SEALs Honor (18 page)

When
she'd arrived at Bethesda, she'd been too out of it to know what was going on.
The doctors had been the best, and she'd recovered within a couple weeks,
enough to visit Cory at his therapy session.

She
couldn't believe the change in the month since she'd left. They'd really turned
his entire attitude around since the beginning, and she was thankful. He'd been
so upbeat, she barely recognized him from the sour-faced, angry man of before.
His new lease on life centered around one therapist.

Once
she was sufficiently recovered, Delaney had been reassigned to temporary duty
at the Pentagon as executive staff to Joint Chiefs of Staff, reviewing the
Joint Air Operations Publication. Her commander had stressed the duty was only
temporary until she passed the flight physical, at which time she'd be
reassigned to duty with the 160th SOAR.

Battling
both the D.C. traffic and the Metro reminded her of why she liked deployment.
Fighting the Taliban and being shot at seemed less stressful than rush-hour
traffic. She looked forward to getting back in the cockpit. Healed and rested,
she was ready.

Today
was Cory's last day at Bethesda, and his wedding day. She couldn't be happier.
Well, she could, but that was another story and one she'd closed the book on
the day she'd flown out of Camp Leatherneck in the back of the Black Hawk to
Bagram.

So
much had happened. So many things had changed. But one thing was clear, Tuck
hadn't come looking for her, hadn't tried to contact her or see her, or even
Skype her from the field.

On
many occasions, Cory had tried to reach him online. He'd finally given up and
contacted their commander to learn Tuck was out on a special mission. He'd left
word with their commander with the date of his wedding and that he was saving
the spot of best man for Tuck. Be there.

Now
Delaney stood beside Cory in the ward where he'd performed most of his physical
therapy, surrounded by the therapists, doctors, and nurses who'd seen him
through the worst of his recovery.

Someone
pressed the button on an MP3 player and Mendelssohn's
Wedding March
filled the room.

Cory
waved his stump. "Wait. He's not here yet."

"Who's
not here?" Delaney asked, a niggle of suspicion running up her back.

"My
best man. He promised he'd be here on time. His plane landed over an hour ago.
He should be here by now."

The
door to the therapy room crashed open, and a tall man dressed in the U.S. Navy
service dress blue uniform burst through. "Am I too late?"

Delaney's
heart skipped several beats then crashed against her chest, banging like a bass
drum in a parade. "Tuck?"

"Tuck!
You made it!" Cory wagged his stump. "About damned time. The
ceremony's about to start. Get up here."

From
ten feet away, Tuck stared from Cory to Delaney, his gaze fixing on her. "I
wasn't going to come, but Skipper insisted."

"Not
come to my wedding?" Cory grinned, his spirit indomitable on his wedding
day. "You'd skip out on seeing your best bud shackled with an old ball and
chain?"

 "She's
not a ball and chain. Any man would be proud to have her as his wife." His
words were for Cory, but his gaze centered on Delaney.

Her
heart thumped hard against his ribs. Delaney bit her lip to keep the tears from
falling. The pain did little to stop them, and several slipped down her cheek. "Cory,
you didn't tell me he was coming."

"I
know." Cory winked at her. "I wanted to surprise you." In a
stronger voice, he addressed Tuck. "Are you standing by me or do I have to
ask Schotzy to fill in?"

A
large man in scrubs stepped forward. "I'd be happy to."

"Stand
down. Let the man decide first." Cory faced Tuck. "What's it to be?
You've been my best friend since BUD/s. I don't want to do this without you by
my side, but I will."

"I
came to stop this wedding." Tuck came forward.

The
people gathered in the room emitted a collective gasp.

Delaney
almost laughed at the comical expression on Cory's face.

"Why
would you stop me from marrying the girl I love?"

Big
hands drew into fists at Tuck’s sides. "Because you can't marry her."

"Why?
Is she already married and I didn't know?"

"No."
Tuck's face darkened, getting more fierce with each passing second.

"She
agreed to marry me. I love her." Cory waved his good hand to the side. "What
more confirmation do I need?"

"She
doesn't love you," Tuck blurted.

"That's
news to me," a female voice called out from a side door. She stepped
through wearing a simple white wedding dress that hugged her figure perfectly.
Her long blond hair hung down her back, straight and shiny, unlike the unruly
mass of sandy blond curls Delaney fought to control with ponytails and
hairclips.

Tuck
stared, his mouth dropping open. "Who's she?"

"Uh,
Tuck..." Delaney fought the smile spreading across her lips. "You’ve
been in dark ops too long. I take it you haven’t talked to Cory in a while, and
there's been a...uh...change of plan."

"I
don't understand. I came to stop you from making the biggest mistake of my
life."

"The
biggest mistake of
your
life?" Cory asked. "And what would
that be?"

"Marrying
Delaney."

Delaney
lifted her chin and hooked her arm through Cory's elbow. "I happen to
think Cory would make a terrific husband." She nodded toward the woman at
the far side of the room, slowly working her way toward them. "A terrific
husband for Leigha."

"Who's
Leigha?" Tuck demanded.

"Shh."
Leigha pressed a finger to her lips and picked up the pace, marching up to
Tuck. "Please stop yelling. You're disturbing the patients."

Cory
grinned and stared around the room at the medical staff and patients in attendance.
"Are we disturbing anyone?"

As
one, they shouted. "No!"

"Marry
her, already!" A triple amputee in a wheelchair shouted. "We want to
see the kiss."

"I
don't understand." Tuck turned toward Delaney.

She
smiled and took pity on him. "Cory's marrying Leigha, his physical
therapist."

"I
came to stop him from marrying
you
," Tuck said, looking more
befuddled by the minute.

"You're
a little late for that. We broke our engagement shortly after O'Connell arrived
at Bethesda. You'd know this fact if you hadn't gone off all dark ops on us."
Cory shook his head as if Tuck was a thick-headed child who had to be taught
the same thing more than once before it sank in. "O'Connell doesn't love
me."

"Yes,
I do." Delaney chuckled and pecked Cory's cheek. "Like a brother. And
since he doesn't have any siblings or relatives, someone had to look out for
his well-being."

As
she approached Tuck, the woman in the wedding dress stuck out her hand. "I’m
Leigha. You must be Tuck." She grinned. "You’re just like Cory
described you."

Tuck's
brows descended into a blazing frown directed at Cory. "And when were you
going to tell me you two had called it off?"

"I'd
have told you sooner, if I'd known you cared." Cory glared back at his
friend. "But you seemed hell-bent on volunteering for every suicide
mission they could come up with. And you never returned any of my messages. I
figured you had some bug up your ass about her."

"So
you fell in love with Leigha?"

Cory
smiled. "I did." He held out his good hand.

Leigha
joined him and curled her hand around his bandaged arm. "I didn't like him
at first. He was very grouchy. Then when we got the pain under control, he
turned out to be such a flirt with all the ladies. I had a hard time trusting
him."

"She
fell for my charm and good looks." Cory smiled down at her. "And the
tattoo of Daisy Mae on my ass."

"No,
I fell and you helped me up with your injured arm, even though I knew it hurt
like hell." She shook her head, a sweet smile playing across her lips. "I
figured if you could sacrifice a little pain to help me up, you couldn't be all
bad. Maybe half bad. And that's just the way I like you. Half bad boy, half
gentleman. One hundred percent SEAL." She stood on tiptoe and kissed him
full on the lips. "Now, are you marrying me or do I have to return this
dress for a refund?"

"Let's
have a wedding!" Cory shouted.

They
skipped the wedding march and got straight to the
I do's.
Soon the room
was full of chatter and laughter and people eating cake.

Delaney
fought hard not to stare at Tuck. Her heart sang with the joy of having him
there, in the same room, and her mind whirred with a thousand questions she
wanted to ask. Number one being, why did he come to stop the wedding he thought
was between her and Cory? With everyone around them, congratulating Cory and
Leigha, she wasn't sure when or if she'd get a chance to be alone with Tuck.
Hell, she was a Night Stalker pilot, known for her fearlessness. Then why was
she shaking in her heels at the thought of a confrontation with the man she
loved?

Tuck
stood beside Cory throughout the nuptials, his head spinning with the change in
direction. He'd fought coming and wouldn't have, if the Skipper hadn't ordered
him to do the right thing and show up for his best friend's wedding.

Once
committed to attending, he'd convinced himself he had to stop the wedding.
Delaney didn't love Cory and she shouldn't marry him out of pity. Now that he
was there, and Cory was married to Leigha...

He
finally glanced across the room at Delaney and his chest squeezed so tight he
could barely breathe. She was so beautiful in her cream-colored lace dress, she
was as pretty as the bride. No.

Delaney
was the most beautiful woman he'd ever known. Inside and out. Brave, caring,
and gutsy, she was the kind of woman he could picture himself spending the rest
of his life getting to know even better.

Then
what the hell was he waiting for?

He
marched across the room, closing the distance between them.

She
glanced up from the plate of cake she had been picking at and their gazes met.
Her fork grew still.

When
he reached her, he took the plate from her hands and laid it on a nearby table.
"Why did you break your engagement to Cory?"

"What
does it matter?" She shrugged, her gaze dipping to where his hands held
hers. "He loves Leigha and she loves him."

"Do
you love him more than a brother?" His fingers squeezed hers and he held
his breath, waiting for her response.

"No."
She laughed softly. "Though Cory would make a great husband, I made the
error of falling in love with someone else."

Tuck
dared to hope and his heart pounded. "And you're afraid this guy you love
isn't good husband material?" He tugged her toward him.

"I
know for a fact he's terrible husband material." Her voice caught on a sob
and she looked up, tears swimming in her eyes. "But I can't help it. I
love him."

"Then
why don't you tell him?"

"I
don't know how he feels about me." Her gaze dropped to the buttons on his
chest.

Tuck
lifted her chin. "I love you so much, not even an entire army of Taliban
could erase you from my mind."

"You
tried to erase me from your mind?" A tear slipped down her cheek. "See?
You make terrible husband material." She swiped at the tear and tried to
push away from him.

His
grip tightened. "Oh, baby. I may not say the right words, but my heart's
in the right place."

"Yeah,
and where's that?"

"In
your hands." He crushed her against his chest and buried his face in her
hair. "I love you, Delaney O'Connell. More than I love living. And I want
you in my life, as my wife. What do you say?"

"Is
that a marriage proposal?" She leaned back in his arms, staring wide-eyed
up at him, more tears spilling down her cheeks.

He
pushed the curls behind her ears and kissed the tip of her nose, then thumbed
the tears off her skin. "Oh, sweetheart, did I louse that up too? Yes,
that was a marriage proposal. But here, let me do it right."

He
set her away from him and dropped to one knee, fishing in his pocket for a
square box he'd picked up at the duty-free shop in the airport. He opened it,
took out the sapphire and diamond ring inside, and held it out. "Delaney
O'Connell, will you marry this lousy excuse for husband material? I promise to
try my best to make you happy."

"About
time, man." Cory clapped his hand on Tuck's back. "I thought you'd
never ask. So, O'Connell, are you marrying this suicidal dumbass, or not?"

Air
lodged in Tuck's throat as he balanced on one knee, waiting for her response.
The wait was harder than anything he'd experienced in BUD/s training.