Forever My Soldier (Love Conquers Life Book 3) (12 page)

“Me too, Daddy,” she says, looking up at her dad as he places an arm around her shoulder.

“Well, it’s been fun, and I’m glad we stopped in to surprise you guys, but I think it’s time we hit the road. It’s getting cold, and it’s supposed to snow a bit tonight.”

My father walks toward the hall closet to get their jackets.

Derek looks at Bella. “Are you ready too, babe?”

“Sure,” she says in a sad tone. She scoots off the chair to get her coat as well. Poor Derek looks defeated, and I feel bad for him.

Patty follows her and I can hear her whispering something to her in the hall as I say goodbye to my parents and thank them again for coming. They certainly helped things to move along a little quicker, and it was nice to hang out with them. I hear Patty sigh as she walks away from Bella to say her goodbyes to our parents. Patty shuts and locks the door.

“What is going on with Bella? She looked miserable all night.” I ask, concerned.

“Derek asked her to move in with him.” She says it like there’s a problem with that, but I don’t see what it is.

“Okay, I know that. What’s the problem? I thought she was happy with him.”

“She is, but she’s scared, and I told her she needs to talk to him or she’s going to lose the best thing she’s ever had.”

“What is she so afraid of?” I ask as I slip my hands up her back and pull her close to me.

“Do you really want to talk about my best friend’s love problems? Quite honestly, I’d much rather bathe with you and then make love until we’re completely drained.”

I lower my lips, gently pressing them to hers, and when I pull away, I whisper, “That sounds like a lot more fun.”

I kiss her again, and this time she opens. She licks my lips, asking for entry. I deepen the kiss as I pull her even closer to my body.

I pull away, resting my forehead atop hers. “Come on, let’s go have that bath.”

Chapter 11

Patty

I’m getting ready to leave with Carter so we can distribute the gifts. Derek’s on his way over to pick up some of the gifts so he can help, and Bella is at a shoot. There are so many, it would take us forever to get them handed out. Last night Carter and I went through them all and divided them into two piles based on location. It took us a little while to figure it out, but it was worth it. Now we won’t be driving all over the place, trying to distribute them. We’ve decided that next year we’re going to set two pick-up locations and will only deliver if it is absolutely necessary.

“Patty, are you almost ready? Derek will be here any minute, and one of the staff is on their way up with the cart!” Carter shouts from the other room.

“Yeah, I’m ready,” I say as I’m running out into the kitchen with my empty coffee cup and the plate from my bagel. I couldn’t get my ass moving this morning, so I ended up eating while I was getting ready. I hate doing that, but I had no choice because I hate being late.

There’s a knock at the door, and when Carter opens it, he finds a young kid with the cart and Derek.

The kid pushes the cart through the door, and they get to work putting all of the gifts on it. I can hear them talking from the kitchen. “Bella is going to meet us at the diner after the shoot. I told her I’d call her when we were almost done so we’d all get there at the same time.”

“That’s cool. Things any better?” Carter asks.

“I don’t know. Her mood has been better since I dropped the topic of her moving in, and I plan to leave it alone until after the holiday. We’ll see what happens. I don’t understand the big deal. She practically lives at my house anyway.”

“Give her some time,” I say as I walk into the room with some more gifts in my hand.

“Hey, how are you, Patty?” he says, giving me a quick hug.

“I’m good. I mean it, though. Trust me. Give her some time. She’ll talk to you when she’s ready, and you’ll understand.” He nods as they finish loading the cart.

Carter puts his coat on, as do I, and we leave to make our deliveries.

Once we’ve packed the Jeep full of gifts, we plug the first address into the GPS and it sends us on our way.

“Thanks for talking to Derek,” Carter says.

I shrug. “It’s no big deal, but I won’t talk to him for her. She has to be the one to talk about her past and her fears. It’s not my story to tell.”

“I get it, and I’m sure he doesn’t want to put you between him and your best friend. He’s trying to understand the problem since she’s there so much anyway.”

“That’s why I said what I said. I wanted him to know there was more to it than her having cold feet, but I don’t want to get in the middle.”

We end our conversation as we arrive at the first home, and we both jump out of the car to deliver the gifts. We approach an older home in need of painting and repairs. Carter rings the doorbell, and a young woman answers. We explain who we are and that we have gifts for them.

The woman breaks into tears.

“Dillan!” She screams. “It’s the people from Veterans’ Affairs. They came through with the gifts.” He walks to the door with a cane, clearly having a hard time. Carter sticks out his hand and shakes the man’s hand.

“Thank you so much. My kid was only going to have one or two small gifts under the tree.” He clears his throat. “It’s all we could afford. Now he has a couple more, and that will make his Christmas so much nicer.”

“It’s our pleasure. Thank you so much for your service, and if there’s anything else our office can do for you, please reach out to us and let us know.”

They shake hands again, and we walk to the car. Once inside, we look out the window and see them waving goodbye as we program our GPS for the next stop.

I have the biggest smile on my face. “I can’t believe how good that felt. Isn’t it amazing?”

“Yeah, the excitement on her face when she opened the door and saw us standing there with the gifts in our hand, it felt so good.”

I can’t help but smile as we sing Christmas songs together and drive through the snow covered town. We’re pointing out some of the nicely decorated houses as we go. I’m so lucky to have found this incredible man. He is so beautiful inside and out, and I’m so proud of how far he’s come.

We pull up to the next location. Carter turns down the music and we climb out of the car. This location has two kids, one that’s ten and one that’s eight. We get the kids’ gifts out of trunk and carry them up the porch. When we ring the doorbell, at first there’s no response, but everyone responded that they’d be available to receive the gifts, so we ring it again.

“Who the fuck keeps ringing the doorbell?” a guy screams.

“I’m getting it, honey. You relax,” a nervous voice says from the other side of the door.

As the door opens, Carter instantly steps almost in front of me in a protective manner. “Hello, ma’am. My name is Carter from the Veterans Affairs’ office. We’re delivering the Christmas gift for the kids.”

A big guy appears at the door. “What did I tell you about asking for handouts,” he screams at the woman.

“But the kids have nothing for Christmas. This isn’t a handout. We need it.”

“I’ll figure out how to take care of my family on my own,” he screams, and I can smell the liquor on his breath.

Carter hands the gifts to the woman and then says to the guy. “How many tours?”

“What’s it to you?”

“Staff Sergeant Montgomery, medically discharged.”

“Too many,” the guy says in a calmer voice.

“Listen, we want to help. Please let us. I understand everything you’re feeling right now, but we’re here because you did something a lot of men can’t and you’ve been through more than most will ever experience. This isn’t pity. It’s appreciation.”

The guy slumps over, looking defeated. Carter pulls a card from his wallet. “Please do me a solid and call me after the holidays. Let me help you get back on your feet.”

“How are you going to do that?” he questions, sounding so sad. My heart is melting as I watch Carter interact with this guy.

“By figuring out what you need and getting it. If you need a job, I’ll help you find one. If you need medical support, I’ll get it for you, but you have to call me and give me a chance to help.”

“Fine. I’ll call you after the holidays. I’ve been kicking myself for not being able to take care of my family, and the more I kick myself the more messed up I get.”

“I understand,” he says, handing him the two gifts that were in my hands.

“Thank you so much. Sorry I was a dick.” He starts to back away.

“No problem. Have a Merry Christmas.”

The guy closes the door, and Carter let’s out a deep breath.

We both start walking back to the car when we hear the door open one more time. “Wait!” the guy calls out.

Carter turns to face him. “Yes, sir.”

“I’m not sure if I’m allowed to ask this, but will you do me a favor?” he asks, looking nervous.

“What’s that?” Carter gives him a small smile.

“If I don’t call you by the first week in January, will you call me?”

Carter chuckles. “Planned on it.”

“Thanks.” The guy finally gives a small smile with what looks like a tear forming in his eye.

Carter lets out another deep breath, and we both climb into the car to hit our next stop. After we’ve pulled away, Carter says, “Boy, I hope the rest of them aren’t like that. It was a bit draining. I’m glad I turned him around, but that was intense.”

“I have to admit, I was a bit scared at first,” I say, looking out the window.

“That’s why I stepped in front of you. He was a bit of a loose cannon, and I could tell he was wasted. He wasn’t getting anywhere near you, but I had a feeling if I spoke to him soldier to soldier that he may loosen up.”

“I’m proud of you. You handled it well. A lot of guys would have shot their mouth off at him, and you stayed calm.”

Carter smiles and turns up the music. I have no doubt he’s thinking about his conversation with the guy and how everything went down.

The next few houses go smoothly. The families are very appreciative of our generosity, and Carter has continued to give out his business card, offering more support if the families need it. We have a few more stops to make and then we’re done, so Carter shoots a quick text off to Derek.

Carter: Almost done. How are you doing?

Derek: Me too.

Carter: Okay we’ll see you at the diner.

“He’s almost done too,” Carter says as he plugs the next location into the GPS.

About two hours later, we complete the deliveries and are completely starving. We shoot Derek off one more text, letting him know we’re on our way to the diner. He lets us know he’s pulling in now. He promises to get us a table and confirms that Bella is meeting us there.

We pull up to the diner a short time later, and when we walk in we find Derek trying to comfort a shaken up Bella. “What’s going on?” I ask as I take a seat across from her.

“He was at my shoot,” she says, her voice trembling.

“The guy from the fashion show?” I ask.

“He left me this note and some flowers.”

She hands me the note.

My love,

Thank you so much for the beautiful show you gave me the other day. I took so many beautiful pictures of you and have been spanking off to them ever since. I’m grateful to you for those pictures. They’re the best I’ve been able to get of you yet. I know you don’t know who I am yet, but you will soon enough. There’s no way I can live without you in my life. Tell that boyfriend of yours he needs to back off because you’re spoken for. I promise to take good care of you.

Xoxo

Hope you enjoy the flowers.

“Oh my God,” I whisper, totally freaking out that my best friend has a stalker. “Bella, you have to stay with Derek. There’s no way you can stay at your house alone. I won’t allow it.”

“Patty, please calm down. We’re discussing that now. She’s going to stay with me temporarily until we figure this out,” Derek says calmly as he rubs her back.

“My agent is also setting up a security detail for me. I’ll have access to them anytime I need to leave Derek’s house without him. I need to give them my schedule or call them if there’s a change and I need them.”

“Good, that makes me feel better.” Carter’s rubbing my arm now, trying to calm me down. He knows I’m concerned about her. “What about New Year’s Eve?”

“There will be plenty of people around to keep an eye on both of you, and we need to make sure neither of you are left alone,” Derek says to me.

“Yes, you two need to stick together, and I’ll be sure to have plenty of security there,” Carter adds.

The waitress comes over and says, “Long time no see. What? Now that you have a cute boyfriend, you can’t come in anymore?”

I start to laugh. “Sorry. Been busy with work and stuff. We’ll have a diet soda with our usual, but I’m not sure they know what they want.”

Derek and Bella both ask for water. She tells us she’ll be back with our drinks, and they start looking over the menu so they can decide what they’d like.

When the waitress comes back with our beverages, she takes our order and walks away.

“So, how did the deliveries go?” Bella asks.

“Most of them went well,” Carter says. “I had one guy who I had to talk to for a bit because his pride was getting in the way of him getting the help he needs.”

“Really?” Derek asks.

“Yeah, I even stepped in front of Patty because the guy was making me nervous. He was pissed that we were delivering gifts. He said he didn’t need any handouts.”

“You should have seen Carter, though. He was amazing. He not only calmed the guy down, but by the time we left, the guy was asking him for help.” I beam. I’m so proud of my man.

“Nice,” Derek says as our food is delivered.

We’re eating our dinner when Derek says, “This food is delicious. We should definitely come here more often.”

Bella and I giggle as we continue to eat. As we finish our dinner, we confirm our plans for Bella and Derek to come over on Christmas day around three o’clock. We want some time with them prior to everyone else arriving. We’ve gotten each other Christmas gifts, and we want to have a quiet exchange.

Derek and Carter fight over who’s going to pay the bill, and while they do I scoop it up and hand the waitress my credit card. I’m tired and don’t want to deal with their silly little debate over whose turn it is to pay. When she comes back with my slip, I sign it and we leave her with a promise that we’ll be back again soon.

We all walk out of the diner together to find it’s snowing—not hard, but just hard enough to make the area feel beautiful and wintery. We all walk Bella to her car, ensuring her safety. Derek tells her to go straight to his house and that he’ll follow behind her so no one else can. She gives me a big hug and promises to see me on Christmas.