One Year to Forever (Halos & Horns Page 5

  “Bo McAllister. It’s nice to meet you, and Happy Thanksgiving.”

  “You too—”

  Niki cut off his reply with an ear-splitting screech as she jumped up and down. “The ballet? You got tickets to the ballet? I adore The Nutcracker. Oh thank you, thank you, Bo!”

  Bo caught her easily as she jumped in his arms. The room resonated with his deep laughter as he spun her in a circle. “You know I aim to please.”

  Tex stood by, watching the display with a growing sense of alarm burning in the pit of his belly. Mitch approached his side.

  “What’s going on in here?”

  Tex looked at his friend and cocked one eyebrow. “He scored some tickets to the ballet, something about cracking somebody’s nuts. Looks like it could be his. Who is this guy, anyway?”

  Mitch gave him a friendly shove into the kitchen once Meagan joined the noisy melee in the living room. “He’s Red McAllister’s first cousin, and he’s a hell of a nice guy, so don’t even think about giving him a hard time, or I’ll have to pull both Niki and Meagan off your ass.”

  Tex snorted. “Thanks bro … Semper fi to you, too.”

  Mitch gave him a casual shrug. “Hey, I told you to call her, but you had more important things to do. You remember, like that blonde pole dancer in Beaumont?”

  Tex hooked his thumbs in his belt loops and cocked his head. “Dude, do you have any idea what kind of muscles those girls use to hang upside down from those poles? That is some serious stuff, man, I shit you not.”

  Mitch raised one hand to shut him up. “Whatever, but you screwed up. Meagan warned you about her roommate’s low tolerance for jerks and assholes. She told me she even called you to let you know Niki was getting tired of waiting for you to call. You blew it.”

  “Well hell, I guess I did.” Tex leaned his shoulder against the door and crossed one booted foot over the other as he watched the adoration fest in the other room.

  Within seconds, Bo freed himself from the women and came over to meet the men in the kitchen. “Damn, something smells good in here. Did you deep fry that turkey?”

  “Sure did,” Mitch said, shaking Bo’s hand. “How you doing, man? You two been introduced?”

  “Yeah, before he brought out the big guns … ballet tickets,” Tex said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

  Bo grinned at him, his McAllister blue eyes sparkling with mischief. “Oh that?” He jerked his head toward the women, who were already making plans. “Merely a diversionary tactic. I told them I’d watch Buck if I could get them tickets for that ballet. I also knew the ballet was scheduled for the same night as the heavyweight prize-fight in Vegas. I figured while they’re at the ballet, we can be at my place watching the pay per view fight on my 70” flat screen. I ordered the fight today.”

  Mitch slapped him on the shoulder. “Good plan, Bo. Excellent plan!”

  Tex nodded, hating to agree, but unable to think of one damn reason not to.

  Corporal Ben Bonin sat on his bunk at Forward Operating Base Delhi, shoving gear into his duffle for the early morning drive to one of many Patrol Bases in their Area of Operation. Setting the stuffed pack aside, he dropped back onto the mattress and stretched out his long legs.

  He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, releasing it slowly. He pictured Haley as he’d seen her during last night’s Skype call. He’d finally managed to squeeze in a session to tell her Happy Thanksgiving, a few hours later than he’d planned to. Holidays were hell on the calls home. The room had buzzed with the activity of other jarheads waiting their turn to Skype. The hours of waiting paid off in spades.

  His first glimpse of her always took his breath away—big brown eyes sparkling with laughter, her luscious rose lips parted invitingly as she smiled to reveal adorable dimples. He could practically feel the soft silkiness of her hair gathered in his hands, cascading loosely between his fingers.

  Ben groaned, remembering again, that he may not see her in person for another six months. That is, if he saw her again. He had to face the fact that she may decide to move on before he finished his deployment. He’d already seen it with some of his buddies, heard them, witnessed them blowing off a little steam after getting a call or message from a girl to break it off with them.

  Even worse were the ones who had to hear the news from someone else, because some girls didn’t have the nerve to call off the relationship themselves. No “thanks for serving your country”, just drop the poor bastards and a big, fat thanks for nothing.

  He whispered the prayer that Haley would wait for him, the same one he’d said no less than fifty times since meeting her.

  Damn, but he had it bad for that girl. Quick witted and intelligent, she was easy as hell to talk to about anything and everything. During his time at home, he’d seen her every day, no less than sixteen hours a day, and sometimes more, thanks to her staying with her grandparents.

  They’d spent days together … fishing, boating, and kayaking at the river. Their nights had been filled with everything from late night bonfires to clubbing and dancing. He knew more about Haley than any other woman on the face of the earth, including his mom and sister. Ben couldn’t believe how well he’d come to know her during his short time off.

  And he still couldn’t believe his luck. Maybe God, or maybe his own intuition, he couldn’t be sure, but something told him he’d met Haley at the exact time he was meant to.

  The thought sliced through his mind like a double-edged blade, calling to mind a conversation he’d had with his grandfather before his first deployment. He’d been full of bravado, talking about kill shots and Taliban captures. His Pa Pa had given him this look, brimming with a combination of tremendous pride and absolute terror.

  He’d placed a hand on his grandfather’s shoulder. “I’ll be okay, Pa Pa.”

  The old man had nodded, blinked several times to clear his eyes, and pulled his grandson close for a hug. “I know you will, Benjamin. But I can’t help wishing you had a girl waiting for you at home.”

  Ben had searched his grandfather’s face for clues for the totally unexpected statement, came up completely dry, and finally asked why.

  “It might keep you more grounded. Keep you from taking any chances with your life.” He’d reached out to place a hand on his shoulder. “Or maybe keep you determined to come home … alive.”

  Donald King, the man Ben had spent so much time with over the years, had given his head a slow shake. “Because I can’t even imagine what I’d do if …” He’d stopped then, unable to finish.

  Ben imagined himself and his team in some life or death situation. Would knowing he had Haley waiting for him at home keep him more focused, make him more determined to come home to her—and not in a body bag?

  He pictured Haley’s face as he’d left her at the airport. Trying to be brave, trying not to cry in front of him, even though it crushed her when he had to walk away from her.

  He’d always looked up to his grandfather, had nothing but the utmost respect for the man who’d taken him fishing as a kid, loyally supported him in the stands through seasons of pee wee through high school sports. The man had always been there with advice, whether Ben wanted it or not, and unconditional love. He’d taught him so many things throughout the years. Even at Pa Pa Don’s advanced age, and with Alzheimer’s disease beginning to curl its ugly claws around him, the man was still teaching him.

  Ben realized his Pa Pa had hit the ball out of the park on this one. He’d do whatever was humanly possible to go home to Haley.

  So yeah, maybe she’d entered his life to keep him strong, focused, and determined to walk out of that shit hole, alive and well.

  The tension suddenly eased from his shoulders as he spoke in the semi-darkness of the tent. “Thank you,” he whispered to the God who’d seen fit to put her in his path.

  CHAPTER 4

  Mental Meanderings: A Girl and Her Marine

  “Looka here, Haley. You’ll get a kick outta this shit.”

  Haley
looked up from her math homework long enough to glance at the television station her brother had stopped on. She narrowed her eyes and released a huff of disgust. “Really? Women barrel racing wearing bikinis?” She shook her head. “It is sad the crap they’re passing off as reality television these days.”

  Matt laughed. “Well, I don’t know if the show qualifies as part of the Arts, but I’m willing to bet it’ll provide plenty of Entertainment.”

  She dropped her chin to her chest and quirked her right brow. “Please tell me you aren’t considering watching that trash.”

  He shrugged. “If they’re willing to ride a horse in a bikini, who am I to denounce their efforts to entertain the male species?”

  Haley sent her brother a disappointed glare. “Your brain cells are disappearing as we speak.”

  He frowned. “You’re mighty quick to judge, especially being you’ve never seen the show.”

  “When does it play?”

  His features lit up in a grin. “You want to watch it? See how you compare?”

  She flipped her hair and turned back to her homework. “No, to make sure I’m not home.”

  “Hater,” he spat, as she buried her nose in her book again.

  Another thirty minutes of laboring over her Ultrasound Physics book had her muttering barely audible curses at the people responsible for this particular subject. She slammed the book shut and rubbed her throbbing temples. Any more cramming would be useless in her frame of mind. Yet another three weeks with barely a word from Ben had her edgy and irritable, making it difficult to concentrate on much of anything.

  She pushed off from the sofa for a glass of water. Haley popped a pain reliever then stood at the window over her mom’s kitchen sink. Staring out into the back pasture, she watched her horse enjoying the few days of unseasonably warm December weather. It had actually gotten into the low 80’s the previous day, and the temperature wasn’t supposed to dip lower than the mid to high 70’s today. The horse ran back and forth along the fence line, kicking up her heels and flinging bits of mud as she ran.

  “I see you girl.” Haley headed out the back door, deciding that if she didn’t know what she needed to pass that test by now, she never would. This weather was too perfect to pass up the opportunity to wash the muck from her horse.

  Minutes later, she gripped the curry brush tighter, running the bristles over her mare’s thick winter coat, and then smoothed it down with the opposite hand. “There you go, girl. That feels good, doesn’t it?” She laughed as her horse closed her eyes and released a deep breath, standing stock-still. Dakota always seemed to be meditating during her beauty treatments.

  “You know, you’d stay a lot cleaner if you’d stop running through those patches of mud, you crazy horse.” Almost as an apology, Dakota lowered her head enough so that horse and owner touched foreheads for a moment. Haley laughed and smoothed Dakota’s muzzle. “Yeah, yeah. I know. You’re real sorry. Right up until you go out and do it again thirty minutes from now.” She jumped slightly at the sound of a throat clearing from behind her.

  “You know, one of these days, that animal will answer you back, and you’re gonna shit yourself.”

  Haley turned to her big brother. “She answers me back all the time, and it’s easy enough for me to translate.” Matty’s chuckle carried through the cool, damp December air of southeast Texas.

  “In horse talk, maybe, but as much as you pamper and converse with that animal, I’m surprised she hasn’t learned to speak English by now.”

  She kissed the soft nose of her four-legged friend and smiled. “Maybe one day, huh girl?”

  “Heard from your Marine lately?”

  Haley’s stomach flipped familiarly, as it did at any mention of Ben. “He called me yesterday. He leaves for a mission tomorrow night—or whenever the hell that is, our time.” As always, the thought of Ben facing danger thousands of miles away, filled her with a deep-seated dread. The ten and a half hour time difference unsettled her, drove home the fact that he was on the opposite side of the earth. She hated feeling useless, but there wasn’t a damn thing she could do to change the situation.

  “Now you see.”

  She stopped brushing Dakota long enough to face her brother. Haley didn’t have to ask. She knew Matt was referring to the fact that he’d never committed to a steady girlfriend during his entire time in the Corp. She’d dogged him mercilessly, but his answer had always been the same. “What good is it to have one extra person back home worrying about me? It’s bad enough when my family has to.”

  She nodded. “I do see, but I’d rather be worried about him here, than have him over there thinking there’s no one waiting for him to come home. Besides family, I mean.”

  Tex answered with a nod, accompanied by a low grunt. “Whatever works for you, sis. Have you met all of his family?”

  “Yes, I have.” She smiled, thinking of the entire network of supportive family members Ben had in Lake Erin, Louisiana and the surrounding areas. His mom and dad, two step-parents, his siblings—both blood and step, and that’s not to mention the myriad of grandparents and cousins in the area. “I spent a lot of time with him over there at family functions like barbeques and fish fries when he was in.” Haley thought of his mom and sister, with their bubbly personalities, and caught herself smiling. She glanced up and found Tex’s gaze zeroed in on her. “What?”

  Her big brother graced her with a surprisingly sincere smile. “They must be good people to share him with you during his trips home. I know that time is precious to them.”

  “They’re good people. I’ve even met his mom and sister for lunch at the Lake Coburn mall a few times since he left. We did some Christmas shopping together. His mom is so funny and sweet. She could barely talk about him without crying the first couple of weeks after he left.”

  He rested his large hand heavily on her bare head. “And you? How are you handling it?”

  She hitched one shoulder. “I’m okay. Trying to stay busy, you know? I mean, I only met him a little over three months ago, and he’s been gone for most of that time. But Matty, the time we had together…” She paused, not sure if he’d understand the point she wanted to make. “It was special. I feel as if I know him so much better than if I’d known him for years. I can’t explain it.”

  “You got the super-condensed Rosetta Stone version. The kind that packs this much information about a person—” He spread his arms wide. “—into this amount of time.” He brought his hands a few inches apart.

  “Yes.” She sent her brother a grateful smile. “I’m a little shocked you got that.”

  “I’m not as much of a moron as you think I am.”

  “I don’t think you’re a moron. First cousin to the missing link, maybe, but not a moron.” She laughed at her brother’s grunted reply as she put the finishing touches to her horse.

  “I don’t want you to get hurt, Haley girl. Lots of things could go wrong for him over there. I’ve seen it often enough.”

  “I know that, Matt, but I figure Ben and I have been thrown together for a reason. I’ve decided not to question it, and instead, focus on the positive.” She stored her grooming tools inside the hinged box her dad had built for that purpose. “I’ve got faith that he’s going to come home to me.”

  “The issue isn’t him coming home, Sis. They all come home. But not all of them come back whole.”

  She froze in place.

  “Haley … what if Ben comes home with parts missing? Have you thought about that?”

  Haley whipped her head around to send him her best have-you-lost-your-freaking-mind glare. The look on his face stopped her from the verbal ass-chewing she’d had in store for him. She snapped her mouth shut instead and gave her brother a long, hard perusal.

  Having Matt home again, alive and healthy, with all his body parts intact, had dulled the not-so-pleasant memories during his deployments. Any news reporting the loss of a Marine brought on a nightmare of worrying for her and her parents. Until recently
, Haley couldn’t remember a time when her much older brother hadn’t been a Marine. Through the years, she’d fallen asleep so many nights praying for his safe-keeping. Her parents, on the other hand, would greet her at the breakfast table, wearing the haunted expressions of people who had spent another sleepless night worrying about their son.

  Over the years, they had met several of his Marine brothers. Some had walked into their home on two legs, some had rolled in on wheelchairs, missing one limb or two, and one, in particular, had to be pushed in because he’d lost both legs and arms trying to rescue an Afghani child from what they suspected was a car bomb. Later, they’d met his wife; one of the nurses who’d cared for him during one of his stays at the hospital. She’d fallen in love with him as he was—with no limbs but still holding on to his faith, and a possessing a sharp sense of humor. Haley had only recently discovered that she’d been his second wife. The first had abandoned him, unable to take being married to a severely handicapped ex-Marine.

  She gave her brother a slow nod, knowing he asked, not only for her sake, but for Ben’s, as well. “I think about it every night, Matty, just as I did for you. I can’t imagine not wanting him in my life, whether he comes back with all his limbs, or none. I suppose that depends on him.”

  “Tex” displayed the killer smile that had always made other women drool. He pulled her to him for a big bear hug. “You’re a winner, kid. I hope Corporal Bonin realizes that.”

  Haley kicked at a rock with the tip of her boot. “If he doesn’t, that’s his loss.” Matty released a low chuckle of agreement and they began the trek back into the house.

  “The protected can’t begin to understand the price paid so they and their families can sleep safe and free at night.”

  Gen. John F. Kelly

  Ben readjusted his position, laying back in the dirt, his backpack acting as a pillow that he’d propped against a stack of wooden pallets. The pallets, remnants of the resupply dropped off by helo two days earlier, provided little shade but did keep the majority of the sun’s rays off his face. As far as resupply was concerned, all the “good” MRE’s had been raped from the stash early on. Not that it mattered—he’d eaten them so much, they all seemed to taste the same now. Like shit.