Excerpt (850 words)
Hearing the gentle waves rolling ashore in the distance, a relaxing breath escapes me. I pull Taylor snugly under my arm, enjoying the rare moment of closeness we get to share while we’re both home for a short leave.
I remember the day we met and smile knowing it’ll forever be etched in my brain. This woman had some serious attitude, and was on a mission to prove herself amongst the all-male team she is now a part of; a team working alongside my own on one of many top secret missions we’d work together on in the years to come.
My fiancé leans forward, looking at me. “What are you smiling about?”
Kissing the top of her head I squeeze her saying, “You.”
“What’d I do?”
Chuckling when she squints, I admit, “I was thinking about our first meeting, you know…when you tried to put me in my place.”
“What do you mean tried? As I recall, your teammates razzed you to no end once I left.”
“Okay, okay, let’s just say we put each other in our places and leave it at that.” She elbows me as we bust out laughing.
Having ‘Type A’ personalities, it was inevitable that we’d clash, and we most definitely did. Little did we know our pig-headedness would force us closer together instead of pushing us apart.
After our commanding officers made us work scenarios together to keep us from arguing, one thing led to another and we couldn’t imagine our lives without each other.
Once our daughter, Emilee, was born a few years later, Taylor requested to be reassigned to another team. She wanted more time in the United States to be a bigger part of our little girl’s life, especially with me frequently getting deployed overseas at a moment’s notice.
It meant a lot to her to try and give our girl as normal a life as possible in between top secret missions and on the job training while in the Navy.
Taylor struggles at times since she no longer has her family around to make memories with. Her grandparents died one year apart before I met her, and three years before our daughter was born, her parents died in a multi-vehicle crash during a bad snow storm. Being close to each of them, she had a hard time managing so much grief in a short time.
When Emilee was eleven, she started acting out in school causing added stress for my parents. Taylor said it was time to change careers to give our daughter stability and to take pressure off mom and dad.
Putting feelers out for a job in neighboring communities, she was offered, and happily accepted, an investigative position with the State Attorney’s Office. She couldn’t wait to have a regular mother-daughter relationship with Em without being pulled away at the drop of a hat.
“So why did you agree to do one last mission before coming home for good?” I ask her. “You know Emilee can hardly contain her excitement about having her mom in Bliss Cay full-time, not to mention how thrilled my family is.”
Settling against my chest, the regret in her words is obvious. “They all but guilted me into it. I was reminded of how some of their missions were put on hold since they’re short staffed, and if we can’t pull this one off next week, some bad things are going to happen. When I explained that my new job starts in a few weeks, they assured me it’ll be a short trip.”
As her hand caresses my chest, I grin. “It better be. I think our daughter told the entire staff at school you’re moving back. Practically everyone I’ve seen the last few days said they’re happy for her to have you home again.”
“That sounds like our girl,” she beams. I kiss her beautiful lips savoring our time together, knowing I’ll be leaving tomorrow to prepare for my next mission.
“I’m really excited about this new chapter in our lives, Tay. My plan is to take leave more often so we can make more memories as a family before our daughter thinks it’s not cool to spend time with her parents anymore.”
She giggles while placing her head against my shoulder and admitting, “There’s nothing I’d like more, babe.”
Resting my head on hers, I close my eyes when gunshots ring out. I reach for Taylor to pull her onto the ground and out of harm’s way but all too suddenly—she’s gone. Stretching my arms as far as they’ll go to find her, I realize I’m not on the porch anymore, but lying next to the bed in our room with blood covering my hands.
“Noooo!” I yell out, the word vibrating through me as if in slow motion. Hearing the bedroom door open, I scurry onto my knees to the side table and search for my weapon. I have to protect her, I have to protect Taylor!
But before I can find it, the light comes on and I hear my little girl say, “Dad, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”
(Book 5 of a standalone series; can be read in any order.)
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