“You can talk to me, Mark. I’m here and I’m listening.”
“Are you trying to make me tear up?” he said, forcing a lightness he didn’t feel, not by a long shot.
“We can joke and laugh if you want. But if you need to get it off your chest—”
“He’d lost both legs. Bled out in the helicopter. We couldn’t get him to a hospital in time. It sucked. Just plain sucked.” He rubbed his hands over his face. He’d been kidding about crying, but now he wasn’t so sure.
“We can wait and talk next week,” she said. “If you need to clean up. Rest.”
“No, my shift’s over, and I’ve been looking forward to catching up. The shower will still be waiting for me when we’re done,” he said. “But I can grab a shirt.”
She shook her head. “No. Don’t worry about it. I was just...surprised.”
There was a long pause. Mark wondered if the screen had frozen. But then Jango, the dog that had served with his best friend, appeared in the background. The Belgian Malinois was technically retired after years of working alongside navy SEALs, sniffing for bombs and weapons in war zones, but Jango didn’t act like a senior citizen adjusting to a life of chasing balls. Years of training, combined with natural instincts, might always prevent the dog from relaxing. Instead, Jango followed Amy as if she was his new handler.
Mark cleared his throat. “In your email, you said you had something to tell me. Big news.”
“I do. And you’re the first one outside of family to know about this.” Her face lit up like a kid’s on Christmas morning, and he damn near fell off the couch. He hadn’t seen her that excited in years.
“I’m opening a military war dog breeding and training facility. It will mean shutting down my current K-9 training business and remodeling the kennels, but in the end, it will be worth it.” Amy spoke quickly, her fingers drumming the side of her coffeecup. “Darren’s mother and his brothers support the idea. In fact, they’re donating a few acres of their land. I’ll be able to expand the training grounds and, in time, build another kennel. If I have the funds.
“The Department of Defense offered preliminary approval. They have their own breeding programs, but they’ll buy my pups, too. Provided the dogs fit with what they’re looking for. And they will. I’ve already bought a pair of Belgian Malinois from Denmark, both from top bloodlines. In the past, the DOD has been sending someone over there to purchase puppies. Now they will be born and receive their basic training right here in Oregon.”
She paused and lifted her coffee to her lips, then lowered it. “So, what do you think?”
“It’s great.”
For the first time in months, Amy sparkled. She looked like her old self again. Sure, turning her business into a military war dog program sounded cool, but she could have told him she was joining the circus, and he would have supported her 100 percent if it made her this happy.
“One more thing,” she said. Was it his imagination or had the light in her eyes dimmed? Shit, maybe she’d been looking for more enthusiasm. This was huge for her—a way to move on with her life. And he wanted that for her.
“I’m planning to open in three months and hold a dedication a few months later, probably in early March, when some of Darren’s brothers are expected home for a visit,” she continued. “Nothing big. Just family and friends. Maybe a few members of the community who express interest. Do you think you can come? You can stay in the spare bedroom.”
Heart’s Landing wasn’t a place he’d planned to visit during his brief time stateside. But the thought of seeing Amy again, in person, pushed against his reservations. This time, when he returned to his hometown, it would be for her, 100 percent. She was his closest friend now. And if there was anything he could do to help her, he was on board.
“I’m done here around then. So, yeah, I’ll be there,” he said. “You can count on it.”
Five months later
BLOND HAIR TRAILED over his bare chest. She kissed his stomach, moving lower...
“Amy.” Her name was a plea. “Amy.”
“Hey, Rhodes.” The familiar sound of his teammate’s voice silenced his dream. “Better wake up, man, before you embarrass yourself. I don’t know who ‘Amy’ is, but she sure as hell isn’t here.”
Mark opened his eyes, blinking. What the hell? He was on a freaking plane over the ocean, still a helluva long way from Heart’s Landing and the wild, sexy woman in his dream. Amy. Except Amy had never been wild. She was quiet, always holding back. At least in high school. They’d had that in common.
Of course, he’d changed, and she probably had, too. But it didn’t matter if she’d taken up pole dancing now that she was single; she wasn’t for him.
“Yeah, crazy dream, man,” Mark said. “But it’s not what you think.”
Thinking about Amy like that, dreaming about her... Guilt rose up, wrapping around him, adding to the weight on his shoulders.
“Could have fooled me.” His teammate shook his head, picking up his book.
Mark looked out the window. He didn’t need to fool his fellow PJs. Just Amy and everyone else in Heart’s Landing.
* * *
AMY STOOD OUTSIDE the remodeled kennel holding an empty dog food dish and waiting for her cousin. A very hungry Belgian Malinois sat at her feet.
She stole a quick peek through the glass-paned door into the reception area. Three men gathered around the box of doughnuts and coffee she’d set out on the folding table. The food had bought her a five-minute delay, ten tops. But leaving three soldiers waiting was like placing puppies in the living room and expecting them to keep their mouths off the furniture. As soon as the doughnuts disappeared, the guys would become restless. They wouldn’t chew the chair legs, but they’d get into something.
If Eloise didn’t get here soon—
“You are the only person in the whole world I would drop everything for to deliver a ten-pound bag of gluten-free dog food.”
Amy stepped back from the door and turned to her cousin. She was Amy’s mirror image, same blond hair and blue eyes, except Eloise stood four inches shorter, even in her cowboy boots. Amy always felt like a giraffe next to her cousin.
“I got up at three in the morning last Saturday,” Amy said. “Packed five puppies and Jango in my car, and drove over an hour to pick you up when you decided to sneak out on your date after he fell asleep.”
Eloise dropped the bag at Amy’s feet. “We’ll call it even.”
Jango sniffed the food before looking up at them.
“Yes, that’s for you, old man. Easier to digest,” Amy said. “And better for you than puppy chow. You don’t need the extra calories.”
“But you do.” Eloise held out a bag. “Blueberry muffin. I’m guessing you forgot to eat this morning.”
“I was planning to grab a doughnut while I discussed the opening with the guys.”
Eloise stepped around her and stood on her tiptoes to peer through the glass. “Wow. Talk about testosterone overload. I don’t know how you do it. If I was in the same room with them, I wouldn’t be able to form a coherent sentence. I’d be too busy trying to figure out which one would look best without his shirt.”
Mark. Her brain heard the words without his shirt, and she thought of Mark. Those muscles begging to be touched, maybe more...
Amy swept her long bangs