Mended Hearts (New Beginnings Series)

by Mandie Tepe

  “I know what this is,” he said, repeating her earlier words to her.

  “What?” she asked in confusion.

  “Just trying to scare me off so I’ll leave. But it’s not gonna work,” he grinned and dropped a playful kiss on the tip of her nose.

  “Oh!” she laughed. She looked back at the TV and noticed the movie credits were rolling. “It’s after midnight.”

  “Yeah. I kept you out too late.” Sonny sat up as she slid off the couch.

  “I can sleep in. Work’s not ‘til noon,” she looked at him smugly. “But you have to get up early to have breakfast with Meg. Good luck with that. You’ve had a little alcohol today, so I hope it works out for you.”

  “Maybe that’ll teach me a lesson,” he laughed. “You could show me some more support and come by and drive me to breakfast. You are my new best friend.”

  “I’ll pass.” When she saw him grinning at her—a completely different person than he was earlier—she said, “I think my work here is done.”

  She found her shoes, informed him she’d pick up her stew pot the next time she came by—after he’d had time to finish off the stew—and kissed him on the cheek on her way out the door.

  By the time he locked up, turned out the lights, and dragged his bedding back to the bedroom he was surprised at how much stronger he felt. Maybe he was just feeling emotions he’d never let himself feel before, like she said. All he could do was show up every Monday-Wednesday-Friday morning and work as hard as he could. Take it as it came. After those amazing kisses though, he wondered if he could get Gracie to come with him . . . dole out those kisses like medication. They had made him feel better than he had in a long time. It wasn’t long before he had drifted into a peaceful sleep.

  CHAPTER 9

  Sonny was sitting on the front steps of his apartment building on Friday morning. The sun was just thinking about coming up and the air was chilly. Gracie’s electric blue Mustang pulled up in front of him and stopped. He pushed himself to his feet as she leaned over to crank the passenger window down.

  “Hey, sailor! Need a ride?”

  Sonny smiled. “Do you want to park in the lot? I can drive.”

  “We can take my car. It’s already warmed up.” Gracie grinned when his eyes lit up. She knew he’d been dying to get inside her Cobra II.

  “If you insist.” He opened the door and slid in . . . then totally ignored her as his eyes bounced around the interior of the car, taking everything in. “This is sweet,” he breathed.

  Gracie shook her head, checked for traffic and pulled out. Not that there was any traffic this early. She knew she loved her car—mostly because her dad and brother had put so much work into it and then gifted it to her—and because it was cute. She had not one ounce of gear head in her, though. Obviously Sonny did.

  Sonny finally gave her his full attention. “There’s a coffee shop a few blocks down. Do you want to stop?”

  “Already did.” She gestured to a cardboard cup carrier propped between the seats.

  “Wow. Angel . . . where have you been all my life?” He pulled the cup nearest to him out of the carrier and took a sip. “First you come and rescue me from myself the other day. Then you agree to be my moral support and go meet the team with me at the crack of dawn—after working late last night. How was last night, by the way?”

  “Actually, it was weird. Hardly any crowd at all. By the end of the third set, most everyone had left. Savannah cancelled the last set and sent us home. So, see? I was home and in bed before midnight. It wasn’t too hard to get up this morning.”

  “I still feel like a deadbeat for not coming over to pick you up, though.”

  “That’s stupid. You’d be on the road the better part of an hour—roundtrip—coming to get me. You live only ten minutes away from base. It makes better sense for me to come meet you at your place.” She glanced over to see him watching her.

  “Alright, alright! Let’s not bicker about it anymore.” He winked at her. “When the guys get a load of you, they’re going to think I’ve been trolling the campus at UCSD.” He looked her over. She looked impossibly young—and carefree as a coed—in her jeans and navy blue fleece sweatshirt, her hair held away from her face with a narrow dark blue elastic band.

  Gracie looked down at her clothes and bit her lip. “I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to dress up or not. I went with comfort instead. I’ve never met anyone coming back from deployment before.”

  “You look great—beautiful,” he said, still watching her intently.

  She blushed. “Well. Warm at least.” She cleared her throat. “So . . . are you excited to see the guys?”

  Sonny smiled. “I wish I didn’t make you so nervous.” Gracie looked at him uncertainly and he decided to let her off the hook. “I am excited to see the guys. I’ll feel a lot better when they’re on solid ground . . . American soil. You know?”

  Gracie nodded. Before long they pulled up to the front security gate on base and stopped. Sonny leaned across the seat to make eye contact with the sailor manning the post. He obviously knew Sonny, and they chatted for a few moments as Gracie pulled her drivers license out and handed it over to the guard. He checked it and looked her over, but it was clear that, with Sonny there with her, he wouldn’t be making her jump through as many hoops as usual. He and Sonny continued talking for a little longer, expressing their satisfaction that his team was coming back. He told them he’d already let several of the wives through. Finally, he opened the gate and waved them through too.

  Sonny directed Gracie through the base to the area the guys would be dropped off by bus after their transport plane landed. It was a large blacktopped area with a few benches around the edges. She parked by several cars already sitting in an adjacent lot. Gracie slid out of the car and was already standing by the open passenger door by the time he had his crutches situated to pull himself up out of his seat.

  “Do you need help? I know you’re not used to pulling yourself out of a low car seat. Your truck is probably easier to get in and out of,” she fussed.

  “I got it.” He pulled himself up with her hovering nearby, ready to grab him if he lost his balance. Just as she started to step back, he snaked his arm around her waist and pulled her up against him—from knee to chest.

  Her breath caught in surprise. She looked into his amber eyes—so hot they seemed to shoot off gold sparks. He lowered his head and kissed her, his lips clinging to hers. She angled her head and deepened the kiss. When she pulled back, he rested his forehead against hers and whispered, “Now that’s a proper ‘good morning.’”

  Gracie stepped back, a little unsteadily. After he moved away from the door, she leaned into the car and grabbed the coffee cups, then bumped the door shut with her hip. As she turned to walk with him toward the waiting area, she noticed Meg, Jenna and Trish hurriedly looking away from them. Oh great, she thought, they saw the kiss—here comes the interrogation. She heard Sonny say something under his breath and glanced over at him.

  “Sorry,” he mumbled. “I forgot we weren’t alone.”

  He looked so disgruntled she started giggling. That prompted such a look of shock on his face, her giggle turned into full-blown hysterics.

  “What is so funny?” he asked.

  “I found your kryptonite!”

  “What?”

  “You’re scared of your friends’ wives.” She brushed at a tear under her eye.

  “I am not!” He looked so appalled and sounded so offended, she stopped laughing and almost apologized for teasing him . . . until she noticed the amusement in his eyes.

  She smiled at him delightedly. “You are too.”

  Sonny smiled back at her. “Well . . . we all have our phobias.” He looked back toward the women huddled together several yards away. They were staring at him and Gracie again, obviously curious about what they found so funny.

  Gracie glanced down to watch him walk. “Hey! You’re putting some weight on your leg!”

  “Yea
h. They want me to start doing that slowly.”

  “How’s it feel?” she asked.

  “Not too good.” He laughed. “But good too. Know what I mean?”

  “I think so. It hurts . . . but it’s a milestone. Right?”

  Sonny grinned at her. “Exactly.”

  They had just gotten to the little group of Sonny’s friends and greeted everyone. Thankfully—though the women looked curious—they didn’t ask any pointed or nosy questions. Gracie handed Sonny’s coffee to him and stuffed her free hand in her sweatshirt pocket, hunching her shoulders. The breeze was blowing cool off the water and the dawning sun wasn’t doing anything to warm her up.

  “Where’re the little munchkins?” Sonny asked Jenna.

  “Home in bed. My mom came over to stay with them. I’m bringing Daddy home as a surprise. They have no idea.” Jenna was beaming, along with all the other women.

  “Excuse me,” a deep voice spoke.

  Everyone turned to see a very distinguished older man in an officer’s uniform standing there. Sonny kind of snapped to. “Good morning, sir.”

  The officer waved away the “sir” and said, “Sonny, can I talk to you for a minute?”

  “Sure.” Sonny followed him over to one of the benches and they sat down.

  Gracie continued to visit with the girls, as several others showed up. There was a lot of excitement—as well as some impatience—in the air. She kept one eye on Sonny, and the women explained that the older man was the team’s commanding officer, who was obviously there to meet the guys too.

  After several minutes, Sonny and his CO joined the group again and Sonny introduced Gracie to his commander. They chatted for a while, and then he left to meet up with several other men in uniform at the other end of the waiting area.

  Gracie and Sonny moved over to sit on one of the benches to wait. “What’s up, Luca? Everything okay?” Her curiosity got the best of her.

  “Oh, yeah. They’re going to let me come back to work—desk job. I’ll start Monday after my PT session and help the guys with their paperwork. I guess my therapist and doctors finally called and gave the officers the all-clear for restricted duty.”

  “That’s great. Are you happy?”

  “You have no idea.” He smiled at her. “Things are looking up.”

  One of the uniformed officers snapped his cell phone shut and walked over to where the families were waiting. The number of people had swelled as they had waited. “Okay, everybody. They’re on the ground. As soon as they get loaded up on the bus, they’ll be on their way over from the airfield. Probably about another fifteen, twenty minutes.”

  An elated murmur waved through the crowd, and Gracie turned to study Sonny. She was so attuned to him and could feel his nervousness. The last time he’d been with the team, he was badly injured and had been forced to leave them behind. He was dealing with some feelings of guilt, even though he knew he couldn’t have stayed and been of any real use to them. As misguided as those guilty feelings were, they were real. She reached over to squeeze his hand and he looked up—a little startled—and smiled back at her. She was glad she had decided to come along and give him her support. It felt good to be there for someone else for a change.

  After what seemed like hours—but was less than thirty minutes—a bus pulled around the corner and drove toward the lot. The waiting families all strained forward in anticipation. Sonny grabbed his crutches and surged to his feet. He looked back at Gracie, still seated on the bench.

  “Aren’t you coming?” he asked.

  “I’ll just wait here.”

  “Don’t you want to meet them?”

  “I’ll meet them, Luca—just not today. Today is about them and their families—and you. I’m here for you. Okay?”

  He smiled tenderly at her and bent down to kiss her cheek. “Okay. You’ll be alright back here?”

  “Of course. I’m going to enjoy watching this. Take your time.”

  Sonny moved forward with the others, but hung back behind the pack. He wanted the families to have all the time they needed. When the bus had stopped, several of the officers boarded to talk to the guys. They only stayed five minutes or so, but it seemed like forever to the crowd gathered there. After the officers stepped off the bus, the first of the guys followed, causing a deafening cheer. As each man appeared in the doorway, a cry would go up and someone—or several someone’s—would go running across the tarmac, flinging themselves at him. There were lots of tears and lots of laughter. Even Gracie, who was a stranger to everyone here, couldn’t keep from crying.

  Gracie sat and watched as, one by one, Jenna, Beth, Val, Trish—and finally, Meg—were caught up in strong arms and spun around. It was clear the women weren’t any happier about their return than the men were.

  Sonny was still hanging back, waiting his turn. After a while she noticed Meg’s husband say something to her and she turned, looking over the crowded tarmac. She found Sonny and pointed him out to Trace. Trace tucked Meg under his arm and they hurried through the crowd toward Sonny who finally waded in. Before he could get too far, though, Trace and Meg had reached him and both threw their arms around him in a group hug. They stood there—an island of quiet joy in the middle of chaos—while Trace looked him over thoroughly. It was obvious he didn’t believe Sonny was going to be alright until he saw it for himself. He stood back as Sonny was apparently trying to convince him he was doing well. Sonny finally said something that made Trace throw his head back and laugh. He gathered Meg close to him again, and they continued to talk.

  Pretty soon, the redheaded Charley loped over, an older couple trailing him. The older man had faded red hair, and Gracie assumed the couple must be his parents by the man’s resemblance to him. Charley flung himself at Sonny and almost knocked him off his feet. Luckily, Trace was there to hold him steady, and they all laughed. Charley’s mother reached up and patted Sonny on the cheek and clucked around him and his crutches and knee brace for a while.

  After that it was a free-for-all as the other teammates swarmed over to check on Sonny. Gracie could tell that, even though he was happy to see them, their concern embarrassed him—badly. She could only catch snatches of the conversation, but it seemed every time someone asked him about his recovery, he turned it around to them and how relieved he was that they had all made it home safely.

  Families began drifting away toward the parking lot, their loved ones anxious to see home after so many months away. Sonny’s core group of team members began moving toward the lot too. As they came closer, Sonny drifted over to where Gracie sat and she stood up to meet him.

  “Let’s head out, angel,” he smiled at her.

  “Okay.” She fell into step beside him and matched her stride to his slower one.

  She didn’t notice, but several of Sonny’s teammates raised questioning eyebrows to their wives who, in turn, grinned back to them whispering variations of “I’ll tell you later.” They didn’t want to embarrass Gracie by dissecting her relationship with Sonny in front of her.

  As Gracie and Sonny approached the Cobra, she heard Charley call out, “Whoa! Sonny . . . what the . . . While we’re out there fighting the war on terror, you’re back here hanging out with hot girls in hot cars?”

  Sonny stopped and turned around. “Well, it’s a dirty job, but somebody’s gotta do it,” he shot back and then continued on toward the car.

  Gracie heard several hoo-yahs from the guys and turned back to scan the parking lot, as Sonny continued hobbling toward her car. To a man, they were all standing, watching him struggle his way across the lot, assessing his movements. She could see the concern in their eyes and knew she didn’t want him to turn around and see that. It would be a shot to his pride.

  “Hey, Luca!” she called out. “Why don’t you drive?” She tossed her keys to him and he snatched them out of the air.

  He looked at her in surprise. “Hell, yeah,” he said and opened the passenger side door for her. She winked at him as she slid in and he resp
onded with a slow smile. He adjusted the seat as he got in and revved up the engine. She could’ve sworn she heard more hoo-yahs through the open windows as they peeled out of the parking lot.

  • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

  A short while later Sonny and Gracie slid into a booth at a nearby Denny’s. She’d been surprised when he offered to buy her breakfast, but he assured her we wasn’t skipping out on his PT session. He’d been able to push that back until this afternoon and she didn’t need to be at work for a few hours.

  After they ordered and the waitress brought their coffee over, she stirred sweetener into hers. “So . . . how relieved are you that the guys are back? I think the reunion went well.”

  “Yeah. I’m so glad they’re home,” he grinned.

  “Do you have plans to see them later?”

  Sonny threw his head back and laughed. “No way. I don’t expect most of them to surface for a few days at least.”

  Gracie looked confused for a moment, but then she remembered they hadn’t been with their wives for a long time. She blushed and said in a small voice, “Oh. Right. I wasn’t thinking.” She cleared her throat. “What are your plans for later, then?”

  “I don’t know. I have therapy this afternoon and that usually wears me out. I’ll probably just lay low tonight.”

  She nodded.

  “Did you want me to come by to see you at Savannah’s tonight?” he asked.

  “Only if you feel like it. You should probably stay in, though.” She didn’t want him pushing too hard and jeopardizing his recovery.

  He watched her intently for a moment and seemed to make a decision. “I have a question for you, Gracie.”

  She thought he seemed a little nervous, and it made her uneasy. He was the most self-assured man she’d ever known. “What is it?”