The Soldier's Homecoming

“Want to see the falls of Covenant Falls?”

“The falls? That’s an affirmative. I’ve missed them where I’ve been.”

He circled the town and took the road to the falls. They passed the Rusty Nail, with its half-filled parking lot. “I haven’t been here yet,” he said, “but I’m told their burgers are good.”

She had stopped asking questions and looked around with interest. The road was steadily going upward now and the trees ahead were starting to change color. Patches of gold and red were highlighted by the sun. Travis followed a twisting, newly paved road up a sharp incline, and then he turned into a parking area.

He might have offered to open the door for her, but she was out the second the car came to a stop. They could hear the falls from where they were, but they could not see them. He led the way to a wooden fence and stood back as she looked down at the meandering river below.

“Nice,” she said.

He gave her a moment, and then he led the way around a stand of trees, and suddenly they faced the falls. Water tumbled over a high cliff to the rocks below. A rainbow arched above it. A cool breeze carried spray to where they stood, sprinkling them. A look of pure enchantment crossed her face, turning it from attractive into beautiful. He had the damnedest urge to take her in his arms and hold her against him.

If it had been just a physical reaction, he could step away. Her delight, though, made him smile inside—and he hadn’t done that in a long time. He started to reach for her, to touch her. Snap out of it. Keep it strictly business.

Travis stepped back. Away from temptation. It was the rainbow. Nothing else. When Josh brought him here on his first visit, Travis had been impressed, particularly with the rainbow that Josh said was almost always visible during the day. Hell, even to a has-been warrior like himself, it seemed to wave a banner of new chances, new opportunities.

“It’s beautiful,” Jenny said, licking at the moisture around her lips with her tongue. It was a natural enough reaction, but it was sensuous without intent, and that made the action even more sensuous. He was suddenly warmer. He wanted to put an arm around her and share that sense of awe.

Bad idea. He backed away. He sure as hell wasn’t ready for another relationship, even a short one, and suspected she wasn’t either. Just as important, he saw in her a free spirit. She’d been injured and was using this time to heal. He’d met many military correspondents during his years overseas, and most were as addicted to the adrenaline as the soldiers were.

She would be here briefly, and apparently it was his job to guide her away from the proposed horse therapy program. He sensed that it could be difficult to guide Jennifer Talbot away from anything that interested her.

Jenny turned to him and put her hand on his arm. “I’ve seen larger falls, far more powerful ones, but this is so...untouched. And the rainbow—is it always there?”

“Josh says it is, as long as the sun is shining.”

“I can’t believe I haven’t heard of it before,” she exclaimed. “It’s almost...mystic.”

Mystic? He didn’t believe in that stuff, and yet it’d helped change the lives of three hardened warriors and one war-experienced nurse...not to mention a Scotsman nearly a hundred and fifty years ago. At least that was what Josh contended.

“What can you tell me about it?” she asked. “Why isn’t it on a map? Isn’t it in the national forest?”

“Nope, that’s the odd part of it. You haven’t heard about it because the town wanted to keep it to themselves. The founder of Covenant Falls, who had substantial political pull at the time Colorado became a state, had the area incorporated into the city limits. The family had enough pull to keep it from being included in the national forest. At least, that’s the story. The city has never tried to keep outsiders out. It just never advertised the fact. That’s changing, according to Josh. The town needs revitalization. There’s not many jobs for young people, and the population is aging.”

“I can understand why they might want to keep it private,” she said. “It’s so peaceful here. I feel I could reach out and touch the end of the rainbow.”

“I thought you were an action junkie.”

“Is that your impression?” she said. “I do like to be where things are happening. I also like full moons, soft misty days, ocean sunsets and especially rainbows. Quiet things. They center me. Especially after being in a war-torn area.”

“How long have you been back in the States?”

“Four months, nearly five.”

“Planning to go back to Syria?” he asked.

“If I can. My shoulder was damaged by a piece of shrapnel during a ‘truce’ there. The shoulder joint was injured, and the rotator cuff torn. My shoulder is getting stronger, but then I make a move and wow, it feels like someone is tearing it off. I’m working up to driving again.”

He liked the way she replied frankly. No drama. Just how it was.

“But I do want to go back,” she repeated. “Someone needs to tell the story there. The civilian population is being slaughtered. I was accompanying a medical group during a promised cease-fire. They—we—were bombed. I keep reliving it.”

There it was again. No self-pity. Damned if he didn’t like her.

“I didn’t advertise it,” she continued. “I was afraid it might scare off some of the news services I worked with. I just told them I needed time off.”

He didn’t ask any questions. It was none of his business, and he sure as hell didn’t want to talk about his own injuries. But he empathized with her. More than he wanted.

“Tell me more about the town,” she said, changing the subject. “It sounds even more interesting than I thought.”

“I don’t know that much. The two people who can help you are Andy Stuart, the army nurse, and Eve Manning, Josh’s wife. She’s also the mayor.”

“Special Operations?” she asked suddenly.

She did it again. Threw out a question, seemingly out of the blue. She was smart. Too smart. He hesitated.

“Forget I asked that,” she said. But he knew she had her answer by his silence.

He looked as his watch. “It’s nearly four,” he said. “What about those burgers?”

“You heard my stomach,” she accused him.

“I heard my own.”

“A duet,” she said with that quick, open smile.

As they walked back, he saw her stop and turn. She hesitated. It was obvious she didn’t want to leave.

He didn’t want to either. For a moment, he’d felt alive again, more alive than he had in years. He wanted to catch her hand, as a high school kid would.

Instead, he walked in silence beside her, reminding himself of another newswoman. Jennifer Talbot was here for a few days, no more. Then she’d hopefully get back to her life, although he was very aware of how difficult shoulder wounds could be. He liked that she wasn’t giving up.

Hell, he liked her too much. But then, he’d liked his ex-fiancé immediately, too.

Hopefully, she would talk to Eve and Josh and Andy and write a story on Covenant Falls, minus Jubal’s pet project.

He’d done his part. There shouldn’t be a need to meet again, although Covenant Falls’ size made that unlikely.

Unless he sped up his plans to go on the road. Like maybe tomorrow.

CHAPTER SIX (#u3f120706-64dc-59f2-88d9-8304b88e84b8)

WHAT IS HAPPENING?

Jenny tried to keep her cool. From the moment Travis Hammond met her at the airport, bells began to ring, bells that had grown louder and more persistent as they walked to the waterfall. When she felt the spray and saw the sky filled with color, she’d almost leaned against him. She wanted to.

She didn’t believe in romantic bells. She could admire a good-looking guy from a distance and enjoy social time, but any internal reaction? Not really. No blood rushing inside. No confusion. No craving to touch.