Her Loving Hero

by Caitlyn O'Leary

  “Former,” Wyatt said. “He went out on some phony disability years ago.”

  “Yeah, but he has friends. No wonder he was able to pull the shit he has. No wonder you didn’t go in guns blazing,” Dex said.

  Wyatt thought back to the month after he had finished BUD/S and had returned to South Bend. He’d shown up at the house when the boys were at school to finally have it out with Leonard, and that’s when he’d found out just how badly Leonard had him over a barrel.

  He’d come to the door without a shirt on, his skinny, hairy body smelled sour. “You,” he’d spit out. “Thought you might have done the world a favor and died by now,” he’d belched.

  “I’ve come to collect the boys. You don’t want them. Let them live with me.”

  “They’re my meal ticket, especially Kyle, he’s money.” Leonard’s smile gleamed yellow.

  “I’ll pay you. Just let them come with me.”

  “Nope.” Leonard flexed his arm to slam the door shut, but Wyatt easily stopped him and shoved his way into his old house.

  Leonard had been dumb enough to take a swing at Wyatt, but he’d side-stepped him, not wanting any kind of physical altercation being laid at his feet. “Leonard, just let me take them.”

  “Get the fuck out of here. They’re my sons. My property.”

  Wyatt had looked at him incredulously. “They’re boys.”

  “They’re cash. Now get the fuck out of here, or I’ll call the police like I did before. Your ass will be in jail so fast your head will spin.”

  Wyatt left him leaning against the kitchen wall. “I’ll be back tonight to talk to them.”

  That had been the stupidest phrase he’d ever uttered. Five hours later he’d been scooped up by the EMT’s out of a ravine. The only reason he’d been left alive is because Leonard and his buddies had realized killing a SEAL would have generated an inquiry.

  Leonard’s last words as he’d kicked him in the balls had been, “forget you ever had a mother and brothers. You can try saying I had something to do with this, but me and my friends here are at our old Captain’s retirement party right now. So good luck with that,” Leonard laughed.

  He tapped the toe of his boot into his kidney, and Wyatt rolled down the side of the hill until he ended up face down in muddy water. He had just enough strength to turn to his side and gasp for air before passing out.

  “What was the complaint that Luke filed?” Wyatt asked Dex as he took the exit for the hospital.

  “I just show a record of one having been submitted, no details because it was deleted,” Dex said disgustedly. “That’s what I mean about this asshole having friends.”

  “Luke would have known about Leonard’s cronies, so it had to have been bad for him to go to the authorities. I’m almost to the hospital, so I’ll ask Ben when I see him. Any other word from Oman?”

  “It’s still early stages, but travel warnings are already being prepared, and some people are already looking to send their families back to the states.”

  “Good.” Wyatt thought for a brief second that the Ambassador might send his wife and daughters home, but then he remembered Lilliana Hoag. She was embedded into that life, it would require a chisel and hammer to get her ass out of the Ambassador’s residence.

  He pulled up to the entrance of the hospital and took a parking ticket out of the machine. “I’ve got to go Dex. Would it be okay later if I brought Emily by to meet Kenna and the baby?”

  “I would love to see Emily again,” Dex said warmly. “I’ve been hoping you would bring her around to one of the barbeques, or something.”

  “She wasn’t ready,” Wyatt admitted. “But when I mentioned Cora, I could tell she was feeling left out.”

  “Bring her on by anytime.”

  “Thanks,” Wyatt said as he parked his truck before disconnecting the call. He shot inside the hospital and got up to Ben’s room in no time. His brother was sitting up in bed and looked a hell of a lot better than he had the day before.

  “Did you bring me something good to eat?” Ben asked as he jerked his thumb at the half-eaten tray of hospital food.

  “Benny, correct me if I’m wrong, but weren't you unconscious for almost three days?” Wyatt asked as he moved the chair over so he could sit next to his brother. Ben grinned. It was the same grin that Wyatt had missed for so many years.

  “How would I know if I was unconscious?”

  “Always with a smart-ass answer.” Ben held out the hand that wasn’t hooked up to a monitor, and Wyatt grabbed it tight.

  “I couldn’t sleep last night. My mind was swirling, and it wasn’t because of the accident.” Ben’s expression was intent. “My whole world order changed. I mean I’d hoped maybe you would at least be interested in seeing me again after all these years, but to know you fought for us.” Ben swallowed, then coughed. “For me.”

  “I did. I swear it.”

  “I believe you.” His heart was in his eyes.

  “How can I help? You said the three of you had a plan. How can we put that into action now?”

  “We can’t do shit until Kyle is sixteen. There isn’t a chance in hell that Luke’s going to leave the house until Kyle can go too. My job was to get some money in the bank and bankroll them.”

  “Good plan. Now we have an even better one,” Wyatt grinned as he tightened his grip.

  “Mr. Rhoades? Can you put me through to my father?” Emily asked politely. It was eight p.m. Saturday night in Oman and not one single member of her family was picking up their cell phone. She’d had enough. She was cutting through all the red tape.

  “Miss Hoag?”

  Carl was acting surprised, but he’d seen her number pop up. He was the Deputy Chief of Mission, or the Chief of Staff of the Oman Embassy. He did all of her dad’s dirty work. Anytime somebody needed to be fired, Rhoades did it. Anytime somebody needed to be dis-invited to a party, Rhoades made sure their invitation was lost in the mail. And anytime a daughter needed to be brought to heel? Well, Rhoades saw to that too.

  “Yes, it’s me. Can you put me through to my father?”

  “I’m sorry, he’s in the middle of an urgent meeting and can’t be disturbed.”

  Bull crap. Two could play at this game.

  “I haven’t been able to get ahold of him, my mother or my two sisters. Carly was injured in an accident, and there are suspicious rumors going on in Oman. I’ve been called by two reporters about what I’m hearing, I was hoping to tell them everything is fine. But if I can’t get ahold of my family, I guess I’ll have to say something else. Something that might not look good for the Ambassador.”

  “It is fine,” he rushed to assure her. “Let me get you one of your family to confirm this.”

  Yeah, like there had been a reporter, she laughed to herself.

  Lying could be so effective.

  Emily waited enough time for her to go through three posts on the chat room, then Kristi and Carly got onto the line together.

  “Are you really okay?” Were the first words out of Emily’s mouth. “Wy-” she stumbled. “I mean Scott said you needed fifteen stitches. How are you feeling?”

  “I’m fine,” Carly assured her.

  “She’s more than fine. Chris has already been over with flowers,” Kristi gloated.

  “Is there any talk about you two coming to California for a visit?” Emily asked cautiously.

  “What?” Kristi screeched. “I haven’t been stateside for three years. Are you serious?”

  “Carly?” Emily prompted.

  “Does this have anything to do with… you know?” Carly asked.

  “Not officially, not yet. But I was hoping that Dad might be already talking about it there at the Embassy.”

  “What are you two talking about?” Kristi demanded. “Is it something I’m not supposed to know about? Because if it is, that’s fine. All I care about is hitting the malls in California. When can we leave? Do we get to stay with you Em? What’s your apartment like? Can I see a hair st
ylist? Maybe in Beverly Hills?”

  “Are you kidding me?” Carly burst out. “Do you know how expensive a beauty salon in Beverly Hills would be?”

  “Em-i-leee” Kristi whined. “Pleeease?” Emily laughed. Really laughed. It was like she’d melted back in time. She and her sisters were playing like they always had, with Kristi wanting the world.

  “I can’t get ahold of Mom or Dad. I really need to hear back from Dad. I think in the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours that you’re going to be told to leave. Please keep me in the loop, okay?”

  “What’s your apartment like?” Kristi asked.

  “Sure, I’ll make sure you’re informed,” Carly said.

  Wyatt let himself into his townhome and the unmistakable smell of lasagna hit his nostrils. Awesome, Emily had gone and picked up frozen lasagna. Maybe she’d bought a fresh loaf of French bread so they could have garlic bread. He followed his nose into the kitchen and stopped short. Looking at the amount of dishes that were piled in the sink, it was a good bet that the lasagna was home made.

  Even better.

  “Darn it, I wanted to have the dishes done before you got home,” Emily said from the hallway.

  “You cook, I wash. Them’s the rules.” Wyatt said as he peeked in the oven and saw the bubbling cheese. He also saw the loaf of French bread and the stick of softened butter.

  Just better, and better, and better.

  “How’s Ben? How’s Gray? How are you?”

  “Good. Good. Great.” He ambled over to the fridge and pulled out a Gatorade. Then he grabbed the lemonade and topped off her glass.

  “And you?”

  “First piece of good news is that I figured out when to submit my applications for California Universities.”

  “And the second?” he asked as he took a sip of Gatorade.

  “I called Oman like you suggested.” She got the serrated knife to cut the bread. She looked kind of agitated, so he took it from her.

  “Tell you what, since it sounds like you need to vent, how I about I work with the sharp objects?”

  She untied the towel from around her waist and sat down at the counter and took a sip of her drink. “Have at it. I like watching you be all domesticated anyway.”

  “So, tell me why you’re frustrated.”

  “Remember me telling you about Rhoades?” Emily asked.

  “Your dad’s Chief of Staff?”

  “Yeah. Mom and Dad avoided my phone calls, and he gave me the run around. I had to bully him into getting Kristi and Carly on the phone.”

  Wyatt looked over his shoulder and gave a slow grin. “Did I hear you say you bullied a career diplomat?”

  He watched as she blushed. “More like intimidation through lies.” She explained what she did, and Wyatt’s heart warmed.

  “If I wasn’t buttering bread, I’d have to kiss you.” His tone was low.

  “So, stop buttering,” she suggested.

  Wyatt smiled.

  No way, no how, no sir. They were going to take this slow.

  “Tomorrow’s Sunday, I was wondering if you would like to go see Kenna and the baby.”

  He watched the glass halt halfway up to her lips. “Really?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “You want to introduce me to your friends?” He could barely hear the whispered question. He stopped wrapping the bread in foil and was in front of her in a second.

  “Of course I do.”

  “You never have.” Her face was pale, and her normally rosy lips were bloodless.

  “Are you scared? I mean I know you only met Dex that one time, but Honey, you’re going to love Kenna and little Cora. It was fine meeting Gray, wasn’t it?”

  “I wasn’t sure you wanted to share that part of your life with me.”

  Wyatt dropped his elbows on the counter in front of her. “Fuck me. I am the stupidest man on the planet. Absolutely not, Emily. That’s not it at all.”

  He snatched her hand in his and held it close to his heart. “The first few weeks we were just starting a friendship, but when I realized it was morphing into something more, I wanted you to myself. Then when I wanted you as part of my life, I realized that my teammates would bring up that night in Saudi Arabia. I never wanted you in pain. Never. This has been driving me crazy. I didn’t know what to do. But you did so well with Gray.” His voice trailed off.

  “So, you do want me to meet your friends.” She paused. “Properly.”

  He tugged on a strand of golden hair. “Absolutely. I want you to invade every nook and cranny of my life, Miss Hoag.”

  Emily closed her eyes and groaned.

  Wyatt panicked. “What?”

  “I’m thinking about every nook and cranny being invaded. Kristi and Carly could be joining me soon.”

  “So? I thought you missed them.”

  “So what?” she asked loudly. “Wyatt, I only have one small bathroom, and a studio apartment. This will be girl hell.” At least this time there was color in her face.

  “Let’s pop the bread in the oven, so we can eat,” Wyatt suggested.

  “But, there’s a lot to think about,” Emily protested.

  “All the more reason for us to be well fed before we talk.”

  13

  Wyatt looked over at Emily and wanted to laugh. She was holding Cora like she was a time bomb about to go off.

  “How old were you when Kristi was born?” he asked.

  “Eight.”

  “Did you hold her much?” Kenna asked with a knowing smile.

  “I didn’t get to hold Carly or Kristi much when they were babies. We had nannies, so I wasn’t allowed to. I got to finally play with her when she was two. But before that she was in the nursery and out of bounds.”

  Wyatt edged closer to her on the couch and put his arm around her shoulders, showing her how to keep Cora’s head upright. “If you go like this, she’ll grab your finger,” he whispered softly into Emily’s ear.

  She whipped around to look at him in astonishment. “No, she won’t.”

  “Bet she will.”

  Emily put her finger near Cora’s tiny hand and the little girl grabbed it. Wyatt laughed, and startled a squawk out of the baby.

  “You’re a natural,” Dex said from the love seat where he and Kenna were sitting.

  Emily’s face fell. “I wish I was. There’s a lot more to this than I realized.”

  “You do great with the kids at the ‘Y’, you’ll do even better with infants,” Wyatt assured her.

  “You can’t know that.” Emily’s eyes never left Cora’s face.

  “Sure I can. Teenagers are tough, they’re constantly fighting against you, pushing boundaries, infants just look to you for love, support and comfort. You give that in spades.”

  “Wyatt, Kane wants to talk to us. Can you come into my office for a few minutes?” Dex asked.

  Wyatt reluctantly pulled his arm away from Emily’s shoulders. “You got this?” he asked as he trailed his fingers along the back of her neck. She leaned backward into his touch and looked up into his eyes.

  “I could sit with Cora all day.” Her voice was dreamy. Then she realized what she’d said and looked over at Kenna. “Oh, I’m sorry, let me give her back to you,” she apologized.

  Kenna waved her hand. “Emily, that’s just fine. Cora’s my second child, I know how in thrall you get the first time you hold a baby, it’s magical. I’m going to grab the cheese and crackers from the kitchen, and you hold her until she gets hungry.”

  “Kenna, you keep seated. I’m Waiter Boy, today.” Dex hopped over to the kitchen and made two trips bringing cheese, crackers, chips, brownies, water, soda, milk, and ice cream.

  Kenna leaned back and giggled. “You missed something Sailorboy.”

  Dex looked around anxiously. “What?”

  “I need a kiss before you go play SEAL Mastermind.”

  “Well that’s doable,” Dex said as he dipped in for a slow.

  Long. Deep. Kiss.

&nbs
p; “Thank you, Mrs. Evans,” Wyatt heard him whisper into Kenna’s ear. “You’ve given me the world.”

  Wyatt’s gaze fell on Emily. She was entranced by the baby, and after just ten minutes she was cuddling the little girl like a pro.

  Dex stood straight and tilted his head toward the stairs. Wyatt followed him up.

  “I still can’t believe you cut a buddy out of the equation,” Dex said as he pressed the number for Kane.

  “I heard that,” Kane said when he came onto the line. “When did you become a whiner?”

  “When I get my ass chewed by my lieutenant right after my wife gives birth because he thinks I hadn’t kept him in the loop.”

  Kane cleared his throat. “Shit. I owe you one for that.”

  “Bullshit, you owe me a whole lot more than one, McNamara,” Dex said as he tossed his phone on top of a mound of papers that included a sonogram picture. He gestured for Wyatt to take a seat in the small office. It wasn’t the same room he was used to, then he realized they’d probably converted his old office into a nursery.

  “You know, you could have Kane give you some of his magical airline miles to make up for it. That way you get to fly first class,” Wyatt suggested.

  “Miles? What the hell are you talking about? He flies military transport like the rest of us yahoos.”

  “Don’t tell Emily,” Wyatt laughed.

  “Business boys. We have business to discuss. What’s more I have information to share, if the whining is done.” Kane sounded exasperated.

  “Let me guess, the Ambassador’s dinner with the Emir of Qatar and the Secretary of State was cancelled because it was a target,” Wyatt surmised. “Got anything less obvious to share?”

  “Yes. Something new and unexpected has popped up in two of the universities in Muscat and Nizwa, both within a week of one another, and it doesn’t look organic, it looks planted. A new radicalized group called Oman Nationalism.”

  “What are their leanings? What have they done?”

  “They haven’t done anything yet, but they’re saying that they won’t let Oman be bullied by the American backed regimes.”

  Wyatt looked at Dex. “Kane, that makes no sense. Oman is Switzerland, they rarely back a horse in the race unless it’s an underdog so that they can keep the sides balanced.”