Embattled Minds (Military Romance) (Lost And Found Series) (15 page)

When he caught sight of John Palmer through the crowd, he snorted with laughter and tugged Ember toward him.

Zeke’s hard-ass, second in command boss, former Marine Gunnery Sergeant, wore a Grinch hat, complete with hairy tassel and scowl. Ember giggled and held out her hand. “I’m Ember.”

“John Palmer, aka, The Grinch.” His hard dark eyes scanned her face. “Zeke take care of whoever did that to you?”

Ember’s cheeks turned a little pink, but she nodded. Zeke swallowed heavily. John didn’t even hesitate in his assumption that he would step up and do what needed doing.

The faith from one of the men he respected most at the Agency floored him.

When he first started at LNF, he knew he was more fuck-up than actual help, but they’d given him time to settle into a slot he could manage and do well in. They’d accommodated his shortcomings, and used his determination to get the job done right to their advantage. Loyalty had been earned on both sides.

It meant the world to him that he belonged to such a great group of guys.

Chad joined them and held a cookie out to Drew, who hadn’t left Ember’s side. “Here you go, little man.”

Drew looked up at Ember’s nod of permission, then quickly snatched the cookie from the man’s hand. “Thank you!”

“You’re welcome. There’s more in the kitchen.”

Ember laughed in embarrassment as her son ate the treat in three bites, then headed for more.

“Maybe you shouldn’t have told him where they are.”

Chad shrugged and ate his own cookie. “He’s not going to hurt anything here. Let him have fun. Mind if I talk to Zeke a minute?”

Ember smiled and shook her head, and he was struck with how right it felt to have her here. She didn’t seem shocked by anybody’s appearance, or look at them with pity. She wandered over to the couch and sat down with Shannon. The two of them were laughing almost immediately, and he grinned.

“Hellooo…”

Zeke snapped his head around to Chad. “Sorry, buddy.”

Chad shook his head sadly. “Dude, you are so whipped.”

He frowned. “N-no, I’m not.”

“You look at her as if she hung the moon.”

Zeke shrugged uncomfortably, not so sure that she hadn’t. “I’m enjoying b-b-being with her. A l-lot, actually.”

Chad had his head cocked to the side and a funny look on his face. “Do you love her?”

For a long moment, he couldn’t answer, because his heart clutched in his chest. “Yeah, I think I do.”

“What did she say when you told her about the surgery? She’ll be there, right?”

Zeke looked away from his best friend’s face. “I d-d-didn’t tell her.”

“What? Why the hell not?”

“Because sh-sh-she’s been through a l-l-lot this week. I’m not going to freak her out by r-r-r-, telling her all the damn statistics about the dangers involved with this one. I’ll tell her when I’m in recovery and I’ve made it through. Assuming she even sticks around.”

Chad shook his head sadly. “Dude, you’re going about this wrong. She’d going to be so pissed at you.”

Zeke shifted uncomfortably, second thinking his decision. “I-if I tell her now, all sh-she’ll do is w-w-worry. And if she sticks around afterwards, maybe I actually mean something to her.”

Chad seemed unconvinced, shaking his head from side to side. Zeke didn’t like disappointing his buddy, but he felt strongly about this. He didn’t know if she felt the same way he did. They’d only been hanging out for a few days. He
thought
he meant something to her. If he threw her into the deep end of his recovery, though, she’d probably bug out, just like he’d seen many other women do when they couldn’t handle their soldiers’ trials. “You can call her when I make it out. I’ll give you her number.”

Frowning, Chad didn’t argue with him any more, but Zeke could tell he’d disappointed him.

*****

Ember watched the two men talking and wondered what put that irritated look on each of their faces. Zeke looked stubborn, with his heavy arms crossed and jaw clenched. She’d never seen him look so…unyielding. Chad looked up and caught her gaze, then looked away guiltily.

Hm. What wasn’t Zeke telling him?

She debated crossing the room, then thought not. Chad had asked to speak to Zeke privately. Maybe it didn’t even concern her.

She glanced at Shannon. The Grinch had rolled over in his wheelchair to ask her a question, and there was such a connection in the look they shared. As if the room could fall away around them and they wouldn’t even notice. The man seemed so intense, dark eyes flaring with emotion when he looked at her. Shannon seemed to relish his attention. They were obviously very much in love. When Palmer rolled away, Shannon’s eyes followed him until he disappeared into the kitchen.

Ember couldn’t help but admire what they had.

“How long have you guys been together?” she asked.

Shannon glanced at her and grinned. “Not nearly long enough,” she laughed. “Sorry. We’ve officially been a couple about two months, but I’ve been mooning over him for a lot longer than that.”

Ember laughed along with her. “You guys seem to fit very well. I thought you’d been together longer.”

“Nope,” Shannon sighed, “we’ve just been through a lot of crap in a short amount of time.” She waved her hand as if it weren’t important. “Tell me about you and Zeke.”

Ember shrugged uncomfortably. “He’s been coming into the grill I run with my dad in the Flat Irons Mall area, and he caught my eye. I’ve been dealing with some crap, myself,” she waved a hand at her fading bruises, “and he stepped in to help Drew and I out.”

“Ah, yeah, the Marine thing,” she gave her a knowing smile. “You might as well get used to it now because he’ll never change.”

Shannon was a great listener, and within no time Ember had poured out the entire story, and how they were dealing with the fallout this week.

“You did what you needed to do,” Shannon said finally. “You can’t mess with PTSD. We’ve heard too many stories about how quickly the whole situation can go bad. I bet your father’s buddy who committed suicide had untreated PTSD.”

Ember sank back against the couch, propping her arm on the back. “You’re probably right. I never thought about it to make the connection.”

“The government has gotten better about recognizing it and treating it, but they’re so understaffed right now that there’s a backlog of service men waiting to get the help they need.” She shook her head, making the bell on her hat tinkle. “It’s very sad.”

Ember agreed, and hoped her dad actively took part in the treatment and appreciated the result.

Palmer rolled into the room with her son on his lap. Drew concentrated on holding a little gray cat in his arms and didn’t look up until they stopped at the couch.

“Mom, look! Guess what her name is? Gray Cat. This is John’s cat but he said I could hold her.”

Shannon grinned as she looked at the man over Drew’s head. “He said the cat was his, huh?”

Palmer winked at her.

Ember urged her son down. “Let me see.”

The kitten didn’t care who held her and loved being the center of attention. She was bigger than kitten size but not quite full grown. “Gray Cat, huh?”

Shannon directed a raised-eyebrow look at the Grinch, who scowled. “What? She likes her name. It’s easy to remember.”

Drew looked at John and nodded his dark head. “That’s what I would have named her, too.”

They all laughed.

Ember appreciated being included in such a great group of people. Zeke joked around with his buddies and seemed more relaxed than ever. When Shannon stepped away to greet someone at the door, Ember walked across to Zeke. He was talking to a more mature, muscular man with short gray hair near the fireplace.

“Ember, this is Duncan Wilde. The man who create LNF.”

Ember shook the man’s hand, excited to meet him. “Zeke has said wonderful things about you and the company. What a wonderful environment you’ve created.” She made a motion at the men standing and sitting around them, laughing and joking.

Duncan looked around with a nod, but seemed a little sad. “It was needed. It’s very nice to meet you as well, Ember.”

When they walked out John and Shannon’s door that night, she felt very content and more secure in her relationship with Zeke. He’d taken a chance by bringing her to the party. She kind of felt it had been a test to see how she reacted to the men and their injuries. Or something. She wasn’t sure exactly.

Zeke carried a snoozing Drew out to the truck and buckled him into the seat. Ember’s throat tightened with emotion as she watched the big man manipulate the straps carefully over her son. Then he held the door open for her to climb in. She slid across the seat but turned to face him. Zeke climbed in and started the truck, letting it warm.

“I wanted you to know,” she whispered, “that I loved meeting the people you work with.”

He smiled at her. “They’re more than just p-p-people I work with. They’re my friends and family.”

“I can see that,” she nodded. “You’re lucky to have that with your actual family so far away.”

He nodded and scraped his hand through his hair. “I need to go back to see them. It’s just hard being under sc-ru-ru-ru…they watch me like a hawk. And it makes me more nervous.”

She raised a brow. “You may have to tell them that.”

He frowned, adjusting the heater vents. He pulled a post-it note pad and pen from the dash cubby. “It’s easier just not to deal with it, sometimes.”

“Granted, but it’s your family. Whether you like it or not.”

He scribbled a note on the post-it sheet and dug his wallet from his back pocket. She watched him place the note in the center of the fold, on top of a stack of older notes. He glanced up at her and shrugged. “I have to keep track of words that give me trouble. When I go to my counseling sessions, we go over the words. Most of the time I can see them and hear them in my brain perfectly, know what they mean, I just can’t spit it out.”

“Wow. Do the doctors know why not?”

He shrugged and put his wallet away. “Something got screwed up in my brain.”

Shifting into gear, he pulled away from he house. Ember stretched the seat belt across her body and snicked it shut. “Shannon is awesome. And John is hilarious. They suit each other very well.”

Zeke shook his head, laughing. “They haven’t been a c-couple very long. John was a…n-not very happy guy a few months ago, but Shannon has really ch-chilled him out.”

“They just needed to find each other.”

“Apparently.”

The drive back to Ember’s apartment was quiet and companionable. Zeke parked and carried Drew inside for her. They pulled his boots and jacket off, then she directed him to just lay the child in his bed. It was a little early for bedtime, but he was obviously worn out. Too many hours chasing Gray Cat.

Ember thought they were just going to relax, but when Zeke came out of Drew’s bedroom, he made his excuses and headed to the door. Ember was a little hurt. They’d just had a wonderful afternoon, and she’d been looking forward to an even better evening, but apparently not.

Zeke pressed a lingering kiss to her lips and backed through the doorway. “I’ll call you.”

Ember waved a hand, at a loss as to what she’d done to chase him off so fast.

Well, I was pretty clingy
. But then, he had been too. He’d never let go of her until Chad had asked to talk. Maybe he just had to regroup and figure some things out.

*****

Shannon sighed happily as she crawled into bed that night. The party had gone wonderfully. No stress, just a group of friends getting together to celebrate the holiday.

John’s wheels squeaked into the room. “Everything’s locked up. That damn cat was curled up in the hallway closet, underneath a coat. I wouldn’t have known if I didn’t see her tail sticking out.”

“Probably recovering after all the excitement,” she laughed. Rolling up onto her side, she watched as he undressed. “Ember’s little boy carried her around for hours.”

John nodded and rolled into the bathroom.

“What did you think of Ember?” he called out.

“I think she was very nice. Calm and put together. It was her father who gave her those bruises.”

John backed into the doorway enough to see her. “Are you serious?”

She nodded. “She filed charges, though, and he’s going to get the counseling that he needs. He was a Marine in Vietnam.”

John scowled and disappeared into the bathroom again. She heard water running and splashing in the sink, and her body began to warm. He would be crawling in beside her in a minute, and she could do with him as she pleased.

He rolled into the room and hoisted himself up into the bed. Shannon had offered to get a lower bed when he moved in, but he’d refused. She was glad, because it allowed her to watch the interplay of his substantial six-pack every night as he came to her.

She shifted over to give him room to stretch, then curled in against him with her hand over his belly.

“Zeke will watch over her now.”

She nodded against him. “Did you see them looking at each other? It was almost electric. And she only had eyes for him.”

John’s long arm coasted down her side beneath the comforter. “And he looked like he couldn’t believe she was with him. I think the big man has fallen.”

“Hard,” she whispered. Her hand slipped down past his waist, but he stopped her.

“Hold on. I have one more gift for you to open.”

Shannon peered up at his face in the dim light. “You already got me too many things.”

John snorted. “I didn’t get you shit. Just trinket things because I didn’t know what else to get you.”

“But I loved them. You got my favorite perfume, and I love the purse.”

She felt him reaching at the side of the bed. He pulled out a little folded packet and held it out to her. Shannon sat up, crossing her legs, hooking the comforter around her shoulders. “What is it?”

He shoved it at her. “Just open it.”

Shannon couldn’t make sense of what it was at first. “Plane tickets?”

John rolled up onto his side, propping his head with his hand.

“To Cancun?” she gasped. She reread the papers over again, unable to contain a squeal. “Are you serious? A beach in the wintertime? Oh, John.”