Love Finds Home: Small-Town Romantic Suspense (Boulder Canyon Book 3)

Prologue

Jonathan Cross

Five Years Ago, Somewhere in the desert

“Cross!”

I look up at my name being yelled across the hangar, barely able to hold my head up. Thirty-six hours awake will do that to a person.

“What is it, Allen?” I ask when he gets closer.

“Colonel wants you in his office. Said he got an emergency call.”

I’m up and moving before I realize it, all exhaustion gone, running on full adrenaline. I skid to a stop in front of my Captain’s door and take a deep breath. Sure, it’s an emergency call, but it could have come at any time in the last week. During a mission, we aren’t notified of any communication from home. It doesn’t matter what the message is, they won’t relay anything to us that might derail our focus.

“Sit,” Colonel Frank Waters tells me when I push through the makeshift door. He’s in his early sixties and biding his time until the Army decides he’s too old and kicks him out.

“What’s going on, Sir?” I ask as I do what he commands.

“Got a notification from home. Seems you did something extra last time you were stateside.” He smirks at me.

Last time I was stateside was three months ago. Had a weekend in Georgia for some mandatory eval, but I was able to see Vanessa, my wife. We celebrated our thirteenth wedding anniversary that weekend.

“What happened?” I ask, ready to get this conversation going so I can call home if I need to.

“Seems your sperm decided to work, Captain. Your wife’s pregnant. Congratulations.”

His blunt delivery of the news takes a minute to sink in, and when it does, I’m still confused.

“I’m sorry, did you say Vanessa, my wife, is pregnant? With a baby?”

“Well, yes, that’s what one is usually pregnant with.”

I sit in stunned silence, unable to connect the dots in my head. I need to talk to Vanessa. I need to get home to see her. I need to be there when our child is born. A child? What the fuck? A child.

“Sir, what do I need to do? I need to get back home.”

“I can get your leave approved. But you know you have to make a decision now.”

“What kind of decision?”

“Are you staying in or getting out?”

“I just re-upped a little over a year ago. I have a while to go before I have to think about that one.”

“Cross, son, if you decide you need out, I’ll help you get it approved. Shit, you already have the maximum allotment of days built up, which is why you’re going to take leave now. And we can work on your separation, if that’s what you choose, immediately.”

“What would you do, Sir?” I ask. I need someone who’s been in this life longer than me to share.

“I stayed in. That’s what I chose. And I regret it almost every day. I love my job. My men and women. But I missed everything at home. I missed my kids growing up. Hell, I almost missed Delany’s wedding that year because our mission ran over. She had a replacement ready to walk her down the aisle because that wasn’t the first time I would have missed something big. My grandkids don’t know me.”

“Why stay in?”

“I’m old, and I don’t know what I’d do with myself if I got out. So I’ll stay until they throw me out on my ass with a ‘thanks for your service, now get the fuck out of here’ and maybe a plaque.” He laughs.

I try to laugh, but the laughs aren’t coming. “I want to go home, Sir. I don’t want to make any decisions until I do that.”

“I think that’s a good decision, Captain. Pack your things, and I’ll get you on the next flight out. Perks of being the old guy.” He winks at me.

I stand and we shake hands. When I get to the door, he says something that makes a shiver run up my spine.

“Jon, just remember, things might seem perfect from afar, but when you get too close, the illusion shatters. Go into everything with a clear head and open eyes, son.”

I turn to look at him one more time and nod. Walking back to my makeshift bunk, I’m in a daze. I need to get home. That’s all I can focus on.

“Everything alright?” Allen asks. Daniel Allen joined two years after me. He’s a good guy, and a hell of a Ranger.

“Vanessa’s pregnant.”

“Wow. Fuck.” He blinks his eyes, a stunned look on his face. Probably the same one on mine. “Congrats, man.”

“Yeah,” I chuckle humorlessly. “Thanks. Waters is getting me emergency leave. I’m out on the next plane.”

“Enjoy the clear air while you can. You’ll be back here soon enough, playing in the sand with us.”

“Yeah.” My vocabulary seems to have taken a hit.

“Cross, wheels up in three hours. Pack your shit!” Colonel Waters yells from his office.

“Help me pack?” I ask Allen. “And make sure someone watches Joker’s six. Lord knows the fucker needs it.”

Twenty-four hours. That’s how long it’s taken me to get from the desert to Georgia. Luckily, I’ve been trained to sleep anywhere at any time and I was able to get some shut-eye. Now that I’m on the ground again, my nerves are kicking up. A baby. Vanessa and I are going to have a baby. It’s been years. Every time I’ve been stateside, she’s come to visit me and we’ve tried to get pregnant. She is my first and only love. Married two weeks after we graduated high school, and I shipped out to boot camp two weeks after that. It’s been a stressful life, but she’s stuck with me, and now there’s going to be a baby.

I can’t stop thinking about what the Colonel said. I don’t know what my options are. I’m just over six years away from retirement. I wonder if there’s a training program I could lead on base here that would let me stay in and provide for my family? So many things to think about, but I won’t make any decisions without Vanessa. We’re a team, it’s what we do. I think my family should also have a say as a baby will impact them as well, right? They’ve been begging us for years to give them a grandchild and my brother isn’t in any way, shape, or form out to have a kid or get married.

The taxi drops me off in front of the house and there aren’t any lights on. Vanessa must be out with some friends. Great. That gives me time to shower and wash the travel off of me and maybe even catch a few minutes of sleep on the couch.

I’m not sure what time it is when I hear voices outside.

“Don’t worry about it,” I hear Vanessa say. “You really think Jonny could make it back here without me knowing about it? Please. Stop being so paranoid.”

And just like that, I’m wide awake.

“Nes, it’s just not right. We’ve never come back to your home. This is why we go to mine,” a male voice that sounds familiar replies to her.

“Oh, my God, Jeremy. Stop your fucking whining. Get in there and fuck me. I’m going to be all big and fat soon and then he’ll be here and we won’t be able to.”

“I still hate that we have to say that baby is his.”

Jeremy? Fucking? Say that baby is his? It takes everything in me not to go through the door and kill them both. All I see is a red haze of anger and hurt. How could she? How the fuck could he?

“It’s just until the kid is old enough to make sure we get half his pension. You know he won’t leave his precious Rangers. He’ll pop home from time to time and play perfect family man and daddy and then run off to play soldier again. Now come inside and fuck me. I’m horny, Jer.”

I’m standing in the dark living room, keys to my bike and bag in one hand, my phone recording their conversation for proof in the other. I’ve seen how these things play out, and having evidence of her wrongdoing will help me in the long run. Plus, I want them to see me. I need them to know they’ve been caught. And then I’m out of here.

The door opens and the two people I loved the most in this world tumble through the door, their lips locked and their hands on each other, giving everyone across the street and my phone a show. She’s almost naked when she looks up and sees me.

“Jeremy!” she squeaks. “Jer! There’s someone here!”

“What?” he asks, not taking his eyes off her tits.

“Someone’s here!” she yells, pointing in my direction.

Jeremy finally focuses on what she’s saying and whips his head in my direction. “Who’s there?”

I don’t say a word. My phone still aimed in their direction, catching everything.

When the light switches on, my eyes focus quickly. I’ve been trained for this shit. Vanessa squints into the light and gasps when she realizes it’s me.

“Fuck!” she cries, dropping to the floor behind the couch. Like that can hide her.

“Jon?” Jeremy asks.

“I need you to tell me if that child Vanessa is carrying is mine or yours.” My voice is low and even, lethal even. Not a question, a demand.

“I uh, well,” he stutters.

“I’m your fucking brother.” I beat my hand holding the bag against my chest. “Tell me the truth, Jeremy. Don’t I deserve at least that?”

“Fuck you!” he spits. “You don’t deserve shit. You left us! You might be legally married to her, but you don’t love her like I do! You love your fucking job!”

“Whose child is in her fucking uterus?” I demand again.

“It’s mine!” he explodes. “She’s carrying my child. Because you couldn’t get the job done. But I could. And when she’s stayed with you long enough to get your benefits, she’s going to leave your fucking ass and finally be fully mine.”

“Huh. And exactly how long have you had the delusion that she should be yours?” I ask, over Vanessa trying to get him to shut up.

“I’ve been fucking your wife for ten years. And you never knew.”

“That’s all I needed. Thanks for your assistance.” I turn to Vanessa, who has tears running down her face. They used to make me feel something. Right now? I feel nothing. “As for you. I suggest you pack your shit. If you want my brother, you can have him. He’s no family of mine.”

I leave, not giving her the chance to respond to me. My bike is in the garage, covered, and she starts right up when I turn the key. I pull out of the driveway of my now-broken marital home. Fitting since broken is exactly how I feel.

The thoughts running through my mind are making me spiral. Who else knows if they’ve been fucking around for ten years? Do my parents? Our friends? Do any of my men? Jeremy is a lot of things, but discreet isn’t one of them. Have I been made to be the fool behind my back? Is there anyone I can trust?

I pull over to the side of the road, the panic attack hitting me. I forward the video evidence to Sarge, my old Sargent, with a message.

Jon: Keep this safe. Have a feeling I’ll need it to avoid losing everything. Everything’s FUBAR.

I put the phone back in my pocket and rev the bike.

I look up and down the empty road before pulling out and moving farther away from what used to be my life. I’m heading back to base. If I get there quick enough, I can hop on the plane and be back with my men in another twenty-four hours.

I’m driving through a green light when it happens. The impact throws me from the bike, and the last thing I remember is the sound of metal crunching and bones breaking.