Philip Cameron is a Marine sniper, a leader of men in the field for most of his career. Although decorated for saving the lives of five fellow Marines when their vehicle hit an IED, he doesn’t feel like a hero. His right hand was crushed and bones in his shoulder and arm were broken. He was shot and nearly bled to death, but after several months and surgeries at Walter Reed Medical Center, he turned down a medical discharge and has been reassigned to a desk job in intelligence at Camp Lejeune, where he faces months of physical and occupational therapy to regain full use of his hand and arm so that he can get back to doing what he does best, leading quick response teams in the field.
After the dissolution of her marriage, Elena Castillo is eager to move on with her life and cement her growing reputation as a top-notch therapist for recovering soldiers. She returns to the east coast with her teenage daughter to step into a very desirable position in the physical therapy department at Camp Lejeune, where her very first patient is Gunnery Sergeant Philip Cameron.
Fourteen years earlier, home on compassionate leave, Philip fell in love with Elena, but she was young and he was afraid to declare himself until she had time to discover what she wanted in life. Elena fell hard for her older brother’s best friend, but was never sure Philip felt the same about her, so when his leave was up, they parted.
Then 9/11 happened. And Elena discovered she was pregnant.
"Turmoil, tenderness, and painful secrets from the past!”—Heather Ashby, author, the Love in the Fleet series
Skye Taylor is a former Peace Corps Volunteer. She writes
series, published by Bell Bridge Books. Visit her at skye-writer.com.
Prologue
September 2014
Afghanistan
PHILIP CAMERON jerked his eye away from the high-powered scope and scrambled to his feet. Time to get
the hell out of Dodge. He shoved his sniper
rifle into its case and began hustling back to the rendezvous point
with his spotter hot on his heels. Just as he jumped the last few feet into the
roadway, the explosion assaulted his ears.
Bwoom...
The armor-plated
vehicle carrying half a dozen Marines lurched into the air. The blast wave hit
Philip and his spotter, knocking them to the ground. His pulse jacked into the
red, and he shook his head, trying to clear the ringing in his ears.
"Fuck!” Ames
spat dust from his mouth.
The MRAP came
down on two wheels, teetered, and, almost in slow motion, toppled into a canal
of murky brown water.
As an ominous silence fell, Philip shot to his
feet and scanned the terrain in every direction. No movement. Nothing. Just
the rumbling echo of the explosion.
The MRAP settled into the canal upside down. His
Marines could be trapped inside. If they were unconscious, they would drown. He
bolted toward the canal, half expecting rounds from an AK-47 to start chasing
him.
But all remained eerily quiet.
As he plunged into the
water, the door cracked open. A dazed Marine almost
fell into his arms. Philip dragged him clear of the MRAP and heaved him half
way up the embankment. Ames grabbed the guy’s flack vest and hauled him the
rest of the way onto the road.
The second MRAP came into sight. Philip dove into
the rapidly filling interior of the upended vehicle. He felt around in the
dark and found a second Marine, this one unconscious, his head crammed at an
impossible angle against the roof. He grabbed fistfuls of clothing and eased
the man out.
Two men from the second vehicle scrambled down to
relieve Philip of the unconscious Marine, and Philip returned to the murky
darkness.
A medevac chopper was on its way. Only one man
left to pull to safety. Philip slithered down the embankment one last time.
Then the shooting started.
Chapter 1
January 2015
Camp Lejeune, North Carolina
ELENA CASTILLO swallowed her panic, pushed the
door open, and called out the Gunnery Sergeant’s name. Her first day on the job
and the last man she ever wanted to see again was her first patient.
The tall, broad-shouldered
Marine in a short-sleeved service uniform got to his
feet and started toward her.
He was bigger than she remembered. He seemed to
fill the whole room.
The polite greeting she’d
practiced stuck in her throat at the stunned look of confusion in Philip’s shockingly blue
eyes. An hour hadn’t been nearly long enough to prepare for this moment.
A week maybe. Or a month. Or forever.
Her heart fluttered like a trapped bird as she
took in the narrow bands of ribbons on his chest and the silver strands
threaded through the blond hair at his temples. A wave of vertigo washed over
her, and she grabbed the back of the nearest chair to steady herself.
How could she possibly be expected to heal this
man who had broken her heart?
Sharp creases bracketed his
generous mouth, and the spray of lines at the
corners of his eyes were etched deeper. This was her Philip. And yet, he was
not. The vertigo intensified as memories of the last time she’d seen him
paraded unstoppably through her mind.
He’d brushed tears from her face and promised to
stay in touch. Then he’d kissed her like he really meant it. But he hadn’t. He
hadn’t kept his word. He hadn’t loved her after all. Those three weeks that had
changed her life forever had meant nothing to him.
She stiffened her shoulders and pushed the door
wider, hoping he would not notice her shaking fingers. Her knees weakened as he
closed the distance separating them, but she couldn’t let him see the effect he
had on her. Not now. Not after everything that happened between them that long
ago summer or in the years since. Especially not now that he was her patient.
"This way, Sergeant.” Elena gestured with the
clipboard in her other hand. She was relieved her voice came out sounding calm
and professional, without a hint of the panic clawing at her insides.
Philip glanced down at her with that baffled look
still haunting his eyes. "Philip,” he corrected. "It’s been a long time. How
have you been?”
Elena lifted her chin. "I’ve been fine, Sergeant
Cameron. Now please, come this way.” She turned to lead him toward her section
of the therapy department.
"I thought you got your degree and settled on the
west coast.” His voice followed her through the maze of equipment in the big
therapy and exercise room.
Arriving at an alcove with two chairs separated
by a narrow desk, she dropped the clipboard holding Philip’s orders and the
doctor’s assessment onto the desk and settled into one of the chairs.
Philip had been checking up on her? Her heart
stuttered. Or maybe he’d only been filled in on Tide’s Way gossip. How much didhe know about the last fourteen years of her life?
He took the chair across from her. "I heard you
got married.”
She hesitated. She was his therapist. He was her
patient. He had no need to know anything about her life. But it wasn’t like her
current situation was a secret. And Tide’s Way was a small town. It was surprising
he didn’t already know.
"I’m divorced. I moved back east a couple of
weeks ago.”
His eyebrows drew together in a frown. "I’m
sorry. Are you living in Tide’s Way?”
She shook her head. "We’re renting a condo just
outside the main gate.” She thumbed through the thick wad of papers on the
clipboard as if she hadn’t already read them through several times. She had to
get a grip.
"We?” Philip’s perceptive blue gaze sharpened.
Elena took a deep breath. Her heart insisted on
doing strange things, and there was no ignoring the fact that his physical
closeness still melted her insides even after all this time.
"My daughter and I.”
A slight smile lifted the corners of his generous
mouth and a dimple punctuated his lean cheek, easing the harsh brackets that
had aged his face. "Is she as pretty as her mom?”
Elena had the most insane urge to throw herself
into Philip’s arms and tell him everything. But the time for that was long
past. Way, way long past.
"Prettier,” she replied. "Now, let’s see that
hand, Sergeant.”
The dimple disappeared. "Call me Gunny, if Philip
isn’t good enough.” He removed his arm from the sling and rested it on the
desk.
Elena swallowed again, squared her shoulders and
lifted his damaged hand to begin her examination.
Chapter 2
August 2001
Tide’s Way, North Carolina
WHEN A HAND touched Philip Cameron’s shoulder, he
jerked in alarm. His heart thudded as he whipped his head around. His best
friend’s kid sister plopped down onto the steps beside him.
"Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. Are you all
right?” Elena Castillo smiled at him with contrition on her face.
"Yeah. I’m... fine,” he
answered, his fight or flight reaction fading quickly.
She slid her hand across his thigh and laced her
fingers into his. Her fingers were slender and warm. He hadn’t held a woman’s
hand in a long time, and he’d forgotten the comforting intimacy of it.
"I’m sorry you didn’t get home in time to say
goodbye,” she said softly.
"Me too.” Gran would have understood and forgiven
him, even if he had a hard time forgiving himself.
"I didn’t know your grandmother very well, but
the church was packed so it seems like half
of Tide’s Way and a big chunk of Wilmington thought pretty highly of
her.” Elena’s fingers tightened around his.
Philip turned away to look out toward the ocean
so she wouldn’t see his eyes flood with tears. "Gran was a very special lady.”
Last Thanksgiving, the last time he’d seen her,
she’d seemed so strong and healthy. Like she’d live forever. How could cancer
have claimed her so quickly? He should have asked for leave earlier. Not that
it would have changed the outcome, but he could have hugged her one last time.
He could have told her how important she’d always been in his life.
"Wanna go for a walk?” Elena asked, tipping her
head to one side. A silky curtain of black hair slid down to cover half her
face.
Philip studied the woman sitting next to him on
the bottom step of his parent’s home on the beach in Tide’s Way. He was
suddenly and pleasantly aware that Elena was no longer the tomboy he
remembered. She was a college woman now. All grown up and gorgeous. And offering
him a welcome distraction from the heaviness of the last several hours.
"I’d like that. Mind if I change first?”
Elena patted the shoulder of his navy blue tunic
and chuckled. She let her fingers trail down over the ribbons and medals
decorating his chest. "Since I’ve already been suitably impressed with the
decorated Marine, I might as well have the chance to spend some time with the
ordinary guy underneath.”
"What makes you think I’m just ordinary without
the uniform?”
She flashed him a smile that made his pulse race.
"Why don’t you show me, then?”
He got to his feet. "I’ll be right back.”
Five minutes later, she playfully ogled his
favorite khaki shorts and the only sport shirt in his closet that still fit,
and whistled her approval. They left the murmuring voices of the last few
mourners behind on the deck and slogged through sun-warmed sand toward the
receding tide.
"Where were you when—” Elena broke off abruptly.
Philip sighed. Plenty of people had asked him
that question or something similar. "In the South China Sea.”
She frowned. "It must have taken forever to get
home.”
"Twenty-seven hours. Once the Red Cross got
things arranged.”
"I’m so sorry for your loss. What a sad trip for
you.” She tipped her face up to his, sympathy
deepening the chocolate brown of her eyes. Wisps of black hair blew
across her face, and he felt an overwhelming urge to reach out and push them
back behind her ear.
"When did you grow up?” he blurted.
"I’ve been grown up awhile now. You just haven’t
been around to notice.” She grinned and the mood lightened. She reached to
take his hand again.
He laced his fingers into hers. "My loss.”
She flashed an impish smile and began walking
along the water’s edge, towing him with her as she kicked up spray with her
bare feet.
"Andy said you were going to USC. Couldn’t find a
good school closer to home?”
"It was my dad’s alma mater. I got a nice
scholarship package. And they have a great physical therapy curriculum.
Besides, it’s nice being somewhere everyone doesn’t think of me as Andy’s kid
sister.”
"Well, you are Andy’s kid sister,” he pointed out
with a laugh. Memories of her tagging after them in pigtails made him smile.
"Like Jake is your kid brother, but he got to
grow up and now he’s not just your kid brother any more. You never had
to cope with being the baby of the family, so I don’t expect you to get it.”
Philip shrugged. "You got me there.” Being the
oldest carried responsibilities he’d always taken seriously. And he’d never
questioned either his position in the family or Jake’s. It just was.
She grinned. "So I’m going to school where I can
be just me.”
Her dark eyes held mystery and mischief. They
were the kind of eyes a man might never get tired of looking into. She was sexy
and desirable and so not the girl he remembered as Andy’s kid sister.
"Won’t you miss your family?” He struggled to get
his mind off ideas it had no business exploring.
"Do you miss yours?” she countered.
"Of course I do.”
"But that didn’t stop you from joining the
Marines.”
"Touché.”
They talked about her first-year classes and a
little about his last few months aboard the Peleliu as they continued
down the beach and darkness began to creep in. There was no moon yet, just a
faint hint of pink in the western sky, and already the horizon over the ocean
was fading from blue to indigo.
Philip glanced at the darkening sky. "I better
get you back before your brother comes looking for you.” Before I forget I’m
not home on leave to chase after my best friend’s kid sister.
"My brother left an hour ago. I was hoping I
could bum a ride off you.”
So much for putting temptation out of my
way....
ELENA WAS STILL trying to decide what to wear
when she heard the roar of Philip’s motorcycle pull up out front of her
brother’s house. In a flurry of haste, she grabbed her favorite shirt and put
it on. She dashed a tad of color to her lips and dragged a brush through her
hair, took one last look at herself in the mirror then hurried down the stairs
and out the door.
Philip waited for her, still seated astride his
motorcycle with his booted foot stretched down to balance the big machine. He
grinned at her as she dashed down the walkway toward him.
She was still mentally pinching herself, amazed
that he’d really asked her to go for a ride with him and that it wasn’t a
dream. Just thinking about it made her a little breathless.
It wasn’t as if she hadn’t had her share of
boyfriends and dates. She’d gone steady and even lost her virginity to a boy
named Brad while she was still in high school. And there had been Eli during
most of her freshman year of college. But Brad and Eli were boys. Philip was a
man.
And Philip took her breath away. Just looking at
him made her chest feel tight with excitement. He wasn’t ordinary at all. Even
in civilian clothing.
He had the carved muscular body of a warrior,
shoulders that made even his ratty old T-shirt look sexy, and an air of
confidence that set him apart. The kind of man that drew attention just by
being there without doing a thing.
He shoved his visor up and smiled. Laugh lines
crinkled the corners of his eyes, adding to the magnetism of his sky blue
eyes. "You ready to go?”
She glanced at his jeans and boots, then back to
his compelling blue eyes. "Maybe I should have worn something a little
more... a little—”
"I like you just the way you are.” His gaze
traveled slowly down over the sleeveless shirt she’d knotted below her breasts
and the white-cuffed shorts that contrasted so nicely with the tan she’d acquired
in Southern California. "I promise I’ll drive careful so I won’t scuff up all
that perfection. But you do have to wear this.” He leaned back and pulled a
second helmet out from under the bungee cords securing it to the rear of the
motorcycle’s seat.
Elena took the helmet and tugged it down over her
head, shoving wayward wisps of hair inside. Philip reached out to fasten the
strap beneath her chin and the touch of his fingers started her heart beating
faster. Then he dropped his visor and jerked his head toward the back of the
bike. "Hop on.”
Elena climbed on behind him. She’d never ridden
on a motorcycle before and wasn’t exactly sure what to hold onto. Before she
could decide, Philip grabbed her hands and pulled them around his waist.
"Hold on tight. And don’t be
afraid to cuddle up close.” He kicked the engine
back to life and pulled away from the curb.
As he turned out of the side street onto Route
Seventeen and picked up speed, wind whistled through the helmet and tugged at
the hair she’d tried to confine, but she didn’t dare let go to do anything
about it. A few minutes later, she didn’t care.
The exhilaration of flying down the road
plastered against Philip’s broad warm back was like nothing she’d ever
experienced in her life. Just before he leaned into the first curve, he took
one hand off the handlebars briefly to secure her arms where they crossed his
flat abs.
"Having fun?” he yelled back at her, his words
ripping past her ear and getting lost in the rush of air. Unable to do anything
else, she just hugged him tighter as delighted laughter bubbled up inside her.
She would have loved nothing better than to just
hang on and feel the power of the man and the machine rumble through her
forever. But when Philip finally turned off onto a dirt road in the Holly
Shelter Game Land and slowed, she realized she was ready for a break. He
brought the bike to a stop next to a babbling brook meandering alongside the
road.
Reluctantly, Elena let go of Philip’s waist and
eased off the bike.
"This a good place to stop for a picnic?” Philip
asked as he shoved the kickstand down and pulled his helmet off.
She nodded as she removed her own helmet and
surveyed the little clearing. When he’d promised lunch, she’d thought of
Joel’s. Or Ethan’s Ribs, but this was so much better. She’d have him all to
herself without interruptions from everyone else Philip knew in Tide’s way
barging in to offer sympathy or say hi.
He lifted the seat she’d been sitting on and
pulled out a blanket, then a soft-sided cooler. In minutes, they were settled
cross-legged on the blanket, chowing down on chicken sandwiches and homemade
cookies Elena guessed were left over from the post-funeral gathering at
Philip’s parents’ house. Their conversation picked up right where it had left
off the evening before.
"What’s it like? Being in the Marines?”
"It suits me.”
"But what’s it really like? You hear all about
the few, the proud, Semper Fi and all that, but isn’t it hard?”
"Hard is good for building character.” Philip
picked up a stone and tossed it into a smooth patch of water. Ripples eddied out
to meet the current as Elena waited for him to go on.
When he didn’t, she pushed. "I heard you were in
Bosnia or Kosovo or somewhere.”
He shrugged. "Bosnia. And a few other places.”
"And?” She touched Philip’s shoulder, willing him
to look at her.
He looked down at the wooly plaid blanket and
flicked a bit of cookie off with one finger. Tipping his head up, he glanced at
her with his eyebrows lifted and the hint of a dimple creasing one cheek. "And
what?”
"What’s war really like?”
The dimple disappeared and his eyes clouded.
Suddenly she wasn’t so eager to hear about that
part of his life after all. She’d watched a pushy young demonstrator at USC
corner a soldier and boldly ask if the man had ever killed anyone. The look of
regret and sorrow sweeping over the young soldier’s face had filled her with
disgust at the swaggering picketer’s nastiness. And here she was, behaving no
better.
"Forget I asked.” She looked away, not sure how
to get the earlier light-hearted mood back.
"Why did you choose to study physical therapy?”
he asked, changing the subject.