Sgt. Billy's Bride

by Bonnie Gardner

  Bill drew in a deep breath and wondered if he was supposed to respond. How had this woman, who seemed so strong, been so easily led by her parents and fiancé?

  “My parents didn’t understand me. My mother certainly didn’t. She didn’t seem to realize that the world had changed since she married Dad. That women were no longer content to play the dutiful military wife, to attend teas and to entertain generals when they happened to be in town. I felt like everyone expected me to be a Stepford Wife.

  “So there I was, full of doubts, waiting for the ceremony to begin. My mother was fiddling with my hair, my attendants were giggling about how manly Dick was, and I suddenly felt like the walls were closing in around me.”

  Darcy drew in a deep sigh as another gust of wind blew more rain against the windows. “I asked them to leave me alone for a few minutes to collect myself, and as soon as they were gone, I climbed out the window and dashed to my car. I changed clothes in a gas-station bathroom, stashed the dress in the back of the Volkswagon Bug, and you know the rest….”

  She chuckled. “I cut my finger on a safety pin and got some blood on the dress when I was rolling it up. I guess that’s why they think I was the victim of foul play.” She shrugged and raised her hands in a placating gesture. “So that’s the condensed version.

  “I’m sorry if you were caught in the middle of it. I didn’t know your connection to my uncle at first.” She drew in a deep breath. “By the time I did, it was too late. I was already in love with you.”

  Bill couldn’t think. Not with Darcy there in front of him in full and glorious color. Her explanation seemed so logical, so reasonable, but still…. It could be the sheer closeness of her impairing his judgment.

  He had to get out of here. He had to think. He had to go someplace where he wouldn’t be distracted by her. Maybe it was a coward’s way. Maybe it wasn’t the way any of the other guys on the team would do it, but he couldn’t think clearly when Darcy was so close.

  He turned and walked out the door, the wind slamming it behind him.

  Darcy watched him go and tried not to jump to conclusions, but Billy’s response was crystal clear. The slamming door had illustrated it plainly.

  Why couldn’t Billy see that she hadn’t intentionally set out to deceive him? Why was he so eager to get away from her that he’d stomped off into a thunderstorm?

  At least, he’d taken the Jeep. She’d heard the engine start through a lull in the wind and seen the taillights as he’d torn down the lane. She whispered a prayer that he’d be safe, then set her mind to doing what she knew she must.

  She’d call her family to tell them she was safe, then she’d be packed and ready by the time Billy returned. She’d take nothing that wasn’t hers. One thing was certain, she wouldn’t stay another night in this house where she was so obviously not wanted. Where she no longer belonged.

  BILL DIDN’T KNOW how long he drove or why he ended up in the Reflection Garden in the Old Confederate Memorial Cemetery.

  Maybe it was because his mother had devoted so much time to it when his Boy Scout troop had adopted the neglected graveyard as their community service project. The boys had only intended to clear the brush and keep it trimmed, but Momma had insisted that there had to be something pretty, something for the living to enjoy.

  She had kept them busy for weeks, shoveling dirt, laying out paths, planting shrubs, flowers and bulbs. They hadn’t been too crazy about it at first, but once the project was finished they’d loved it, too.

  But never as much as Momma had. She’d always said that besides her young ’uns, it was the only thing she had to speak for her, the woman she’d been. And it spoke well.

  The storm had finally rained itself out and all that remained of it was the occasional flicker of lightning in the distance and the steady patter of rain as it dripped from the trees. Already the clouds were racing away, scudding across the sky and letting the stars peek through the breaks.

  He stepped out of the car and found the path that led to the garden. His clothes were still damp from his dash through the rain, and when the cool breeze left by the storm blew, it chilled him. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was working this out. Making the right decision.

  He found the concrete bench in the middle of the garden. It was wet, but he brushed the water off and sat anyway. It wasn’t as if he weren’t wet already. And he had to be here. He had a lot to think about. And maybe here, he could get it right.

  He sat for a while listening to the drip drop of the water sifting through the leaves. He heard the night birds and the crickets and the occasional call of an owl.

  He heard his mother’s voice. “She loves you, you know,” she seemed to say. “She didn’t mean to lie to you.” Momma chuckled. “But you pure railroaded her into everything you two done.”

  Bill could almost see his mother’s smile. “I reckon I ought to be mad as a wet hen about how you two fooled me, but your reasons were good. Darcy got caught up in everything, and then she didn’t know how to get out of it.”

  “What about her family?”

  “I reckon her family would surely be grateful to know that she’s alive and well and married to you instead of what they must think now. Go to her, son. Go to her. Before it’s too late.”

  Bill was a logical man. He knew that he couldn’t possibly have heard his mother speak, but wherever the words of wisdom had come from they were the right ones. Why was he letting pride and hurt get in the way of the real thing? He loved Darcy, and he wouldn’t let her go without a fight.

  Maybe he hadn’t told her so, but he did love her. And maybe if he told her, she’d respond in kind.

  He stood up and looked around. The place was as still and as empty as it had been before, but he really did sense his mother’s presence. “I’m going, Momma. I’m going to tell her. Thank you.” He started to go, but he stopped.

  “I love you, Momma,” he whispered to the wind.

  DARCY WAS ALMOST packed when she heard the car. She stiffened her spine and steeled her resolve not to let him get to her. She wouldn’t let Billy see her cry.

  She’d have plenty of time to cry the rest of her life.

  She heard him fling open the door and come inside, but she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of going to him. Let him come to her.

  Finally, he found her.

  “I’ll have everything packed in a couple of minutes,” she said stiffly, without turning around. “You can take me to a motel like you promised that first night. Then I have no intention of taking up any more of your time.”

  “What if I don’t want to take you?” Billy said, his voice husky, thick.

  “Then I guess I’ll borrow Nettie’s car one last time. I’ll return it,” she answered sharply to cover the lump in her throat. She couldn’t look at him. She wouldn’t. Not yet, anyway. If she did she would cry.

  “What if I don’t want you to go?”

  Hope soared, but Darcy knew better than to count on it. “What do you mean?” She knew she sounded wary, but she had to know exactly where she stood.

  “I love you, Darcy. Maybe we didn’t go about it in the normal way: love first, then marriage. But, I do love you.”

  Darcy’s heart caught in her throat, and she couldn’t speak. Didn’t know what to say if she could. She turned to look at him, her eyes swimming with tears.

  “I see now that most of the misunderstanding is my fault. I made assumptions I shouldn’t have. I didn’t ask enough questions. I just looked at you and assumed I knew who you were.” He chuckled wryly.

  “Maybe I did. The real you, anyway. And if I’d known about your family tree, I might never have dared to look further. Much less touch.” He paused for a moment, then stepped nearer. “I think I remember you saying that you love me. Is that true or was it just the heat of the moment?”

  “No. Yes. Both, I guess,” she answered, her heart beating so rapidly that she could barely breathe much less think. “I do love you. I love you for the way you cared
for your mother. I love you for the way you made me feel important, like I mattered. Yes, Billy Hays, I love you.”

  She could see the relief on Billy’s face. “What do we want to do about it, then?” He stepped closer, but still a little too far.

  Darcy drew a deep breath. “We-e-ll,” she said. “We could invite everyone to another wedding, and pretend it was our first…”

  Billy shook his head. “No,” he said. “Then I’d have to pretend to wait to be with you. I want to shout it to the rooftops that I love you and you’re mine.”

  “I guess this means I’ll have to quit my job.”

  “Why?”

  “I want to be more than just a weekend wife,” Darcy answered simply. “I want to live with you in Florida, and I want you to come home to me every day.”

  “Hoo ah,” Billy cheered softly, then gathered her to him and held her as if he’d never let go. “There’s nothing I want more.”

  He kissed her, and when he was finished staking his claim, Darcy drew back and Billy tried to pull her back to him.

  She placed her finger on her lips. “One more thing,” she whispered, her voice husky with need. “Don’t you worry about my uncle. He’s the one man I really do have wrapped around my finger.”

  “That’s not true,” Billy said as he lowered his head. “There are two.”

  Then he lifted her into his arms and took her to bed.

  Author Note

  MISSION

  U.S. Air Force Special Tactics Teams

  The mission of the US Air Force Special Tactics Team is to provide air traffic control and terminal guidance for aircraft operations under combat conditions.

  Often a Special Tactics operator must parachute into hostile territory and secure the desired location before he can serve incoming aircraft.

  Trained as air traffic controllers or emergency medical technicians, they receive extensive training in weapons and demolition, combat skills, survival and anything necessary to get the job done. They often provide support to covert, top-secret missions in far-flung reaches of the world.

  Their motto is FIRST THERE

  Special Tactics operators wear the same uniforms as regular members of the air force, mostly the camouflaged battle dress uniform, but are privileged to wear the distinctive scarlet beret. The scarlet beret bearing a metal flash depicting the combat control shield and the motto, First There, is awarded only after the member earns the right to wear it after completing extensive physical and tactical training. Many men apply, but only a few are chosen and pass through the rigorous training regimen.

  ISBN: 978-1-4603-6822-0

  SGT. BILLY’S BRIDE

  Copyright © 2002 by Bonnie Gardner.

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

  All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

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