett Hamilton for help, but the fellow billionaire just raised both hands. He’d clearly surrendered to this tiny woman’s machinations long ago.

  “If they’re anything like their grandmother, I’m sure they’re both lovely, but I—”

  “Wonderful…” she interrupted, looking up at me. The lights caught one of the jewels in her bedazzled cap, nearly blinding me. Were those real diamonds? Surely not. “Hand me your phone.”

  “Huh?”

  She hmphed again and held out her hand. I meekly handed it to the old woman.

  “Unlock the screen, young man.”

  I felt like I was fourteen again, a decade slapped away with her withering look. “Yes, ma’am.”

  I swiped and watched her wrinkled thumbs get to work adding her name and phone number. With the speed of a teenager on crack, Evelyn “Nana” Steele was in my contacts. She tapped the call button, and the Chanel purse sitting on the table beside us began to ring. “Now, we’re connected. I’ll be calling you soon with details. You will answer when I call, won’t you?”

  Had anyone ever told this woman no?

  “Mrs. Steele, I—”

  Her eyes held mine, and she patted my hand. “You shall call me Nana.”

  I swallowed hard. “Nana—”

  “Nana Steele, there you are…” A gorgeous strawberry blonde wrapped her arm around Nana Steele’s shoulders and gave me a conspiratorial wink. “I’ve been looking for you.”

  Nana’s arm snaked around the young woman’s waist. “Jake, this beautiful creature is my granddaughter-in-law, Eliana. She’s off the market, so don’t even think about it.”

  I raised my hands in surrender. “I wouldn’t dare.”

  Eliana cut in. “I was hoping to get your opinion on colors for the nursery, Nana.”

  Evelyn Steele brightened and patted Eliana’s flat stomach. “Of course, my darling. I’ve already had several ideas.” Eliana began walking, steering the elderly woman over to a group of waiting women. The younger woman looked back at me and mouthed, Run.

  Rhett Hamilton elbowed me with a grin and handed me a cup of beer. “Wise advice. I’ll text you when it’s all clear.”

  He didn’t need to tell me twice.

  Bursting out of the luxurious private box and into the crowd of people heading to the concession stands, I took in a deep breath as I began to walk the upper deck. Chugging the beer, I tossed the cup and kept walking, needing to get the pent-up energy out of me. The hot July air struck my face as I headed down the concrete steps. Below, the Beasts were taking the field. At another time and place, I might have been interested in watching the game, but today, I felt unsettled, even more than usual.

  I’d come to the ballpark strictly out of a need to talk business with Ace Newman, the team’s infamous short stop. I didn’t normally like crowds. Maybe that was why I felt so anxious. That, and the flashback that had already regressed me back to a time I didn’t want to remember — I wasn’t exactly feeling jovial. It would have been better if I’d insisted that Ace meet me before the game, or even after, but I thought I’d be able to handle the owner’s private box.

  Apparently not.

  I didn’t think I would ever be able to handle anything ever again.

  As I wound my way up and down the steps, going nowhere in particular, I ran over the questions I planned on asking Ace. I needed to have some prepared, but I honestly didn’t know what to talk about. I knew very little about the short stop, but what I had heard was impressive. I liked how much work he did with veterans and wanted to do something useful with my life. All I’d had to do was mention this desire to one of my old platoon buddies, and a day later I was connected, an email from Ace asking me to come and meet with him in my inbox.

  Two months out of the SEALs, with no job or real hobbies, and more than a billion dollars in my pocket meant I had not only a lot of free time, but too many thoughts in my head. Mostly bad ones. I needed to do something with my days. Sitting around and being useless never suited me. Besides, if I stayed still too long, the demons were bound to catch up with me sooner or later. Correction, they’d already caught up with me. Now, I just needed to stop them from consuming me completely.

  Yeah, I have it rough.

 
; Poor little rich boy.

  I know. I know.

  But I wasn’t looking for sympathy or understanding from anyone. Hell, I wasn’t looking for anything from anyone. I just wished the world would leave me alone.

  A horn blew, and I jumped, adrenaline dumping into my system again. This was a bad idea. I never should have come. I needed to get the out of here. I could always contact Ace later, set up a private meeting, or better yet, a conference call.

  Hell, instead of trying to do my own thing, I could just do as I originally planned and donate a couple hundred million to Ace and let his team do all the work. After the kind of shit I’d seen, using my money to help out veterans seemed like a no-brainer. God knew, they needed more helping hands than they were getting. But that didn’t mean I had to personally oversee every detail. Or any detail at all.

  A ball cracked off a bat, and adrenaline flooded me again.

  Yeah. I needed out of there.

  Looking around for the best escape, I threaded my way through the crowd of people on the upper deck with huge drinks and popcorn bags in their hands. Turning to the left, I found a back stairwell and headed that way, hitting the steps at a jog. The sound of a crying child made me skid to a halt and nearly trip over my own feet.

  Just like that, another memory hit me. A hot, dusty road. A small child crying in the doorway to a house. I shook my head, desperately trying to dislodge the vision.

  No, I told myself. This wasn’t a kid strapped to a suicide vest. I wasn’t in the desert. I was in New York City. At a damn baseball game for fuck’s sakes.

  My heart slowed its hammering as I continued to reason with the monster hiding inside my brain. This was probably just a kid crying because his mom wouldn’t let him have cotton candy. That was all it was.

  I kept walking, but then stopped after two more steps. On the landing below me, a little brown-haired boy was huddled, just a couple yards down the stairs. He couldn’t be more than six or seven years old, not that I was any good at guessing ages. His face was scrunched up, thick tears rolling down his cheeks. He clung onto the railing like it was his lifeline as he cried. When I looked harder, I recognized him as the little boy from the race.