Once and For All: An American Valor Novel (3 page)

Chapter Three

B
REE SETTLED UPON
the old wooden swing hanging from the large oak in her backyard, hoping the fresh air and sunshine would settle her mind. But she couldn’t escape her thoughts of Danny.

At every turn, the memory of him haunted her like a ghost. It’s why she found her life in Columbia so much easier. Yes, he’d lived there for a while. But memories of him didn’t permeate every nook and cranny. Here in Myrtle Beach, no matter where she went, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t escape memories of him.

Even worse were the times she didn’t want to.

“How you doin’, pumpkin?” Her father’s low, slow Southern drawl pulled her from the past and brought her back into the present. “Everything okay?”

If it had been her mother, she would have said whatever it took to make her mother feel better. No matter how big the lie. But Pete Dunbar had always been a straight shooter and asked everyone he knew to be the same in kind. Anyway, lying to him served no purpose. The man had a nose for bullshit.

“I’ve been better.”

From the nearby storage shed Pete grabbed an empty five-gallon paint bucket, overturning it on the grass. He took a seat on the makeshift stool, waiting for her to fill the silence.

“Ran into Mike MacGregor at the store.”

“Oh yeah? Mac told me a couple of weeks ago the boys would be home for a visit.”

It took a great amount of restraint, but Bree chose to bite her tongue for the most part. “Would have been nice to know.”

“I thought I told you they were going to be in town. Huh.” Pete shrugged his shoulders. “Guess I didn’t.”

Sometimes her highly intelligent father could be so dumb. What she wouldn’t have given for a little forewarning. If she’d known there was a possibility of running into Danny she could have prepared herself mentally, emotionally.

Or taken up temporary residence in a convent. Somewhere far, far away.

“So, how is Mike?”

“Good, it would seem.”

“He’s always been a good kid. Good man, I should say.” Her father crossed his thick arms over his round belly. “So seeing Mike got you all upset?”

The aluminum screen door slammed against the frame, immediately followed by heavy footsteps across the wooden deck. No need to turn around to know who it was. To be honest, she was surprised he’d waited this long for a second confrontation.

“Should’ve known,” her father grumbled. “Do I need to kick his ass?”

Despite being annoyed with her dad, that made her smile. Having had both knees replaced, there were some mornings her father had difficulty getting down the driveway to pick up the morning paper. No way in hell would he ever be able to kick anyone’s ass, much less the ass of a man in prime physical shape almost thirty-five years his junior.

But it was the thought that counted.

“I can handle this.”

He studied her for a long moment, then, satisfied she could deal with Danny on her own, braced his hands on his knees and stood. After a quick pat to her shoulder, he crossed the yard to the back deck. Stopping only inches in front of Danny, he stared him in the eye. No words were exchanged, but plenty was said between them. Danny held his ground, unflinching, then with a slight nod, respectfully stepped aside, giving way to her father.

After the back door closed, Danny strolled across the yard to where she sat. A shining example of calm, cool and collected, although history taught her he was likely anything but on the inside. If there was one thing this man learned early in life, when it came to those of the female persuasion, he could catch more flies with honey.

“Mind if I sit down?” he asked, gesturing toward the makeshift chair her father had vacated.

There was no point in answering him. If she said yes, he’d count it as a victory. No, he’d sit down anyway just to prove she couldn’t get rid of him that easily.

A breeze kicked up as he passed by, carrying his clean, fresh scent with it. Clearly, he’d showered, although he hadn’t shaved. He now wore a gray henley, the first few buttons undone, exposing the hollow of his throat, the sleeves shoved up to his elbows, revealing muscular forearms and a large black watch. The heavy-duty kind. One that was more utilitarian than fashion statement. His jeans were faded and worn in all the right places, the soft fabric cupping his ass.

Bree gave herself a mental shake. The last thing she needed was for Danny MacGregor to catch her checking out his butt.

Danny smiled at her as he made himself at home on the overturned paint bucket and rested his elbows on his knees.

“Stop it.”

“Stop what?” he asked, feigning wide-eyed innocence.

“You know. Waltzing in here all charm and swagger with that dimple on display.” Of course he only cranked up the wattage of his smile. Bree leveled a finger at him. “I’m immune to your charms, Danny MacGregor. So why are you here? What do you want?”

“So that’s how it’s gonna be? Cut right to the chase?”

Bree folded her arms across her chest. “The way I see it, the sooner you say what you want to say, the sooner you’ll leave. Again.”

A decade of rehearsed conversations finally paid off when her jab hit the mark.

Danny hopped to his feet and marched halfway across the backyard before he stopped. With his back turned to her, he looked to the sky. His broad back expanded as he took a deep breath then another, and another. Finally, he turned to face her, the epitome of restrained fury with his clenched jaw and flexed muscles. Even his fingertips were white where they dug into his hips.

“I’m sorry,” he said, throwing his hands in the air. “I’m sorry I left Columbia without telling you. I’m sorry about this morning in the grocery store.”

“That sounds sincere.”

He scrubbed both hands over his face and head in frustration before letting them fall to his sides. “I
am
sorry. But dammit, Bree, what do you expect? It’s a little shocking to see you this way. I get that you didn’t want to tell me personally, but swearing my dad and brother to secrecy? That’s not excessive?” His voice grew louder with each question. “How long were they supposed to keep your little secret? What if you’d died? Would they have been allowed to tell me then?”

Her chest hurt where he landed a verbal blow of his own and now she felt . . . guilty. Because when he put it that way, what she’d done was childish. And petulant. And selfish. And a whole other list of adjectives that should never be used to describe a twenty-eight-year-old woman.

“You’re right.” Her body sagged beneath the weight of her admission. “And I’m sorry.”

Thankfully, he didn’t feel the need to rub it in. Instead, he closed the distance between them and crouched down to bring his face level with hers. “I know I screwed things up royally ten years ago, but that doesn’t mean I stopped caring about what happens with you. Got it?”

Bree nodded, and Danny retook his earlier seat.

“So Dad’s filled me in for the most part. But what’s next for you? Where do you go from here?”

And that was the million dollar question. With companies still trying to recover from the economic downturn, jobs were few and far between. And financial analyst positions numbered even fewer. The longer she was out of work, the harder it would be to get back into the job market.

“It will be a while before I can really start looking for a job.” She lowered her gaze to her feet, watching as she pushed the ground just enough to rock the swing back and forth.

“Does that have anything to do with your treatment?”

She shook her head. “I can’t interview right now because companies take one look at me and see their insurance rates skyrocketing.”

“They can’t do that.”

“Oh, but they do. So until I’m back to looking like my old self, I’m stuck here living with my parents.”

“It can’t be that bad.”

Bree put her feet flat to the ground, bringing the swing to a halt, and lifted her face to look at him. Danny waited for her to speak, all the while watching her carefully with his deep, dark blue eyes.

“You know I love my parents dearly. They mean well, but I can’t breathe here.” She glanced toward the house to make sure no one was listening. Then when she realized her parents had given her this privacy, she felt like an ungrateful traitor of sorts. But she needed to talk to someone and despite all his faults, she knew Danny was someone she could trust to keep her secrets. “Every time I go out I run into someone who wants a full medical history because they want to compare my treatment to their cousin’s next door neighbor’s sister’s treatment. Even worse is when someone’s read some crap on the internet and becomes a self-proclaimed expert and starts telling me I should be eating this or doing that. I swear it won’t be cancer that kills me. It’ll be everything else. I’m ready to move on with my life and here people want to treat me like I’m sick.”

“So leave.”

“It’s not that easy, Danny. I have little savings left and what I do have goes toward keeping my insurance current. I have no choice but to be patient.”

He stared at the ground in front of him, rubbed his bristled jaw with his knuckles, his brows drawn together in concentration. She remembered that look from when they were younger and knew one thing was for certain—he was plotting some sort of cockamamie scheme.

“Okay then,” he said, slapping his palms to his thighs. “Let’s get married.”

That was not the scheme she was expecting. Surely he was joking.

She searched for a mischievous twinkle in his eyes or slight quirk of his lips, something that signified this was all a joke. But there was no sign of amusement in his eyes, which left only one other possibility.

“Are you insane?”

Chapter Four

T
HE WORDS POPPED
out of his mouth before he’d completely thought it through, but Danny knew this idea had real possibilities.

“Just hear me out a second.” He rose to his feet, ready to make his argument before she had time to shoot it down. “You want a fresh start, right? You can have that in Savannah. And I think you’d like it there. It’s muggy as hell a lot of the year, but it’s nice.”

Bree watched him closely from beneath the brim of her cap, a hint of wariness in her eyes, but intrigue, as well.

“If we get married, your insurance will be covered by the army. You won’t have to pay for coverage out of pocket in addition to your medical bills.” She reluctantly nodded in agreement and he knew the first little battle had been won. So he pushed forward. “It gets you out of your parents’ house,” he said, ticking off each reason on his fingertips. “You can find a new job or go back to school, whatever you want to do. And since I’m gone a lot you’ll have my place to yourself most of the time. You get freedom, space. You get your life back. And when you’re back on your feet and ready to move on we’ll get a divorce.”

Bree shook her head in disbelief. “This is your great idea? You want me to marry you? I don’t know if I even like you anymore.”

He flashed his best smile. “Well then, you’ll fit right in with a bunch of the other wives and girlfriends since they don’t like me, either.”

Not one giggle or smirk. Not one single reaction from her. Maybe she really was immune to his charms now. Instead, she just sat there, studying him carefully while absentmindedly chewing on her thumbnail. A bad habit of hers for as long as he could remember and a sure sign of her indecision.

“You’re really serious about this?”

“Now’s not the time to cut off your nose to spite your face, Bree,” he said. “When faced with a problem, I find a solution. You know this is one hell of an offer I’m making.” He paused a moment for the punchline. “Besides, I happen to like your nose.”

At least this time she narrowed her eyes at him and he couldn’t help but chuckle.

He waited patiently, somewhat surprised she hadn’t grabbed this lifeline with both hands by now. But Bree had always been independent and self-sufficient. Relying on others for help never had been her style. They were alike that way. So when she described how trapped she felt, he could only imagine how crazy he’d be if he were stuck in her shoes.

“You’re acting like this is no big deal. Couldn’t you get in trouble for this?”

“Obviously, you don’t know about life in the military.” He knew of guys who advertised on Craigslist for a contract wife. All for a bump in pay and the right to move out of the barracks. Luckily for him, he ranked high enough to live off post and had been doing so for some time. No one would accuse Bree of being a want-ad wife. “Trust me when I say this will not be a problem. As a matter of fact, I bet no one even notices.”

“No one will notice?” This time her laugh lacked amusement. “What about my parents? They’ll flip. And not in a good way. Then there’s your dad. What do you think he’ll have to say about all of this?”

“It’ll be fine. And if not, they’ll get over it.”

Bree shook her head in disbelief, but at least now she was smiling. “You haven’t changed a bit. That used to be your answer for everything.”

“True.” Danny rose to his feet and made his way toward the side gate. “Think about it, but not for too long. Mike and I are heading back to Savannah at the end of the week.”

“I’d always assumed there’d be music and flowers and a ring,” Bree called out to him. “Maybe the guy would get down on one knee. Hell, buy me dinner at least.”

He laughed at that. “Guess I’ll have to leave that to the next guy.” He tapped the face of his watch. “But for now you have a decision to make. Time’s ticking.”

Danny strode back across the street feeling better about things. A lot better, as a matter of fact. Helping Bree was the least he could do, considering her situation. He’d been a spineless little prick when he left Columbia. He’d known she’d be heartbroken and yet he’d left without saying a word anyway.

Although what happened then had nothing to do with the predicament she found herself in now, he’d never forgive himself if he just went on with life as usual. What kind of man would that make him, knowing he could help her but doing nothing instead?

He might be an asshole, but he wasn’t
that
big of an asshole.

“It appears there was no bloodshed.” His brother stood on the front porch, obviously waiting for him to return. More likely contemplating whether or not he needed to cross the street and intervene.

“None at all. As a matter of fact, we ended up having a nice conversation.” Danny made his way up the steps and continued past him to the front door.

“Is that right? I find that hard to believe.”

“Believe what you want, big brother, but the truth is things are just fine between me and Bree.”

I
NSANITY HAD TO
be contagious because she was suddenly straight up certifiable to even consider marrying a man she hadn’t seen in over ten years.

Ridiculous. And unrealistic.

Although it pained her to admit it, Danny’s proposal had ignited a flicker of hope within her. The possibility of starting over someplace new, of escaping this deep, dark rut in which she was stuck excited her. A quickie wedding. A move south. A little paperwork with the army and just like that, so many of her problems would disappear. He’d made it sound so very easy.

And it’d been a very long time since her life had been easy.

Then there was the fact he had zero problem raising his voice and calling her out on her crap. He was the only person in what seemed like forever who treated her like a normal human being instead of handling her with kid gloves, fearful she might shatter into a million pieces if someone dared to upset her.

Bree headed inside, opening the back door just in time to see her mother disappear around the corner into the kitchen. She’d likely been keeping a watchful eye on matters, at the ready in the event she needed to run a little interference for Bree. Undoubtedly her mother would be heartbroken if she’d up and left. But just maybe, by her leaving, her mother would find some freedom, as well.

“Need help with anything?” Bree watched as her mother gave a quick stir to a pot on the stove and covered it.

“All under control.” Bev gave a quick smile then returned to her chair at the island and a partially filled-in crossword. “Are you okay? Danny didn’t upset you, did he?”

“We got off on the wrong foot this morning. But we sorted things out. He apologized. I apologized.”

“That should make any future run-ins go a little smoother.” Her mother watched her from over the rim of her coffee cup as she took a careful sip.

“Yep. Especially since those run-ins could become a daily occurrence.” Her mother quirked an eyebrow but waited for more. “I told him everything. About the cancer. All of it. He thinks if we got married it would make life a little easier for me.”

The cup hit the counter with a dull thud, coffee sloshing over the side and spilling onto the counter. “He asked you to marry him?”

“No. He
offered
to marry me. Not the same thing.” Danny had proposed out of a sense of duty. Not love. And Bree knew she’d be better off to not forget that.

Grabbing up a dish towel from near the stove, her mother wiped down the counter then slumped onto her bar stool. She closed her eyes in exhaustion as if the conversation had physically drained her. For the first time in a long time, Bree saw her. Really saw her. Her mother, who was still young and vibrant, looked so very tired. The dark shadows under her eyes. Her hair in need of a good color. Nails in need of a good manicure. Clothes that were a little worn and out of style.

It wasn’t just Bree who’d suffered financially and emotionally all these years. Her parents had taken a hit, as well. She couldn’t remember the last time they took a vacation, something her parents had done regularly until her first diagnosis.

What Danny didn’t realize when he proposed marriage was that he’d be helping them as much as her.

Bree reached across the counter and grasped her mother’s hand. “I think this could be really good. For all of us.”

Her mother’s eyes widened in horror. “Don’t do this for our benefit.”

“Okay. I won’t. I’ll just live here. For-ev-er.”

The corner of Bev’s mouth quirked upward on one side. “Sheesh. No need to go to extremes.”

They sat there smiling at each other, enjoying the moment. Until Bree picked up the cordless phone. “Guess there’s no time like the present,” she said, dialing the only other phone number she knew from memory as she made her way back upstairs.

T
HE HOUSE PHONE
rang and Danny walked into the kitchen where the thirty-year-old Slimline was still mounted on the wall. Fairly certain it was Bree on the other end, he waited until his brother wandered out the back door then lifted the phone from its cradle. She was off and running before he could even say hello.

“I feel there needs to be some ground rules,” she began.

“And those would be?”

Danny made use of the overstretched spiral phone cord and sat down at the kitchen table. Might as well get comfortable. This was probably going to take a while. Bree had always been more of a planner than a fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants kind of gal.

“Just because I’m going to be your wife on paper and we’re living together doesn’t mean I’m your indentured servant. Or anything else, for that matter.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

“But I am willing to help out since it’s the least I can do. Like grocery shopping. Of course, I’d need to borrow your car.”

“You don’t have a car?” No wonder she felt held captive here.

“I turned it back in when the lease expired. Is that a problem?”

“No, not really.” He could always hitch a ride with Mike or one of the guys. “Next item.” Undoubtedly, she’d made a list of demands or house rules, whatever she was calling it. If he could hazard a guess, living with Bree would likely have more restrictions than he’d ever had while living in the barracks. At least she was prettier. And smelled better.

“I don’t mind washing your stuff if I’m doing laundry, but I don’t iron and I’m not folding your boxers or briefs or whatever the hell you wear.”

“Not a problem since I don’t wear any.”

“I swear,” she huffed in exasperation, “you’re still such a pain in the butt. I can’t believe I’m even considering this.”

“You love it and you know it.”

Only when he was met with silence did he consider his words. He said them more out of old habits than really believing it to be true. Amazing how things like that come back so quickly. Danny cleared his throat then tried to restart the conversation. “What else is on that list of yours?” He heard the shuffle of papers in the background and chuckled to himself. She really did have a damn list.

“I’m not going to pick up after you or clean up your messes. And as far as the toilet goes, I’m just a glorified guest. So you clean it.”

No sweat off his brow. Like he’d never cleaned a toilet while in the army. During basic training, the US government taught him to scrub a latrine to a sparkling shine using only a toothbrush. “Fine. I’ll clean the toilet. But I get to leave the seat up.”

“On second thought—”

“Nope. No take backs. I get to leave the seat up.” She swore and he chuckled. Who knew negotiations with Bree could be so much fun? He waited for the next demand.

She cleared her throat. “What will the sleeping arrangements be?”

Now this was getting good. “What do you mean? Like right side, left side or top and bottom? Because to tell the truth, sweetheart, any which way works for me.”

“Oh, God. Maybe this isn’t such a good idea, after all.”

He always did love to poke the crazy with her. “I’m just teasing you, Bree. Of course you can have the bed. I’ll sleep on the couch.”

Even as the words escaped his mouth, he regretted them. If he had one prized possession, it was his bed. His big, fluffy “girlie” bed as his brother called it. With a super-thick pillow top and feather down pillows, it was like sleeping on a cloud. And he didn’t give a shit if it wasn’t considered manly.

“That’s very generous of you. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Any other questions? Concerns?”

Who knew what else was on that list of hers. Whether or not she was gutsy enough to demand it remained to be seen.

“None that I can think of at the moment,” she answered. “But I reserve the right to revisit this discussion.”

“Got it. Do I get to set some ground rules?”

“Go for it.”

“I just want to make it clear the army is my life now and this marriage is just a temporary solution. Anything related to my work is my decision alone. You don’t get a say.”

“Fine. Whatever. So we’re really doing this?”

“Yep. I’ll call the courthouse to find out what the procedures are and get back with you.”

She hung up the phone, leaving him with their conversation replaying in his head. Just like she’d said, it sounded so very cold, businesslike. No hearts and flowers. No romantic declarations. Probably not what his mother had wished for him—for the two of them—but it was what it was. Still, he couldn’t shake the idea of his mother looking down from heaven and enjoying the hell out of the show.

Danny headed out back to the screened porch where his father and brother were trading stories. Leaning a shoulder against the doorjamb he listened to their conversation as they rehashed their day on the golf course. His brother glanced once in his direction then did a double-take, stopping in midsentence.

“What the hell are you smiling about?”

He hadn’t realized he was, but there was no denying it. He’d probably been standing there the entire time with a grin on his face. Danny dropped into an empty deck chair and pulled a beer from the cooler. He twisted the cap off then tapped the longneck against the one Mike held in his hand.

“Congratulate me, big brother,” he said, raising his bottle for a toast. “I’m getting married.”