No, this was the only way. The only way to fill the hole in her heart left by Brant’s death.
“You know,” she said thoughtfully, “I almost met you before.”
“When?”
“At Camp Pendleton. I went to see Brant before he shipped out and while he was showing me around the base, he spotted you.” She smiled at the memory. Her brother had been so excited, so proud. He’d introduced Daisy to most of his friends and taken her to his favorite spots on base. “You were coming out of some building and Brant was dragging me over to meet you when a colonel walked up to join you. When the two of you left together, Brant was disappointed.”
She also recalled clearly just how good Jericho King had looked in uniform. Tall and built and, even from a distance, clearly gorgeous. She’d been a little disappointed at not meeting him herself. Yet, here she stood now, more than a year later, at his home. Life took you on some pretty strange journeys, she thought.
“He was a good Marine,” Jericho said again, as if struggling to give her whatever it was she needed to hear. “He had a lot of friends in the unit.”
“He was always like that,” Daisy answered with a wisp of sorrow in her voice for days gone past. “People liked being around him.”
He nodded but didn’t say anything. As they came to the edge of the lawn, the rising sun began to clear the treetops, spilling what looked like gold dust across the tips of the pines. “I liked your brother,” he finally said, staring off down the mountain as if searching for signs of an invading army. “Because of that, I’m going to tell you something you need to hear whether you want to or not.”
“Sounds ominous.”
He tore his gaze from the distance and looked down at her. “You don’t belong here, Daisy.”
“What?”
She hadn’t expected that, but looking at him now she couldn’t imagine why not. Harsh shadows cast by sunlight sliding through the trees lay across his face, darkening his eyes and making him look even more formidable than usual. His mouth was a grim, straight line as he said, “You don’t belong here, on the mountain. This is not your kind of place, Daisy.”
Worry gnawed at her insides for a few uncomfortable moments, then that sensation gave way to aggravation. Was he going to change his mind? Toss her out before he’d even given her a chance to prove herself? He didn’t know her. Didn’t know what she might be capable of or not. How dare he think he could decide what she could and couldn’t do.
“It’s my kind of place if I say it is,” she told him.
He blew out a breath and his mouth tightened even further until she could see that muscle in his jaw twitch again. “It’s not that easy. Besides, I don’t think your brother would want you here.”
She blinked at him. Using her brother to get rid of her? “Excuse me?”
“You think Brant would be crazy about the idea of you living on a remote mountain top with a bunch of ex-Marines? Living with a bunch of guys isn’t easy.”
Former Marines? All of them? She shook that thought away and stayed focused on the conversation.
“Brant was a Marine. He’d probably love the fact that I’m here. He’d consider me to be perfectly safe surrounded by the kind of men he trusted.”
“You’re making this harder than it has to be,” he muttered.
“No,” she told him flatly. “You’re the one doing that. All I did was apply for a job. Which I got. You’ve already tasted my cooking and loved it. So the only complaint you’ve got against me is that I don’t belong here? Not good enough.”
She stared up into pale blue eyes that seemed to be boring directly into hers as if he were trying to read her thoughts before she could say them. “Now, I’ll remind you that Brant was my younger brother. He didn’t make decisions for me, and it would be really difficult for him to start doing it now.”
Jericho King’s scowl was an impressive thing. She imagined it had once frightened young recruits into jumping to attention and springing into whatever action Jericho had expected from them. She refused to be intimidated by it.
“I knew him,” he pointed out. “I think I can figure out you being here wouldn’t thrill your brother.”
“Yes,” she agreed, “you did know Brant and I’m glad to have that connection. Somehow,” she added, “it makes his memory come more alive when I’m around other people who remember him. But I knew him better, I think, than you did. And even if he were here to cast a vote on all of this, it wouldn’t be up to him. This is my decision.”
“And mine,” he reminded her.
His face looked hard and his eyes were as cold as twin blocks of ice. The rising sun spilled more light and created darker shadows all at the same time. She watched Jericho’s face, hoping to spot a chink in his armor. But she found nothing. There was no give on his features, no soft understanding or kind consideration. This was the face of a warrior. A man tested in battle and honed down to a fine edge. If she expected to hold her own with him, she’d need every ounce of her own strength and self-confidence. If she let him know she was worried in the slightest, that would give him far too much of an advantage in this little test of wills.
She took a breath, blew it out again and said, “Okay, yeah. It’s your decision, too. But you promised me a chance. And I’m holding you to it.”
He blew out an impatient breath. “You’ve got to be the most stubborn woman I’ve ever met.”
“If you think I’m insulted by that, you’re wrong.” Daisy bent down, scooped up Nikki and held her close. “Maybe I’ve never been on a battlefield, but I’ve had to work hard for everything I’ve ever had.”
“That’s not—”
“I know what it’s like to push yourself.” She cut him off neatly and poked him in the chest with the tip of her index finger. “I’ve been on my own a long time. I raised my brother by myself with no one to help. I know what it is to be so tired all you want to do is lie down and not get up for a year. And I know what it’s like to ignore that urge because you’ve just got way too many things to do.” She lifted her chin and fixed her gaze on his. “I’m not afraid. I’ll do whatever’s necessary to get what I want.”
He nodded abruptly. “You know what? Fine. You don’t want to listen to reason, that’s your choice. You want to do this, we’ll do it. Be ready at dawn tomorrow. We’ll head up the mountain and then we’ll see just how badly you want this stupid job.”
He had to be out of his mind. That was the only explanation for any of this. In the soft, hazy light just before dawn, Jericho checked the sky, hitched his backpack higher and glared at the house. As if firing dirty looks at the place would make Daisy Saxon appear.
“It ain’t dawn yet,” Sam said as he walked up quietly.
No, it wasn’t. So she wasn’t late yet. “Close enough.”
“Uh-huh.” The older man shoved one hand through thinning gray hair. “So what’s the plan, JK? You taking her out on the mountain just to submarine her?”
He shot one wary glance at his friend. Was he that easy to read? Would Daisy figure out that he was going to see to it that she failed her survival test? Besides, it wasn’t as if he were going to deliberately sabotage her. He just wouldn’t be offering her any extra help. And left to her own pitiful devices, he had no doubt she’d be finished before the day was out.
“What do you care?” he asked, neither confirming nor denying the man’s suspicions.
Sam gave him a look Jericho hadn’t seen since the older man had been his drill