BROKEN

When I’m broken and nothing seems to make any sense, I go back to the ranch, to my beautiful Jessie.
 
Jess…fixes me, makes me whole again
.
 

Mitch stared at the words his brother had written in the journal, words he’d heard countless of times over the past three years.
 
He’d never met Jessie Buchanan, but he thought she must be some kind of woman to be able to glue his brother back together time after time.
 
Especially after some of the atrocities they’d witnessed during their Special Ops missions.
 

As for himself, Mitch usually found solace in the first quiet little town he came to and the first pretty female that happened to catch his eye.
 
He’d never found any of them special enough to return to
,
but his brother apparently had.
 
And now it was up to Mitch to tell Miss Buchanan that Adam was gone, that he
would
never again return to her waiting arms expecting to be put back together by whatever mystical healing powers she possessed.

Tossing the journal on the seat beside him, Mitch fired up the truck’s engine and pulled out of the diner parking lot.
 
With any luck, he
would
be at Jessie’s ranch in a few hours and have just enough time before night fell to set up camp in the surrounding woods Adam had told him so much about.
 
He wasn’t ready to face her yet.
 
Hell, if he hadn’t even come to terms with Adam’s death himself, what comfort could he possibly hope to offer this woman?
 
He supposed he could have gone to one of his condos or even waited it out in a hotel, but something deep inside compelled him towards the ranch and he’d learned
 
long
 
ago to trust his instincts.

A cynical smile touched his lips.
 
Who knows, maybe this Jessie Buchanan could patch him back together as she’d always managed to do for Adam.
 
Adam
.
 
His brother, his friend, his comrade.
 
Mitch
rubbed at his chest, the pain still so raw he could barely breathe.

“Damn it Adam, you should have stayed put like I told you to!”

But of course, he hadn’t.
  Adam
came back when he’d seen that Mitch was in trouble, and now he was dead because of it
.

Mitch’s fingers tightened around the steering wheel.
 
He had to stop thinking about it.
 
If he kept reliving those last few moments of Adam’s life he
would
drive himself crazy.
 
The grief was overwhelming as it was, and the vision of his brother drawing in his last breath wasn’t the one Mitch wanted to carry around with him.
 
He wanted to remember Adam as he was the night before;
 
his face
 
lit up with the exhilaration he always felt
 
prior to
 
a mission.
 
His brother
was addicted
to the thrill of a rescue, thriving under the pressure and danger and never once questioning what drove him to do it.

Mitch, on the other hand, did nothing but worry about what could go wrong and whether they
would
make it back alive or not.
 
He’d never been excited about either the planning or execution of a mission
,
and had certainly never relished the idea of risking his own hide, or Adam’s for that matter.
 
But he’d done it, not for the glory or the money or even for the sake of the poor victims.
 

He’d done it because it was the life his twin brother had chosen for himself
,
and in doing so, had also chosen for Mitch.
 
They
had
always been there for one another, always had each other’s backs
;
it would have been unthinkable
t
o let Adam go out on a dangerous mission without being there right alongside him.

Mitch drew in a shaky breath and willed himself to focus on something else.
 
Jessie Buchanan came to mind.
 
He’d heard some pretty incredible stories about the woman over the years and wondered how much of it was true and how much of it Adam made up just so he could make the other men jealous.
 
A small grin tugged at the corner of his mouth.
 
Real or imaginary, Adam’s extremely detailed accounts of his time with her had left them all pea green with envy and wishing they could find a woman like his Jessie.

“When I’m broken,” Adam told them with something just short of reverence, “Jessie puts me back together.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                         
***

Jessie sat on the porch swing as the late afternoon sun slowly inched its way towards the horizon.
 
It was a nightly ritual
;
scanning the long stretch of dirt road leading to the ranch house, praying she’d see the tell-tale dust that indicated an approaching vehicle.
 
Namely, Adam’s black pickup.
 

He’d been gone a long time, longer than usual, and she couldn’t rid herself of the gnawing fear that something bad had happened to him.
 
When the sun finally gave up its fight and folded to the darkness of night, Jessie rose wearily to her feet with a heavy sigh.

“There would have been word,” a deep voice sounded from the shadows.

Jessie leaned over the rail.
 
“What are you doing skulking around my porch, Del?”

Del Townsend, her ranch foreman, stepped from around the corner of the house where she could see him.
 
“I wasn’t skulking.
 
I came to see if you needed anything before the boys and I head into town.”

“I’m fine, but I appreciate you checking on me.”
 
Her brows furrowed.
 
“What did you mean, there would have been word?”

“If something happened to Kincaid, he would have gotten word to you somehow.”

“I know
,” her eyes misted with tears
.
 
“
It’s just…I can’t help worrying.
 
It’s been almost four months now and it’s not like
Kincaid
to stay gone that long.”

Del took the few steps up to the porch and joined her.
 
“Why do you do it, Jess?
 
Why do you put yourself through this?”

“You know why.
 
Kincaid
needs me.”

“But he doesn’t love you.
 
You deserve better…”

“He
does
love me,” she said fiercely.
 

Del’s eyes flashed with anger.
 
“If he loved you, he wouldn’t leave you alone for months on end!
 
Does he even have a clue what it does to you, Jessie?
 
Does he know you cry your heart out for days after he leaves or that you sit out here night after night waiting for him to return only to be disappointed when he doesn’t?”
 

He reached out and gripped her shoulders.
 
“You need a man who wants to be with you, a man who
will
be there for you every day to show you just how much you mean to him.”

Jessie glared up at him.
 
“What I need is none of your business, Del.
 
What
Kincaid
does is important and when he’s not out saving lives, he’s with me, and you can believe he makes every minute of it count.”

“Meaning you have a few weeks of good sex before he takes off again,” he said derisively.

She jerked her arms out of his grasp.
 
“This discussion is over, I’m going inside.”
 
Jessie headed for the door but Del stepped in front of her, blocking her way.
 

“I’m sorry, Jess, what I said was out of line.
 
I just hate to see you hurting like this.”
 
He put his hands on her shoulders, but his time his grasp was as gentle as his voice.
 
“I could make you forget him if you
would
only give me the chance.
 
And I’d be there for you, Jessie, every day…every night.”

She gave him a sad smile.
 
“We’ve been through this before,
Del;
please don’t make it worse by saying things you shouldn’t.”

“Why shouldn’t I say them?
 
You know I
would
never hurt you the way Kincaid does.
 
Just give me a chance, that’s all I’m asking.
 
You need a man, Jess.
 
A woman like you was made for loving.”

“Del, please…”

“A chance,” he growled, “just a chance.”

Jessie gasped in surprise when Del pulled her hard up against his chest and crushed her lips with a brutal kiss.
 
She struggled to push him away, but was simply no match for his strength.
 
Shock turned into fear, followed quickly by anger.
 
She tore her mouth away from him, eyes blazing.

“Take your hands off of me,” she gritted.

Del
dropped his arms and took a step back.
 
“God, Jess, I’m sorry.
 
I don’t know what came over me.
 
Forgive me, I never meant to…”

Jessie shoved past him, but her anger was spent.
 
“Go on, Del, the boys will be waiting for you.”
 
She opened the screen door and without turning around she said, “Just so we understand each other, if you ever touch me again, Adam will hear about it.”
 

She didn’t have to see his face to know the kind of reaction her words elicited.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                         
***

Mitch watched her disappear into the house before moving his eyes back to the man who was now high tailing it off the porch.
 
Judging by his hasty retreat, whatever she’d told him had made quite an impact.
 
Mitch had a sneaking suspicion she threatened to tell Adam.
 
After spending the better part of an hour observing the desolate expression on Jessie’s face as she sat on the porch swing and coming to the conclusion it was a result of his brother’s absence, he’d been disturbed to see the man step out of the shadows and join her.
 

He’d known the man was there, of course.
 
Mitch spotted him as soon as he’d left the bunkhouse and made for the main house.
 
The man’s behavior was odd
,
to say the least; hovering out of sight and sneaking peeks at Jessie every now and then
. 
Mitch had just about made up his mind to hike on down there to make sure she wasn’t in any trouble when the man came out of hiding.
 

The conversation looked a little heated, but when he grabbed her up in his arms, Mitch was certain they were having an affair.
 
Rage flared up inside him at the woman
’s infidelity,
then just as quickly dissipated when he realized she was trying to free herself.
 
If she hadn’t gotten control of the situation so quickly, Mitch would have been down there in a matter of minutes handling it for her.
 
But she was safe now; the man had taken off with some of his buddies.