Welcome Home, Bobby Winslow

Bobby shook his head, mentally pushing away the long-ago sealed memories before they had a chance to form. Instead he concentrated on the blinding rush that felt like a thousand pricks of hot needles radiating from his hips to his knees.

“Yeah, I’m good.” He pushed the words past gritted teeth. “I’m great.”

“No, what you are is stupid. She obviously knew about your accident. You could’ve had your little reunion through the window.” Zip wrapped one beefy arm around his back, providing a strong and steady presence.

Just like he’d done from the moment Bobby first opened his eyes in the hospital after the accident. Like he’d done the day they’d met in a desert hellhole ten years ago.

“Why didn’t you stay inside the camper?” Zip asked.

No way.

It took a full-on stare at Leeann for Bobby to match the girl to her voice. No, make that woman. Long gone was the girly-girl he’d known in high school who’d entered beauty pageant after beauty pageant and barely had the strength to carry her own books.

When he’d finally realized who’d pulled them over, he’d been determined to meet Leeann Harris again for the first time face-to-face and standing unaided on his own two feet.

“So that was her,” Zip said.

Bobby looked at his friend and blinked. “Huh?”

“You know, beauty queen, first love, heartbreaker, high-rent cover model for Cosmo, Vogue, Brides—”

“Damn you and your steel-trap memory.” Bobby bent his knees and braced his feet in the dirt. “Help me get off my ass.”

Zip managed to shrug while shouldering Bobby’s weight and helping him back to a standing position. “With all the boo-hooing you did that night, how could I forget?”

Thankful the pain was fading already, Bobby leaned against the camper. He wasn’t ready to try walking yet. “We drank a lot that night.”

“We were celebrating finally being back on American soil.” Zip dropped his hold and stepped back, but stayed close. “Drinking for those who never came home.”

Bobby remembered.

Their first night back after a front-row seat in the Middle East during that “quiet” time between the first Gulf War and the second, courtesy of the U.S. Army. The only two guys in their unit who hadn’t had anyone to go home to, he and Zip had ended up shutting down a hole-in-the-wall bar outside the gates of Fort Bragg. Then they’d stumbled to a nearby motel to continue drinking and talking until the sun rose.

“You know, Ace, if you were so dogged to come out of the camper on your own power, you could’ve at least grabbed a—”

“Let it go, Zip. It’s done and over.”

“Famous last words.”

Bobby glared at his friend. “She’s gone.”

“Yeah. For now. But if I remember correctly from all of your stories, Destiny is a pretty small town.”

Meaning he and Leeann would run into each other again.

Maybe.

Probably.

But next time, Bobby would be prepared.

He dropped his head back against the cool metal of the custom motor home he’d had built a year ago. It was supposed to have been his ride during this past season’s race calendar. Now it was a high-priced ambulance bringing him home.

“Come on, Zip, let’s get moving. I want to finally see in person what my hard-earned greenbacks have been paying for all summer.”

“Meaning all those photos, live video feeds and the miniature model you had sent to the rehab hospital weren’t enough?”

Since he was a kid, first attending and then working summers at a local wilderness camp, Bobby had always wanted to live in a log cabin. He just never thought it would be here in Destiny. Then fate had allowed him to keep a long-held promise.

He’d approved the plans for his upscale and oversize version back in February, but by the time of his accident in May, only half of the outer shell was complete. He’d watched the rest of the construction from his hospital bed.

“No, they weren’t nearly enough.” He looked at his friend’s grinning face while shoving his hat back on his head and pocketing his sunglasses. “And you knew that before you asked.”

“Yeah, I did.” Zip moved to his side. “You okay to walk?”

Gripping his friend’s oversize forearm, Bobby slowly put one foot in front of the other. The stinging had lessened, but the needling sensation had moved down to his feet. Sort of like when a person sat too long and tingled when he first moved.

Only about twenty times worse.

“With a bit of help,” he grunted around clenched teeth.

“That’s what I’m here for, bud. A promise is a promise.”

“Knock it off with that promise stuff, would ya?” Bobby shot back. “I’ve told you how I feel about that.”

“And when was the last time I ever listened to you?”

“Three years ago. At your family’s place in Jersey.” Bobby gripped the handrail and hefted himself inside, conscious of his buddy behind him, ready to catch him if he fell. Which he didn’t do much anymore despite what had just happened.

“I agreed with your sisters, and Frank and Joey.” He kept talking. It seemed to speed up his recovery from these episodes. Or at least distracted him. “That girl you’d brought home was all wrong for you.”

“And perfect for Frankie,” Zip said with a wry twist of his lips.

Bobby purposely shuffled past the dining set and leather sectional sofa where Daisy lounged, her snout on her paws as she watched them. That dog always knew when to stay out of the way. A skill most likely learned in the war zone where Zip had found her.

Thankful when he reached the cushioned passenger seat, Bobby eased into it with a silent sigh. “Yeah, especially when we caught her and Frankie going at it in the backyard gazebo.”

“That wasn’t my brother’s fault.” Zip moved back behind the steering wheel. “He was young and stupid.”

“He was twenty-three.” Bobby pulled on his seat belt. “And yet you still made a show of knocking him through the screen door.”

“Hey, my pride was at stake.”

“And you made sure the girl got home okay. Even Daisy didn’t want anything to do with her.”

Zip shrugged, buckled his seat belt as well and started the engine. “Daisy doesn’t like any females. Never has, unlike me. What can I say? I was in love and stupid. Runs in the family, right?”

Yeah, Bobby and Zip might not be blood, but they were family just the same.