Synopsis
Can he solve the mystery that has haunted him for years and set things right before it crumbles down around him and the woman who’s become entangled in his mess?
Since two days before Sebastian’s eighteenth birthday, when he left home to join the Navy, he’s been running away from the pain, the confusion, the terror, and the guilt.
But the Navy had made a man out of him, and now it was time to finally come to terms with his past, so he was going back.
When he finds a new woman in town, unknowingly caught up in the chaos of his past, Sebastian knows time is running out. Then he finds himself entangled with Gianna on a much more personal basis and he wants time to stand still.
Can he unravel the past and grab onto the future before it’s too late?
1
Sebastian Durand stood well away from the luggage carousel even though he could see his duffel bag over the heads of the men, women, and children in front of him. There wasn’t a chance in hell he was going to push his way to the front; standing back and watching was far more interesting.
“Stay away. Let me do it.” A pouty little blonde-haired toddler said emphatically to her harassed father as she made her third attempt to grab her tiny Hello Kitty suitcase off the carousel.
“Lexi, leave it, I’ll get it when it comes around next time,” the man in chinos and a polo shirt said distractedly. He turned to a boy who must have been his son who was holding an iPad and wandering toward a vending machine. “Robert, come back here,” he called out loudly.
When the man’s back was turned, the little girl pulled herself up on the ledge of the carousel and swung one chubby leg over the stainless steel rim. She was clearly planning on chasing after her suitcase.
Sebastian pushed his way forward. He grabbed the little girl up by her waist and snagged the Hello Kitty bag.
“I wanna do it!” the girl shrieked.
The man turned around and saw Sebastian setting his daughter down on the floor.
“Give me Kitty,” she demanded as she thrust her hands on her hips. Sebastian had to stop himself from laughing.
“What’s going on?” the man asked over his shoulder as he made a lunge for his son who was three meters in front of him.
“That guy saved your daughter from a fall, is what’s going on,” a woman with a bad dye job said.
The father dragged his son back to his daughter and glared at Sebastian. “You put your hands on my daughter?” he yelled.
Sebastian took a deep breath.
No good deed goes unpunished. Here it comes.
Sebastian knew the type well; how many newly minted lieutenants had he had to listen to over the years, who thought they knew something when they clearly had shit for brains?
Too many.
He kept his expression blank as the man, about his height, stared daggers at him, holding each of his kids by their wrists as they struggled in his grip.
“Asshole, you had no right to touch my girl.”
“Dad, let go, you’re hurting me,” the boy said as he used his free hand to try to peel off his dad’s fingers. At this rate, the father was going to leave bruises on his kids’ wrists.
“Somebody had to act like a parent,” some soccer-type mom piped up as she came to stand next to Sebastian. “And don’t hold onto your kids so tight.”
“I’ll do whatever the hell I want to do, lady.”
The little girl dropped her suitcase handle and looked up at her father. She started to whimper. “Why are you mad, Daddy?”
“Don’t ever touch somebody’s kids,” the man growled at Sebastian. “I bet you think you’re some kind of tough guy, right?”
“Mister, you need to get your luggage and stop manhandling your kids.” The spirited soccer mom tried to get between Sebastian and the pissed-off dad.
“Look, bitch…”
“Enough.” Sebastian’s voice was low and menacing as he gently moved the mom out of the way. He took a step forward and leaned into the father. “Get yourself under control,” he whispered. “Your kids are watching, don’t give them a bad memory.”
The man twisted his head backwards and Sebastian leaned into him a little more.
“Let go of your kids’ wrists, kneel down, hug ‘em, say you’re sorry, get your luggage, and every day of your life thank your fuckin’ stars you’ve been blessed by God for them. You get me?”
Sebastian watched as all color leached out of the man’s face, then he gave Sebastian a nod. Sebastian stepped out of the asshole’s space and watched with narrowed eyes as the guy knelt down and did exactly what he’d told him to do. When he witnessed the hug and saw that it seemed genuine, he turned back to the carousel and snagged his duffel.
He glanced once more at the guy and his children and saw that both of the kids were smiling. He breathed a little easier.
As he headed toward the exit on the main concourse he heard a woman yell, “Wait up.”
Sebastian turned and saw the petite soccer mom smiling at him, so he stopped and arched his eyebrow in question.
“Thank you,” she said quietly.
“Hmmm?”
“You did right back there.” She reached up and squeezed his bicep. “Not enough right in the world, but you did it, so thank you.” She smiled, then turned and left.
For the first time in what felt like forever, Sebastian felt like he might get through the next few weeks.
Sebastian arched his neck, trying to loosen his muscles. This was the third uncomfortable chair near the third gate he’d been assigned to in the last five hours, and he didn’t know why he was bothering. He looked up at the floor-to-ceiling window in front of him and watched the rain slash sideways. Why they even tried to say the planes were just delayed was a mystery to him. Hurricane Helen was going to cancel everything here at the Atlanta airport, so they might as well just call it.
His phone vibrated, so he pulled it out of his back pocket, hoping it might be one of his teammates. It wasn’t. It was his grandfather, one of the last people on earth he wanted to talk to, so he let the call go to voicemail. It was bad enough he had to see the bastard in the very near future; there wasn’t a chance in hell he was going to talk to him anytime beforehand. Just having the old man’s damn letter in his pocket was giving him hives.
“Canceled?” the woman to the right of him screeched. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye.
Really? She was surprised?
Sebastian picked up his duffel and headed left. He’d already scoped out where the USO was. He probably should have headed there hours ago, but there’d been something soothing about the storm that called to him. The outer turmoil matched what he was feeling inside.
He followed the stream of people toward the Airport Atrium. They were slow, but there was no rush. He’d probably end up sleeping on the floor at the USO, which was a hell of a lot better than where he’d slept on his last mission.
By the time he got to the third floor, he was once again thinking about the old house in Lafourche Parish. When he got to the desk a tall, older woman with a Texas accent was talking to a woman in a combat uniform standing beside a tall man in jeans and a Broncos shirt. The man was holding the woman’s duffel and had his arm around her waist. Both of them wore wedding bands.