Page 62 of Securing Samantha

“I’m excited to see you too, son. But always listen to your mother. A good soldier always listens to their leader,” he admonished his son. “I think you know what you need to do next.”

“A man apologizes when he does something wrong,” LJ repeated.

“Don’t tell me, go make your apologies to your mum,” Whiskey nodded toward her.

LJ’s arms went around her waist, “I’m sorry, Mom. I’ll stay beside you next time.”

“Thank you, I accept your apology.” She ran her hands down his back as she smiled toward Whiskey. Her eyes roamed over him, taking in the changes since she last saw him. He put on weight. His cheeks held color. His hair and beard appeared neatly trimmed. He wore jeans and a navy-blue dress shirt. Her mouth suddenly felt dry.

He walked toward her, and she raised her eyes to his face.

“Did you want to ride in the back?” he softly asked.

She realized he held the door open behind her. “No. You can visit with LJ.”

She slid up front with Shadow, and they made their way to Serenity Mountain. She kept her focus on the scenery outside the window, yet her mind drifted to the man sitting behind her. She swallowed hard and listened to the melodic voice talking to her son. The voice soothed her like no other. Suddenly spending Christmas on Serenity Mountain didn’t feel like such a great idea. She shoved the voice from her head and thought of Bryan. The stable, secure, man who cared for her and her son. Then why did she wish his name was Whiskey?

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

Kassie opened the door and squealed as she ran to the porch and embraced her in a hug. She missed this. Chase grabbed a bag, and they entered the house. LJ immediately disappeared after he endured hugs from Aunt Kassie and a fist bump with Uncle Chase before Em took his hand and led him upstairs with Rollo following behind.

Hope ran up to Whiskey and sat down.

“Oh my gosh, she’s grown in such a small amount of time. Do you know yet if she’ll make service dog training?” She knelt to the ground and started to pet the beautiful dog. “Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t ask. I know better too, LJ read a book about service dogs and how important it is to not distract them from their tasks while they’re working.”

“She’s started training, she made great progress, and you didn’t do anything wrong. She’s a beauty and deserves an extra pet now and then. She’ll have free time when she’s not working too. She and Rollo play together, and he often keeps her company while I work.” Whiskey told her.

“You have a job? I’m sorry, that sounded rude. The flight bounced with turbulence, and I think it has me befuddled. You decided to go back to work?” She straightened and pulled her coat off.

“I work with the team. I manage the facility. I handle the new recruit training, negotiate contracts for the team, and I helped Chase organize his first PTSD group at the hospital. I’m the liaison between the team and the facility. We pulled a couple of patients when they made it to the cabin subdivision and gave them jobs. In fact, I better head back. Let LJ know I’ll pick him up after dinner. Let me know when you’re done, and I’ll drop by.” Whiskey turned to leave.

“Whiskey, we’re eating at eighteen hundred sharp, come for dinner,” Kassie called.

He nodded his head at Kassie then in her direction. Chase joined the men out on the front porch. Kassie handed her a glass of wine. “Doesn’t he look good?”

“Yeah. He does.” Samantha sat at the kitchen table and took a healthy swig of the drink.

“He’s working incredibly hard. I swear I can barely get him over here for a meal, he’s always got something going on. Leo says he’s become invaluable at the office. I can’t believe the difference in him.” Kassie watched her friend.

“It sounds like it,” she muttered softly. Relief filled her at his improvement. She licked her lips as she recalled him holding her at the airport. When his hand slid to her back to maneuver her through the crowd, a shiver went through her body as his thumb gently massaged her back to soothe her anxiety over her son’s disappearance. She felt every place his hand touched even through her winter coat. She didn’t remember feeling Bryan’s hand the way she had Whiskey’s.

“Whiskey counted the days for LJ’s arrival. It sounds like he spent time planning fun activities for the two of them.” Kassie set a plate of vegetables, crackers, and dip in the middle of the table. She returned to pull plates from the cabinet.

Samantha smiled. The joy for LJ at Whiskey’s involvement seemed clouded by confusion. Whiskey obviously put work into himself. He went out of his way to make the most of his time with LJ. He took pride in his new job. Why did she feel cheated and betrayed because he didn’t put the same effort into their marriage and learning about her as her husband?

“I’m happy you get to stay for Christmas. Your room is down here, and I put LJ in with Em. We made a play fort for them to sleep in. Chase and I gotta cover a shift tonight from twenty-three hundred hours to oh three hundred. I know you just arrived, but I hate for Maddie to traipse through the snow to stay with them and you’re already here. Do you mind? Two of my nurses caught the flu and two flew home to celebrate the holidays with family. We aren’t at full capacity, but we’ll be accepting four teens and filling the rest of the veteran rooms. We’re beyond excited.” Kassie chatted while she checked the stove and poured herself a glass of wine.

“How’s the IVF treatments going? I know it a personal question, if you don’t want to discuss it, I won’t be offended,” she sympathetically told her friend.

Kassie rolled her eyes. “Living in a small town requires you to give up keeping anything a secret. We start back up in January. I took a bit of a break. I agreed to try three more rounds and then we’ll consider other options.” Her friend announced her decision, but Samantha heard the hurt behind her voice. She took her hand.

“What options did you decide on?” Samantha asked quietly.

“We decided on surrogacy, but the more I mulled it over, I’m leaning toward adoption. Maybe not a baby, we discussed a child around Em’s age.” A tear rolled down her cheek.

“Oh, Kassie.” She lent her friend silent support.

Kassie pulled a tissue from her pocket. “Don’t worry about me. My emotions run all over the place. I love Catherine and can’t wait for their baby to arrive. We need to plan the baby shower date while you’re here.” She reminded Samantha. “It’s hard some days, watching her show and she glows. Please don’t say anything. I don’t want her to feel bad. She wears bulky clothes to conceal her baby bump as it is. I don’t want to steal her joy. I’m excited for her and Leo.” She poured more wine into her glass and then Samantha’s. “How’s Bryan?”

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