Authors: Keary Taylor
Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #Romance, #Contemporary, #Contemporary Fiction, #Inspirational
I wake early that morning.
It’s still strange, walking up in what was always Mom and Dad’s bedroom, but it’s different.
The walls are no longer white.
They’re burnt orange and cream.
The pictures on the wall are different.
My things are scattered about.
And on the bedside table, is a picture of a soldier with badges on his chest.
I pull his picture into my hand and look him over.
I can’t help but smile as I do.
And just then, my phone dings with a text message.
About to get on another plane, but I’m in Dallas.
Be home in a few hours.
Lake.
I press my lips to my phone, a smile pulling at my lips.
“That must be a certain soldier,” Mom says from the doorway of the bedroom.
“No one else can make you smile like that.”
I cover my face with the picture frame in embarrassment.
“He’s in Dallas.”
“You’d better go get ready to greet your man,” she smiles.
I raise the flag after I get dressed.
For just a few minutes, I stand there.
I think of Dad.
Think of Cal.
And think of the soldier I’ll be seeing in just a few hours.
The red, white, and blue runs through my veins.
It may have broken my heart a few times, but it’s a part of who I am.
And I’m proud to be an American.
I feed the animals.
Bear and Chico run around my feet like they can feel the excitement and know Lake is coming home.
I shower and dry my hair.
Dab on a bit of make-up.
Pull on skinny jeans and some nice boots.
Put on a sweater and wrap a scarf around my neck.
Top it off with a knit cap.
Mom makes me lunch, though my nerves are too high to eat much.
She kisses me on the side of the head as I head out the door.
My heart flutters hard and fast as the miles between us close.
The traffic is intense at the airport on such a heavy travel day.
It’s hard to find parking, making anger and frustration rise in my blood.
Finally, I find a spot.
I wait by the baggage claim with a few other families.
I wonder if there will be any other soldiers coming home with Lake.
Probably.
They seem to deploy in waves.
I check my phone again as I wait.
Nothing.
Any minute now.
The plan was that I would pick Lake up, and then we’d head to his parents’ house to have dinner with the family.
Except for Kale, who’s been in Paris for weeks and won’t be able to get away for a few more.
His career has exploded.
He is
the
it
man in the modeling world right now.
For Christmas, he sent me this poster of himself.
He’s shirtless—of course—and it has his branch of the company plastered along the bottom of it:
Your Fantasy
.
His name, Kale McCain, stretches along both sides of it.
He signed it to me, saying something inappropriate and completely Kale.
I check my phone again, looking for any kind of text confirming that Lake is in.
The flight status board says he is.
And when I look up from my phone, there he is, coming down the escalator.
Emotion instantly stings the back of my eyes, but more than that, happiness explodes in me.
It erupts from every pore, putting a spring in my legs that launches me forward.
The second Lake sees me, his face breaks out into a smile, and it’s a brilliant thing that could change the world.
He barely steps off the escalator before I launch myself at him.
His skin is real, his lips are real.
The heat of him is real.
And he’s alive.
And I never want to part from him again.
My lips consume his and he drops his bag at his booted feet, his hands pressing into my lower back.
My hands hold his face to my lips and his tongue has a reunion with mine.
Everyone around us starts clapping and cheering.
It’s a perfect scene, a country girl reunited with her soldier.
I lean back so I can see his face, my legs still firmly wrapped around his hips.
I smile like a fool, and so does he.
“I love you,” I say.
The words threaten to explode from me with their truth.
“I love you so much, and I don’t ever want you to leave again.
Promise me you’ll stay and just love me.
Promise me that you’ll be mine.
Forever.”
A small little chuckle comes up his chest, but his eyes burn with sincerity and brightness.
He tucks a lock of hair behind my ear.
“I love you too, Riley James.
So damn much.
And I promise.
All of it.”
I lean forward and press my lips to his again, gently this time.
This is
my
soldier.
This is my helping hand and partner.
This is my man and my lover and my equal.
I’m going to marry this man someday.
Maybe not tomorrow, or in the spring, or next summer.
But someday.
I’m going to marry this man, and I’m going to have his babies.
And I’m going to love him to the end of our days and beyond.
Because we’ve both swum to the depths of the darkness.
And we’ve surfaced.
Together.
CATCH THE NEXT BOOK IN
THE
McCAIN
SAGA
Coming January 20, 2014
Did you miss
Drake and Kaylee
’s story?
Or
Sage and Julian
’s?
Catch up now!
ALSO BY KEARY TAYLOR
THE
McCAIN
SAGA
Playing it Kale (January 20, 2014)
FALL OF ANGELS
Afterlife: the novelette companion to Vindicated
THE EDEN TRILOGY
CONNECT WITH KEARY ONLINE AT
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KEARY TAYLOR
grew up along the foothills of the Rocky Mountains where she started creating imaginary worlds and daring characters
who
always fell in love.
She now splits her time between a tiny island in the Pacific Northwest and Utah with her husband and their two children.
She continues to have an overactive imagination that frequently keeps her up at night.
Please visit
www.KearyTaylor.com
to learn more about her and her writing process.