SEAL Of My Heart (23 page)

He left a message for Linda, telling her he’d met a girl he wanted to introduce her to when he got back, and then started his letter to Kate. Didn’t take more than two minutes before his eyes got watery.

Well, better here than in front of her or one of the guys.

‡

Kate,

I’m thinking about you right now, just sitting here in between your world here in Healdsburg and the world I get to jump into in a couple of days. I guess you would call this the calm before the storm. I’m not going to let you read this letter until after I leave, so I don’t have to see whether I make you cry or not.

I want you to be strong, Kate. Keep the faith. Use the time to think about what I do, and maybe go online and learn more about us. It’s all over the internet these days. But there are some good books that might help you learn more of what we are about. Our character.

I plan on writing you every day, but not sure you’ll get them that way. I like to write. Settles me. And it will give me more time to think of you, and that’s a very good thing.

I still don’t know much about you, and yet I do. I’m kind of glad, in a sick kind of way, you’ll have to battle the forces of your ex and his family your way. That’s your fight, not mine. All I can offer you is protection, and love. Always those two together. I will never let you down. I will always come home to you. I will be there, sweetheart, as soon as I can.

Hope you sell a ton of wine. I guess I should say gallons—no, barrels—of wine! I hope that you throw yourself into your work just like I do. Make a difference. Make it count. It all counts, in the end.

Keep yourself safe. Watch those creeps around you. I especially get a negative vibe from Sheila. You want to stay away from her. Trust me on that. Please keep your distance.

I kinda like the Hellers, at least Sr. seems to have a good head on his shoulders. From what I’ve heard from you, Randy doesn’t measure up to his father, so watch him, Kate. The weak ones can mess things up for everyone else.

So, seriously, don’t trust anybody. The only people you can truly trust are other Team families. You’re going to form new friendships, Kate. That sometimes means leaving the old ones out in the cold. People sometimes aren’t what they seem, so be careful. You’re such a trusting person, which is good, but be safe, Kate. Stay connected to the people you can trust.

Here’s Linda’s number. I’ve left her a message about you, so if you call, just tell her you’re the girl. The one and only one, Kate. You two would get along. And in case I forget, we also have a Team wife in Santa Rosa you should look up, Devon Dunn.
He wrote her cell phone number from his phone display.
Her husband, Nick, will be deployed with me and the rest of the Team. She’s a realtor there, and a good kid. You two would be good company for each other.

I’m reminding you to be careful. Keep your eyes open. Trust your gut, but follow your heart.

Love you, babe,

Tyler.

‡

T
he day seemed
drone on endlessly. Kate found herself looking out the large picture windows at the parking lot every few minutes. Several of the tourists looked over their shoulders while she poured their samples, thinking she was talking to someone standing behind them. She made a mental note to stop allowing her distractions to interfere with her job.

She did love the wines Heller produced. They didn’t scrimp when it came to selecting the grapes, crushing them in small batches, and they used the finest barrels and fermentation tanks. Later, the blending that Mr. Heller and his winemaker, Sergio, did together was the stuff of genius. The two men had worked together for years at another smaller estate winery before Heller started his own and brought Sergio with him. It was the one part of winemaking that required real talent and lots of experience making bad wines.

She’d sold several Wine Club memberships today and had managed to take orders on their scheduled new release of the 2012 Merlot. They’d planned a Merlot and Oysters fest that they hoped would become an annual event for some of their best customers. The entire project had been Kate’s idea.

She worked with Sheila from late morning until mid-afternoon. They kept up the cheerful banter as they always did. Kate began to relax and re-orient herself to her job and her surroundings. Although she could tell Sheila wanted to say something, to her credit, she kept her mouth shut. But Kate felt the pressure of being under constant scrutiny. She relaxed with the knowledge that soon she’d see Tyler and all would be well.

An hour before she was to leave, Tyler showed up. She ran to him, inhaling his scent, feeling the reassurance of being held in his arms.

He held her out at arm’s length. “You okay?”

She nodded. Trying to brush her fears aside, she put effort into sounding more together than she felt. “Can you help me with some recycling things and trash? Maybe they’ll let me off a little early.”

“Absolutely. Music to my ears. Just show me.”

They completed the room cleanup in record time. Kate looked for Mr. Heller or anyone who would have the authority to let her go early, but no one came into the center. Sheila was in and out. Normally helpful, she was ignoring Tyler completely and remained preoccupied with doing her bottle counting and inventory.

Kate and Tyler dusted and cleaned the product display case, and folded some logo T-shirts from cartons of boxes in the storeroom.

Randy entered and consulted with Sheila on her bottle count. They shared a titter. He presented himself to Kate for an introduction to Tyler.

“This him?” Randy asked. It was delivered disrespectfully, but Kate couldn’t sense Tyler was feeling anything but casual.

Tyler extended his hand, “Tyler Gray, man. How’re you doing?”

“Oh, I’ve had better weeks,” Randy said while they shook. Randy had been full of bravado until he stood close to the SEAL who towered over him, not only in height, but bulk.

“Well, I’ll leave you two then. Kate, why don’t you take off? I’m sure Sheila and I can wrap up.”

At first she blinked, since she couldn’t think of anything they’d left undone, and then remembered herself. “Thanks, Randy. I appreciate that.”

She waved to Sheila who gave her back a big smile in return.

“That was weird,” she whispered to Tyler as he opened her door.

He pulled out her seatbelt and fastened it around her, pausing to give her a soft kiss. “That’s better. Just remember,” he pointed two fingers at her eyes. “Focus on me.” He turned the fingers around to point to his eyes. “This is all you have to do.”

She watched him walk in front of her car and park his huge frame behind the wheel. She didn’t want to miss a second of being with him. Suddenly their time together was becoming very urgent. It was hard not to let her mind drift to the dark side, where the possibility he wouldn’t be coming home loomed.

They ate dinner
at another small restaurant that carried Heller wines and was gracious enough to seat them immediately. She remembered the time Randy told her his family never had to wait for a table, and almost never paid for a meal since it was custom to treat wine vendors to dinners on a regular basis.

“I want to meet your folks,” he said. “We won’t have much time tomorrow. Would they be up for a visit tonight? I know it’s short notice, but we haven’t got much time left.”

Panic swamped her stomach, killing her appetite. With the bottle of wine at dinner and the lack of sleep the night before, she was getting punchy and more than a little tired.

“Maybe I should just call in sick tomorrow. I’m tired, Tyler.”

He wiggled his eyebrows. “Good to know.” His smile was crooked.

“Know what?”

“Was beginning to wonder if you were going to wear me out. Not that it’s ever happened before.”

Any other man would backtrack on that comment. Tyler looked back at her with his honest blue eyes, not apologizing for the fact that he’d had lovers before her. She understood a little bit better how he was able to do what he did every day. He faced things head-on and honestly. That’s the way he made decisions. Was his code, his life. And he didn’t regret much. That meant there would also be no second chances. She wished she had one tenth of his courage.

“I’ll call Mom.”

Tyler gave her room to talk to her mother in private by excusing himself to the restroom.

“We’re all set. We can go there now,” she told him when he got back.

Mrs. and Mrs.
Morgan greeted them warmly. Her mother especially seemed to drink in the sight of Tyler and his physique. He was honest and forthright, even telling them about his good intentions about dating their daughter. It was a refreshing change, and something that completely impressed her parents, she could tell.

He leaned over and grabbed Kate’s hand. “I wish I could be here over the next few months, but unfortunately we’ve got a job to do overseas and terrorists don’t make things easy on our personal lives.”

How could anyone argue with that one?

“But I promised your daughter I’d write to her every day. And I will.”

Of that there was no question. Kate knew that he’d be sending messages or composing letters just as he’d promised, on a daily basis.

“Like I said, I have only the best intentions when it comes to your daughter.” He brought her fingers to his lips and kissed them to emphasize the point.

When they got up to go about two hours later, her parents looked like they were in shock. Her mother accepted a big hug from the SEAL, her hands fluttering over his shoulders and not hugging him back. Tyler then shook her father’s hand. “Sir, it was a pleasure.”

“Glad we could meet, son.”

In the car on the way back to Kate’s place, he was quiet. Finally he spoke up. “How’d I do?”

“I don’t think they knew what hit them.”

“You okay with how fast all this is going?”

Oh, yeah. She was definitely okay with this. In fact, she was more than okay with this. Excitement and passion for life sizzled through her veins again. She was on a path she wanted to be on, holding hands with the man she wanted to share it with.

Dare she have such hopes and dreams?

“Just come home to me, Tyler.”

“Roger that, baby. Roger that.”

‡

T
he next morning,
Kate decided to not waste a single minute she could with him. Watching him sleep next to her, his arm draped lazily over her naked hip, the other one tucked under his chin like he was a little boy hugging a favorite blanket, she was struck again by how beautiful he was. Even in sleep he was confident. The rise and fall of his chest played a symphony of strings to her heart. She was grateful to have met him. Grateful that he found in her something he could love.

She placed fingers against his closed lips and watched as his big blue eyes opened.

“Good morning, beautiful.”

“I could say the same about you, Tyler.”

He squinted. “Beautiful? I dunno…” He laughed and pulled her against him. “But you are, my dear.” He slowly kissed her on both sides of her neck. She clutched his broad shoulders, letting her palms travel over the movement of muscle and sinew as he pressed her lower torso into his groin so she’d understand he was hard again. “I could get used to this, baby.”