Forever's Promises (Forever In Luck Series Book 1) (12 page)

Bev’s
eyes watered. Reaching for Linnie’s hand again she squeezed it, then said,
“Thank you for telling me this.”

“Ummm,
there’s more.”

“More?”
Bev echoed weakly.

Linnie
nodded.

“Will
I need a box of tissues?”

“I
don’t know, but I might,” Linnie answered.

“Oh,
Lord, I’ll be right back.” Bev left and quickly returned with a box of tissues.
“Okay, I think I’m ready.”

 
Linnie filled Bev in on their argument, and
what she’d witnessed at the cabin. “I’m worried about PTSD, and I think we need
to start researching it, see what it’s all about. This is simply not the way
Nate would behave, but a lot has happened, and I think in much of this he’s
struggling to maintain control. Unfortunately, we don’t get much education on
it in nursing school, but I know a little about it from working with patients
at the hospital.”

Bev
reached for the tissues, and handed one to Linnie. “Okay, we can do this,
right? All we have to fear, is fear itself. Knowledge is power, and so we need to
learn as much as we can so we can help him.” Bev took a long look at Linnie,
then said, “I thank God that you’re in my son’s life. He knew what he was doing
when he brought the two of you together. Is there more you need to talk about?”

Linnie
shook her head.

“Okay,
well, where do you think we should start?”

“The
internet, the VA, local resources.”

 
“Sounds like a plan.”

**********

Linnie’s
eyes popped wide open when she heard her father yelling. Nate had come the
night before and left, only to sneak back in through her bedroom window. That
wasn’t so much a problem, as was the fact he’d forgotten to leave, and her
father happened across his pickup parked around the backside of the barn when
he went out to milk the cows. So, they’d been busted. If you can call Nate
lying on top of the covers still wearing his jacket and boots, and her under
the covers in a pair of flannels, being busted.

Needless
to say, her father was about to have a coronary, but neither she nor Nate seemed
particularly concerned. She figured it was because their drama plates were
already full, and anything more was just gravy that slid over the sides.

Walking
into the kitchen, her father was about ten shades of red. Going to the
cupboard, she grabbed two cups and filled them with coffee, then headed to the
table. Of course the peanut gallery was in attendance, and Nik was whistling
some tune from a western movie that indicated shit was going down on Main
Street. Handing Nate his coffee, she grabbed the cream and sugar, while taking
a seat. Nate and her father were engaged in a stare down. Great.

“So
let’s get some things straight here,” her father demanded. “What is this? Is
it, why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free? Hmmm?”

“Daddy—”

“No,
I’m talking to him!” her father yelled, while thrusting a pointed finger at
Nate.

“Hey,”
Nate responded loudly, “you don’t have to hold a gun to my head. I’d marry her
in a heartbeat. I would’ve married her when we were fifteen if you would’ve let
us.”

“Daddy—”

“You’re
damn straight you’ll marry her, and you won’t be staying anywhere near here
till you do!” her father yelled back.

“Great!
Now that we’ve got that settled, convince her to marry me, then let me know the
when and the where, and I’ll be there,” Nate said with emphasis, then took a
drink of his coffee while staring pointedly at her father.

“Daddy—”

“What
do you mean convince her to marry you?” her father snapped back. “Of course
she’ll marry you,” he answered, sounding perplexed.

“No,
she won’t!” Nate answered annoyed. “That’s what the argument was about the
other day, and why she was crying. I want to get married, and she doesn’t.”

Her
dad’s eyes popped wide open. “Linnea Katherine Albrecht! You’re sleeping with
some man, and you won’t marry him! Why, I ought to take you over my knee and
paddle your behind!”

“Yeah,
I tried that one too,” Nate said all glib, “but she just thinks its play time.”

“Hey!”
her father yelled, pointing his finger at Nate again. “I don’t need to hear
that shit from you. Now shut your trap.”

Her
brothers were busting at the seams, trying not to fall on the floor laughing,
clearly enjoying the show.

“Fine!”
Nate yelled back. “I was just trying to illustrate how impossible she’s being.”

 
“STOP IT, both of you!” Linnie yelled at the
two of them. “I’ve had it with men talking over me, and making decisions for
me! Daddy, I’m not sleeping with
some
man, I’m sleeping with Nate.”

Exasperated,
he threw his hands up in the air, then started rubbing his eyes. “Fantastic! Now
that you admit it, it’ll forever be burned in my mind,”

“Okay,
this is ridiculous. Don’t any of you move,” she said, pointing to her dad and brothers.

“Oh,
don’t worry,” Nik said in gay merriment. “We wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

“Yeah,
Linnie,” Kris chimed in, “things sure have picked up around here since you’ve
come home.”

“Shut
up,” she snapped. Then looking at Nate, she said, “I need to talk to you in
private please.” Moving to the entryway, she turned and said, “I need you to
let me handle this.”

“No
way, I’m not leaving you to deal with this alone,” he argued.

“Do
you love me?”

“You
know I do.”

“Then
trust me to handle this. Please.”

He
sighed. “Lin—”

“Nate,
please!” She was totally frustrated.

“Fine!”
he snapped back, equally frustrated. “I’ll call you later.” Giving her a quick kiss,
he left in a huff.

Watching
him out the window to be sure he left, she went back to the kitchen. “Okay, I
need to talk to all of you,” she said in all seriousness. “Yes, Nate wants us
to get married right now, but I won’t, and I need you—she looked at her father—to
lay off. We’ll get married at some point, just not right now.”

“What
if you get pregnant?” her dad asked, clearly unhappy.

“Then
I’ll have a baby.”

“An
illegitimate one,” he said between tight lips.

The
two of them stared at each other pointedly. She felt sorely disappointed. “Would
you love it any less?” she asked softly.

He
looked away, then rubbed his face.

“Daddy,
I know this is important to you, and that you’re looking out for my best
interest, but getting married right now isn’t the answer. Not for me. You don’t
do what Nate and I have done, or see what we’ve seen, to succumb to societal norms
and expectations. Propriety, doesn’t factor into war and trauma. We live in a
different reality, one where what others deem vastly important, we recognize
for the fact that it’s truly not. Nate and I are married in heart, always have
been, and that will have to be good enough for right now.

“Look,
there’s more going on here than you know. I’m fairly certain Nate’s suffering
from combat trauma, and possibly posttraumatic stress disorder. If Nate’s aware
of it, he’s not saying. I need to figure out what kind of help he needs, and
where he can get it, and so far, all roads are leading back to the Army.
Problem is, he wants nothing more to do with them. We really need to get a
handle on this before we can talk about getting married. Daddy, I know you
don’t want us together unless we’re married, but I need to ask you to
reconsider.”

“Why?
Why should I allow this?”

“Because
the safest place for us to be is here. I don’t know to what extent he suffers,
and I may need to call on the four of you to help me if things begin to spiral
out of control. If you decide not to, then we’ll have to get a place of our own,
and I’ll be left to deal with this alone.”

“What
about Mikey and Naomi?” Kris asked.

“The
DNA test will be back soon, but I feel fairly certain he’s not the father.”

“You
weren’t thinking that a few days ago,” her father interjected, still irritated.

“You’re
right,” she answered, “but I didn’t know then, what I know now. Here’s what I
know.” She filled them in on what she’d figured out. “So you see, I highly
suspect that she was, in fact, nine months pregnant when Mikey was born. If we
want to find out who Mikey’s dad is, I think we needn’t look any further than
her date for prom.”

“Holy
shit! That was Erik Eklund,” Nik said. “Seth had a huge crush on Naomi, and when
he finally got up the nerve to ask her to prom, she told him she was already
going with Erik. He was devastated.”

“Well,
there you go,” she answered with a shrug. “So that’s everything. You know it
all, and I have yet to figure out what I’m going to do about my job in Chicago.
I’m due back there in four weeks.”

“I
can’t say I’m thrilled,” her dad answered, “but I will admit you have some
valid issues, and I agree it’s prudent to get some of this figured out before
getting married.” Pausing, he took a deep breath. “I hate the idea of you
moving out with him and being alone in this, and I most certainly don’t want
you back in Chicago. I want you here, in Luck, I want you home.”

“Then
I guess Nate’s moving in, and I’ll be looking for a new job,” she answered.

“There’s
no rush,” her father was quick to answer. “Take some time, relax a little.”

She
reached for his hand and held it. “Thank you, I will. I promise. Kris, can I
ask a favor of you?”

“Yeah,
what?”

“Can
Nate and I have your room?”

“What?
Why my room?”

“Because
it’s on the main floor, and it’ll be less disruptive to the house if we have
the main floor during those nights when he can’t sleep and is up roaming around,
or having one of his nightmares.”

“Is
it that bad?” Jake asked, looking skeptical.

“Yes,
it is,” she said, with a nod of her head. “Nate has a huge tattoo covering a
large portion of his body in an attempt to cover scars from when he was nearly
blown to bits by what looks like a grenade strike.”

“Holy
hell, you can have my room,” Kris said. “I’ll start packing.”

“Kris.”

“Yeah.”

“Thank
you.”

CHAPTER 11

Nate’s
phone dinged. He went to it feeling annoyed. It’d been a week since they’d left
their samples at the testing center, and he still didn’t have results. Looking
at his phone, he saw it was a text from Linnie.
Come for dinner, all’s well, luv u, xoxoxo
. Breathing a sigh of
relief, he immediately felt himself relax some. He wished they were still at
the cabin, he just wanted to hold her. He needed to hold her.

The
newness of being back in Luck having worn off some, he found he was becoming
irritable and impatient, jumpy, and he didn’t feel like being around people. He
didn’t know if he trusted himself right now. He hadn’t even returned Jake’s
calls. Trying to enter some information on the computer, his mind kept skipping
around, unable to stay on track.

Stopping
in the hall outside his office, his dad poked his head in. “How’s it going?”

“Slow,”
he responded without looking up.

“You
heading out soon? The days about up”

Nodding,
he answered without any enthusiasm, “Yeah.”

“You
need to talk about anything? I’ll listen.”

Nate
took a long, deep breath and sat back, closing his eyes.

“Talk
to me. What’s going on?”

“I
just feel edgy, irritable, like I’m about to explode.”

“Alright,
any idea what might be causing you to feel this way?” his father asked.

“Some.”

“Care
to share?”

Nate
took another deep breath, trying to calm himself. “It’s been a week and the
test results aren’t back yet, and I can’t stand being apart from Linnie. I’ve
waited years for us to be together, and here we are in our twenties, but it’s
like we’re teenagers again. Her dad caught me sleeping in her bed this morning,
and about had a stroke. I want us together now, I want us married now, and I
want those test results now, none of which are going to happen today.” Taking
another deep breath, he still felt like he was going to snap, but he did feel a
little better being able to let out some of what he was feeling.

“Thanks
for telling me. How about I give Ted a call and see what’s going on with those
results, then let’s call it a day and head to Johnson’s to get your truck.
Matt’s called a few times, wondering when you’d be in to get it. After, you can
go get Linnie, take her out, relax a little, and I don’t want you coming in tomorrow,
or Sunday. Work can wait.”

“Yeah,
I guess.”

“Wrap
things up. I’ll go call Ted, then we’ll head out.”

**********

Despite
picking up his new truck, Nate pulled into the farmyard feeling little better. The
test results wouldn’t be back till sometime next week, as the snowstorm had
delayed their being sent to the testing center. The truck was nice, but he just
didn’t feel much of anything for it right now. Sitting there in his truck, he
felt stuck, and couldn’t bring himself to go inside. Linnie walked out of the
house and stood on the front step, then smiled the most beautiful smile when
she saw him. Oh man, he loved her so much, and yet he couldn’t help but feel
sad. Watching as she came to him, he opened his door, and she got up in the
cab, kissing him soundly as he pulled her close and held her tight.

“Hi
honey,” she said softly. “I see what took you so long. It’s beautiful, and I
love it. You deserve it.”

She’d
called him honey. Linnie never called him anything but Nate, but she’d just
called him honey, and she loved honey. He felt genuine warmth spread within him
as he looked upon her. Focusing on her lips, she smiled and leaned in, giving
him another kiss, one longer and deeper than the first. He felt himself coming
down by inches, and then by miles, the tension slowly seeping from his body. He
realized then, he was utterly exhausted. He hadn’t slept but an hour or two,
here and there, for the last three days. Helped explain how he’d missed leaving
her room this morning, having stayed too long and then fallen asleep shortly
before dawn.

“You
want to tell me about the truck?” she asked.

Breaking
their contact, he quickly glanced around the truck. “It’s a metallic black,
extended cab Silverado LTZ with a five point three, v-eight engine.”

“It’s
sharp. Why’d you pick this one?”

“Because
I liked the color, and because I can move the seat back to make room for my
legs, and…” he stopped, glancing at her.

“Go
on,” she encouraged, with a nod.

“It
has room in the back for a car seat or two.” he finished, looking away, not
wanting to put pressure on her.

Putting
a hand to his cheek, she turned his face back to her and kissed him. Then
smiling a beautiful smile, she said, “I love your train of thought. I can
imagine a little Nate in the back right now.”

“Well,
I was envisioning a little Linnie. I really want a little girl, one just like
you.”

Smiling
widely, she said, “Come inside, I have a surprise for you.” Then she hopped out
of the cab.

Looking
to the house, he took a deep breath and let it out slow. He didn’t want to go
in there, he just wanted to stay out here with her.

She
pulled on his hand. “Come on, chop, chop, lollipop, let’s go.”

Reluctantly,
he got out of the truck. Walking in the house, his eye’s popped open wide. It looked
like a cyclone had gone through it. “Well, this sure is a surprise,” he said,
looking around perplexed.

She
laughed. “Come on silly, this mess isn’t the surprise, but it’s the result of
it. Come here.” Pulling him down the main hall, she opened Kris’s bedroom door.
Jake was in the room pulling tape off the woodwork.

“Hey
Nate, where’ve you been? You haven’t returned any of my calls.”

Nodding,
Nate answered, “Yeah, ahhh, I know, I’m sorry, I haven’t been feeling real
social. What’s going on?” he asked, looking around in confusion.

Looking
at him with pure happiness on her face, Linnie answered him, “Jake’s been
helping me paint our new room today.”

Whoa,
wait… “What?” he asked, not sure he’d heard right. “What did you say?”

“I
said, Jake’s been helping me paint our new room today. Tonight, we’re going to
sleep in my old room, and Kris is going to sleep on the couch. Then tomorrow
morning, after milking’s done, we’re going to empty out my old room and paint
it for Kris, then move all our stuff into this one. Daddy’s agreed to let us
live here, unmarried, for now.”

Unable
to breathe, his muscles having froze, he stared at her trying to make sense of
it all. Feeling a little dizzy, then a bit lightheaded, he wobbled some when he
tried to move. The stress, the exhaustion, and now the shock from this happy
little revelation, had his ears buzzing and the floor falling out from under
him. Sensing Linnie in the distance, he heard her calling out for Jake, then
everything just went blank.

**********

Slowly
coming awake, Nate opened his eyes and looked around. He was lying on a
mattress on the floor, in Kris’s old room. His clothes were off, with the
exception of his underwear, and Linnie was cuddled up to his side, her head
rested on his bicep. He hurt, ached all over. He knew this feeling, it was how
he felt when he’d been sleep deprived for days, and then slept long and hard,
his body rebelling to the harsh treatment. He felt thankful to be waking up to
this scene, as opposed to waking up on the hot desert sand next to an M-1battle
tank, with nothing but his helmet for a pillow and his gun for a blanket. Been
there, done that, he thought. Taking a deep breath, he still felt tired, so he
closed his eyes and slowly drifted back to sleep.

The
hot shower helped relieve his aching muscles. Couple that with the best sleep
he’d had in years, and Nate felt like a new man. Heading to the kitchen, he
could smell fresh coffee. Walking in, he was more than pleased to see Linnie.
She was standing at the stove cooking. Walking over, he kissed her.

“Morning,
hun,” she said, rubbing her nose to his, then giving him a quick peck on the
cheek. “Go sit, I’m making you breakfast for lunch, it’s almost one in the
afternoon.”

“You
eat?” he asked out of concern.

“Yes,
I did,” she answered, then rolled her eyes. “You can even ask Jake,” she said,
pointing to him with the spatula.

He
hadn’t realized Jake was in the room. Humoring her, he said, “Jake?”

“Yep,
watched her myself,” he answered. “She did pretty well.”

“See,
told you, now go sit,” she ordered, as she swatted him with a spatula. “You're
going to make me burn the eggs.”

Looking
at Jake, he said, “Thanks for helping with the rooms. I really appreciate it.”

“Yeah,
no problem, you can fill in for me on milking when I need it.”

“Will
do, just say the word. So where we at? What’s left to do?” he asked, as he sat
at the table. Linnie set a huge plate of food in front of him, and damned if he
didn’t plan on eating it all. He was starving. Grabbing her arm before she
could walk away, he pulled her down and kissed her quick.

“It’s
all done except for putting your room together.” Jake answered.

“I
need to run to town,” Linnie interrupted. “I’ll be back in a little while. You
two can move in the furniture and set up the bed, then put all the clothes and
boxes in the room, please. I’ll sort and organize it later.”

“Where
you going?” Nate asked, not wanting her to leave.

“To
the Laundromat to wash the big comforter, and then to see your mom in between.
I’ll be back in time to make dinner.”

“Do
you need help getting stuff in the car?”

“Nope,
it’s done. I just need to go. The sooner I leave, the sooner I’ll be back.” She
blew him a kiss, and was gone.

“Jake,
what happened? What did Linnie do to get your dad to agree to this?”

“She
just laid it all out on the line. Which pretty much explained why she’s against
getting married right now, and dad agreed. He really wants her back at home,
and as the threat of her returning to Chicago was real, he saw this as a way to
get her here, and keep her here. She agreed to let her job go, and to look for
something closer to here. I was a little surprised though, I figured the deal
with Purdy was probably part of her reasons, but she never mentioned it.”

“You
think she still loves him?” Nate asked in alarm.

“Nahhh,
not that,” Jake answered, shaking his head. “She never loved him. She only
thought she did because you were gone. She was making the best of a bad deal.
No, she and Purdy were supposed to of been married and on their honeymoon, the
whole time you two were gone. I was just thinking it was bad timing to ask her
to get married is all.”

“I
didn’t know that, no one ever said,” Nate answered weakly.

“They
were going to elope, so no one knew the specifics. But last week, when she had
her melt down, she mentioned that the other woman would be on her honeymoon
this week, so that’s how I know.”

Nate
groaned inside. “I wish she’d talk more, tell me what’s going on in that head
of hers.”

“Yeah,
she’s pretty private, but I think we’re all partially to blame for that. She
grew up with the four of us teasing and chiding her, talking over her. I think she’s
learned to cope by internalize things in an effort to not draw attention to
herself, and in a way, it helps her maintain control. As a result, she’s never
really learned to express herself with confidence.

“If
you take a good look at it, you and I are responsible for bossing her around
and telling her what to do all the time, while Nik and Kris are the teasers. I
think that’s why she gets so upset with all the prying questions and interest
from people in town. She works hard to avoid attention, and doesn’t want one
more person being critical, or telling her what to do. She’s getting better
though, she’s definitely more confident since coming back from Chicago.”

Nate
sighed and rubbed his face. Jake was right. When they’d been at the cabin,
she’d been very confident in her nursing assessment, and she was spot on in
knowing what happened to him. She was also very confident in their love making.
All things she’d learned when away from home. But then, when it came to things
between the two of them, all he’d done was make demands, order her around, and
yell at her. He had to stop that. He had to work harder at listening, and
giving her time to speak.

It’s
just that he felt so damn protective of her, and he wanted to take care of her.
Just hearing what Jake said now, made those protective instincts go into overdrive,
and yet the person she needed protection from was him. “You may be on to
something. Twice, Linnie told me she wasn’t into the whole ‘let’s get married
thing’ right now. It very well may have been bad timing. I was thinking it
might’ve been because of Mikey, but maybe not.”

“Yeah,
I can tell you with certainty, she’s not worried about that. She doesn’t
believe Mikey’s yours.”