Tempted by the Soldier

It was another side of his chauffeur from yesterday. An intriguing lady, indeed.

That was it for information. Someone really had to work at privacy not to have more.

He closed the computer. He was damned restless, but his foot precluded the long hike he would have liked. He went into the second bedroom, which contained a single bed and two bookcases filled with books. He rifled through them. An interesting mixture. Biographies. Novels. History. His host obviously had eclectic taste.

He found a suspense novel, moved slowly to the kitchen for a glass of water and took both to the porch.

He settled in the swing and opened the book, but couldn’t concentrate on the words. Too many other images crowded into his mind: his last combat mission, the rush of adrenaline as he pulled Rangers out of a killing zone, the military doctor’s verdict, or lack of one. He hated feeling powerless. He’d lived with it too long as a boy.

He needed that control back. He couldn’t sit here and read a book on someone else’s dime.

He removed his cell phone from his pocket and punched in Josh’s number.

CHAPTER FIVE

CLINT WAS READY when Josh drove up in his Jeep.

He’d shaved and changed into a clean pair of jeans and a pullover knit shirt. His swollen foot still hurt like hell, but he didn’t want to use crutches. He had put on his only pair of sandals.

Clint was already bored with his own company. He’d always been active, driven to excel in sports and physical training. He’d always wanted to be the best. At first, it had been to earn his father’s approval, then it had been to get into the service, then to be the best in his unit. He had always asked for the most dangerous missions. A death wish, one of his fellow pilots said. But it wasn’t that. He simply needed to challenge himself. Dr. Payne had probed at that contention. Why? He hadn’t had an answer.

Why had he accelerated the Corvette that day?

Josh jumped out of the Jeep, limping slightly. Clint hadn’t noticed that yesterday. He’d been too tired, too focused on the veterinarian and, he admitted, on himself. A dog trotted after Josh, keeping in step with the man.

Josh walked up to the porch and opened the door. “This is Amos.” He pointed to the dog. “Say hello.”

Amos offered his right front paw just as Sherry had. What was it about polite canines in Covenant Falls? Was it contagious? Nonetheless, he took the paw gingerly.

“You’re a friend now,” Josh said. “Unless, of course, you attack me.”

“Then what?”

“He wouldn’t be happy. You do not want to run into an unhappy Amos.”

“He’s a handsome dog.”

Josh plopped down on a chair, and the dog sat next to him. “He’s ex-military.” He changed the topic. “How’s your foot?”

“Did you have to remind me?” Clint grinned. “It’s an experience I would rather forget.”

“Good luck,” Josh said. “This town is a gossip mill. I imagine that rancher has probably told the story far and wide.”

Clint shrugged. “I won’t be here long.”

Josh raised an eyebrow. “Would you like to go for a beer?”

“Sure.”

“Good. I’ll introduce you to the town’s best bar. The Rusty Nail. It also has the best burgers.”

“Sounds good. And Amos?”

“Amos is allowed inside. He’s considered a hero around here.”

“Why?”

Josh shrugged. “He saved my life a couple of times overseas, and here in town he saved the mayor’s son. Twice.”

“How?” Clint asked.

“He took a rattler bite meant for Nick, then later found Nick after he was kidnapped. It’s a long story, probably better told by my wife and Nick.” He stood. “Let’s go.”

Clint hesitated. “Don’t you have something else to do? I don’t want to interfere.” He didn’t want to be someone’s cause, but he damned well wanted that beer. He also wanted to know a hell of a lot more about Stephanie.

“You’re not. Nate, my partner, has everything under control.”

“What do you do?”

“We’re starting a construction business. We’re doing some remodeling, and we’re talking to the bank about buying and rehabbing a run-down motel here. Our goal is to bring new business and residents into Covenant Falls. The town desperately needs jobs.”

“What did you do in the army?”

“Ranger. Staff sergeant. Learned a lot about building things, as well as exploding them.”

Clint stood, balanced on the bad foot, then ignored the pain as he followed Josh to the Jeep. Amos jumped into the backseat, and Clint climbed into the passenger seat in front.

“Miss it?” he asked. He knew he didn’t have to say what.

“Parts of it,” Josh admitted.

“You were a lifer?”

Josh started the Jeep. “I thought I would be. This leg sorta ruined that.”

“And now?”

“Things are good. You’ll know why when you meet Eve and Nick.”

“Nick?”

“Eve’s son. Really bright kid. Full of curiosity. Pretty good baseball player, too.”

“Stephanie said you had several dogs.”

“Five, to be exact. I went from being a loner to a husband with a stepson, five dogs, two horses and a cat. Talk about adjustment. I still think I’ll wake up and it will all be a dream.”

“You seem happy.”

“I am. But not without a hell of a lot of mistakes, miscues and doubts. Sometimes, I need to escape, and thank God Eve understands that. You ever been married?”

“For a very short time. Turned out absence didn’t make the heart grow fonder. Got home from a deployment and found she had moved in with someone else, and there had been several other someones.”

“Rough. I saw a lot of that in the service.”

Clint nodded. “After the initial feeling of betrayal, I was relieved. We’d married too fast, and for all the wrong reasons. I thought I wanted a home to return to, but I really didn’t know what a home was. She thought she was marrying someone who would party all night, every night. It was not an unrealistic expectation since that’s what we did in the two months before we married.” Why in the hell was he telling a stranger so much? But he had immediately liked Josh Manning, had felt a kinship with him. “But that wasn’t what I wanted in a home. Hell, I didn’t know what I wanted.”

He looked ahead and saw a sprawling building with a sign that read The Rusty Nail in big letters. The gravel parking lot was about a quarter full.

Josh parked, and they both limped inside. Sawdust covered the floor and a long bar lined one side of the room. The rest of the bar was filled with mismatched tables and chairs with maybe a third of the seats occupied. A bandstand stood out in one corner.

A pretty young girl hurried over to them as they sat. “Hi, Josh. Haven’t seen you in a while. What can I get you two?”

Clint glanced at him. “You order. You know what’s good.”

“Two of whatever crazy beer your dad is experimenting with today, two cheeseburgers and fries.”

“Gotcha.” She dashed off.

Clint eyed his companion. Josh still had the look of a Ranger about him. His gaze never stopped roaming the room.

“Is the veterinarian taken?” Clint blurted.

Josh looked amused. “Taken? You mean in marriage or engagement? Nope. She scares the hell out of most of the eligible men around here. I take it you aren’t one of them.”

“Oh, she scares me, too.” Clint chuckled.

“Good. I like her a lot, and she’s Eve’s best friend. I wouldn’t like to see her hurt.”

“I won’t be here long enough.”

“I’ve heard that before,” Josh said. “Mainly from me. When I came here, all I wanted was to be left alone, and now look at me. A wife, a son, two horses and five dogs.”

Clint grinned. “Well, I doubt lightning strikes twice, but while I’m here, I want to be useful. You mentioned building a dock. I would like to do it.”

“Good.” He paused, then said, “Any idea of what you want to do in the future?”

Clint shrugged. “I’m thinking of going back to college in January. Get my computer science degree.”

“You’re good at that, then? Computers, I mean?” Josh was looking at him speculatively.

Clint wasn’t sure he liked it. He would rather talk about Stephanie. “I’m okay.”

“Eve’s pet project is teaching our older citizens how to use computers. She just bought new ones for the community center. We’ve been looking...”

“Whoa there,” Clint said. “I’m happy to build a dock. I can do that. But teaching a bunch of older people about computers, I just don’t think I would be any good at that. I can’t make that kind of a commitment.”

“I’m not talking about a commitment. A couple of hours a week whenever you have time.”

“Why don’t you do it?”

“I have all I can handle right now, and I’m not good with people. You appear to be. I’ve never seen Stephanie flustered before.”

“You haven’t, huh?” Clint mused.

Two men approached their table. Josh introduced them as Jeff Smith and Mace Edwards, two vets from the Iraq War. “Heard you were coming,” the one introduced as Mace Edwards said. “Wanted to say welcome. You need anything, just want to get a beer, talk, call us.” He offered a napkin with phone numbers on it.

He placed his hand on Josh’s shoulder. “Hear you might have some big work soon. If you need any workers, we can sure use the jobs.”

Josh nodded. “Hope it will be soon. Join us for a beer.”

“Don’t mind if we do,” Mace said.

Clint mostly listened to the three men talk. It felt good. He never discussed his service or the war with civilians, but he could open up with other vets. They understood the unbreakable bond that united members of a unit, and nearly every man and woman who had been in war. Many, maybe even most, were closer to each other than they were to their families.

No one else could understand.

But now he was with people who understood. After sharing beers, the two men left, and Clint glanced at Josh. “You’re really making it here, huh?” he asked.

“It’s not always easy. I still have sweating spells at night. And nightmares. I worried about that with Eve. That I might hurt her or the boy. But she knows how to wake me when I have them. And I’m crazy about Nick. The dogs, now, that’s another matter.” But he grinned as he said it, and Clint got the definite impression he really didn’t mind the dogs one bit.

“You miss being over there?” Clint asked.

Josh didn’t say anything for several minutes. “The army was my family for a long time. I miss my team, but most of them died in my last mission.” The trails in his face deepened. A lot of pain was etched there.

Clint hadn’t known. Dr. Payne had said very little about Josh. “I’m sorry.” Then he asked the question that had been needling him. “Why me? Why did you select me for the cabin? You must know I wasn’t injured in battle. It was a dumb car accident.”

Josh shrugged. “Injured in the field or not, we all have scars. Nightmares. Horrors we can’t talk about except to someone who has been there, and still they continue to burn in our heads. And then,” he added in a voice so low Clint could barely hear it, “there are those we left...” His voice trailed off.

Clint could relate. He’d lost several close friends in chopper crashes. One was in his chopper when enemy fire hit it. He could usually lock those memories in a mental box, but sometimes they escaped, swamping him.

He nodded, cleared his throat. “It’s a great cabin,” he said, changing the subject. He regretted asking his question. It was none of his business and it brought back too many memories of his own.

“It was my salvation, that and Eve.”

Their order arrived, and the conversation stopped. The cheeseburgers were fat and greasy and, well, terrific, or maybe it had just been a long, long time since he’d had a good one. The draft beer was icy cold and served in frosty glasses. The world was looking better.

“We’ll go by the grocery store on the way back, and you can pick up whatever you need. The invitation for dinner is also good for tomorrow night,” Josh said. “I think Eve plans to ask Stephanie to join us.”

“Sounds good.” More than good. He hadn’t felt much anticipation for anything since the accident, but he did now.

Josh looked at his watch. “We should probably go.”

As if on cue, their server appeared. “Dad said there’s no bill this time,” she said. She turned to Clint. “Welcome to Covenant Falls.”

* * *

STEPHANIE AND EVE met for their weekly luncheon.

“What do you think of him?” Eve asked.

Stephanie shrugged. “He dresses like an Easterner.”

“You used to dress like an Easterner.”

Stephanie tried to think of something bad to say. She couldn’t, and that was really annoying. He was annoying because he wasn’t annoying. Stephanie took another bite of her patty melt, one of her few food weaknesses. “What does Josh think?”

“You know Josh doesn’t say much, especially if he doesn’t know someone well.”

“He had to say something.”

“He went over to see him today, took Amos with him. I haven’t talked to him since. Nick is beside himself with excitement. A real live helicopter pilot. I kinda feel sorry for Clint Morgan.”

“Believe me, he can take care of himself,” Stephanie said.

“Do I detect a note of disapproval?”

“No. Yes. Maybe.”

“Are you the Stephanie I’ve known for five years?”

“That incoherent?”

“Yeah,” Eve said. “I can’t wait to meet someone who affects you this way. Josh is inviting him over for supper tomorrow night. You’re invited, too.”

“Why?”

“To protect him from the motley crew,” Eve said.

“I think he can handle himself,” Stephanie retorted.

Eve raised an eyebrow.

“Josh told you about the cow?”

“He did. He said Mr. Morgan called it a close encounter with the bovine kind. He’s still chuckling about that.” She let a few moments go by, then added, “I heard from others, as well.”

“Damn. What did you hear?”

“A bull attacked and crippled him.”

“Good lord!”

“Obviously, that is not correct or Josh would be more upset than he was last night.”

“He didn’t say anything to you?”

“You know Josh. He doesn’t say much. He considers a person’s privacy as inviolate.”

“I don’t.” Stephanie said. “We were rolling a heifer. Clint helped hold the hind legs. When he released them, the cow stepped on him. It’s happened to me a number of times. He has a bruise, nothing more.”

Eve’s eyes bored into her. She hadn’t meant to sound defensive, but she knew instantly she did.

Eve’s smile told her that much. “What about supper?”

Her friend was daring her. To refuse would only serve to raise Eve’s antenna higher. “Sure,” she said, hiding her misgivings. “Can I bring something?”

“Yourself is just fine. Josh is grilling steaks. I’m just popping potatoes in the oven and making a salad.”

“Sounds good.”

“Try not to have an emergency.”

That was exactly what Stephanie was planning: an emergency.

“Why me? Why not invite, say, my tech? She can’t wait to meet him.”

“Because he’s already met you,” Eve explained patiently.

“Why have anyone in addition to you and Josh? I would think the fewer the better. You know how Josh was.”

“If you don’t want to come, you really don’t have to,” Eve said. “I just think he probably needs as many friends as possible here.”

She was being played, and she knew it. Eve had been her champion from the moment Stephanie had appeared in Covenant Falls. Not everyone had wanted a woman vet. Some of the ranchers refused to use her and sent to Pueblo for a vet of the masculine variety. The West, particularly the rural West, was set in its ways.

Eve had browbeaten reluctant clients into going to Stephanie, as well as recommended her to everyone within a fifty-mile radius. Fine. She could do this dinner for Eve. One evening. Clint Morgan would be gone soon. Covenant Falls would be too quiet for him. He needed a large city with buses and taxis and people to charm.

“Okay. Unless there is an emergency.” She took a deep breath. Maybe yesterday was an aberration. “But I might be late. It’s super busy since I won’t be here this weekend for my Saturday hours. I’m participating in a search-and-rescue certification.”

“Whenever you can get there,” Eve said.

The devil danced in her friend’s eyes. Blast it. They had bonded over their aversion to marriage, although each had very different reasons for that aversion. She feared that since Eve had succumbed to the call of love, her friend had her sights on Stephanie. Hell, no.

“Have to go,” Eve said. “We’re still looking for a police chief, and I have an interview this afternoon.”

“Promising?”

“Unfortunately, no. But Tony took the job temporarily and has already stayed longer than he wants.” Eve paid her bill and stood. “See you tomorrow night.”

Stephanie rose with her. She had a heavy appointment schedule this afternoon, plus a meeting later with three people interested in search and rescue. She doubted they would be as enthusiastic after learning the particulars, but if she enlisted one, she would be happy. Training both handler and dog could take as long as two years, never mind the fact they were volunteers and incurred a lot of expense along the way. It was a calling, often without rewards when the result was bad. But those moments of success were worth every minute of time and every dollar spent.

At the very least it would take her mind off the town’s newest resident and what would be a very awkward dinner tomorrow night. For her, anyway. She suspected Clint Morgan would enjoy every moment of her discomfort.

Now Eve owed her.

* * *

AFTER JOSH DROVE him home, Clint sat on the porch, staring at the lake. He needed something. A purpose. A goal. Hell, a life. Rehabbing the cabin had helped his host. Maybe it would do the same for him.

A dock couldn’t be too difficult.

He walked painfully down to the lake and looked at the other docks along the lake. Two were rather elaborate with boathouses. The others just stretched out into the water. Several had fishing boats tied to them. Another had a canoe and a bench.

The afternoon was warm, even hot, although his idea of hot had changed after years in Afghanistan.

Clint could tell from the shoreline and the other docks that the water was lower than normal, maybe by a foot or more. Still, it was a rich blue, which meant depth, and he wondered whether it was fed by springs as well as snow from the mountains.

He went inside and searched websites dedicated to building docks and lost himself in going from one to another, gathering ideas. It was not, he realized, as easy as he’d thought, which was a good thing. He needed a challenge.

It was well past eight when he closed the laptop. He’d made several designs along with a list of needed materials for each. He would take them over to the Mannings’ the following evening.

He stood and the floor swayed beneath him. He grabbed the chair, knowing what was going to happen. He tried to concentrate, but the room was moving now. He needed to get to the bedroom, find his medicine. Lie down before he fell. The dizzy spells were almost always followed by a thunderous headache. He had hoped...

The hall swirled as he used the walls to steady himself. The foot, still sore as hell, didn’t help. He reached the bed. Medicine and a glass of water were on a table next to it. He always left it there.

He lay down on the bed and some of the dizziness faded. Not all of it.

The ceiling still moved. Then the pain started...

CHAPTER SIX

CLINT WOKE FEELING as if he had been in a ten-hour battle. His head throbbed, his body too weak to reach the bathroom for a shower.

Light flooded into the cabin. Yesterday, before the dizziness came, he’d been feeling better about the cabin, about being here. He liked Josh. The man didn’t say much, but he didn’t have to.

He thought about Stephanie and wondered if she would be at dinner tonight. He didn’t know why he was so attracted to her. She was far too serious for him, too cautious, too...unreceptive.

Maybe it was the challenge. Or maybe it was the brain trauma. Whatever it was, she was back in his head this morning, crowding everything out but the residue of pain.

He forced himself to get up and walk to the bathroom. There was some good news. Despite the doctor’s warning that his foot would be worse today, it was better. Or maybe he was just putting it into context with the rest of his body.

He took a cold shower to wake up, then a hot one. He limped into the kitchen and poured a large glass of orange juice. He headed for the porch swing. The solitude was jarring. He recognized the irony of that, but since he was eight, he’d almost always been with others, first at boarding schools, followed by army training facilities and finally overseas. He was usually the center of things, something he’d learned in boarding school. To lead for fear of being left behind.

Now he was more alone than he had ever been and none of his mental tricks helped. Not the charm he’d developed, nor a nurtured optimism, nor an immediate goal. He had difficulty seeing anything but emptiness ahead.

He finished the orange juice, limped down the drive and crossed the road that ended in a little roundabout just beyond the cabin. He eyed the path up the steep slope of the mountain. Maybe tomorrow.

He went back inside, and for lack of anything else to do, he started checking out universities to finish his degree. His interest was in aeronautic electronics, but he didn’t find a program that he liked. Maybe his heart wasn’t in it. The thought of spending the rest of his working life in an office was deeply depressing. Although he had a natural curiosity about nearly everything and was a good student, the classroom had been the means of getting to where he wanted to be, and that was in the sky. He liked the outdoors, playing sports and testing himself physically. All that was at risk now.

He found one of Josh’s books and took it to the porch. Maybe it would keep his mind from the future. And Stephanie Phillips.

* * *

STEPHANIE STARED AT the email from one of the few friends she had from the past. Her ex-husband was getting another divorce. That marriage had lasted two years longer than her own. The friend also said he’d made queries about her whereabouts.

A shiver of apprehension ran through her.

Mark Townsend didn’t like rejection. He had practically destroyed her during their marriage and after the divorce. He had stolen her money, destroyed her reputation, made it impossible to practice in the Northeast. Wherever she went, he found a way of preventing her from being hired.

She’d found the position in Covenant Falls when a close friend from vet school told her of an older veterinarian in Colorado who was looking for someone to take over his practice. He’d inherited his family ranch and wanted to go back to full-time ranching, but didn’t want to leave the community without a vet. He was willing to finance the sale for the right person.

She’d told Dr. Langford about Mark during their initial interview. One of the vet’s daughters had experienced a similar problem, and he had recommended that Stephanie take her mother’s maiden name legally. He’d cleared it through the state board and after working together for six months, he agreed to sell her the practice. He’d also suggested she retain the name of Langford Animal Practice. In today’s electronic world, a dedicated searcher could find her, but she’d hoped Mark’s new marriage would dim his vindictiveness toward her.

Now that his latest marriage was ending, she worried he might come after her again. Or would he concentrate his ire on his newest ex-wife?

How could she have been such a fool to marry him?

Maybe he couldn’t find her. Or if he did, his power wouldn’t be as great in Covenant Falls as it was in Boston. True, she wasn’t a lifetime resident of Covenant Falls, but she was actively involved in search and rescue and was a member of the volunteer fire department. She also volunteered in causes that interested her, especially the community center.