Fate (27 page)

I heard something similar the last time I
saw her
. But it wasn’t clear
,
so I didn’t want to mention anything until I knew for sure. This time there was no doubt. They had a gathering for Uncle Sal. Of course pops said I had to go.
W
hen Rose showed up
,
Sofie asked her about her boyfriend and how come she hadn’t brought him around yet. She looked right at me before responding because I
was
staring a hole through her forehead. I actually held my breath for you
,
B
ro, hoping she’d deny it or maybe Sofie was just teasing. But she said he was working
,
and he’d be there next time for sure. Then Sofie said he’d better because it wasn’t fair that
Rose had
been seeing him for months now and no one but Sal and Grace ha
d
met him yet.

After reading it for the last time and feeling the dull ache that had been ever present since the first time he’d read it over a week ago, he set the letter on fire. No wonder she hadn’t
responded
to any of his letters. Of all the reasons he’d played out in
h
is head why she hadn’t responded even to the letter that explained it all
,
he’d never even considered that she’d moved on and was already seeing someone else
.

Just like every time he’d read it before
,
he felt sick to his stomach. He’d been so certain because he felt it every time he’d been with her—every time he’d looked into those beautiful eyes. She’d assured him she’d never be with anyone else.
T
here’d been no doubt in his heart, not for a moment, that there was any way she could be over him yet. He wasn’t even close to being over her
,
p
robably never would be. It hurt like
hell
that she’d not only begun to just see someone else she had a fucking boyfriend
,
and she’d apparently been with him
for months
.

The letter couldn’t have come at a better time. The reason he’d been thinking of taking time to see her was because he’d been assigned to a new base. He wanted things between them squared away before he started working—wanted to know their future started now. He’d waited long enough
,
and as doubtful as it seemed
,
something deep in his heart had told him all along that once he explained
,
everything would be al
l
right.

Because he’d excelled in tactical firearms training
,
he’d been given his choice to be based out of San Diego helping conduct the tactical training there. It was a great opportunity. He’d move up in the ranks and eventually head the trainings
,
or he could volunteer to be deployed to Iraq.

Up until that letter it had been a no brainer. He’d head back and beg Rose on his knees if he had to
,
but this changed everything.
H
e
would
be forced to attend any and all Moreno family functions now. After everything they’d done for him
,
how could he refuse? As much as he knew there’d be hell to pay if he caused any trouble at one of their gatherings, he was certain his reaction to seeing her with someone else would be just that—trouble.

“There you are, Moreno.” Will smiled as he walked toward
him
then looked down at the burning paper. “What’s with y’all burning letters around here?” He walked up closer and stepped on some of the ashes that had begun to blow away. “You’re the second guy I
’ve
see
n
doing that this week.”

Vince glanced up at his friend’s smiling face. Will hadn’t been given a choice. He’d be deployed to Iraq in a few weeks. He’d been happy about Vince getting his first choice of bases
,
but Vince could tell after all they’d been through
,
he was hoping Vince might actually choose to go to Iraq with him. “Guess who’s going to Iraq?”

Will’s eyes opened wide. “You’re joshing?”

Smiling
,
but not feeling the least bit of contentment, Vince nodded. “Well, it’s not a one
-
hundred
-
percent thing
,
but I’m letting them know as soon as I can that I changed my mind about San Diego.”

Will’s smile flattened. “Anything you wanna talk about?”

After months of holding it all in, Vince finally opened up and told his bunk mate a little about Rose. Of course he’d been drinking at the time
,
and he was feeling particularly pissed that she still hadn’t responded to any of his letters. Drunk or not
,
it felt good to finally let some of it out and not just on paper like he did with Lorenzo. Even with Lorenzo he never actually told him just how bad he was hurting. He was afraid his brother might take matters in his own hands and try to fix things himself.

Will was now the only other person who knew how much suffering Vince had gone through because of Rose. Vince shrugged
,
feeling choke
d
up but refusing to let it show
,
so he looked away before speaking.

“She’s got another man now.”

At first Will said nothing then he cleared his throat. “You sure about that?”

Vince nodded. “Yep, my brother heard her talking about him. It’s been months.” He stopped talking because his voice nearly betrayed him
,
and he was suddenly wishing he hadn’t said anything. He refused to even look at Will
,
now afraid he’d see just how deeply this affected him. Vince had always known he’d been at Rose’s mercy. He just had no idea how badly it would hurt to finally accept that he’d lost her.

Since he first read the letter
,
he’d held all he was feeling in
,
and now the boulder
-
sized knot lodged in his throat threatened to explode. Feeling the pain and scorching jealousy inundate him
,
he stepped on what was left of the ashes on the ground. Someone else was now kissing the lips he thought were his forever.

After months of holding on to the hope that their love would withstand even a separation like this, all the hope he had lay on that ground with the rest of the ashes. The last of the remaining uncharred pieces of paper lifted with a gust of wind and blew away with
them
the last
ounce of self
-
preservation
that
he’d held onto so firmly those last few weeks.

He’d wanted nothing more tha
n
to do everything right—anything that would get him back to Rose as soon as possible. Now an angry rebellion began a slow boil inside him.

Will spoke now
,
and as usual he went on and on—words of encouragement. Something about maybe once Vince got back from Iraq
,
Rose would be single again
—how
this might be just a rebound guy. None of that mattered to Vince. He’d been slowly dying since he’d been away from Rose. He’d never considered himself a weak person
,
but he had to concede now the only thing that’d kept him going all this time was his belief that her love for him was as perpetual as his was for her
,
and like him
,
she’d never move on. But she had
…
months ago.

Just like that she’d snuffed
out
any desire or reason at all to return home. Even Lorenzo had straightened out and would be graduating from school soon. He didn’t need Vince anymore either. He’d be fine without him.
Vince decided to
keep his thought
s
to himself
from now on
because Will was the epitome of optimism.
Vince would go to Iraq now, b
ut at this point
he
didn’t care if he ever came back.

Then Will let him in on something that he hadn’t mentioned before
,
“Me and Missy Anne broke up before I enlisted.”

Vince stared at him. All this time
,
the way Will spoke of her
,
he acted like everything was just fine between them. “I was an idiot. Her pa had been trying to set her up with some friend of the family for years
:
a
real cowboy who owns a cattle ranch and everything
,
t
he kind of man her dad thought she deserved
,
not some trailer trash hick like me. I wasn’t even allowed to come over
to
her place.” Will pulled off his hat and scratched his head. “The whole time she assured me she loved me and didn’t care what her pa wanted—she wanted
me
—she loved
me
. Then one weekend
,
things got kinda weird. I couldn’t get a hold of her all weekend. When I finally did
,
I found out her family had some big weekend thing at their ranch
,
and that fella her pa had been trying to set her up with was there all weekend.” He shook his head. “I’ll tell you, Vince. I saw red. I was so hot I yelled and cursed like she’d never heard me curse before. Then I went and did the stupidest thing that week and enlisted.” He chuckled. “Yeah, I showed them.”

“Is she with that guy now?”

“Nope,” Will shook his head very confidently. “We’ve been writin’
,
and she swears she wants nothing to do with him
,
but she’s pissed at me
:
p
issed that I up and just left her. She says she misses me something awful
,
and she’s not sure she can ever forgive me. I got some fightin’ to do when I get back home
,
and I intend on doing so. A girl like Missy Anne is worth fighting for. And from what I’ve heard you
say,
I think your Rose is too.” He shrugged. “Just think about it before making any rash decisions.”

Vince had thought about it. He’d thought about it a lot
,
and while he did agree that Rose was worth fighting for,
he
and Will were real different when it came to a few things. If
he
found out Rose had
spent
an entire weekend with another dude…Vince fisted his hand just thinking about it. There would’ve been a lot more than just yelling and cursing.
In
this case
,
it wasn’t just some guy her family was trying to fix her up with who she wasn’t interested in
,
t
his was her fucking boyfriend. There’d be no way
,
n
o way in
hell
he’d be able to handle being around that. His mind was made up. Iraq
would be a cakewalk
in comparison.

PART 2

Rose

Now
…

Staring at the
sparkling silver bracelet around her wrist
,
Rose sat in the waiting room of the small clinic lost in thought. For the millionth time she thought of the events leading up to Vincent’s departure. For a long time she’d been angry at herself for having let Ben hug her
,
knowing how angry that would make Vincent. She was certain that had something to do with Vincent going to see Anita the night she told him. Maybe he was trying to get back at her—upset her the way she’d upset him
,
and then
something went horribly wrong.

That infamous hug
—s
he’d replayed it so many times in her head
—h
ad it really led to all this? It had been so quick and natural
,
and Ben had hugged everyone. It would’ve been awkward to be the only one to balk at it
,
so it just felt easier to do so quickly and get it over with. Of course he’d been his same flirtatious self
,
asking immediately even in front of Candace if
Rose
was free to make out or what? As usual he’d been playing
,
but she still made sure to explain she absolutely wasn’t and that she and Vincent were
,
in fact
,
still very much together.