Her Last Best Fling Read online

  “You are welcome anytime. I certainly have the room. And yes he’s that handsome, and he’s sweet to dogs and loves his mother. You know how tough that is for me. He’s like a triple threat. But I have to keep this professional. The last thing I need in this gossip-hungry town is to date its hero.”

  “So you want to date him. Hmm.”

  “Stop analyzing me and putting words in my mouth,” Macy complained. Cherie never stopped being a psychiatrist, but it was her only vice so Macy put up with her.

  “You said the words. I’m just placing them in the proper order for you.”

  “Privacy is impossible at any of the restaurants in town. I’m sure that’s why I came up with making the dinner. I wanted him to feel comfortable, to share as much as possible.”

  “He’s a war hero, you know there’s not much he can say,” her friend warned.

  “This isn’t my first time.” She’d been to almost every war zone in the world the past five years. It had only been the past twelve months that she’d decided to take a permanent position out of the line of fire. Little did she know it was just as dangerous at home.

  She’d been shot at, kidnapped twice by insurgents and lost in the middle of the desert. None of that had been as bad as her ex’s betrayal.

  “Stop thinking about that jerk. He’s not worth it.”

  “How did you know?” Macy laughed at her friend’s incredible insight.

  “He called here looking for you again. For a hotshot newspaper publisher, he’s not very good at finding people.”

  Macy snorted. He was one of the best reporters ever, and if he truly wanted to find her, he would. But she’d told him if he did, she’d only turn him away again. It was the truth.

  “Of course, I told him to stuff it up his—”

  Lights flashed across her bedroom window. “Oh, man, he’s here early. Darn those marines and their punctuality.”

  Macy stared down at the melee of clothing on her bed and picked up the frilly black blouse on top.

  “Put down the black, and choose the red. Men love red.”

  “That was scary. Fine. Red it is. I love you and I wish you’d come see me. It’s a nice town but—I still feel very outsiderish.”

  “Oh, girl, don’t you worry. They’ll love you as much as I do. Just give them some time and the chance to get to know you. Charm the pants off that marine. That will be a great start.”

  The doorbell rang and Harley barked twice.

  The big dog had settled in just fine. Macy had even bought the dog her own couch for the family room. The fence had been finished that afternoon, and they’d reinforced the gate with two different kinds of locks.

  She turned off the phone.

  Harley sat patiently at the door waiting for their guest.

  Shoving her curls out of her face, Macy took a deep breath and turned the knob.

  Oh, shoot, the man is beautiful.

  Dressed in dark jeans, cowboy boots and a dark blue button-down under a leather jacket, he was way beyond scorching.

  Her normally agile mind couldn’t think of the word, but she knew there was one.

  This is work. This is work. This is work.

  He cocked his head and stared down at Harley.

  “Did she run away again?”

  “What?” Macy forced her hand to stay still even though she wanted to wave it in front of her own face, which was suddenly too warm even though the temperature outside was in the low fifties.

  “Harley? You know the dog?”

  He smiled at her as if he were humoring her.

  “Uh, sorry. I’d been on the phone and I’m a little—uh—” Hot for you. No, that wasn’t right. “Out of sorts. Please come in. And Harley lives with me now. She would have been in here days ago, but the rain kept the ground too wet for them to finish putting the fence in.”

  He handed her a colorful bouquet of chrysanthemums in a vase. “These are a present for your new home.” In his other hand he held a large paper bag. “I didn’t know what you were cooking so I brought a couple bottles of wine, some dark beer and, er...green tea.”

  She took the flowers and led him to the kitchen. “Thank you, these are beautiful, but you didn’t have to bring anything.”

  He shrugged and sat the bag down on her quartz countertop. “It’s the south, if you don’t bring a housewarming gift on the first occasion you visit, or to any party you’re invited to, they’ll talk about you for years.”

  “I’ll have to remember that,” she said. Not that she’d been invited to anything, but maybe some day.

  “I probably should have mentioned my kitchen skills are somewhat limited. But I make a mean beef stew. I put it on earlier today, so it should be ready in a few minutes. And I have bread and salad.”

  “Sounds good to me. In general, I like food, so it doesn’t matter too much what it is. After C-Rats, I can, and have, digested everything from guinea pig in Machu Picchu to some weird toad in Africa. I’m not sure that last one didn’t lead to a night of hallucinations.”

  She laughed. “I’m pretty adventurous when it comes to food, but I’ve never eaten either of those.”

  “You get to a point where just about everything really does taste like chicken.” He smiled and her heart did a double thump.

  Oh, heck, I’m in trouble.

  She forced a smile.

  “Now I feel like maybe I should have tried for something more exotic.” She examined the wine bottles he’d brought. He’d surprised her with his choices. She didn’t know much about wine, but neither bottle was cheap. “Do you have a preference?”

  “Whatever you want is fine with me. I’ll be drinking the tea.”

  At her quizzical look, he explained. “The docs are weaning me off the painkillers for my leg. It’s best if I don’t drink as it can create an allergic reaction. Although, me and my buddies at the hospital suspected they only told us that so we don’t find out how the painkillers are with alcohol. They deal with a lot of addicted vets there.”

  “We can’t have that. Tea it is. The last thing I need is alcohol. It tends to loosen my tongue, and I’m not the one who needs to do the talking tonight.”

  She caught the tightening of his lips before he turned away. “I don’t mind,” he said. “If you want a glass of wine. It won’t bother me.”

  “No,” she said lightly. “I’ve grown fond of tea since moving here. Cracks me up that they drink it iced even in the dead of winter.”

  “Staple of the South,” he said, pulling a large plastic pitcher with a lid out of the bag. “Usually it’s black tea. I have this friend from China who told me that green tea has healing properties. It also clears away some of the fogginess from the drugs.”

  “I’ve heard that, too.” She’d forgotten about his injuries. Except for a small limp, he didn’t seem to be in much pain. But she’d met plenty of marines and she knew how tough they were. If he had to take drugs, the injuries were severe. The journalist in her wanted to know specifics, but it would wait.

  “Before we eat, would you like to see the house? Actually, most of it is my uncle Todd’s taste. But I have a few touches here and there.”

  “I like the stonework on the outside mixed with the pale brick. It blends into the rocky hills behind the house.”

  “Yes, that was one of his ideas—for it to blend into the landscape. Though, I think it’s kind of fun that he added a Gothic touch with some of the windows and the roof alignment.

  “Did you know my uncle? I mean, you’ve been gone awhile, but before?”

  “I didn’t know him. I probably heard his name around town, but I wasn’t much interested in the newspaper when I was a kid. And some might say I was a little self-absorbed back then. I like to say, I was a teenager.”

  They laughed.


  She took him through the family area where Harley plopped down on her sofa. The television was on Animal Planet, which seemed to be the dog’s favorite along with anything on PBS.

  He smiled. “She’s made herself at home there.”

  “Oh, that couch is hers. I even had them put extra down in it and then had that wrapped in plastic and an outdoor fabric. Great Danes have joint and bone aches most of their lives. I wanted Harley to have a soft place to rest. Just a minute, I need to change the channel for her.”

  Picking up the remote, she set it on one of the PBS Nova specials. Harley grunted her agreement.

  She’d learned about the dog’s television preferences earlier in the day when she’d sat with her at her former home. If Macy tried to watch a channel Harley didn’t like, the dog would voice her displeasure.

  Not that she was spoiled or anything.

  The house was a Texas T shape. The various hallways fed into the center area, which was the main entertaining space. “Down that hall are two bedrooms. There’s another guest bedroom down that hall—” she pointed “—and the master bedroom and study are down that hall,” she said.

  It didn’t seem appropriate to take him to the bedrooms. “There’s a loft upstairs with two more bedrooms. But it isn’t really worth the trip up. Let me show you the study. There are a lot of Civil War antiques in there. My uncle was a collector.” The rest of the house had been furnished in rich warm tone-on-tone colors. It was a comfortable place to relax at the end of the day. The only room that was slightly feminine was the master bedroom and bathroom, which Macy had decorated.

  Macy opened the door to the study and smiled when Blake muttered, “Woooee. This is a museum.”

  His eyes traveled over the glass cases filled with small items and guns from various Civil War battles.

  She’d had the estate appraised and this room alone was worth a couple of million. The study had been outfitted with special equipment that would protect it from fire and anything else Mother Nature might throw at it. The whole house was a bunker of sorts, concrete surrounded by stone. The windows could withstand an F-5 tornado. That was good because in this part of the country hurricanes and tornados happened at least once or twice a year.

  “I don’t have the heart to auction off these things. Other than the newspaper, this was my uncle Todd’s only passion. I can feel his spirit in here, and I just can’t let go of his stuff.”

  Blake blew out a whistle. “I’m no expert, but even I know this is one incredible collection. There are people who’d pay big money for it, but I understand how you feel. My dad collected baseball caps and cards. We still have an entire wall of his hats, some are from teams that no longer exist, and a few are hats his dad had given to him. There’s an original Yankees cap in the bunch, but my mom hides that one when her friends come over.

  “It was never even a question if we’d keep them. And I feel the same way about them, as you do.”

  She smiled. “Sounds like you really loved your dad.”

  Flipping off the light switch, he followed her out the door and to the kitchen.

  “Has the interview started?” His voice had changed and he sounded as if he suspected her of trying to get him to talk about his past.

  “No. Mere curiosity. I thought I’d feed you before grilling you.” She winked at him.

  “Then, yes. My dad was a hero to my brother and me. He’s the reason I went into the military, albeit he was air force. He was a pilot until he decided to retire and help Mom with the feed store. He was a tough old goat, and my brother and I didn’t get away with much when we were kids.”

  “I met your mom when I first arrived. I had to get a lawn mower and other gardening tools.”

  He chuckled.

  She served up the bowls of stew. “Your mother found me frowning as I checked out the lawn mowers. She dug around in her pockets and handed me a card that had the number of a teenager who does yards. Her exact words were, ‘He’s a good kid. For four acres it’ll be about a hundred dollars a week. If he tries to charge you more, tell him I’ll knock him upside the head.’”

  Blake laughed. “Yep, that’s my mom.”

  “I loved her. She was one of the few people who was genuinely kind to me. I’d heard Texans are a friendly bunch. And, okay, everyone has been nice to my face. But I get the strangest looks. And as I mentioned earlier, they haven’t been exactly welcoming.”

  He carried both of the bowls to the other end of the counter where there were stools and place settings. “Like I said earlier, soon someone will move to town and then you’ll be one of the gang. Just give them more time.”

  She smiled. “My friend Cherie told me the same thing. I’m not sure why it bothers me so much. I never knew any of my neighbors when I lived in New York, Paris or anywhere in the Middle East. Most of the time I lived out of hotels.”

  At the mention of hotels, his jaw tightened. She’d read what she could find on him, and knew that he’d been in Africa when he sustained his injuries. He was protecting a visiting American ambassador there. He and most of his men were hit by enemy fire, but they’d saved the ambassador and other dignitaries that day. The soldiers had earned Purple Hearts.

  “Don’t be too worried about it,” he interrupted her thoughts. “Small-town life isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be. Eventually, you feel like a part of the community when everyone knows your name. It can be a wonderful thing, or a curse.” His eyebrow rose.

  “A curse?” It hadn’t been that bad.

  “Oh, yes. And especially if a certain high school girl’s dad finds you in the barn with her, um, counting hay straws. He calls your dad, who gives you the I’m-disappointed look in front of the entire town when he finds you later at Lucky Chicken Burger sharing a box with your friends.” He looked to the heavens. “People still talk about how he watched as my mom dragged me out by my ear. One of the most embarrassing days of my life.”

  She nearly sputtered her stew, she laughed so hard. “I can’t imagine your mother doing that. She talks so highly of you. She’s so proud.”

  “Now she is. That day, not so much. I was grounded for six weeks after that and wasn’t allowed to go on dates alone with a girl until I left for college. If we didn’t go in a group, I wasn’t given permission to go. I had to write letters of apology to the girl, her parents, my parents and our minister.”

  He shook his head as she started to laugh again. “Sure, it sounds funny, but back then—my friends and my brother never let me forget it. I ran away to college so fast, it was no joke. Joined the marines to help pay for my bachelors and MBA.

  “I was determined I would never come back to this place, but I’m a mama’s boy. I probably shouldn’t admit that. I missed her and dad so much by the end of that first semester, I hitched a thousand miles to get home by Christmas Eve. Of course, my mom read me the riot act because I could have been killed on the road.”

  “Still, I bet she was glad to see you.”

  He nodded. “It wasn’t long after that my dad got sick. So I was grateful we had that Christmas together.”

  A chunk of carrot caught in her throat as she watched the memories pass across his face. There’d been a deep family love there. She envied him that. He grew silent.

  She swallowed and had a drink of tea. “My parents traveled a lot for their jobs. We didn’t get to have many holidays together. I kind of envy you that.”

  “What did they do?”

  “Journalists. My mom wrote for magazines, my dad was on air for different TV affiliates.”

  “Are they still at it?”

  Macy bit her lip. “No. They were killed in a small-plane crash on their way to report on a new orphanage in India. Happened about eight years ago. Uncle Todd was my last living relative. It’s just me now.”

  Blake frowned. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to b
ring up such painful memories.”

  She patted his arm. Her fingers tingled from the contact. “You didn’t. We were talking about family. I just wish I had what you had and have with your mom. I believe the world would be a better place if more parents were like yours.

  “I’m lucky that I have great friends all over the world. They helped me when I lost my parents. I was doing an internship in Bosnia with a newspaper and the military guys I’d been following arranged for me to get a flight home on one of their transports. One of them even flew with me and stayed until Uncle Todd could get to the base. I never forgot that. Kevin Donaldson was his name. He had two kids and a wife who adored him. Anytime I was stateside, they insisted on me coming to visit.

  “Wow. Look at me telling you my whole life story. Who is interviewing whom, here? I never talk to anyone like this.”

  He winked at her. “It’s the green tea. Has mystical properties in it.”

  They both laughed.

  “Do you want another bowl?”

  “Sure. The stew is good. I miss home cooking.”

  She handed him another full bowl and shoved the plate of French bread at him so he could reach it. “I—I did some digging. As I mentioned, I’ve covered the military for years for various assignments. I know you can’t tell me exactly what happened, although I do know about the ambassador. That’s a matter of public record. And that you guys saved him and the others who were investigating the ammunitions camp someone had discovered in the Congo.”

  “You have done your research.” His voice was guarded again.

  “I don’t want to ask you anything I know you can’t answer. What I would like to know is how it happened. Several of your men were hit, but luckily everyone survived.”

  He sat his spoon in the bowl and stared down at it.

  “Some were luckier than others,” he whispered.

  Her brow furrowed. “Do you mean the injuries?”

  “Yes, and the nightmares. Some of us are having a tough time letting go what happened there.”

  “What did happen?”