Dax: Military Heroes (The One I Want Series Book 4)

by Ellie Masters

  "You don't say?"

  "Yes, he's a bit high strung."

  Blue Heelers had high energy and incredible endurance for medium-sized dogs. Their short coats helped the dogs manage barb wire, brambles, and thorny underbrush easily.

  "I can imagine."

  "Are you familiar with the breed?"

  He’d grown up with Blue Heelers. It had to be fate.

  "As a matter of fact, I am." Dax wasn't one to believe in fate, but this might be a sign.

  "Well, he was brought in because he was too energetic for his previous owners. They said he kept running off. Good news is he's already chipped and neutered. Has all his shots too."

  "That's cool. And I can adopt today?" He didn’t want to endure filling out an application asking about where he lived. As of an hour ago, Dax had no home.

  "Normally, there's a process." She took in his Air Force uniform, the beret on his head, and smiled. "But, I'm sure he'd be going to a good home."

  "Well, if he has the energy to burn, I'm the man for him." Every day began with a ten-mile run, and that was simply the warm up for what came next. "Does the dog have a name?"

  "His previous owners didn't leave one. Said they didn't want to influence his new owner, but he's a bundle of energy, a real dynamo, and keeps us busy."

  "I like that name."

  "What name?”

  "Dynamo." It sounded like the perfect name for the kind of dog he needed. "Show me the dog."

  An hour later, Dynamo jumped into the beat up half-ton pickup truck. He licked Dax's hand and smeared nose prints on the window before settling down. Dax stopped at the local pet superstore and loaded up the pickup with food for Dynamo. He tossed a dog bed, leash, and chew toys in the back seat and a rope toy to keep Dynamo busy during the long drive. Dynamo sported a brand-new collar, with his name and Dax's cell phone number embroidered on it.

  Dynamo sniffed the rope toy, gave it a lick or two, then put his head in Dax's lap. He stared up at Dax with soulful eyes until Dax reached down and scratched the dog behind the ears.

  "Guess it's just you and me, now."

  He rubbed Dynamo's neck and pulled onto the freeway. The open road called to him. Depending on how hard he pushed, they could make it to Texas in a couple of days, but a restlessness churned in his gut.

  He wasn't ready to go home.

  Starting off in Florida, there were only a few directions to go. They could head north, up the eastern coastline, but he wasn't ready to deal with that many people. Heading due west would bring them to Texas, and he wasn’t ready to face the obligations of home.

  "Well Dynamo, what do you think?"

  Leaving the decision to a dog might not have been the best decision, but Dax gave it a go. Each time they reached an intersection, he left the decision to Dynamo. The only rule was nowhere headed east.

  Four days later, they found themselves driving past Billings, Montana, and breezing past the small town of Peace Springs. Nothing like Texas, they raised cattle here. At least he was familiar with that. He lifted a brow at the field sporting a llama herd munching grass. Who knew what got into these northerner's minds about that?

  But even the small town of Peace Springs had too many people for him. People made his skin crawl and the smallest thing seemed to trigger the post-traumatic stress he still refused to fully acknowledge. Dynamo helped in that regard, seeming to develop a keen sense of when Dax's nerves got the better of him. They spent a lot of time cooped up in that beat up pickup truck.

  "Bear Creek." He paused at the sign to the small town and looked to his dog. "How does that sound?"

  Dynamo cocked his head and his ears lifted. He gave a soft yip and licked the passenger side window.

  “You think that’s a good place to stop for the night?”

  Dynamo’s tail wagged.

  Chapter 2

  Dani

  Danielle Studer wiped at the tears streaming down her cheeks. What began as a proposal ended in a betrayal of the worst possible kind. The night of the Spring Formal found Scott McDonnell on his knees, ring in hand, and love spilling from his filthy lips as he proposed.

  "Dani," Scott said as he lowered to one knee. "Will you be mine?"

  "Yes!"

  Her excited scream still echoed in her ears. She hadn't known about his betrayal then.

  Scott's first cousin, Beth, had come to Washington State Campus to take a look around. A senior in high school, she was interviewing for the incoming Freshman class. Scott invited Beth to stay in his apartment and Dani thought nothing of it.

  Why should she?

  The two of them were family, first cousins, and there shouldn't have been an issue.

  Asking Beth to accompany them to the Spring Formal seemed weird, and hadn't been Dani's idea, but Scott wanted to give Beth the full college experience. Since Dani would soon be a part of Scott's family, it seemed the right thing to do. Besides, she was still riding on the high of Scott's proposal.

  They dated on and off during their undergraduate years and through her first three years of veterinarian school in the WIMU program. A combined program between Washington State University, the University of Idaho, Montana State University, and Utah State University, WIMU formed the Regional Program in Veterinary Medicine for the northwestern states. She was one of only ten students admitted from Montana and couldn't wait to finish and begin her practice on her father's ranch near Bear Creek.

  Her first year in the WIMU program found her and Scott separated while she returned to Bozeman at MSU for classroom work in veterinary sciences. Her second, and now third year, saw her and Scott reunited at WSU. He was finishing up a master’s program in business and finance while she continued her classroom and clinical study in the combined WIMU program. Her last, and final year, would be one of clinical placements throughout the four-state region.

  They discussed what that last year of separation might mean for them. Not that it was a problem. The future belonged to them, and while she expected a ring on her finger by graduation, Scott surprised her by giving it to her a year early.

  "Our families fit perfectly together, Dani. With my family's resources and your father's land, great things are in store for us."

  Scott’s family had banking contacts in Bozeman and her father had his ranch. She wasn't clear about how those two meshed, but Scott seemed confident about their future. Her father liked Scott too. As an only child, that worked perfectly.

  Everything had been perfect.

  She could tend to the veterinary needs of the ranch while Scott used his mind for business to run the cattle operation.

  They were well matched. A perfect pair. Little had she known.

  She smiled and admired the glittering facets of the two-carat ring propped on her finger. Then Beth walked in, stealing the show in an overly revealing dress with a slit running nearly to her hip. There was no way to say it, except Beth was one of those natural beauties. Scott always went on and on about how his cousin was supermodel hot. If Beth hadn't been related to him, Dani would've been jealous. They were remarkably close cousins.

  A fool.

  That's what she'd been.

  Beth accompanied them to the Spring Formal and Scott grinned the entire evening with two women draped on his arms. Normally, Dani would've gone back to his place at the end of the night, but Scott asked for her not to spend the night. He didn't think it sent the right message to his impressionable cousin.

  Not that Beth was innocent, and not that Beth didn't flirt with every man in attendance. But Scott didn't want Beth sleeping on the couch in his one bedroom apartment, because that would make him a poor host. Scott dropped Dani off at her apartment, then he and Beth returned to his.

  That had been the Friday before spring midterms. Midterms she probably failed in the aftermath of what happened.

  Waking early the next day, Dani went straight to the library. All her exams were bunched at the beginning of exam week. It was tough because she had five exams crammed into three days, but
it would be worth it when her Spring Break started two days before everyone else.

  Her mistake had been in leaving one of her books at Scott's apartment, but it was time for a break from studying and she hoped to catch him and Beth for lunch before hitting the books for the rest of the day.

  At his apartment, there was no sign of Scott or Beth, and to her surprise, his bed had been perfectly made. Scott had never made a bed in his life. But it made sense since he'd given Beth the bed and slept on the couch.

  For some reason, the skin between her shoulder blades itched. There were no blankets on the couch. No pillow either. She should have left then, but a folded note on one of the pillows of his bed caught her eye. She shouldn't have looked, but couldn't stop as she picked up the note and read.

  Scott,

  I will never forget last night. It was everything and more than I ever thought it would be. It will be our little secret.

  Forever and Always yours,

  Beth.

  There were many ways to interpret that note, but Dani knew. The sinking feeling in her gut told her the truth. Crumpling the note in her hand, she shoved it deep into her pocket, not sure what she would do, or how she would confront Scott.

  The rest of the day was a waste. She obsessed over that note and tried convincing herself the thoughts swirling in her head were wrong. They were cousins. First cousins. And cousins didn't do the things she thought they had done.

  Beth left later that day.

  Dani made an excuse when Scott asked her to dinner. She had to cram for her tests. He wanted to come over Saturday night to study, which usually meant he wanted sex. That twisted her stomach.

  Thinking about him sleeping with Beth and then crawling into her bed had her retching over the toilet for over an hour. Tears poured from her eyes and snot ran from her nose. Her stomach twisted and churned as she emptied its contents until there was nothing left.

  She avoided him on Sunday, saying she had study groups with the other vet students. Some of that was true, and those study sessions might be the only thing that saved her ass when the test results came back. She wouldn't know until after Spring Break.

  Two exams down on Monday.

  More excuses not to see Scott had him pushing harder for time alone with his new fiancée. Fiancée? With a tug and more tears, she ripped the ring off her finger and managed to make it through her two exams on Tuesday before she could no longer put off the conversation she needed to have.

  "I've missed you." Scott pulled her into a hug and her entire body stiffened. "What's wrong? You look exhausted." He dipped down, getting eye level with her and gave a slow, lazy blink.

  Don't cry. Be strong. Don't cry.

  Doubt crept in. Maybe she read the whole situation wrong? Maybe he had slept on the couch? Maybe Scott and Beth’s unusual closeness was simply because they'd grown up together?

  That made it worse.

  And she was exhausted because she'd barely slept thinking about him and Beth doing things in bed, a bed he shared with her. A shiver rippled down her spine.

  The crumpled note was still in her bag. She took it out and handed it to him.

  "What's this?"

  "You tell me."

  She gave him a flat stare. Heat filled her cheeks. Righteous anger was followed by hot pinpricks behind her lids. She squeezed her eyes tight and fought off her tears.

  "I can't believe you did that."

  His eyes widened as he scanned the note, then he glanced up at her, a look of horror and guilt splashed across his cheating face.

  "It's not what it looks like."

  “It's disgusting.”

  They hadn't dated straight through undergrad and graduate school. There had been a break after he cheated on her with one of his high school ex-girlfriends. That breakup had been bad, but they somehow worked through it.

  "Your little secret?" She propped a hand on her hip. "Forever and Always? Shit, Scott, I may be a fool believing there wasn't something going on, but I'm not stupid."

  "Dani..."

  "Don't." She pushed him away. "You fucked your first cousin. You fucked her after sending your fiancée away because you didn't think it would look right to sleep with me with your cousin in the other room. You're a fucking tool, you know that?"

  Dani forgave him once. Everything had been perfect for a time.

  Until now.

  Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

  This was one hundred percent her fault for taking back a cheating asshole. It would never happen again. At least she had found out before the wedding.

  Another shudder rippled down her spine. What kind of life would that have been? Married to a man who cheated on her not once, but twice? And with his first cousin? Were there more women she didn’t know about? She found herself examining every interaction they’d ever had.

  She shook her head, incredulous. Shit like this didn't happen in real life. Yet, here she was, staring into the eyes of an incestuous cheater.

  "Dani, look, it's complicated. It's not like we planned it. It just happened."

  "I doubt that. From the way you kept saying how gorgeous your cousin was and how you kept salivating over her in that dress, I have a hard time believing it just happened."

  "It was just a little innocent kissing."

  There had been a time when she believed in love. Every little girl wanted the fairytale to come true, a heroic knight, or prince, who swooped in and saved the day. Scott had been her fairytale. Now, he was nothing but evil incarnate, and she had been too stupid to see the truth.

  "You expect me to believe the two of you just kissed? I saw your apartment. You didn't sleep on the couch."

  "The couch was uncomfortable."

  "So, you did what?" Her voice rose. "Crawled into bed, cuddled with your cousin, and your dick magically slipped between her legs?"

  A life with him would have been hell, and she was thankful to have found out before things went too far.

  "That was the first and only time. I swear. It'll never happen again." His voice shook, and he glanced around the noisy common area of the student hall.

  He was more concerned about other students hearing them argue than the fact she was breaking up with him.

  Her last exam on Wednesday had been a disaster. If the veterinary gods smiled down on her, she might just pull through and not fail the class. More tears the night before meant there had been no last-minute cramming for that last exam.

  Thankfully, she was an A student. She wouldn't flunk out of that class, although her standing among her peers would suffer. That would affect her choice of clinical rotations for her fourth and final year.

  Screw Scott.

  No.

  Beth could screw Scott.

  She was done with men.

  Except Scott showed up on her doorstep after her exam, and then again the next morning. He wasn't ready to let her go. Even after she returned the ring, he told her they would talk. He would fix everything. It would never happen again. He lied through his teeth, desperate for her not to walk away.

  Too little. Too late.

  She never wanted to see him again. Thankfully, they hadn't decided to share an apartment. That had been something she wanted, but Scott had always refused, saying he needed space, and his parents wouldn't approve.

  Fuck Scott.

  And thanks for Spring Break.

  Many of her friends headed off to tropical destinations, but not her. She missed her father, and her friends. Heading home to Bear Creek, trail rides on her daddy’s ranch and long nights beneath the stars were exactly what her broken heart needed to heal. She would erase Scott from her memory and drown her sorrows in the crisp Montana air and skies that went on forever.

  Chapter 3

  Dax

  Still early in the afternoon, dusk came swiftly to the small town of Bear Creek. Nestled in the foothills of the northern edge of the Rocky Mountains, Bear Creek appeared to be a quaint, quiet town. A place perfect for a man li
ke Dax to catch his breath.

  He pulled into a spot in front of a cozy diner and turned off the ignition. A brightly painted sign outside welcomed everyone inside, but he hesitated. Instinct took over, his heightened awareness had him scanning for threats.

  The farther he drove from Eglin Air Force Base, the more hyper-alert he became. Instead of his anxiety easing with each passing day, he felt adrift without his military family.

  He felt abandoned and lost.

  Not that he had been.

  His former teammates called him every day, helping pass the time as the miles piled up behind him on the road. They shot the shit and kept him up to date on what they could. Mission details were classified, and he understood the distance that placed between them.

  They cared.

  They always would.

  He was the one with a problem, because he couldn’t let go of his past or the career he trained a lifetime to have.

  Time.

  He had all the time in the world, and wanted none of it.

  A quick look inside Marge's Diner revealed only a few patrons inside. That was good, as crowds were becoming more difficult to deal with as the days wore on. Dax got out of the truck and pointed a finger at Dynamo.

  “You be good, boy.”

  To his surprise, there was a smaller sign on the door of the diner which said All Dogs Welcome. He turned around and let Dynamo jump out of the truck. Dynamo’s tail wagged a mile a minute. His bright eyes stared up at Dax, full of adoration and absolute devotion.

  “Looks like this is your lucky day.” He tapped the side of his leg and Dynamo popped into a perfect heel. They’d only known each other a handful of days, and yet Dynamo surprised Dax with his intelligence. He was an easy dog. Hyper, but easy to travel with.