The Hero

Although there was nothing in her research to indicate he was being investigated for running and operating a grow-op, Devon knew the feds must be getting closer. It would explain his behavior—Jacob was now paranoid.

Three

Lieutenant Commander Sarah Dupre hadn’t worn her diamond engagement ring to work when she’d first gotten it. Rings on the flight line were a good way to lose a finger, for one thing. As well, she didn’t want any of her coworkers figuring her out, for another. But the day her deadline for accepting or rejecting the orders that would ship her to a Florida Coast Guard Station expired, she wore the beautiful ring to work. She had written the two letters—one, rejecting the assignment and two, resigning her commission and leaving the Coast Guard.

Her boss, Commander Buzz Bachman, accepted the letters for his files, though Sarah would send both to the command HR department herself.

“Gonna do it, huh?” he said. “I can’t say I’m all that surprised. But what’s next for you?”

And that’s when she thrust out her left hand, diamond glittering on the fourth finger.

“Whoa!” he said. “Throwing us over for a man? You?”

“Don’t say it like that,” she warned him. “It’s not like it was a rash or quick decision. And I think he’s a pretty good bet.”

“Well, hell, I like Cooper all right, but what are you gonna do?”

She grinned at him and shook her head. “As soon as the Coast Guard approves my separation, I’m going to take a vacation. At least through footfall season. And until we get Landon settled on a college.”

“When’s the wedding?” Buzz asked.

“We haven’t decided....”

“Big bash?” he asked.

“I don’t think so,” she said with a laugh. “I had a big bash when I married Derek, and that didn’t take. I think it’ll be small, quiet and private. But we’re still talking about it.”

“Are you saying I shouldn’t stand by the mailbox, waiting for my invitation?”

“Nothing personal...”

“Well, the boys are going to want to give you a bachelor party.”

She glanced down at herself. “I know it’s not immediately apparent in this flight suit, but I’m actually a girl.”

Buzz grinned at her. “That hasn’t stopped us in the past. Now get out of here. Go tell lover-boy you put your papers in.”

“That’s my exact plan,” she said.

Sarah drove past the turnoff to the town of Thunder Point and her house and drove the long way to Cooper’s bar on the other side of the beach, parking in the rear. When she walked in, he was moving the mop around the floor, something that needed to be done frequently, given all the sand that came in on the feet of friends and customers. He stopped abruptly and just smiled at her.

“I don’t see this every day,” he said. He leaned the mop against the wall and grabbed her against him. He gave her a hearty kiss, holding her tightly. He shook his head and smiled. “I flew helicopters for a living for fifteen years and you’re the only pilot I ever wanted to peel a flight suit off of.”

“I did it, Cooper,” she said. “You better not change your mind. I put in my papers.”

His grin deepened. “Well, now. You do realize there’s no exit date on the next deal you sign up for. Right?”

“You better not get sick of me, Cooper.”

“Let me at least try,” he said, going after her lips again.

A noise behind them didn’t do anything to disrupt their very passionate kiss. Then seventeen-year-old Landon said, “Let’s remember the rules, folks. Safety first. I hope we don’t have to have another one of those talks.”

Sarah couldn’t help but laugh against Cooper’s lips—Landon was echoing her constant reminder. Landon, big, strong, beautiful and in a serious relationship with a wonderful seventeen-year-old girl who happened to be the town deputy’s daughter, could easily be considered high-risk by his older sister. And of course Landon constantly chided her for her mothering. “Is he too big to spank?” she asked against Cooper’s lips.

“Well...by you,” Cooper said softly.

Again she laughed, leaning her forehead against Cooper’s shoulder. “At this moment, I am obscenely happy. Please don’t screw this up or dump me or cheat on me or divorce me.”

“All right,” he said, letting go of her. He turned her toward her brother.

“Rule number two,” Landon lectured, mimicking her again. “Discretion. We don’t want to embarrass people with our PDA.”

“We were alone, actually,” she said. “So, how about giving me a beer? I won’t turn you in for serving me. I’m celebrating. I did it—I put in my papers. I’m getting out.”

“Holy shit, are you kidding me? I didn’t think you’d do it!”

“You didn’t? I told you I was going to do it.”

“Yeah, but you like being the boss of things.” He pulled a bottle of beer out of the cooler and popped the top. He handed it to his sister. “Cooper, we are in trouble here. We should plan a strategy.”

“Take care of yourself, kid. I like it when she bosses me around.”

“You are so whipped. What are the rest of us men gonna think, you letting a woman get the upper hand like this? You should be ashamed.”

Cooper grabbed his mop. “I guess Eve would never get away with that, huh?” he said, mopping.

“That’s different,” Landon said with a big smile. “Eve is so not my sister. And when Eve is happy, I’m happy.”

“There you go,” Cooper said.

Rawley came into the bar with a rack of glasses, silently sliding them under the bar.

“Hey, Rawley, how’s it going?” Sarah asked. “Your cousin still around?”

Rawley stopped short as if he had to think about that. “Huh? Oh. Yeah. Still at my house.”

“Not crowding you, huh?” Sarah asked. “Been a couple of weeks now, hasn’t it?”

“I dunno. Maybe ten days or so,” he said. “She don’t bother me none. Kinda nice, to tell the truth. Remember, I had my dad full-time for years—a young woman and little child don’t take half the care my dad did. She helps out around the place. I haven’t done a load of dirty clothes since she’s been here. Besides, she doesn’t know where she wants to go yet. She said she likes it around here. Well, she likes Elmore, anyway.”

“Where’s she from, again?”

“Seattle. But I don’t think she wants to go back there. Bad memories, I gather. She’s been talking about getting work. Hard deal when you have a kid. And there ain’t nothin’ in Elmore.”

“What kind of work?”

And suddenly Rawley seemed to light up. Shine. “She can do all kinda things. Cooking, cleaning, office work, you name it. She got herself some college degree right before she got in a relationship that didn’t work out. She studied education. She was gonna be a teacher for the real little kids, or something like that. I guess that’s what makes her such a good mom. She’s a fine mother. That little Mercy—she’s something. Real smart, real nosy.”