скачать книгу бесплатно
Homecoming Hero
Renee Ryan
Army captain Ty Wolfson assured a dying soldier that he'd stop the man's sister from going to the Middle East as a missionary. But when Wolf knocks on Hailey O'Brien's door, he finds a beautiful woman determined to fulfill her mission–for her brother.No matter what Wolf says about the dangers, Hailey believes it's her duty to bring hope overseas. Wolf can't seem to change her mind. Until he realizes it's a certain homecoming hero who needs to change first. By opening his heart to the Lord–and to Hailey.
“Hailey. Listen to me.” His voice shook as he spoke. “You can’t travel to the Middle East right now.”
“But—”
“It’s not safe. Your brother didn’t want you in danger.”
She heard the plea in his voice. “But mission work is dangerous. Clay knew that. I know it, too.”
“I don’t care how prepared you think you are, you can’t go there alone.”
She touched his shoulder, surprised at the tension she felt under her hand. “I won’t be alone. I’ll have others with me. And, of course, I’ll have God.”
His shocked gaze locked with hers. “The Lord can’t protect you from roadside bombs.”
Looking into Wolf’s angry expression, Hailey knew words wouldn’t get through to him now. But maybe a firsthand account would.
“Come to church with me this afternoon,” she said. “A couple who are permanently based in the Middle East are visiting,” she explained.
“You’re not going to listen to another word I say unless I agree to this, are you?”
“Nope.”
“You are one hard-headed woman, Hailey O’Brien.” His tone held a hint of admiration.
“So I’ve been told, Captain Wolfson.”
RENEE RYAN
grew up in a small Florida beach town. To entertain herself during countless hours of “lying out” she read all the classics. It wasn’t until the summer between her sophomore and junior years at Florida State University that she read her first romance novel. Hooked from page one, she spent hours consuming one book after another while working on the best (and last!) tan of her life.
Two years later, armed with a degree in economics and religion, she explored various career opportunities, including stints at a Florida theme park, a modeling agency and a cosmetics conglomerate. She moved on to teach high school economics, American government and Latin while coaching award-winning cheerleading teams. Several years later, with an eclectic cast of characters swimming around in her head, she began seriously pursuing a writing career.
She lives an action-packed life in Lincoln, Nebraska, with her supportive husband, lovely teenage daughter and two ornery cats who hate each other.
Homecoming Hero
Renee Ryan
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
—Matthew 11:28
To First Lieutenant Erik J. Anthes. I’m humbled by your continued dedication to our country.
Thank you for your service, my friend.
May God keep you safe and in His arms always.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Epilogue
Letter to Reader
Questions for Discussion
Chapter One
U.S. Army Captain Ty Wolfson stared at his friend’s childhood home in stunned silence. He’d been so focused on getting off post he hadn’t considered what he might find once he arrived in Savannah. The possibility that he’d be standing in front of a two-hundred-year-old house in the heart of the historic district hadn’t crossed his mind. Not once.
But here Wolf stood, confronting generations of tradition, wrapped up neatly in what the historical marker deemed O’Brien House.
As he read the story of the O’Brien family history, guilt twisted painfully in his gut. It should be Clay preparing to climb up these steps. Not Wolf. Not like this, under these terrible circumstances. And yet…he would walk inside that house. To fulfill the promise he’d made to Clay on that Iraqi roadside.
Determined to accomplish the difficult task before him, Wolf started forward, but a jolt of sorrow knifed through him. The feeling was so strong, so visceral he had to stop and swallow several times to get the emotion under control.
Breathing hard, he lowered his gaze to the grainy photograph he’d kept with him for the last six months. The sight of Clay’s little sister grinning back at him made Wolf’s heartbeat quicken with anxiety.
Dressed in a traditional graduation gown with the requisite mortarboard scrunched on top of her head, Hailey O’Brien looked far too young, and far too innocent to have set such a dangerous course for her life.
Whatever it took, Wolf would stop her. He owed that much to Clay. And the friendship they’d shared in Iraq.
Blinking the grit out of his eyes, he stuffed the photograph back in his pocket and studied Clay’s childhood home a moment longer. He knew he was stalling, but he needed a chance to take it all in.
The three-story brick mansion filled an entire city block. Each floor boasted rows of tall, double-glass doorways leading onto cast-iron balconies. A fence in the same ornate design ran along the perimeter of the manicured lawn, encircling tall trees and large bushes that reached halfway to the second floor.
With his gaze tracking the adjacent streets, Wolf experienced a sense of claustrophobia. There were too many trees in this part of town and the houses were too close together. He’d lived too long in the desert not to feel pinned in now.
Shivering, he blew into his cupped palms. The temperature had dropped to a sharp, bitter cold that turned his breath to frost. Clay had prepared him for the heat, with his constant griping about the Savannah humidity. But he’d said nothing about this bone-rattling cold that made Wolf’s leg ache more than usual.
A light mist swirled in the gray, depressing air. The perfect accompaniment for all the regrets he harbored in his heart. Duty was all he had left. Duty and this one goal, the fulfillment of his promise to a fallen friend.
“Might as well get this over with,” he muttered.
Gritting his teeth, Wolf set out across the street. He hid the pain in his left leg behind an even gait and stone-cold determination.
After three sharp raps of the ornate knocker the door swung open. Wolf jerked in surprise. With her dark hair, big green eyes and curvy figure, Hailey O’Brien was not the teenager he’d prepared for in his mind. She was a woman—a throat-clogging, heart-stopping, beautiful woman.
He knew he was staring. How could he not? Clay’s sister was nothing like the fuzzy graduation picture her brother had kept on the dash of their Humvee and Wolf now had in his pocket.
Wolf tried to speak. Even managed to open his mouth, but memories got in the way and he pressed his lips tightly together. His head filled with contrasting images of Clay kicking around a soccer ball with some local kids outside the forward operating base. Clay blinking up at him on the Iraqi roadside as he was bleeding out.
Clay issuing the request that had brought Wolf to this house today…
You gotta keep Hailey out of the Sandpit, Wolf-man. No mission work. Not here. Promise me you’ll stop her.
Wolf hadn’t hesitated in his response. I won’t let you down.
The memory of his own words pushed Wolf into action. “Are you Hailey O’Brien?”
She nodded. Slowly. And it finally registered that she’d been standing there speechless, just like him. Even now, she simply stared at him with her beautiful, unguarded, attentive eyes. Waiting. Watching.
“I…” Wolf cleared his throat. “I was a friend of your brother’s.”
Instant pain filled her gaze and the wall went up. Wolf hadn’t expected that.
“You knew Clay?” she asked at last, her voice deeper and throatier than he’d expected.
“I did. He asked me to—” Wolf cut off his words midsentence, realizing he couldn’t blurt out why he was here without some sort of buildup. “That is, I was with him when he died.” Which wasn’t what he’d meant to say, either.
She blinked. “You were?”
“Yes.”
She blinked again. And then…
One lone tear slid down her cheek.
Great beginning, Wolf, you made the poor woman cry.
With concentrated effort, he softened his voice. “My name is Ty. Ty Wolfson.”
“Wolf.” Her shoulders snapped back. “Yes, of course. I should have…expected this.”
“You know me?”
She nodded. “My brother mentioned you in his e-mails.”
Wolf didn’t know what to do with that information, so he redirected the conversation. “Is this a bad time?” He shifted his gaze, only just noticing the purse strapped around her shoulder and the coat slung over her arm. “You look ready to go out.”
“Oh. I… No.” She drew her bottom lip between her teeth. “I mean, I am heading out, but it can wait.”
Okay, good. He had her attention again. Now, if he could get his tongue to work properly he might be able to finish what he’d come here to do. Then he could return to his temporary housing on post and give in to his exhaustion. The forty-eight-hour journey out of Iraq was catching up with him.
“What I have to say won’t take long,” he promised. Not if he could help it. “Oh. Oh. I’m so sorry. I’m being rude, making you stand out there in the cold.” She gave him a quick, tense smile. “Please. Come in. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
Wolf heard the genuine remorse in her words, saw the guilt in her eyes and felt bad for upsetting her. “No worries. I didn’t give you any warning I was coming. I’m sure this is a shock.”
Her smile turned a little watery, but she stepped aside to make room for him to pass.
Frowning at the fancy rug just inside the doorway, Wolf stomped off the week-old Iraqi desert still clinging to his boots and moved forward. The smell of furniture polish and old money had him hesitating. But only for a moment.
Shoulders back, he followed Hailey down a portrait-filled hallway. He tried to look anywhere but at Clay’s sister. Easier said than done, especially considering the confines of the tiny corridor. Each step she took was dignified and regal, the perfect blend of confidence and class that came from a life spent in country clubs and expensive schools.
Wolf shouldn’t be watching her so closely. It reeked of betrayal to his friend.
Forcing back a spurt of guilt, he focused his gaze on the wall of pictures. They were hung in a haphazard pattern that made an odd sort of sense. Some of the photographs were in large frames, some small. Some were yellowed with age, others much newer. But all had the common theme of family, stability and normalcy, things Wolf had never experienced in his thirty years of life.
His guard instantly went up.
Good thing, too, because in the next moment Hailey led him into a large room with fancy tables, ornate chairs and more photographs. Lots and lots of photographs.
He could handle the obvious wealth reflected in the expensive furnishings. But this, this shadowy sense of homecoming, left Wolf wanting things he couldn’t form into coherent thoughts.
There was something about this room that put him on edge. The comfort that radiated out of every corner was a visible reminder of everything Wolf had missed out on as a child.
Great. Nothing like being the big stinkin’ fish out of water in an already tense situation.
Hailey set her purse and coat on a chair, then turned back to face him. “Please, have a seat, uh…Lieutenant?”
