His life hadn’t gone the way he’d wanted it to in a long time. Still, the guilt even at this late date was sharp and jagged-edged. It cut especially deeply today, and he didn’t know what had caused that.
Looking at Ramon in his work-stained clothes, Tyrel remembered how Shel had been as a boy. Quiet and methodical, always giving himself to everything he’d ever wanted to do. He had constantly challenged himself and everything around him, like he could throw a saddle on the world and ride it till he had it in hand.
But listening to Ramon’s words had made Tyrel think of Don. Like his mama, Don had always been pulled toward the church and God. When he’d been young, Tyrel had been like Shel, but he’d given his Sundays to the Lord. That was how he’d met the boys’ mama. They’d gotten to know each other at Sunday school, then started dating at church socials.
When he’d gone away to Vietnam, Tyrel had known she might forget about him or give up on him. A lot of women during that time did. After the events that night at Qui Nhon, he hoped she had forgotten about him. He stopped writing her back; he started drinking and just put in his days on patrol, expecting the bullet that would cut him down and balance the scales that he owed.
But that bullet never came. And when he’d gotten back to the States, she was waiting. Despite his best intentions to turn away from her because he knew he wasn’t the man she thought she knew-and definitely not the man she deserved-he’d been drawn to her.
“Senor?”
Tyrel looked up at Ramon. “What?”
“Are you going to call Pastor Don and his family?”
“Why?”
“To tell him about the colt. You promised him you would call.”
Joanie and the kids wanted to know when the colt was born. Tyrel had forgotten that.
“The children will want to see the baby horse,” Ramon went on.
“I’ll give ’em a call when we finish up here,” Tyrel said. He felt resentful about having to do it, though. Don and Joanie knew how to keep their distance from him, but their kids didn’t. They kept trying to treat him like a grandpa.
“Good.” Ramon smiled. “They’ll like the colt.”
Looking at the boy, Tyrel suddenly missed Shel and Don when they were that age. Shel had been the fireball of the two, always in the middle of something and always pushing himself to go faster and higher. Don had been more quietly contemplative, but he’d let Shel talk him into trouble more than a few times. They’d never gotten into bad trouble, but often enough they’d gone and done when they shouldn’t have been going and doing. It was just how boys became young men.
He pushed those feelings away. He had no place for them. More than that, he didn’t deserve them. Their mama had been the real parent in the family. Not him.
He turned his attention to eating and walled away from the past like he’d done every day since Qui Nhon. He’d lost his past the night he shot that soldier, and he had denied the future every day he’d lived since.
That was the best he could do.
He’d held up for forty years doing that. If Victor Gant’s name hadn’t come at him, he was sure he could have finished out his tour on this world and been done with it. He concentrated on that and thought about the work he had ahead of him.
›› Visitors’ Room
›› Presbyterian Hospital
›› Charlotte, North Carolina
›› 1432 Hours
“See? I told you he was here.”
Don gazed across the room and saw Max lying at Remy Gautreau’s feet. Remy was busy chatting up a young woman in a neighboring chair.
“I still don’t understand how you knew that,” Don said. Over the years that Shel had been paired with Max, he’d often been amazed at the connection between the two.
“Part of being a Marine,” Shel responded. “I couldn’t explain it to you if I tried.”
Max’s ears pricked when he recognized Shel’s voice. Still, the Labrador didn’t move from where he was. His pink tongue snapped back into his mouth and he tensely waited.
Shel made a signal. It was so fast and so small that Don, who was watching, didn’t see it.
Immediately the dog hurled himself up and sped across the intervening space. Other people in the waiting room pulled back, but two small boys laughed and pointed at Max. His attention yanked from the pretty woman sitting beside him, Remy made a frantic grab at Max, but he was way off the mark. Then he saw Shel and relaxed.
Max immediately sat on his haunches in front of Shel. He nosed Shel and sniffed the offered palm.
“Hey, buddy,” Shel said in a low voice. Carefully, using the IV stand, he knelt beside the dog. Max licked his face in obvious excitement. “It’s good to see you too.” Shel patted the dog.
“Well, look who came back from the land of the dead,” Remy said as he joined them.
Shel looked up. “Don, this is Remy Gautreau. Remy, my brother, Don.”
“Are you supposed to be out of bed?” Remy asked Shel as he shook Don’s hand.
“Sure,” Shel said.
“No,” a stern feminine voice said from behind Don. Dread filled him immediately. “He’s not supposed to be out of bed.”
Busted, Don couldn’t help thinking.
Shel reached for Don, who helped pull him to his feet. At the same time, Max stood and took a defensive posture in front of Shel.
The nurse was in her fifties and obviously liked the position of power she had. She had a clipboard in one hand, and her other hand was braced on her hip. Her hair was permed, and she wore pale pink glasses.
“You’re not supposed to get out of that bed, mister,” the nurse said disdainfully. “You’re going to be in big trouble with the doctor.”
Doctor, Don thought. The woman used the term like she was addressing a recalcitrant five-year-old.
“Yes, ma’am,” Shel said.
“Don’t ‘yes, ma’am’ me. You’ve got my whole nursing staff in a tizzy.” The accusation came out hard and high-pitched.
Don cringed a little. It was the type of voice that bullied other people into submission.
A deep, low growl came from Max’s chest.
The nurse peered at the Labrador. “Is that a dog?”
“No, ma’am,” Shel said immediately. “That’s a Marine.”
“That’s a dog,” the nurse argued. “What is a dog doing in the hospital? And why is he growling at me?”
“He doesn’t care for your tone of voice, ma’am,” Shel said. He talked more softly. “If I was you, I’d use my inside voice right now.”
Don knew that Shel could stop Max’s growling with a single word, and he knew there was no threat from the Labrador. But the nurse didn’t.
“I’m going to get security,” the nurse said defiantly. She backed away; then-when she felt like she’d reached a safe distance-she turned and fled.
“Man,” Remy said, “you are gonna be in so much trouble.”
“Nah,” Shel said.
“Yeah, you are,” Don said.
“Is he like this all the time?” Remy asked Don.
“I can’t take him anywhere,” Don said.
“You guys are funny,” Shel said. “Maybe you should think about getting an act together.”
“Are you supposed to be out of bed?”
Don turned and saw Commander Coburn coming up the hallway.
“No, sir,” Shel said. Despite everything, Don noticed that his brother stood a little straighter.
“Now,” Remy whispered, “you’re a dead man walking.”
At that moment, the head nurse returned with three large security guys in tow. She pointed at Shel and
