The Letter
Page 6
“She deserves better than a chewed-up old soldier who can’t sleep the night through without nightmares, and who can’t run for shit anymore. She doesn’t need me, the Army doesn’t want me. Fuck a duck, I’m screwed, ain’t I, mate?”
He drained the remainder of the can in one go. His fist tightened around it, the metal crushing until it bit into his skin. He welcomed the pain, deserved it.
“I’m sorry, mate. For everything. For not saving you, for loving Hattie. I’ll leave you the rest of the six-pack. Cheap, shitty stuff, but the kind you said you liked.”
Hell. The tears were really running now. What a fucking twat. Levering up off the ground, he wiped them away with the back of his hand. He’d completed his job there, achieved his mission. Time to go home, and try to forget.
He touched the headstone, squeezing it as though it were Billy’s shoulder. “See you on the flip si—”
He froze at the sharp intake of breath behind him then spun around. Hattie stood not five feet away, her eyes bright with tears.
“Oh, shit. How long have ye been there, lass?”
She took a step forward, letter in hand, her gaze fixed on him. Fuck, how did he get out of this one with his dignity intact? Everything in him wanted to cross the distance between them and pull her into his arms. Never let her go. She was his, should be his could never be his.
“I just wanted to say ’bye to Billy. I’ll get out of your way,” he muttered and shifted to the side, but she moved with him, blocking his way.
“Did you mean that?” She stepped forward, looking up into his face. Squinting a little in the sun, she still kept her focus. “What you said. That…you love me?”
There were many different types of courage. The courage to be the first into battle when the bullets were flying, a type Rick had never been lacking in. He’d leapt from planes with little more than a parachute and his rifle, jumped out of moving Land Rovers to cover injured colleagues, and tiptoed his way through minefields to extract kidnap victims. However, nothing he’d ever done compared to that moment.
Gathering every ounce of courage he possessed, he nodded. “Aye, lass.” He gave her a wry smile. “Love at first sight and all that.”
“Uh-huh.” Her face gave nothing away as she held the paper out to him. Any residual hope he’d harbored crumbled to dust.
“Nay, lass.” His glance shot from the letter to her face. “That’s yours. He gave me that to give to you.”
She smiled and held it out higher. “This was inside. It’s for you. From Billy.”
“What?”
He took the paper without thinking and, sure enough, his name was on the front. Without a word, he opened it. He couldn’t forget Billy’s unmistakable scrawl.
Look after her. Love her.
B
Oh…. Rick tried to reconcile the words, have them make some form of sense in his head. Billy had…how had he known?
“He sent you to me,” Hattie whispered, placing a hand on Rick’s arm. Hope and something else, something deeper, shimmered in her eyes. “He knew he wasn’t coming home, and he sent me an angel instead. You.”
Rick blinked and said the first thing that came to mind. “His plan would have been fucked if I’d'a sent it through the post, eh?”
She laughed, the light sound full of joy and hope. Her light grip shifted, pushing his hand aside. Opening his arms, he pulled her against him.
“So,” he said, while she smoothed the shirt over his shoulders. “How about it? Wanna give this old soldier a try? Despite what Billy said, I’m no angel. But I’ll love you as long as I have breath in my body.”
She lifted on her toes and pressed a gentle touch to his lips, filled with promise. “I’ve loved you since that first kiss, so do you think I’d let my angel get away after all the effort Billy went to bringing you to me?”
Elation filled him from the boots up. Grinning, he spun her around, claiming her mouth, hard and fast. She loved him, he loved her, and Billy had given his blessing. As though the thought had somehow roused Billy, the branches of the nearby trees rustled. Rick looked up and froze, Hattie following his gaze until she, too, stiffened.
In the shadows, beneath the trees, stood a soldier.
With a smile, Billy Lees saluted them, turned, and faded from view, his last mission complete.
~From the Author~
Mina Carter was born and raised in Middle Earth (otherwise known as the Midlands, England). After a slew of careers ranging from logistics to land-surveying she can now be found in the wilds of Leicestershire with her husband, daughter and a cat who moved in and never left.
Suffering the curse of eternal curiosity Mina never tires of learning new skills which has led to Aromatherapy, Corsetry, Chain-maille making, Welding, Canoeing, Shooting, and pole-dancing to name but a few.
A full time author and cover artist, Mina can usually be found hunched over a keyboard or graphics tablet, frantically trying to get the images and words in her head out and onto the screen before they drive her mad. She's addicted to coffee and Nutella on toast.
You can visit with Mina at:
http://mina-carter.com
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Contents
Title page
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
~From the Author~
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