Authors: Lindsay McKenna
Off Limits (25 page)
Laughing, feeling lighter and more hopeful than she had in a long time, Alex embraced Jim with a fierceness that paralleled her love for him. “My love for you is forever,” she said, her voice filled with tears. “Forever.”
February 14, 1966
H
umming softly, Alex looked at herself in the full-length bedroom mirror. It was Valentine's Day, a special day for her and Jim. Her pale pink silk dress fit her perfectly with its long sleeves, scoop neck and Empire waist. More than anything, Alex loved the long, flowing lines of the knee-length fabric. The pearls around her throat emphasized her flushed cheeks, and she applied a bit of pink lipstick. Jim was going to take her to dinner, and they had so much to celebrate.
The doorbell rang. Thomasina, the cat, leaped up and raced down the hall. Alex smiled, picked up her black leather purse and hurried out of the bedroom.
Although it was cloudy and cool, Jim wore his only suit, a dark blue one, without a raincoat. Alex smiled as she stepped aside to let him into the foyer. In his hand was a bouquet of red roses.
“For you,” he said, and leaned down to capture her warm, welcoming mouth.
The scent of the roses combined with Jim's natural scent to make Alex heady with need. She leaned upward, pressing her hands to his chest. As he eased back from her lips, she saw his blue eyes dancing with happiness.
“I love you,” Alex whispered.
Jim smiled and handed her the flowers. “You're my life, gal. Here, these roses can't even begin to compare with how purty you are, but they're the closest thing I could find to show you how you look to my eyes.”
Taking the roses into the kitchen, Alex smiled gently. “If women only knew how romantic you Missouri men were, I'm sure there would be a run on the state, to capture each and every one of you.”
Jim leaned against the counter as he watched Alex arrange the bouquet in a cut glass vase. He smiled. “I'm already hog-tied and spoken for.” Her hair was coiffed in a French twist, the soft bangs touching her brows. The dress made him ache for Alex. Lately, since college had started, they'd had no time togetherâat all.
“You heard anything from Case yet?” Her brother had shipped over to Nam in late December.
Alex took the vase into the living room and set it on the coffee table. “Yes. Finally! He's at Da Nang.” She laughed. “And he's having a good time, I guess.”
“Oh?”
“He met this nun, a Sister Theo from a local Catholic orphanage. From the sounds of his letter, he'd fall head over heels in love with her this instant if she weren't a nun.” Alex laughed. “It serves Case rightâhe was always chasing the girls and using his fighter-pilot image to coax them into relationships.”
Jim smiled and retrieved Alex's coat from the closet. He slipped it across her shoulders. “Payback can be a son of a gun.”
Chuckling, Alex nodded. “Case spends his free time, what little there is, with the kids of the orphanage. He
loves
kids! And I guess they love him, too. But I kinda think he hangs around that orphanage mostly because of Sister Theo. From his description, she's beautiful.”
“Probably from the heart outward,” Jim said thoughtfully.
Alex smiled up at his shadowy features. “I'm sure she is. Case really deserves this, you know. For once he can't chase the woman he wants in his arms. I guess Sister Theo is a real neat lady. Maybe she'll keep him in line over there.” Alex giggled.
“Speaking of neat things,” Jim said as he pulled Alex to a halt at the door, “I have a surprise for you.”
Alex tilted her head. “Oh?”
“I just received a call from a Major Kean.” His hands tightened on Alex's small shoulders. “The appeals board rescinded the charges against me, honey.”
It took a moment for the information to sink in. Then Alex gave a cry and threw her arms around Jim. “Oh! Wonderful! Oh, Jim!” she sobbed.
Shutting his eyes, Jim held Alex tightly against him, hearing his voice crack with emotion as he said, “Major Kean said I'd be given corporal status and get all my back pay, plus my benefits from the GI Bill.”
Tears glittered in Alex's eyes as she lifted her head to see the relief mirrored on Jim's face. In that moment, she began to realize how much of a silent load he'd been carrying. “And your discharge?” she quavered.
“Medical,” he whispered. Framing her face, he drowned in her sparkling gray eyes. “I'm free of everything, Alex!” Then, more softly, he added, “Except I'll never be free of what I did to Kim...to her family. I'll always try to atone for that....”
“You do every day,” Alex said brokenly, “and in so many ways.” She knew in her heart that Jim would always carry the guilt of his decision regarding Kim. There was nothing to be done about it, except to live with the knowledge and feelings. There were times she saw the haunted darkness come back to Jim's eyes, and Alex knew that he was back there, reliving the atrocity that war had faced him with. And when those anguished moments claimed him, Alex would simply hold and rock him.
Reaching up, she cupped his cheek with her hand. “This is going to be the most wonderful Valentine's Day we'll ever have,” she said.
Leaning down, Jim placed a long, tender kiss upon Alex's lips. “All I want,” he told her thickly, “is you, and our future together.”
Holding him as tightly as she could, Alex nodded, words impossible at the moment. With time, after her father heard about the appeals board overturning the decision against Jim, she knew he would call her. As she felt Jim's arms tighten around her, his face buried against her, Alex smiled softly. “Our life is going to have its ups and downs,” she said, “but we love each other, darling.”
“And love will pull us through,” he agreed, kissing her for a long, long time.
* * * * *
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ISBN: 9781460394755
OFF LIMITS
Copyright © 1992 by Lindsay McKenna
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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