She had so many questions, and not all of them pertained to the war.
She wanted to understand the kind of man who’d go out of his way to help an injured child. The kind of man who, was willing to lay down his life for his brother. The kind of man who could bring life coursing back through her system simply by looking at her.
But Anna’s questions would have to remain unanswered. Right now, she needed to focus on five-year-old Ali.
Anna did plan to thank David again for his help in getting Ali here. And she hoped David would open up to her about more than just the little boy. Anna had a feeling David could use a friend. Maybe she was just imagining the way his dark eyes gleamed with interest when he looked at her. But every time he glanced her way, he was smiling.
Homecoming Heroes: Saving children and finding love deep in the heart of Texas
Mission: Motherhood—Marta Perry (LI#452) July 2008
Lone Star Secret—Lenora Worth (LI#456) August 2008
At His Command—Brenda Coulter (LI#460) September 2008
A Matter of the Heart—Patricia Davids (LI#464) October 2008
A Texas Thanksgiving—Margaret Daley (LI#468) November 2008
Homefront Holiday—Jillian Hart (LI#472) December 2008
MILLS & BOON
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LENORA WORTH
has written more than thirty books, most of those for Steeple Hill. She also works freelance for a local magazine, where she had written monthly opinion columns, feature articles and social commentaries. She also wrote for the local paper for five years. Married to her high school sweetheart for thirty-two years, Lenora lives in Louisiana and has two grown children and a cat. She loves to read, take long walks and sit in her garden.
Lone Star Secret
Lenora Worth
Special thanks and acknowledgment to Lenora Worth for her contribution to the Homecoming Heroes miniseries.
Why did you flee away secretly, and steal away from me, and not tell me; for I might have sent you away with joy and songs, with timbrel and harp?
—Genesis 31:27–28
To all the soldiers—those who have sacrificed for
my freedom and those who are still fighting today.
God bless you all.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Epilogue
Questions for Discussion
Chapter One
Chief Warrant Officer David Ryland glanced around the sterile waiting room at Fort Bonnell Medical Center, taking in the crowd of well-wishers gathered around the little boy on the stretcher. The circuslike atmosphere made him feel a bit frazzled and edgy, but then he’d just landed on American soil—on good ol’ Texas soil—after flying medevac Black Hawks for eighteen months in the war-torn Middle East. He had a right to be edgy.
Moving his gaze from the excited group hovering near the doctor and little Ali Tabiz Willis, David found himself staring straight into the blue-green eyes of Anna Terenkov. Anna looked away, then quickly glanced back at David, a slight smile on her heart-shaped face.
David studied her closely, deciding he’d better dust off his social skills now that he was home. And his flirting skills. Because he definitely wanted to get to know the woman responsible for helping to make this day happen. David had heard about the legendary humanitarian who ran the Children of the Day charity, but seeing her in person was a whole different matter. She was not what he had expected.
She was even better.
Her blond hair was pulled back in a haphazard coil held up by an intricate silver clip. She was petite, but her calm, assured presence made her seem taller. She wore loose-fitting green cargo pants and a crisp white button-up blouse. And around her neck she wore a choker-style strand of dark leather, from which hung a chunky sterling-silver pendant with the cross and the lance of Golgotha set against an etched background. He couldn’t move his gaze from her.
Caitlyn Villard, the Care Coordinator for Children of the Day, and Army Chaplain Steve Windham introduced Caitlyn’s twin nieces to Ali. While the precocious five-year-olds wished him well in Arabic and English, David watched Anna’s face. She lit up around children, her smile turning to sunshine. He’d noticed that the minute he’d exited the plane with little Ali earlier that morning.
“CW3 David Ryland, ma’am,” David had said by way of a greeting back at the airfield. “Delivering one Ali Tabiz, as ordered.”
Anna grinned as she studied the three square bars on his insignia. “It wasn’t exactly an order, Chief. More of a hope sent out on a wing and a prayer.”
David nodded, liking the way the slight lilt of her foreign accent mixed nicely with a little bit of Texas twang. He’d learned in all the back and forth coordination for Ali’s trip that she was Russian and had lived there until her early teens, when her father had been killed in Afghanistan.
“Well, I got the wings secured and I guess you took care of the prayer, ma’am.”
She touched her fingers to the cross at her neck. “We all had a big part in that.” Reaching out to shake his hand, she said, “Thank you so much. And please don’t call me ma’am. I’m Anna.”
“You’re welcome, Anna,” David replied, the warmth of her energy shooting through his tired, travel-worn system.
She held his hand, cupping it between both of hers. “I’m not just thanking you for helping Ali, sir. Thanks for serving our country, too.”
David was both humbled and shaken by her sincere, misty-eyed gratitude. “Okay, if I can’t call you ma’am, then you sure don’t have to address me as sir.”
She nodded. “Then I’ll just call you Chief.”