Once and For All: An American Valor Novel (24 page)

Chapter Twenty-Five

D
ANNY’
S EYES SHOT
open and he quickly scanned his surroundings. He was in the cool, sterile confines of a hospital room, no longer in the extreme heat and dusty surroundings of Africa. No longer with his men.

“You’re okay, Daniel.” His father stood at his bedside, one strong hand resting on Danny’s shoulder. “Just relax.”

Through the haze of pain meds, his father’s voice sounded muffled and distant. It would be so easy to slip back to sleep, but at some point he’d have to fully wake up, have to face the reality of why it was his father at his bedside and not Bree. So he focused on his breathing and tried to get his heart rate under control.

“Do you know where you are?”

“Yeah,” Danny huffed. “I remember being loaded on a medical transport and vaguely recall someone telling me I’d arrived at Walter Reed. How long have I been here?”

“Couple of days. Your temperature spiked en route. You had a pretty good infection going, but they’ve got it under control now.” His dad patted his leg and Danny shifted slightly so his old man could take a seat on the edge of the bed.

“Is that all?”

“You mean aside from the fact you’re minus a kidney and a spleen and a section of your small intestine?” Mac laughed without humor. “Sure, that’s all.”

So he’d lost a few organs. But as far as he knew, they were all things he could live without. Which hopefully meant that as soon as he could get the hell outta here, he’d be back with his unit and doing the one thing he was good at.

“Have you heard anything about Jenkins?”

“I received an email from Michael once the communication blackout was lifted. He said you’d ask about him. Jenkins has some facial wounds, a ruptured eardrum, and a concussion. But otherwise he’s okay.”

Danny breathed a sigh of relief and closed his eyes. “That’s good to hear.”

“Your brother also said that’s how you were injured, that you went back for him. Do you remember that?”

“Yes.”

Of course he did. He remembered all of it. Jenkins set the charge and blew the compound gate, stepping aside as the squad team rushed inside through clouds of dust and smoke. Then there was a second blast, likely from an RPG. And although the enemy missed their target, Jenkins was close enough to impact that he was hit with debris and shrapnel in the face. By the time Danny had turned around, Jenkins had fallen to his knees, blinded by his own blood and completely out of it. A sitting duck.

So Danny did what he was trained to do, what any other guy in his place would have done. He charged into the open space, grabbed Jenkins by his vest, and dragged him to safety.

“What else do you remember?”

Danny remembered the feel of hot metal slashing through his leg and back. Of pushing forward, but only managing several more yards before he fell to the ground, unable to get back up despite his best effort to ignore the pain. Then hearing someone call “MacGregor’s down” in his tactical headphones and knowing he was well and truly fucked. He remembered Ben pulling a tourniquet from a front pocket, wrapping it around his thigh, and cinching it tight, all the while screaming, “Fuck, Danny. I can’t fix this!” Then Lucky appeared out of nowhere and used both hands to roll him like a rag doll onto his side, before pulling at his vest and body armor. He remembered the look of devastation on Ben’s face as he helped carry Danny to the medevac and how he placed a kiss upon Danny’s forehead before the doors slammed shut.

But he wouldn’t dare tell his father any of that.

“I remember Mike saying, ‘Dad is so gonna kick your ass for this.’ ” Danny began laughing, only to have it quickly transition into excruciating pain. “Do me a favor. Let me get out of here before you do that,” he said through gritted teeth.

Only then did he look at his father, who wore an expression saying he found Danny’s attempt at levity far from funny.

His father rose from the bed. “I need to go tell Bree you’re awake. Let me see if she’s back from the cafeteria yet.”

Danny could hardly believe what he was hearing. “She’s here?”

“Of course. She is, after all, your wife.” Mac folded his arms across his chest. “Thing is, she’s stayed in the waiting room the entire time. Why is she out there when she should be in here?” he asked, shaking his head in disbelief. “Wanna tell me what’s going on?”

“Y
OU CA
N’T STAY
out here in the hallway the rest of your life.” Mac plopped down in the plastic chair beside Bree, the metal legs creaking beneath his weight. “I’m not sure what happened between you two, but at some point in time you’re gonna have to go in there.”

“I don’t think he’d want me in there.” She pulled off the plastic cover from her sub-par coffee and blew on it, helping it to cool.

He sucked in half the air in the waiting room then huffed it all out again in one big exhale. “God damn you two are difficult. Proof you’re made for each other.”

“Because no one else would have us?”

“Because you two don’t want anyone else is more like it.” Mac ran a hand across his face, the stress and exhaustion of the past several days catching up with him. “Listen to me. He’s confined to bed for now. Couldn’t come to you if he wanted to, and believe me he wants to.”

Her heart leaped in her chest. “He’s awake? Has he said so?”

“Not in so many words. But he knows you’re here. And he kept one eye zeroed in on the door.” Mac pointed to Danny’s hospital room door. “I need you to go in there. Danny needs you to go in there.”

Silently, she nodded in agreement and Mac softly patted her knee. “Good girl.”

Bree rose to her feet and dropped her mostly full coffee cup in a nearby trash can. It wasn’t as if she’d wanted it anyway. But from the moment she arrived here, she’d been suffering from a constant chill in her spine, unable to chase it away.

With Danny now awake, the time had come for her to tell him how she felt. She only hoped that Marie was right that Danny’s feelings for her ran far deeper than friendship. In one hand she clutched the coin the army chaplain had given her with Psalm 23 engraved upon the back, the verse now committed to memory, she’d spent so much time reading it. Although the verse didn’t apply in this circumstance, she did fear his breaking her heart for a third time.

She passed by two beds, the first with the curtain completely drawn and hushed whispers coming from the other side. The second she assumed was temporarily vacated, with disheveled sheets on the bed and a water pitcher damp with condensation on the nearby tray. And then there was Danny at the end of the room, facing away from her as he stared out the window. Heavy stubble shadowed his face and the blankets settled around his waist, revealing the even rise and fall of his chest. From a distance, it looked like he was just lounging in bed, like nothing terrible had happened to him at all. Only as she came closer did she notice the many tubes and monitors attached to him and the orange stain of betadine on his skin.

Without warning his head turned toward her, his eyes meeting hers.

But there weren’t any answers in those dark blue depths. Her stomach twisted and her heart ached. Tears welled in her eyes and her chin trembled as she struggled not to cry. She didn’t know how this would end, only that she wouldn’t survive saying goodbye to him again.

G
OOD
G
OD, SHE
was a beautiful sight, even wearing a worn-out T-shirt, ratty jeans and that god-awful hat she loved. Dark circles shadowed her eyes and her expression was completely unreadable. He couldn’t tell if she was happy he was alive or resented the fact she was here in the first place. But now that she stood only mere feet from him, he would say or do damn near anything to get her to stay.

A squeak of rubber on tile followed by voices alerted them to the return of his neighboring roommate. Immediately, Bree grabbed hold of the striped privacy curtain and guided it around the track, isolating them from the rest of the world. But still she remained out of reach when he desperately wanted to touch her.

Danny pressed both fists into the mattress, trying to push himself into a more upright position when a stab of pain traveled through his body.

Immediately, Bree rushed to his side, her hands suspended midair as if she was afraid to touch him. “What the hell are you trying to do?”

Ignoring the pain, he quickly grasped one slender wrist before she could move away. “This,” he whispered, tugging her even closer as he eased back against the inclined bed. With her face just inches from his now, he cupped the back of her head with his free hand and guided her mouth to his. Although their kiss was little more than a gentle press of his lips against hers, neither were in a hurry for it to end. But when it did, he wasted no time in telling her everything he’d written in that letter.

“I love you, Bree,” he said in a rush. “I know you really want that job in Greensboro—” She silenced him with two fingers against his lips.

“I don’t want that job,” she whispered. “I never wanted that job. I love you, and I want to stay with you in Savannah.”

For the first time in weeks, the heavy weight pressing on his chest lifted and he could breathe again. By some miracle, despite making one idiotic decision after another, he hadn’t lost her a second time. “Thank God.”

Bree must have felt a similar relief, resting her forehead against his as tears slid down her cheeks and dripped off her chin onto his chest. He tried to hold her as best he could, rubbed her spine with the flat of his palm until she pulled away.

“I’m getting you all wet.”

“It’s okay. I’m in need of a good shower.”

There was something else going on in that head of hers; he could see the uncertainty in her eyes.

“What about kids? Are you sure you won’t want them someday?”

He slid sideways, giving her room to sit on the mattress next to him. Taking her hand in his, Danny waited until she looked him in the eyes.

“I’m sure. If things were different and you could have children, I’d probably let you convince me otherwise for the simple reason I would move heaven and earth to make you happy. But at the end of the day, having kids doesn’t matter to me. All I want is you. Just you.”

Mindful of his IV, Bree climbed into bed, pressed a kiss to his cheek, and carefully stretched out alongside him. Her head rested on his shoulder and her hand cupped his jaw, her fingertips gently stroking his beard. Danny wrapped his right arm around her and pulled her tighter to his side. For now this was as close as they could be. But he wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world since she was, without a doubt, the best medicine he could ever ask for.

Her familiar scent surrounded him and his entire body relaxed. The pain dulled. His mind quieted. Her soft exhales warmed his skin, and he knew he was home.

Sometime later they both woke when the curtain was whipped open by the new shift nurse.

Bree sat up quickly, like she’d been caught doing something wrong. “Do you need me to leave?”

“You’re fine right where you are, hon,” the woman said with a smile before turning to Danny. “It’s nice to see you awake today. How are you feeling?”

“Couldn’t be better,” he said, unable to hold back a smile.

“Well, I doubt that’s completely true, but it’s nice you feel that way,” the nurse said with a wink. “Anything I can get you this evening?”

“I’d kill for a shower.” How Bree tolerated lying next to him, he didn’t know, because his own stench was getting to him. After all, it’d been a solid week, maybe longer, since he’d had a quick rinse, much less a shower with real soap.

“Now, now. No need to go to the extreme.” She gently patted his arm. “You can’t get up to take a shower yet, but you can have a sponge bath. And since your wife’s here, I think she’s just the person to help you with that.”

Bree, however, wasn’t convinced. “I’m not so sure—”

“You’ll do just fine.” The nurse placed a reassuring hand on Bree’s shoulder. “Just mind the sutures and his IV and don’t get them too wet. I’ll be right back with everything you need.”

With a flick of her wrist, the curtain closed just as quickly and they were alone once more.

Danny cradled her face in his palm, his thumb stroking the soft skin of her cheek. “There’s an extra twenty in it for you if you can finish me off with a happy ending,” he whispered. “What do you say?”

It took a second for her to catch his meaning, her eyes widening the moment she caught on, followed by her soft laughter. He joined in with a chuckle or two before the pain got the best of him.

“Are you okay?” Her smile replaced with concern.

“I’m fine.”

Although Bree fought it, the corner of her mouth lifted. “You’re terrible, you know?”

Of course he knew. And even better, he knew she liked him that way.

Danny pulled her close for another kiss. “I know, sweetheart,” he whispered against her lips. “And I’m all yours.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

August

B
REE WO
ULD BE
late for her own wedding if she didn’t hurry up. Of course, in all fairness, she didn’t know the real reason he was rushing her out the door.

Danny took another look at his watch. “About ready?” he called from the living room.

“Just another minute,” she yelled back.

The plan, as far as she knew, was for a weekend getaway to Tybee Island. It included a night at a bed-and-breakfast and candlelight dinner for two on the beach. And to make up for not having a single picture from their courthouse wedding, a professional photography session at sunset.

What she didn’t know was that a hundred of their closest friends and family were waiting for them at the beach.

The idea of a second wedding came about while he was still recovering at Walter Reed as they sat upon his hospital bed and whispered words of love and renewed commitment to each other. Despite it being just the two of them, no witnesses, no officiant, their vows held greater meaning than the first time they were spoken. But something was missing and Danny soon realized renewing their vows in front of their family and friends would mean even more.

But paying for a wedding would mean financially they would have to sacrifice something else.

When given the option of buying a house once his apartment lease expired or renewing their vows in front of family and friends, Bree chose a home for them to start their new life together. For the next few weeks they searched the real estate listings online, made wish lists and budgets, and looked forward to the next step in their lives.

More than once Danny suggested they wait another year to buy a house. Each time, Bree refused. “A wedding is nothing more than one big party,” she had said. “A waste of money in the grand scheme of things.” Although she said it more than once and quite convincingly, the disappointment was there in her eyes.

And so he decided a surprise for his wife was in order.

He heard her coming down the hall, flip-flops smacking the bottoms of her feet as she walked. She wore denim cutoffs and a Gamecocks T-shirt, carrying her dress in a garment bag instead of wearing it.

Maybe pulling off a surprise wedding wasn’t going to be as easy as he previously thought.

Danny took a deep breath, his nerves stretched to the limit.

“What are you doing?”

“I decided to change after we checked in at the bed-and-breakfast.” She sauntered up to him and pressed a kiss to his lips. “You look nice,” she whispered, her breath fanning across his jaw. “Smell good, too.” Her empty hand smoothed over his chest as she nipped his earlobe.

Damn, she was making this difficult.

And late. Very late.

Danny put his hands on her shoulders and stepped back, forcing space between them.

“No time.”

“What’s the rush?” She attempted to close the distance but he kept her arm’s length.

“We’re running late as it is and won’t be able to check in until after the pictures. So you need to get dressed now.”

He took hold of her shoulders and turned her toward the bedroom.

“But Danny,” she said over her shoulder to him, “my dress will get wrinkled in the car.”

“This is Georgia, sweetheart. Everyone wrinkles the minute they step outside. Trust me when I say no one will notice.”

“But the pictures—”

“Will be beautiful anyway.” He placed a kiss upon the curve of her neck and followed it with a little swat across her behind, starting her down the hallway.

After being discharged from Walter Reed, they returned to Savannah where Danny continued with his physical rehabilitation, working hard to rebuild his strength and endurance to return to active duty. Not far from where Ben and Marie lived, they found a single-story bungalow in desperate need of renovation. Marie went with them the first time they looked at the house and she and Bree chatted excitedly about all the possibilities. He could practically hear the cash register ringing up in his head as they spoke of how to balance historic charm with modern amenities, especially in the kitchen and bath.

In the end, he couldn’t deny her. Once they closed on it in a matter of weeks, they’d be living in the middle of a construction zone with all of his weekends and vacation time dedicated to honey-do’s for the foreseeable future.

He could hardly wait.

Using the spare minute or two made available to him, Danny pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed his brother. This was one time when his brother’s penchant for secrets and weakness for sweets worked in Danny’s favor, Michael’s silence only costing him a dozen snickerdoodles and a freshly baked peach pie from his favorite bakery.

“Everything good on your end?”

“All good,” Michael answered. “We’re on the way now. ETA fifteen minutes. Everything going as planned?”

Danny groaned, scrubbing his palm over his face. “She’s still getting dressed.”

Michael laughed. “Should’ve told her.”

“Too late now. I’m committed to it being a surprise. See you in a bit.”

After ending the call with Michael, his phone buzzed with a text message from Marie.

All ready to go. Just waiting on you.

Thank you for all your help,
he replied.
On our way.

His phone buzzed a second time.
Gibby wants to know if they can tap the keg.

Jesus Christ. Yes, it was hot as hell. Yes, the guys were likely wearing more than board shorts and flip-flops. At least they’d better be. But knowing these guys and the amount they could drink, they’d float the damn thing before he and Bree even got there. He glanced at his watch again and yelled down the hall. “Bree, we’ve got to go.”

Then he texted back.
Not just no, but hell no.

With the message sent, he tucked his phone into his pocket and looked up just in time to see Bree step into the hall. His heart stopped.

The dress was long and flowing, transforming her into a Greek goddess, her short, trendy hair accentuating her neck and shoulders and collarbones. Simply stunning. And then she turned around and he forgot how to breathe. The dress dipped low, low, low in the back, overwhelming him with an urgent need to trace the length of her spine with his tongue.

God Almighty.

“Is this okay?” She searched his eyes for an answer because he didn’t respond quickly enough as far as she was concerned. Actually, he couldn’t respond because she’d successfully short-circuited his brain.

“It’s too dressy, isn’t it?” she questioned. “And white? I really wasn’t sure about this but Marie insisted. She said light colors look best in beach photos and the photographer agreed. But I don’t know. It screams wedding dress to me.”

She started for the bedroom again. “Give me one more minute. I bought a backup. Something less—”

He grabbed hold of her hand, pulling her back to him, her palms splaying across his chest. “It’s perfect,” he whispered. When she tried to protest again, he silenced her with a gentle kiss before emphasizing his point. “Perfect.”

Of course, one kiss led to another, and another, leaving them both breathless in the end.

Bree caressed his face, her thumb dipping into the dimple of his chin. “Maybe we should reschedule the photo shoot?” Her lips were wet and rosy and swollen from his kisses. A pretty blush stained the hollow of her throat and spread upward to her cheeks. There was no doubt what she had in mind.

Danny groaned, wanting nothing more than to oblige. “I promise you’ll be glad we didn’t cancel.”

Bree pouted her lip. “Promise?”

“Absolutely.”

It took every ounce of self-restraint to not spill the beans and tell her they had a hundred people waiting for them. But he’d made it this far. No way would he ruin the surprise now. He grabbed her things and ushered her out the door.

S
O THEY WERE
running a little bit late. Not a big deal. Traffic going to the island was fairly light considering it was tourist season. No accidents. No backups. And yet, Danny was super impatient, cursing under his breath at each and every slowdown. Not to mention fidgety, tapping his thumb atop the steering wheel whenever the traffic began to crawl. He caught her watching him more than once; in each case he’d taken another deep breath and smiled at her.

Something was definitely up.

And so she started mentally preparing herself for what was to come. Were they not getting the house? Were they being transferred? Was he being sent overseas far sooner than they expected?

When he found an open parking spot on the north beach of Tybee Island, Danny threw the Tahoe into park and hopped out, quickly placing a call on his cell phone before he’d even closed the car door. “We’ve made it. Finally,” he said. “Give us a few minutes.”

“Are we meeting the photographer at the lighthouse?” Bree asked when Danny offered his hand to help her out of the car.

“No. He’s waiting for us just down the beach.”

Danny closed the door behind her and hit the lock button on his remote. Twice. After patting down his pockets, he took a deep breath and quickly swiped at his brow. Taking Bree’s hand in his, he was raring to hit the beach. Except when he took a step, Bree remained firmly in place.

“Are you okay?” she asked. “You seem really nervous.”

“It’s only pictures. Why would I be nervous?”

Bree shrugged her shoulders. “Got me.”

“Just come with me. I promise I’ll explain everything in a minute.”

This time she allowed him to take her by the hand and lead her down the beach to where a large group of people gathered.

“Oh, look. Someone’s getting . . .” Bree stopped in her tracks. “What are my parents doing here?”

Danny stepped in front of her then, taking both of her hands in his, momentarily blocking out the rest of the world. She looked up into his deep blue eyes to see his earlier nervousness replaced with confidence and strength.

“When we married six months ago, a courthouse wedding was good enough for the short term. But you deserve better than that. Actually, we both deserve better. We’re kind of like cats with nine lives, you and me,” he said, smiling wide, that rare dimple creasing his cheek. “We’ve both been through the wringer and survived the worst. Seems to me the odds are on our side now and things will only be getting better for us here on out. Starting now.” From his jacket pocket he pulled out a diamond solitaire ring and knelt on the sand before her. “Aubrey Grace Dunbar MacGregor, will you marry me? Again? This time, once and for all.”

She stared down at him, stunned speechless.

Danny squeezed her left hand and whispered so only she could hear, “This is where you’re supposed to say something. Preferably a
yes
seeing as we’re already married.”

“Yes.” She smiled. “The answer will always be yes.”

Danny wrapped his arms around her middle and twirled her in a circle, finally setting her on her feet and kissing her lips.

Their friends and family cheered and clapped and whistled, while one lone voice shouted out from the group.

“You’re not to that part yet!”

I
N THE SHADOW
of the Tybee Island lighthouse, Bree watched as Danny spun her mother across the dance floor. Laughing and breathless, it was clear her mother was having the time of her life. Mac followed suit, albeit at a much slower pace while dancing with Marie. And seated at a table at the edge of the dance floor sat her father, holding court of sorts, telling who knows what kind of stories to a dozen men from C-Company. They all listened intently as he spoke, then when he must have reached the punch line, laughed boisterously in unison.

And just as he’d promised all those months ago, Danny’s marriage proposal not only helped her out of her rut and start anew, that newfound happiness also extended to their family members. All except one.

She raised her chin to meet her dance partner’s eyes. “I never thanked you for saving Danny’s life.”

Michael blushed slightly as he maneuvered them across the dance floor. “All part of the job, ma’am,” he said with a faux twang. The only thing missing was a cowboy hat so he could flick the brim.

“It makes it easier knowing you’re there with him. Wherever the army sends you.”

“For Dad, too.”

“But who takes care of you, Michael?”

He looked directly at her, the surprise evident in his eyes. It was there only a moment before the walls went up and he looked away. “I’m rarely placed in the same kind of danger as him.”

“That’s not what I mean and you know it,” she said, poking him in the chest. “Your whole life you’ve looked after your father and Danny. After me. And now all of these men. You deserve someone who will put you in their safekeeping.”

He chuckled at that. “Don’t go getting any ideas, Bree.”

“I’m not.”

“Sure you aren’t.” He smiled and shook his head. “The minute you started working for Marie, Ben, Danny, and I just knew it was only a matter of time before you’d be sucked into Marie’s matchmaking ways.” He leaned closer so only she could hear. “Too much time together and too little supervision.”

“Hardly.” Bree slapped his chest. “We just want you to be happy, Michael.”

“I am. But I’m even happier for you and Danny.”

She studied him closer, trying to decide if he was just paying her lip service on her wedding day. “You mean that? Not too long ago you were against this marriage.”

“I was never against you two marrying,” he said, shaking his head. “I was against the imminent divorce. I hated that you two would be so stubborn as to willingly walk away from each other. Again. Because you both hadn’t been miserable enough for the past ten years. So yes, I’m very happy.” He leaned over to press a noisy kiss to her cheek. “I’m especially happy you’re officially my sister-in-law. It’s been a long time coming.”

“Yes, it has.”

The song ended and Danny made his way across the floor to retrieve his wife.

“It’s about time,” she said as Michael handed her off to his brother. “I was wondering if I’d get to dance with my husband again.”

“Of course. But before that happens there’s one thing we need to do before Lucky heads out. This includes you, Mikey.”