The American Soldier Collection 11: Mending Hearts (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever)
The American Soldier Collection 11: Mending Hearts
Gabe was MIA and Alana was losing her mind. The constant sadness, emptiness, and reminders in Scrantonville were too much. Leaving for Tranquility was supposed to bring her peace, instead it brought her Gabe and his five brothers in arms, plus a whole lot of trouble.
Gabe wanted to be dead. He lost his will to live and even his team was concerned. Alana was their angel who appeared out of nowhere, stirring up old love as well as new. Their team was complete and happiness seemed just within reach.
They never saw him coming. A killer on the loose, his eyes set on Alana. Can the daughter of a marine survive or are happy endings only made for fairy tales?
Genre: Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Romantic Suspense
Length: 55,374 words
THE AMERICAN SOLDIER COLLECTION 11: MENDING HEARTS
Dixie Lynn Dwyer
LOVEXTREME FOREVER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: LoveXtreme Forever
THE AMERICAN SOLDIER COLLECTION 11: MENDING HEARTS
Copyright © 2015 by Dixie Lynn Dwyer
E-book ISBN: 978-1-63258-985-9
First E-book Publication: February 2015
Cover design by Les Byerley
All art and logo copyright © 2015 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
Letter to Readers
Dear Readers,
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DEDICATION
Dear readers,
Thank you for purchasing this legal copy of Mending Hearts.
It is never easy to lose someone you love. So many times people wish for a second chance, or to just feel a hug from that person they loved so deeply, or even just to hear their voice or smell their cologne or perfume. To get a second chance is a miracle.
Alana gets that second chance and it takes her determined, stubborn, empathetic, daughter-of-a-Marine heart, to help make her man and his team love again and love for the first and last time.
Life is filled with miracles. Sometimes you have to fight really hard, and love a whole lot, to make those miracles happen.
May you enjoy the story.
Happy Reading.
Hugs!
~Dixie~
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
About the Author
THE AMERICAN SOLDIER COLLECTION 11: MENDING HEARTS
DIXIE LYNN DWYER
Copyright © 2015
Prologue
Alana sat in the seat alongside Gabe’s parents, Mike and Marcy. She was shaking with emotion but trying very hard to be strong. Strong like her own parents had taught her to be. Strong like the daughter of a Marine should be.
But this was worse than anything she’d ever experienced in her life. Twenty, and in love with Gabe Weathers, her first and only lover, and now he was gone. The man she’d given her virginity to. The one she told her secrets to, and the man she wanted to raise a family with.
It seemed like only yesterday he was knocking on her bedroom window late at night and confessing his need, his calling, to enlist into the Marine Corps. Alana supported him. She adored him and would move heaven and earth for the man. But now, looking at the empty seat where Gabe would always sit, was getting to be too much for her. The same yearly memorial and the feeling deep in her gut that made her believe Gabe was still alive. He wasn’t MIA or a POW somewhere in the Middle East. No. He was alive, and she couldn’t accept the fact that everyone else believed him to be dead. Including the government that had sent him in there.
She was losing herself more and more, year after year. She had to leave this town. She needed to leave this life and start anew. Otherwise, she might as well go MIA herself and maybe permanently.
She lowered her head and clasped her hands on her lap as she prayed to God while the preacher gave a blessing and spoke about the memories of the spirit and the happy times of the past. There were no more happy times to remember, just the empty seat, the lonely, sick sensation in her gut, and the reality that Gabe was never coming back. She’d lost him, just like she’d lost her father and her mother.
She was alone, and going solo seemed to work out best for her.
“Alana, would you like to say a few words before we close the ceremony?” Marcy, Gabe’s mom, asked her. The woman was sweet and kind and suffered so deeply losing her oldest son.
Alana glanced at Gabe’s cousin, Deanna. She was married to two men, Teddy and Jim, who were detectives in a town called Salvation. It was a good four hours from Scrantonville, but every year, Deanna would show up for the memorial ceremony. Three years. Three years and Alana was losing herself.
She nodded her head at Marcy
as Deanna bit her lower lip and her eyes filled with emotion. Alana didn’t like to speak about the past and Gabe anymore. Plus, it always seemed to upset Marcy. Gabe’s mom knew how in love Alana and Gabe were, so Alana made it quick.
She stood up and turned toward the large group of family and friends. Most were familiar faces, but a few were new ones, maybe soldiers who’d retired from the service and now resided in Scrantonville. Others came in support of Gabe, a fellow Marine.
She cleared her throat and looked to Deanna for a little moral support. Deanna held her gaze steady. Something wasn’t right. Teddy squeezed Deanna’s hand.
Alana cleared her throat. She had to get through this. One last time and then she was leaving Scrantonville.
“I can’t believe that it has been three years that we’ve all gathered here to remember Gabe. I see lots of familiar faces, and others as well. Gabe probably would reprimand us for doing this. He was always so humble.”
She felt her eyes well up with tears as she looked around the room, her eyes landing on one gentleman. Older, definitely military by his stance, his stature, and focus as she spoke. She didn’t know who he was, but she had seen him here before.
“I can remember the day when Gabe told me he wanted to enlist. He was excited, firm in his decision, and I supported him, knowing the risks but also knowing more so the pride, the calling he had. So instead of focusing on the loss of Gabe and so many others, I ask that you all continue to support our men and women in uniform everywhere. Those who have given the ultimate sacrifice and those who struggle with adapting back to civilian life. Gabe’s parents and I have set up the organization Love Thy Soldier. Over the last three years, we have helped many of those military men and women returning from service to adapt to their new ways of living, to find employment, to aid in financial support, and we continue to do so. So please spread the word about our program and help to save our soldiers and let them know that we appreciate all they do. Thank you.”
Alana walked back to her seat but not before catching the eye of that man in the back, the one with the military stance, the one who seemed to be watching her like a hawk.
The pastor ended the ceremony, and they all headed outside despite the chilly March temperatures.
“That was nice, Alana,” Deana said as she hugged Alana.
“Thanks. It’s so nice of you to come here. I know it’s a bit of a way to travel in one day.”
“Are you kidding me? We wouldn’t miss it,” Deanna said, and then Teddy and Jim gave her a hug hello. But Deanna looked away, and Alana felt as if she were hiding something from Alana. But what could it be? Maybe she just felt uncomfortable about coming out here every year. Alana knew that it was getting to her too, but Marcy and Mike seemed to look at it as a way of healing and never forgetting Gabe.
“So how is work going? Any hope for that promotion?” Jim asked Alana.
“No hope. To be honest, I think it’s time to look for something different,” she told them as they stood by the sidewalk.
Other people were saying goodbye to Marcy and Mike, and she couldn’t help but think about having to repeat this memorial next year at the same time. It was depressing, besides the fact that there was nothing to look forward to but this. All her friends she had had moved on, gotten married, or left in search of careers or lives outside of Scrantonville. Alana felt like a lost cause.
“What are you thinking about doing? I hear that Lance Masters is looking for a personal assistant in the law office in town,” Jim told her.
She shook her head and then looked down toward the road that headed out of town and deeper into Texas Hill Country.
“Alana?” Deanna said her name, and then she felt her hand on her shoulder.
She didn’t want to upset them, but it would be better to let them all know she was going to leave town. That she needed to breathe.
She felt the tears in her eyes. Leaving Scrantonville wasn’t going to be so easy.
“I’m thinking about doing some traveling.”
“Traveling? Like to where?” Deanna asked.
“Out of Scrantonville and deeper into Texas. Maybe even hop around a bit and check out places that Gabe and I talked about. I don’t know.” She felt that thick lump in her throat as she thought about Gabe.
“Honey, it’s dangerous out there. You’ve never been out of Scrantonville. You can’t just go off on your own,” Deanna told her.
“I’ll be fine,” she told them.
“Deanna is right. You should reconsider. It’s not like it seems in books and in movies. It’s not so easy traveling on your own. You’re an attractive young woman, and there are people who would take advantage of that,” Jim told her.
“I can take care of myself. I’ve been doing it for quite some time, remember?” she said in a very firm tone. Both Jim and Teddy appeared uncomfortable, and Deanna looked upset again.
“Listen, I get it. Doing this yearly memorial and running the fundraising event can get overwhelming. But you don’t need to leave the people who care about you and the place where you’re safe.”
“Don’t tell me that, Deanna. You don’t understand.” Alana began to walk away and then turned back toward her.
“I can’t breathe here. I can’t do anything but think about Gabe. Everywhere I turn, everything I do, I see him or think of him.”
“Aw, honey, that will change. With time, it will get easier.”
She shook her head at Deanna.
“No. It’s been three years. I’m going to be twenty-three soon, and what do I have to show for my life? There has to be something more. I can’t imagine living alone forever and dying here. Hell, I’m dying right now, Deanna. I can’t take it anymore. I can’t live like this.”
The tears began to flow, and Deanna pulled Alana into her arms and hugged her.
“I’m sorry, baby. I’m so sorry. I know it. I understand. Is this your final decision?” she asked, and Alana heard Deanna begin to say something else but change her mind.
“I’m suffocating. I have to leave.”
Deanna nodded, and Jim and Teddy looked upset, but they supported her and offered any help she might need in the planning.
“I appreciate that, but I have to do this on my own.”
“You call us if you need anything. Understand?” Teddy asked her.
She nodded and accepted their hugs before she watched them walk away. The decision was made. She was leaving Scrantonville and headed wherever her destiny led her.
Chapter 1
“I don’t know what else we can do for him. He’s non-responsive to anything the doctors and therapists have suggested,” Jaxon Brothers told his three friends, Geno, Gator, and Jeb.
“It’s so damn frustrating. To see him like this after the fight he put up to get through that cluster-fuck of a mess. Those damn terrorists fucked with his head,” Gator added in his thick Southern accent. He was from New Orleans and was one big, bad-ass soldier, all six feet four inches of him, with muscles upon muscles, and that thick, hard voice that could cut through any crowd. Jaxon admired his friend, who was more like a brother, just as Geno, Jeb, and Gabe were.
Jaxon ran his fingers through his hair.
“Gabe’s not coming out of this fog. It’s like he wishes he were dead, yet something makes him hold on.”
“Yeah, but then suggest going out and socializing and he turns into a beast. His sourness, nastiness, and aggression are too fucking scary to expose him to the public in Salvation. I don’t think Garrett is right about pushing Gabe to start living again,” Jeb told them.
“Garrett has had that limp of his for years, and he would know what it takes to get through the pain and the public scrutiny as people stared as he limped,” Geno told them.
Jaxon looked at Geno, who was just as tall as him and in great physical condition. They all were. He wished there was some way to get through to Gabe and make him live his life again, instead of being such a prick.
“I don’t think we’re talking about
the same thing here. Gabe is all fucked up. He’s got that bad scarring, the indention where he lost the chunk of his muscle, and then the limp. He walks with a cane and has continuous pain,” Jaxon stated.
“But if he doesn’t get out and move around, try to do the exercises and things, then it will never improve. Sure, he may not walk without the limp, but he can get past the pain by working out those muscles. He just works out his upper body and his abs,” Gator said.
“We’re all trying to transition back to civilian life still, and it’s been a year. We need to get him out more,” Gator said.
“What are you thinking, Gator?” Jaxon asked him.
“A couple of weeks ago, we helped with that fundraiser for the school wrestling team with Wes. There’s some other activities and volunteer work coming up. We could all participate together as a team. Gabe seems a lot better when we’re all together. He would at least get out of the house and engage in some form of public activity. It might help him.”
“It sure as shit can’t hurt,” Jaxon said.
“Well, I wouldn’t say that.” Jeb rubbed his chin. Just the other day as Jeb started in on Gabe and how he was being a depressed asshole, Gabe had decked him. It took Jaxon and Gator to separate the two before they pounded one another to death.
“Let’s hope nothing like that happens again. I’m willing to give this a try. Something has to give,” Jaxon told them, and they all agreed.
Jaxon couldn’t help but think that this might be a mistake. He always worried about Gabe going off the deep end and losing his mind or becoming so violent that he would need to be restrained or could get arrested, or even placed in some psych ward. He wouldn’t even let them tell his parents or family that he was alive and well. He was so mangled up when they’d found him in that building in Iraq that he just wanted to die. The more the doctors talked about his injuries and the lasting effects of the damage to his body, the more Gabe closed up and asked them to put him out of his misery. It was the worst time of all their lives, to see their best friend, their fellow soldier and brother, in pain and wanting to give up and die.