His Road Home (12 page)
Authors: Anna Richland
Now for the rest. “Rey wanted to add that he shared the cases of fruit with other vets in his building, and they were never without a free snack after therapy because of your generosity. Lots of them practiced using knives—” she stopped to swallow and look at the ceiling. The room silently waited for her to continue. “I really should have prepared for this.” She blinked until she thought she could go on. “His friends relearned how to use their hands or prosthetics by cutting the apples you sent. So thank you.
“That was Rey’s message. He’d like to talk with you one-on-one, which is easier for him. Feel free to drop by his mom’s or stop him in town. He’s glad to be home.”
She had one more thing to say. She’d thought about it in Seattle, awake in her empty bed, and she’d decided that although the explanation of their engagement should stay a private memory between them and only them, a public statement was important. Rey should know she
chose
him. She put the notes in her pocket and grabbed his hand. “I have something of my own to add. At Walter Reed, I found the bravest man in the world. He turned what I thought I knew upside down, and he spent seven months teaching me, even while he learned how to walk and talk again.”
Rey’s eyes shimmered, and she realized she wasn’t crying alone.
“I’m a smarter girl than I used to be. And that’s because I fell in love with you. The you I know from your texts, where you write so eloquently, and the you I know who struggles to say four words. I’m proud to share the same boat with you.”
Then she was in his arms, and their families were hugging them both, and claps and cheers deafened her in the small restaurant, but she swore she heard
I
love you too.
“
Best four syllables ever
,” she whispered back.
* * * * *
A Message from Sergeant Bryan Anderson,
Author of
No Turning Back:
One Man’s Inspiring True Story
of Courage
,
Determination
,
and Hope
October 23, 2005. That was the day I was blown up in Iraq. Back in the United States, I thought I had a pretty decent attitude. It boiled down to
So I’m a triple amputee...now what?
I told myself,
I
can’t change what happened.
I’ll take it a day at a time.
See how this plays out.
That worked for about four months.
One day in the shower, washing what was left of my body, I looked closer at my limbs and scars. That’s when I started thinking,
Shit
,
I’m half a person.
It started repeating in my head...
I’m half a person
,
I’m half a person.
Then I started wondering, who could love half a person? Who goes out and thinks, I want a man in a chair with a disability? I’ll admit that like most single guys in their early twenties, I had a pretty simple view of relationships. I thought women wanted a strong man, someone who could protect them and take care of them. How could I do that? Would I be alone for the rest of my life? I love my mother, but would she be the only woman ever in my life?
Thoughts like that set me off the deep end. For a while I was a wreck.
My path out of depression started in an unusual place. Las Vegas. My mother saw that what I really needed at that point in my therapy was to experience real life again, so we went to Vegas and had a blast. I realized that if I had fun, I didn’t think or care about what had happened to me in Iraq the same way. So I started having fun. That helped me figure out what I could and couldn’t do in my new situation. If I hadn’t decided to have fun, I wouldn’t have figured out how two guys with no legs between them could drive a rental car, but I was a former gymnast and pretty much figured out how to do everything I needed to.
The main thing I learned wasn’t how to snowboard without legs or do buttons with one hand. It was how to live. As a result, the more I accomplished for myself, the more confident I became.
And then something pretty unexpected happened. I started to get noticed by women!
Since that day in Iraq, I’ve learned that most women care more about how you make them feel or if you make them laugh than if you have legs. Attraction doesn’t have to come from looks. Confidence is the single most attractive feature in a person.
In the end, losing my legs and one hand became just another life experience that has taught me a lot about who I am and what I’m capable of. I am definitely capable of love. The right person is out there for all of us. Don’t be afraid or shy of who you are. Embrace it. Others will too. That’s not just for stories like this one. It’s true for real life too.
LIVE, LOVE, THRIVE
BRYAN ANDERSON
Author’s Notes and Acknowledgments
Thank you for reading
His Road Home.
Rey Cruz
appeared in
First to Burn
as one of the hero’s teammates in Special
Forces Operational Detachment Alpha 5131, 5th Special Forces Group. Right away
he wanted his own story. Now he’s asking for a chance to talk about adjusting to
life as an older student and the next stage of his relationship with Grace, so
look for a sequel in the future.
At
AnnaRichland.com
readers can sign up for my newsletter to
receive advance notice of new books. I also maintain a list for Grace’s real
hold-in-your-hand holiday postcards, which are guaranteed to be fishy.
Most authors appreciate honest reviews, and I’m no exception.
If you take the time to write a review, please let me know at Goodreads,
Facebook
or
my website. Thank you!
Every story I write has a soundtrack. This story began when I
heard Brandi Carlile’s song “Hard Way Home.” I was in the audience for her
November 2012 show at Seattle’s Benaroya Hall. As soon as her voice rolled out
and took over the soaring space with “Hard Way Home,” the title track from her
album
Bear Creek
, Rey’s story filled me. Rey Cruz was a minor character
in my first novel, but that Benaroya night was magic. Every line of the song
told me part of his story. Before I left the show, I knew Rey had joined the
army to “leave this town”—a tiny farm community in Eastern Washington. He was
going to “step out of line,” and in the army in Afghanistan that meant he was
going to step on an explosive. In a series of nightmares during his recovery, he
was going to pass from thinking “if I could turn back time” to realizing that he
would rescue that Afghan child again, even knowing the cost.
The line “When we’re driving home, I never have to worry about
being alone” was the key to the romance between Rey and Grace. I knew that his
road home would be both a literal road trip and a journey to find love and
recover from his injuries. After he loses his career as a Special Forces medic,
he’s back at “I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up,” once again a
Mexican-American kid in apple country who has to decide what to do with the rest
of his life. I am incredibly grateful to be allowed to quote Brandi Carlile’s
lyrics in my book and here in the explanation of how her amazing song spoke to
me. I encourage readers to explore all her music, her website at
BrandiCarlile.com
and her
Facebook page. “Hard Way Home” is the first track on the 2012 album
Bear
Creek
, published by Columbia Records, a division of Sony Music
Entertainment. Writers: Brandi Carlile, Timothy Hanseroth and Phillip Hanseroth.
Copyright Southern Oracle Music LLC, WB Music Corp.
I also want to acknowledge and thank Sergeant Bryan Anderson,
whose memoir
No Turning Back
was instrumental to my research. His
descriptions of life as a multiple amputee reminded me that it’s okay to laugh
and be funny, even in stories that start with losses like his or Rey’s, because
life is full and thrilling. I encourage readers who want to understand more
about America’s injured veterans to find his book or visit his website,
AndersonActive.com
.
No matter how brilliantly researched any author thinks her book
is, or how perfectly polished, mistakes happen. But thankfully there are
wonderful people to correct them.
Ridley at the blog Love in the Margins kindly read this
manuscript and pointed out places where my writing included stereotypes about
those whose bodies or mobility differ. She offered suggestions that felt natural
to Rey’s character. I can’t thank Ridley enough for her generosity.
Many automotively inclined members of the Greater Seattle
Chapter of Romance Writers of America brainstormed about cars with me. Althea
Preston pointed out that in the first draft of this story, Rey told the state
trooper that the 442 took seventy-five seconds to hit sixty mph. Oops. Remaining
car mistakes are solely my fault, because Althea worked hard to set me on the
right road.
I also have to thank my friend Shannon for confirming that
Rey’s aphasia was possible.
As always, I owe a great debt to my friend Mary, who reads
everything I write before I show it to anyone else, and my understanding husband
and children, who are usually willing to talk about my imaginary friends.
Continuing the tradition I began with my Carina Press debut,
First to Burn
, I will be donating a portion of my royalties to two
real-life charities that matter to me:
The Fisher House Foundation
and
Doctors Without
Borders/MSF
.
In this story, Grace and the hospital staff found a room for
Mrs. Cruz at one of the Fisher Houses located on the grounds of Walter Reed
National Military Medical Center. In real life, The Fisher House Foundation has
built sixty houses (and growing) near U.S. military medical facilities and one
in the United Kingdom. These homes provide free lodging for families of wounded
soldiers, kitchens, children’s play spaces and a community of other families
sharing a similar journey.
At Dover Air Force Base, the Families of the Fallen Fisher
House provides free lodging for families waiting to repatriate the remains of
their loved ones.
Sergeant Cruz used his extensive special forces medical
training to help civilians he encountered, but he wanted to do more for those in
need. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières is a charity that
provides emergency medical services to people in conflicts and disaster zones
around the world, including Afghanistan. In 2012 alone the statistics were
startling: Doctors Without Borders/MSF delivered 185,400 babies and performed
78,500 surgical procedures at locations in more than sixty countries.
Both of these charities rely upon contributions from people who
care. The United States’ role in Afghanistan may be winding down, but neither
our duty to wounded veterans and their families, nor the needs of civilians
caught in disasters or conflicts, ends with the news cycle. Please consider
supporting one or both charities with me.
Soldiers with secrets, doctors with questions and an enemy with nothing to lose. The Immortal Vikings begins with
First to Burn
!
First to Burn
Available now!
A
soldier with secrets
Immortal Viking Wulf Wardsen once battled alongside Beowulf, and now serves in Afghanistan. He’s trusted the mortal men on his elite special operations team to protect his secret, until an explosion lands Wulf in a place more dangerous to him than a battlefield: a medevac helicopter.
A
doctor with questions
Army captain Theresa Chiesa follows the rules and expects the same from others, even special forces hotshots like Sergeant Wardsen. She’s determined to discover the secret behind his supernaturally fast healing, and she won’t allow his sexy smile to distract her.
An enemy with nothing to lose
Even as Theresa’s investigation threatens to expose him, Wulf is stirred by her passion. Dreaming of love and a normal life, he wants nothing more than to build a future with her. But the lost Viking relic needed to reverse his immortality is being hunted by another—an ancient enemy who won’t hesitate to hurt Theresa to strike back at Wulf.
Book one of the Immortal Vikings series.
Connect with us for info on our new releases,
access to exclusive offers and much more!
Visit
CarinaPress.com
We like you—why not like us on Facebook:
Facebook.com/CarinaPress
Follow us on Twitter:
Twitter.com/CarinaPress
About the Author
Anna Richland lives with her quietly funny Canadian husband
and two less quiet children in a century-old house in Seattle. Anna is a former
Army officer who now fills her days with imaginary friends and lots of coffee.
She writes military romances and the paranormal romantic suspense series The
Immortal Vikings. A portion of her royalties goes to the Fisher House
Foundation, which provides free family lodging near military hospitals, and to
Doctors Without Borders. For more information, please visit
www.AnnaRichland.com
.