by Regan Black
“Nah, I’m just selfish.” She grinned when he scowled at her. “I have a sister, but I’ve always wanted a big brother and, Carter, you fit that to a tee. Go get your girl.”
Feeling lighter and filled with hope, he went to intercept Paige as she slipped out onto the porch, away from the crowd.
“You pulled it off,” Carter said. He joined her at the railing of the porch overlooking the creek. “Everyone’s having a great time. Especially your parents.”
His warm palm touched the small of her back and smoothed out the last bit of angst she carried from her conversation with her father. “I’m glad. And it’s only because of you that we’re all here to enjoy it as a family. A family of four.” She turned, her gaze scanning the room until she spotted her sister standing with Cora.
“You amaze me, Paige. Not every daughter could stand here and look so delighted and at ease with her dad after what you’ve been through.”
“He’s my dad. And now he can be hers too. I need to focus on the good stuff ahead of us rather than all the things we missed in the past.” She shifted closer, smiling up at him. Not caring a wit about gossip or rumor, she pressed a quick kiss to his lips. “A really smart man once told me family is a choice. Love is a choice.”
“And happiness?” He touched his forehead to hers, resting his hands lightly on her waist.
“Especially happiness,” she said. “I had no idea what Mom would do with Jayne. The relationship they’re forging is more than I could have hoped for either of them. And again that’s on your shoulders.”
She let her hands glide over those broad shoulders. His strength went far deeper than his physical attributes and she wouldn’t have survived this without his help. Life could turn ugly in a blink and she was determined not to leave anything important unsaid from this point forward.
No more secrets.
“I know it’s too soon and most people would say I’m star-struck, or worse that I’m a cliché, but I’ve fallen in love with you, Carter Oakes.”
His mouth curved into a wide smile and there was a happy twinkle in his eyes. He brushed a light kiss over her mouth, so light she thought she imagined it, and then shifted so they were more appropriately standing side by side. But his hand was wrapped tightly around hers.
“When I took this job, you were a client,” he said, his voice low. “I’m not even sure exactly when you became so much more to me. I tried to keep myself in check, keep my hopes reasonable. Despite all of that effort I fell in love with you too.”
She tipped her head up to study him. “Is love supposed to be reasonable?”
“Apparently not for us. Seriously, Paige can you handle what I do? I want love to be enough, but I’m a practical man. More than anything, I want you to be happy. Deliriously happy every day for the rest of your life.”
Her heart fluttered in her chest. To be part of Carter’s life every single day? That sounded like perfection, like a true partnership. It sounded like every dream in her soul coming true.
“If my happiness is your goal, you’ll definitely need to stick around,” she said. “I’ve seen you in action, Mr. Guardian Agency.” She curled her body toward him, her fingers trailing over his tie. “I know how capable you are in the field and in the kitchen.” She winked at him, soaking up his rumbling laugh. “You are great at what you do and I would love to be the person you come home to every night.”
His lips parted, and she charged on. “Every night that you can be home. If you’re giving me a choice, Carter, I choose you. No matter what kind of work you do.”
“I love you, Paige.”
“Good.” She beamed up at him. “I love you, too.”
A cheer rippled through the room and Paige immediately glanced at the video screen. Sure enough, the annual summer family picnic pictures were popping up one after another, set to a bright happy tune. So many smiles, so much silliness, and at the heart of it, her father building connections and making everyone feel appreciated. The people here tonight held him in the highest regard and carried a genuine affection for the man who had built this financial firm into something lasting and strong.
She was thrilled to know that she and her sister truly felt the same way about their father. They were a family, unconventional to be sure, but united now for all the days ahead.
“You were raised by a good man,” Carter said. “Not perfect, but definitely one of the good guys.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” She slid an arm around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder. Just for a moment, she savored the soft pulse of complete joy. She’d come through hell thanks to him and she was ready to embrace some quieter, peaceful time with him.
“I won’t be perfect.”
“You don’t need to be,” he assured her. “I’ll make my share of mistakes.” They both would. “But I promise to do my best for us, together. I’m looking forward to what life will look like with you by my side.”
He tipped up her chin, his gaze melting into hers. “Whatever the future holds, my love, the view is guaranteed to be beautiful.”
FamilySecrets.Life
Once any secrets or betrayals are revealed and those involved can see clearly,
let people have the time and space to process. A willingness to move forward can open new doors to a peaceful and happy path forward.
familysecrets.life
Sneak Peek
Fatal Deceptions © 2020 by Cindy Gerard
What seems too good to be true often is. And when that false goodness erodes to grisly lies, the monster of doubt becomes the enemy.
FamilySecrets.Life
ONE
Rachael’s phone started playing the Outlander theme just as she was buckling Addie and her bulky pink snowsuit into her car seat.
Cassie.
“Sit tight, punkin’.” She smiled at her tired and a bit cranky daughter and wrestled her phone out of her purse. “Momma’s got to take this.”
Rachael was tired and borderline cranky herself. The clouds hung heavy as darkness began to fall, and it had started to snow which meant slippery streets driving from Addie’s daycare to home. It had already been a long day, but Cassie didn’t call often and it had been a while since they’d talked.
She got caught up, though, for just a few seconds as she took in the wonder of her eighteen-month-old child – every inch of her, her daddy. The blond hair, the blue eyes. The quick sweet smiles. Addie hadn’t inherited one thing from her momma. Not Rachael’s red hair. Not her freckles. Not her fair skin. Addie was her daddy through and through. And Rachael loved every inch of both of them.
She finally managed to pick up on the sixth ring, just before the call went to voice mail. “Hey, Cass.”
“Hi, Rach. How you doin’, sweetie?”
Rachael heard something other than normal interest in Cassie’s tone and tried to interpret what it meant. Concern? Sympathy? It felt like more than your basic ‘checking in on you’ voice. “I’m fine. How are things with you?”
“I’m okay.”
An uncomfortable silence followed and seemed to stretch on forever.
“So, what’s up, Cass?” She finally prompted, forcing a smile for Addie and brushing a blond curl away from her daughter’s forehead.
“Have you … have you talked to Mac?” Cassie asked, with a hesitance that provoked the first real trickle of alarm.
“Not since last week, why?”
Mac’s platoon was deployed to Afghanistan. When one of the platoon’s wives called to ask about another wife’s husband, all senses rose to red alert. Just last month, Rachael had had to make ‘the’ call, to relay the bad news that two of the guys had caught shrapnel from a round of artillery fire. Thankfully, both men were going to be okay but they faced some hospital time ahead. She’d dreaded making that call. She was growing more and more certain that she was going to regret receiving this one.
“Cass…What’s wrong?”
“Oh, Sweetie. I should have waited. I thought you would hav
e heard from Mac by now. I … I just wanted you to know that I’m here for you.”
Alarm ramped up to fear. “Oh, God. Is Mac okay? Is he hurt?”
“No. No. He’s not hurt. At least that’s the word.”
She gripped her phone with both hands, her tension shooting off the charts. Addie sensed it. Her blue bonnet blue eyes grew big and round. Her lower lip started to quiver.
“It’s okay, baby.” She patted Addie’s thigh, squeezed in assurance, trying to stop what inevitably came next. “Momma’s okay.
“Then what?” She turned back to Cassie, attempting to keep her voice low and calm for Addie. But the eighteen-month-old’s rosy little cheeks puffed up, her face turned beet red, and huge raindrop tears pooled in her eyes just before she let out a wail that could wake the dead.
“What’s wrong with Addie?” Cassie couldn’t miss her cries through the phone connection. No one within a mile could miss those heart-wrenching sobs.
“She’s fine. She’s tired. She knows I’m upset. Cassie, for the love of God, stop stalling. Tell me what’s going on.”
Addie had ramped up to screaming, and Rachael had to cup her hand over one ear to hear Cassie.
“It … well, word is that Mac’s gotten himself into some trouble over there.”
Her heart lurched, uncertain if she’d heard her right. “Mac? What kind of trouble?” Her husband was the last person she would ever associate with that word. Samuel (Mac) McKenzie had always been a ‘toe the line’, military sharp, quintessential soldier. He was an officer. A 1st Lieutenant now. Platoon leader. In trouble? No.
Addie’s ear-piercing screams tripled Rachael’s anxiety. Lord, that child had a pair of lungs.
“Cassie, hold on a sec.” Bussing a kiss on Addie’s forehead and making sure her car seat straps were tight, she scrambled out of the car and shut the door behind her. With Addie’s crying muffled, she could hear – and think. “Now what’s going on?”
Seconds later, she wished she hadn’t been able to hear her.
A full minute after they disconnected, Rachael finally climbed back into the rear seat of their compact SUV, unbuckled her daughter and drew her into her arms.
And held her.
Held her until they both stopped crying.
The sunshine was too bright. Too cheery. Just …too much. It glinted through the trees and reflected off patches of ice melting on the road, painting a far too optimistic picture. The day was completely out of step with the gray mood Rachael had carried with her for the six long days since Cassie’s call.
She backed off on her speed, suddenly aware that she was driving fifteen miles over the limit. Nerves. Excess tension. Her eagerness to finally see Mac. They all came into play as she maneuvered the route to Ft. Riley.
During the many years Mac had been stationed there, she’d driven the fourteen miles from Manhattan, Kansas, to the army base more times than she could count. Knew the route by heart. Up ahead was a spot along the road where faded silk flowers and a small white cross rose from the melting snow, memorializing the site of a fatal accident. Just a mile further, she could push forty-five mph on a tight left curve if the road was clear of ice.
She also knew the exact spot for the turnoff to nearby Ft. Leavenworth and the United States Disciplinary Barracks maximum-security military prison – one of three prisons located on the Leavenworth property. She’d never had reason to take the turnoff. Until today.
That was the twist in the routine – the turnoff. The road that led to Leavenworth U.S.D.B. was a road she’d never thought she would travel. And the inside of the prison was something she’d never, in her worst nightmares, expected to see.
She swallowed a lump of apprehension as she neared the military prison grounds. An aching mix of worry and anxiety clutched her chest as tightly as her hands clutched the steering wheel. The same anxiety that had kept her awake every night since Cassie had called.
Mac. Her husband. Her lover. The father of her child. He was finally back from Afghanistan. But he wasn’t home. Where he needed to be. Where she and Addie needed him to be.
He wouldn’t know about the welcome home party she’d been planning for him when his deployment would have been up two months from now. Wouldn’t see their daughter who so, so badly needed her daddy to hold her and sing to her again. Wouldn’t take her to bed and make love to her the way she’d dreamed of for eight long months.
She wasn’t only afraid for him. She was mad as hell. She should be on her way to pick him up and bring him home. To celebrate his homecoming. To be hers again. But that wasn’t happening today. Based on the little she knew, it might not ever happen.
As she neared the security checkpoint, she felt overrun by fear that Mac might never be hers again. She still couldn’t grasp it. Mac? Accused of a war crime? The murder of an unarmed Afghan citizen? A non-combatant? No. They were wrong. Something was very, very wrong.
Cassie may have been the first to call, but she hadn’t been the last. The rumors had clicked down the pipeline among the wives before Mac had even been granted permission to call her. The entire platoon, it seemed, was in shock. And no one had the full story.
That phone call six days ago was etched in her memory like a scar. But the onslaught of press that had started showing up at her door felt like a fresh wound, nowhere near ready to heal let alone scar over.
“Mrs. McKenzie. Is it true that your husband killed an unarmed Afghan? A man known to be friendly and provide intelligence for the Army?
“Have you seen your husband yet, Mrs. McKenzie? Has he admitted to the murder?”
“How old is your little girl? Can we get a picture? What will it be like with your husband behind bars at Christmas?”
“Do you anticipate they’ll ask for life in prison at his court-martial?”
They were like piranha, every one of them, wanting to sink their teeth into a piece of her flesh. Christmas was still a couple of weeks away. Mac would be home by then. She knew it. She believed it. She had to believe it or she wasn’t going to get through this.
Breathing deeply to get herself under control again, she pulled up to the security checkpoint. A military guard stepped out of the small cement block building. He squinted against the brilliant morning sunshine and bent down to speak with her. “Morning, ma’am. You have business here today?”
She looked up at the guard as he leaned down toward her window. He was young, sober and all business. A private. Serious about his duties.
“I’m here to visit a … prisoner.”
“Are you expected?” He didn’t blink an eye. Didn’t ‘get it’ that just saying the word ‘prisoner’ in association with her husband sent shock waves coursing through her body.
Somehow she managed to nod. “My name should be on the approved visitor’s list.”
Managing to get her name on that list had been no small feat. When Mac had finally called, he’d only been allowed to share the basics. He was in the brig. He was accused of a murder. They were shipping him home next week. He’d given her the names of a few officers who might be able to help.
‘Next week’ had passed in a blur of frustration and fear and more tears as she’d made one unproductive phone call after another. All the contacts, all the friends she and Mac had made on the base over the years – none of them could help her find out more information. They’d tapped their superior officers. Gotten nothing. Loose lips sink ships. How well she knew that mentality.
She’d bullied and begged and badgered and finally gotten through to the company commander who’d reluctantly granted permission for her to get in to see him.
“I’ll need two forms of ID, please.”
The guard’s voice shocked her back to the moment. She’d already pulled the IDs out of her purse and handed them over, hoping he didn’t notice how badly her hand was shaking.
He scanned them both, gave her a quick glance to compare photos, then handed them back to her while warm air from the heater leaked out her open window.
“Thank you, ma’am. The parking lot’s up and to your right,” he said, again, so polite and so professional she wanted to scream at his composure. She’d lost hers the day she’d received the phone call that had changed their lives.
We hope you enjoyed this sneak peek of Fatal Deceptions, the next book in the Behind Closed Doors: Family Secrets series.
Behind Closed Doors: Family Secrets Series
Don't miss this brand-new series from the bestselling authors of the STORMWATCH and BREAKDOWN series!
THE LIE Debra Webb
(December 2)
BLOOD STRANGERS Vicki Hinze
(December 9)
SAVAGE BEAUTY Peggy Webb
(December 16)
DEADLY REFLECTIONS Regan Black
(December 23)
FATAL DECEPTIONS Cindy Gerard
(December 30)
Coming in December 2020 in ebook and paperback.
About the Author
Regan Black, a USA Today and internationally bestselling author, writes award-winning, action-packed romances featuring kick-butt heroines and the sexy heroes who fall in love with them. Raised in the Midwest and California, she and her husband share their empty nest with two adorably arrogant cats in the South Carolina Lowcountry where the rich blend of legend, romance, and history fuels her imagination.
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