Broken Soldier: A Novel (24 page)

“So you think he wants you to decide tonight?”

“I don’t know.” He didn’t say it with any conviction.

Emily’s heart sank. It tore Rafa up enough to be discharged under a black cloud, and now this colonel was going to try to convince him to join up again? “Do you want go back?”

Rafa paused midstride. “What do you mean?”

“I mean what I said. Do you want go back to the Army, as a contractor or whatever, but go back and do what you did before.”

“In a way.” He pushed his hand through his hair. “Part of me does, yes. I trained and studied for years. I was good at what I did, Emily. Among the very best, to be perfectly honest. I know it. The colonel knows it. But...” He looked her square in the eye. “But I don’t want to lose you. Before I met you, I would have been driving to meet him half way.”

“You were still active duty then.”

“True.” He frowned. “But my point is that since I’ve met you, my life has changed in a way I didn’t even know possible. If I thought I could have you and my old life both, I’d consider it.”

“But you don’t think you can?” A pit formed in her stomach, leaving her with an aching emptiness. What they had developed was wonderful, and she looked forward to every minute she got to spend with him, but she well knew how many years, how many decades, he had spent in service to his country. This was who he was. That was a siren song she couldn’t match. All the doubts, all the insecurities about being worthy of a man like Rafael, they bubbled up within her.

Emily pulled out a chair from the table in the breakfast nook and collapsed into it, not trusting her own legs to hold her weight.

“Not the job I had before. Not on the ground, in the mountains for a year at a time. But I could still help.”

“And me?”

“Well, we’d be married, but the Army wouldn’t allow you into Afghanistan. It’s too dangerous.”

The pit in her stomach grew, threatening to envelop her and turn her completely inside out. She gripped the table with both hands, steadying herself. Losing him for months at a time would be bad enough, but to lose him forever?

“I hate this. It’s such a roller coaster, Rafa. The wedding, the Army, I hate it. I hate how it makes me feel. I hate how it tears you up inside. I. Just. Hate. It.”

Rafa looked away. He was in more pain than she’d ever seen him, even when his leg had been infected, and it made it even harder for her to know that she was the cause of it.

“Then I’m staying.”

Emily blinked, not believing her ears. “What?”

“I’m staying with you. I’ve done my duty. I’ve done more than my duty. This war, whatever it is, they can fight it without me.” He pulled his phone out and started prodding the faceplate.

“What are you doing?” Emily asked. Her voice shook with each word. She wanted to rush to him, to wrap him into a hug and then drag him straight to bed. She wanted to collapse into the floor and cry with the sheer joy of keeping him when she thought he would leave.

“I’m calling the colonel and telling him not to bother driving up to Boulder. I don’t need to talk him.”

Emily sat in the chair, gathering herself, while Rafa called his colonel. He paced across the living room, and when he finished with his call, he tucked his phone back into his pocket and came over to the table to sit beside her. When he reached across the table and took her hand, he was utterly calm and didn’t have the slightest tremor.

“Now what?” Emily asked.

“You tell me. We still have a wedding to plan, right? I feel like I haven’t done enough with that yet.” Rafa chewed his lip. “Do you love me?”

Emily responded without hesitation, “More than anything.”

“Then let’s get married.”

“We are.”

“No, I mean right now. What do you have on the calendar next week?”

“A couple appointments. Harvey Windsor next Friday.” Her heart rate spiked back up. Was he seriously proposing that they--

“So what are we waiting for? Let’s go somewhere, anywhere, and get married.”

“Hawaii?”

Rafa grinned. “Sounds beautiful.” He took his phone back out.

“What are you doing?”

“Hold on,” he said to her, and then into the phone: “Hi, you’ve reached Rafael Carpenter. I’m going to be in Hawaii for a week getting married. If you’d like to leave me a message, I’ll get back to you in early June. Probably. Have a nice day.”

Emily didn’t know what to say. She could barely keep up with him. “Uh... what about your mom?”

“She can leave a message. I’ll call her back in June.” He grinned again. “Come on, we need to pack.”

“You’re serious about this? You’re not just messing with me?”

He looked at his watch. “If we get to Denver before 7:00, we can probably get a plane out tonight.”

Emily walked to her bedroom in a daze and started throwing clothes and makeup and shoes into a bag. Rafa came in and joined her, adding his small collection of shorts and t-shirts. She gathered her wedding dress, checking to make sure it was safely wrapped in plastic.

“How are we going to take this?” she asked.

“Put it in its own suitcase,” Rafa said.

It was possible, maybe not likely, but possible, that she was dreaming, but she refused to pinch herself and find out. If it was a dream, she didn’t want to wake up.

P
ACIFIC waves rolled up the beach, nearly to Rafa’s bare foot, warm and foamy and perfect. White sands glowed orange with the last light of the setting sun.

An Army chaplain--with a photographer and a uniformed soldier at his back--stood before Rafa and Emily on a point of land surrounded on three sides by water, intoning the wedding vows. “And do you, Rafael Carpenter, take this woman, Emily Hale, to be your lawful, wedded wife, for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”

“I do,” Rafa said.

“And do you, Emily Hale, takes this--”

“Yes, a thousand times yes,” Emily said, not even waiting for him to finish.

“Then I pronounce you man and wife. You may--”

Rafa didn’t hear the rest. Emily was already in his arms, mouth pressed to his. Warm and soft and alive and so absolutely perfect.

When she finally pulled away for air, Rafa looked over her shoulder at the chaplain and the two witnesses. “Thank you, gentlemen. Rodney, I appreciate you coming out here on short notice.”

“My pleasure, Rafa,” the chaplain said. “You call me if I can do anything to help you.”

“Take care of yourself, sir,” said one of the witnesses, a lieutenant that had been in the Rangers with Rafa not long after he’d left West Point.

The photographer snapped more pictures, getting plenty of Em in her wedding dress with her bare feet poking out beneath. The chaplain and soldier waved goodbye and headed back up the peninsula toward the hotel. The photographer followed soon after.

Rafa wrapped his hand under Emily and lifted her, cradling her in his arms. “It is just us now.”

“Good.” Emily squeezed him. “Emily Carpenter. It has a nice ring to it.”

“It does.” She grinned at him, and gave him another kiss, so sultry he thought he might ignite.

Rafa let his eyes linger over her. Even in the wedding dress, he could see the shape of her. The full curve of her hips, the perfect swell of her breasts.

“I have an idea,” Emily said.

“Oh?”

“Take me to bed, or--”

“Lose you forever?”

“Exactly.”

He carried her down the beach toward their cottage. The breeze blew in from the east, sweeping along the beach and carrying the fresh scent of the ocean with it.

“Let me take a quick shower,” Emily said when they reached the cottage.

Rafa looked at her a moment, considering that statement. A shower? Right then? “Sure.”

She stripped out of her dress and threw it over the back of an armchair. Her lace underwear followed, giving him a glimpse of bare skin as she disappeared into the bathroom. The jets in the shower started up, and Rafa decided that he’d waited long enough. He left his clothes in the bedroom, not caring who walked past on the beach and saw him naked.

The bathroom was tile and wood with a hot tub in one corner and the glass walled shower in the other, well worth the price he’d paid to book it last minute. Emily stood in a stream of water, watching him.

“You took longer than I expected,” she said.

“Did I?” Rafa asked, slipping in beside her. Scalding hot water pounded over them both, and steam was already filling the space.

Emily slid her arms around him, cupping his shoulders and pulling him close. “I didn’t really expect to get past the bed.”

“But we are already in here, no? Why wait?” Rafa pressed his mouth to hers, bearing her backward until he had her pinned to the wall.

Her hands slipped to his waist. He let her drive, just for a moment, then took charge.

Her nails raked over his back. One hand cradled his head. They made love in a headlong rush, neither willing to wait. Hot water pounded over them, and when they finished, Emily took her time washing Rafa’s chest and back, kissing each inch of his skin as she went.

They stayed in the shower a while longer, neither in a hurry to be anywhere else. At some point Rafa’s stomach growled.

“Shall we get dried off and go find dinner?” Rafa asked.

Emily turned off the water and slipped out of the shower, leaving Rafa standing there, dripping. “I was thinking we could call room service.” She grinned wickedly. “For the rest of the week.”

“Is that right?” He couldn’t take his eyes off her as she toweled herself dry.

“If it’s not right, I don’t know what it is.”

Rafa grabbed a towel and wrapped it carefully around his waist. He closed the doors that opened onto the beach, giving them some privacy. It was going to be a long, glorious week. No, he thought, it was going to be a long glorious forever.

E
MILY stood behind the bride’s table, her arms around the man that she loved. Her wedding dress swished at her feet, long, white and silk. Rafa wore his full military dress uniform, his chest covered with medals and ribbons.

The people around her babbled in Spanish and English, and warm smiles met her from all sides. Maria even had tears in her eyes. To her right sat Paul and Christa, Paul with their three month old baby boy cradled in his arms.

Christa stood and tapped a microphone. “I’ve known Emily for most of her life.” A hush fell over the room. “She is an amazing person, but I don’t have to tell most of you that.” She looked around the room. “For the rest of you, I hope you take the time to get to know her and learn just how wonderful she.” She turned to Rafa. “And so I’m happy that she’s found someone equally amazing. Here’s to you Emily, and you Rafa, and to many happy years ahead.”

Paul stood and passed his son to Christa, taking the microphone in return.

“Rafael and I grew up as Army brats. I, perhaps, was the brattier of the two, but I have always known him to be a man of conscience and a man of wisdom. But he’s always had a missing piece. When Rafael was injured last year, I was just thankful he was alive. When he told me he was coming back to Colorado to convalesce, I was overjoyed that I’d get to spend some time with him.

“And then I introduced him to Emily.

“So much for spending time with him.” The room erupted with laughter. “But when I saw them together, I realized that it was one of the best ideas I’ve ever had. I realized that she was the piece that completed him.”

Paul gathered a champagne glass from the table and held it high. “So Rafa and Emily, this is for you. May your love be wider the ocean and deeper than the sea. May you live long and happy lives together.”

Applause crashed against them like waves. Emily turned to Rafa, her hands tangling in the braids that ran down his arms, and gave him deep kiss.

Rafa rose and addressed the room in Spanish. Emily recognized enough of the words to understand that he was thanking everyone for coming, and also introducing her.

She rose beside him, and spoke, trying to keep her voice steady. “
Gracias por venir. Estoy muy emocionada de estar aqui. Tener una noche maravillosa!
”

She paused and smoothed her dress, the elaborate stitching and embedded pearls rough against her palms, but well-concealing the faint bulge at her stomach. When she continued, it was in English, “Rafa and I have a very exciting announcement for you all.” She could feel Rafa beaming beside her.

“We’re pregnant.”

Applause thundered through the reception hall. It was interspersed with gasps, and Rafa’s mother actually swooned. Christa stared up at Emily, open-mouthed with a twinkle in her eye.

“Copy cat,” she whispered when Emily sat. “How far along are you?”

“Eight weeks.” Emily gave her a hug.

“Are you ready to dance?” Rafa asked.

“I’ve never been more ready for anything in my life.”

Emily walked with her husband toward the dance floor. His grip was firm and strong and steady, and she knew with all her heart that she was with the man she wanted, the man she needed, and the man she loved.

Thank you so much for reading Broken Soldier: A Novel. I really hope you enjoyed it. Please consider leaving a review and telling a friend.

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Clara

Clara Frost is a romance writer based in the Midwestern United States.