Mending Hearts (The American Soldier Collection 11)

“Why not? There are people who love him. Lots of people come to the memorial every year, and there’s even a fundraiser we do for soldiers returning from serving, in honor of Gabe,” Alana said as another tear rolled down her cheek.

Jaxon thought she was gorgeous. He felt the tug on his heart as he wondered why Gabe would not want to come back to her.

“You said your husbands? Do they live around here?” Jeb asked Deanna.

“No, we live farther out, in Salvation. To think that Gabe has been less then ten minutes away this whole time is outrageous,” Deana told them.

“It is, but like we said, he doesn’t go out at all,” Gator told her.

“What’s wrong with his leg? Why is he hiding?” Alana asked.

“He was badly injured during a mission. He was held prisoner in some shithole for months. Some of the men he was with never made it out, and the others died soon after they were rescued,” Jaxon explained.

“He’s dealing with a lot of emotions, Alana. We’ve tried lots of things to get through to him. Staying together as a team has helped him. Hell, it’s helped all of us,” Jeb added.

“You were part of the same team?” Alana asked.

She held Jaxon’s gaze, and Jaxon felt that tightness again and an instant attraction. She was really sweet, almost angelic.

“Yes, ma’am. We served in a special unit together and hit it off immediately. Seems none of us want to part,” Jeb told her, holding her gaze.

Alana looked away.

“Listen, he’s going through a really hard time. It could last a while,” Jaxon told her.

She looked back toward him and stood up, Jeb’s hand falling from her leg. The tears rolled down her cheeks as she shook her head.

“Let’s go, Deanna. Please,” she said.

Jeb stood up, and he placed his hands into his pockets. He looked at Jaxon, who could see the concern on Jeb’s face.

“It might be better to not let anyone else know that you saw Gabe today,” Gator called out to Alana and Deanna.

“We’ll see,” Deanna said, placing her arm over Alana’s shoulder.

They all watched them walk away, tears flowing, sadness overwhelming the two women, and there was nothing they could do.

“That was intense,” J

eb whispered as he ran his fingers through his hair, and then he exhaled.

“I can’t believe that Gabe never told us about her,” Gator added.

“The war fucked him up. He’s angry and combative all the time and with everyone,” Jeb replied.

“I feel badly for Alana. That look on her face when she saw Gabe… My God,” Gator added.

“I know. Hopefully Geno was able to get Gabe to talk about it and to calm him down. I was worried he might actually lash out at the two women,” Jaxon told them as he walked toward the truck to grab more rope.

“Gabe would never hurt a woman. Didn’t you see that look in Gabe’s eyes when he locked onto Alana? They brightened up for half a second, and then he put up that wall of his,” Gator said.

Jaxon had seen it. He’d also felt the sting of envy, knowing that Gabe had a woman like Alana as his girlfriend and knowing how screwed up Jaxon was himself that he could never have a committed relationship with anyone. Too many skeletons in the closet.

“It’s going to be awkward delivering that furniture to Alana’s place,” Gator told them.

“I don’t know. I wouldn’t mind seeing her again. I felt badly for her and Deanna, Gabe’s cousin. What a hell of a way to find out the guy you thought was dead was actually alive and well,” Jeb stated.

“Yeah, what a hell of a way to find out. Let’s get the next few deliveries done and then take that last one to Alana’s place,” Jaxon told Jeb and Gator.