Don't Walk Away: A Second Chance Military Romance Read online

  Don’t Walk Away

  Chole Morgan

  Contents

  Description

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Epilogue

  Want More?

  About the Author

  Copyright

  Description

  I never should have walked away.

  Being in the military just seemed worth the heartache, but I was wrong.

  And being back and seeing her has me uncharacteristically needy.

  There’s no way in hell she’s going to give me a second chance.

  I wouldn’t.

  And yet, fate has a way of opening the right doors at the right time.

  I left my heart behind all those years ago, but I can’t make that same mistake twice.

  I’m hers forever. For good.

  If she’ll have me.

  Chapter 1

  Rhett

  Day in, day out, same old shit, different day. But I enjoyed the routine. The Navy gave me everything I needed. Purpose. Passion. A chance to make a difference. The ability to travel and provide for myself without dipping back into my hometown and reliving all of those bullshit memories just to survive. My mother always told me she could get me a job at the hospital in a heartbeat doing some contracting work, or hiring me out as an electrician or a fucking janitor.

  A janitor.

  I’d rather eat my own damn shoe.

  I knew my mother wasn’t a fan of me enlisting before I was even out of high school. But the life had served me well. I’d made my mark on the Navy, done what I wanted to do, time and time again. The wall of my living room in my apartment just outside of base was lined with achievements, trophies, medals, and commendations. I was good at what I did. I was good as a Navy man. I’d worked hard solidifying my role as a chief petty officer. I enjoyed where I was and I had every intention of climbing the ladder until I was a master chief petty officer of the Navy.

  That was my goal.

  “Reed!”

  I whipped my head up from my desk and looked over to my commanding officer’s office.

  “Yes, sir?” I asked.

  “In here. Now. I need to speak with you,” Brent said.

  My soldiers looked at me as I set down my pen. I slid my chair back and made my way for his office, running through my mind what could have possibly happened. A couple of my soldiers looked nervous, meaning they’d pulled some bullshit I was about to be chewed out for. I braced myself for the ass chewing, the inevitable lecture that would come from not watching out for my soldiers enough.

  But that wasn’t what I got.

  “Reed, have a seat,” Brent said.

  I furrowed my brow before I relaxed and sat in front of his desk.

  “Everything okay, sir?” I asked.

  “Reed, I’m gonna cut right to the chase. You’re the most decorated chief petty officer we’ve got. Outside of the quick promotions, your perfect PT training scores, your nose for leadership, and your multiple medals for your service and valor, you are the only soldier I’ve ever had the pleasure of bestowing the Navy Cross upon before thirty years of age. You’re an exemplary soldier, Reed. Strong. Commanding. You got a good head on your shoulders, and our Navy SEALs could use that.”

  My eyebrows rose up slowly. “You know I don’t want to be a SEAL, sir.”

  “I know that, unfortunately. But we could use someone like you training our own.”

  “You want me to train the Navy SEALs,” I said.

  “Yes. I’ve already put in your application for the position. Word came back this morning that the position is yours, if you want it,” he said.

  “To train the Navy SEALs.”

  “You got something in your ear, soldier?”

  “No. Apologies. I just…”

  I didn’t know what to say, honestly.

  “It’s a position that comes with many benefits. A more relaxed schedule. Less paperwork. Less deployment time. And it comes with more time off. Which I know you haven’t taken much of in the last nine years, judging by your files,” my boss said.

  “No, sir. I haven’t,” I said.

  “This job also comes with a pay bump without compromising your promotions. Which I know you work incredibly hard for. The job is yours. All you have to do is say the word.”

  Was that something I even wanted to do?

  “Can I take some time and think about it?” I asked.

  “I know you’re in the last year of your contract, Reed. I could probably work some magic and have this job tied in with you re-upping. But opportunities like this don’t just drop into a petty officer’s lap like this. In fact, I’ve never seen it happen. The SEALs have been scouting you as a trainer for a while. I can buy you some time, but not much of it,” my commander said.

  “I’d appreciate whatever you can. I need some time to sort through things and figure out what I want.”

  “And that’s why everyone thinks you have a good head on your shoulders. You take the time to do this stuff. The longest I can buy you is a month. Maybe five weeks, if luck is on my side. But that’s it.”

  “That’s all I’ll need, sir,” I said.

  “Under one condition,” he said.

  I drew in a deep breath.

  “What’s that, sir?”

  “Take the time at home. I know that if you stick around this base, you won’t take any time to think. You’re a worker. A fighter. You push things like this off to the side for other things you find more important. I know I can buy you a month if you use this time as leave,” he said.

  I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go home. But he was right. If I stayed on base—or anywhere near it—I wouldn’t do the kind of thinking a decision like this required. But I wasn’t sure I wanted to go home to Capetown, Washington. Go home to whatever awaited me there.

  “But, if I give you this leave, I want you back in this office in a month with a decision. There are a lot of very qualified candidates. The only reason they’re holding this spot for you is because they’re almost guaranteed you’ll say yes,” my commander said.

  “And if I say no?” I asked.

  A stern look came over his eyes. “You’ll never get this opportunity again, Reed. Choose wisely, and take your time.”

  I nodded slowly. “Then it sounds like I’m going home for a month. I appreciate you speaking with me and giving me a chance to take some time and figure this all out.”

  “I had to do the same thing when I was given the job.”

  I furrowed my brow. “Wait, you trained the Navy SEALs, sir?”

  He chuckled. “Don’t look so shocked. Yes, I did. For five years, actually. And look at me now. I’m right at the position I wanted to be within the time frame I set for myself. I’m proof that your dreams don’t have to be tossed out the window for a career deviation. It looks good on a man’s Navy record, and it helped me get to where I wanted to be faster than I would have expected. There are a lot of benefits to this job. And I know you have your eyes set on E-9 status. This job could get you there, if you worked it long enough.”

  “Thank you for sharing that with me. It sounds like I have a lot to think about at home,” I said.

  “Go
od luck, Reed. I’ll get the leave paperwork filled out and submitted. You just get your ass home.”

  “Duly noted. And thank you,” I said.

  Chapter 2

  Ashton

  I pulled into the parking lot of the hospital and sighed. I always got there fifteen minutes before my scheduled time because I needed to take a breath. I’d been back in Capetown for the better part of a year. After a particularly grueling case at the hospital in New York City where I had done my required internship, it became hard stepping into that place. It became hard looking into the eyes of all my colleagues knowing there was more I could have done to save the life of that little boy.

  I shook the thought from my mind. I couldn’t think about that any longer. I’d moved across the damn country to get away from it.

  No use in dwelling what I couldn’t change.

  I slipped out of my car, two coffees in hand. It had become tradition for me to bring two of them, one for myself and one for the director of the hospital. When I came back into town, I was shocked to hear that Lacey had taken over Capetown Regional. I knew she sat on the hospital’s board, and she was the most talented general surgeon on staff. But I never thought she’d give all of that up to sit behind a desk all day and be the director of the entire place.

  I walked into the hospital and up to her office before I knocked on the door.

  “That my coffee?” Lacey asked playfully.

  “It is, it is,” I said as I pushed open her door.

  “Oh, something warm. I’m glad you thought about that. I forgot to specify that I wanted mine warm,” she said.

  “I woke up and it was twenty-two degrees outside. I don’t think anyone wants cold anything right now.”

  “You can say that again. I smelled snow in the air, and it made me shiver for what was to come this next week.”

  “Especially since we’ll all be on call,” I said, grinning.

  “So, how was your weekend? Anything interesting happen?” she asked.

  I sipped my coffee as I sat down in the chair in front of her desk.

  “Eh, not really. Renee pulled me out for a sisters’ night out that ended in me dragging her home and pumping her full of fluids so she wouldn’t have a hangover.”

  “Gotta love older sisters,” Lacey said, smiling.

  “I think she’s just happy I’m back in town. Still celebrating, even though I’ve been here ten solid months,” I said.

  “Well, you were missed.”

  “I still want to thank you for getting me a job here.”

  She waved her hand in the air. “You’ve been here for ten months. Nine months of those thank-yous are not necessary.”

  “Still, what you did for me after what happened—and how public it all—”

  “Stop,” she commanded.

  I closed my eyes and took a sip of my coffee. When she got that firm, commanding tone, she always sounded like Rhett. And every time, that voice dragged me back into memories I refused to dwell on. I opened my eyes and found that picture of Rhett on her desk. Rhett Reed, her one and only son.

  The man that left me behind in high school for the Navy.

  Every time my eyes fell onto his picture on her desk, my eyes quickly diverted back to his mother. I knew that my relationship with her was why she gave me the nursing job at the hospital so quickly. But I was desperate for income and needed a reason to not go back to New York City. When the “incident” first happened, the hospital director back there suggested I take some time off. Go home. Clear my head. Wait for the hospital to do its investigation.

  Two weeks turned into a month. And a month turned into two. Then soon I was looking for a reason not to go back at all, even though the hospital had cleared myself and my name for work again.

  I could still see that little boy’s eyes.

  “Ashton, can you hear me?” Lacey asked.

  I shook my head. “Yes. Sorry. I think I need to drink this coffee a little faster.”

  “If you need to take ten more minutes, feel free to—”

  “I’m not taking advantage of our personal relationship like that, Lacey. I’ve got five minutes before I clock in. I’ll make sure to clock in on time,” I said.

  I stood and hugged her neck before I made my way to my station. I sucked down my coffee, ignoring the burn that came along with it. I put my things underneath the nurses’ station desk and tossed my empty cup away, then picked up the first file in a stack of them.

  Patients that needed to be tended to in the ER.

  “Hello, hello. My name is Nurse Carroll. What seems to be the problem this morning?” I asked.

  “No,” the man said.

  “No, you don’t have a problem?” I asked.

  “No, I don’t want someone as young as my own damn daughter working on me. Get me someone else. Preferably someone with a little more than a few months of experience.”

  Ah, one of those patients.

  “Sir, I can assure you that—”

  “I refuse treatment from you,” the man said.

  I sighed and tossed his folder onto the bed before I leveled my eyes at him.

  “Sir, my coffee hasn’t kicked in yet. So, I’m going to feed you a little bit of truth. I’ve been a nurse for three solid years. I’ve stitched up five hundred and twenty four wounds, aided in nine hundred and forty-two surgeries, removed and biopsied twenty-four hundred polyps and other unknown masses, drawn over twenty-four gallons of blood, and ran more than fifteen thousand tests on patients. If there is anyone more qualified to treat you right now, they certainly aren’t on staff,” I said.

  I had no idea if those numbers were correct, but they sure as hell felt correct.

  “Do I know you?” the man asked.

  My blood froze. “No, sir. We’ve never met.”

  He narrowed his eyes at me before he drew in a deep breath. His eyes fell down my body, like he was judging to make sure I was telling the truth.

  I was more concerned with whether or not he would recognize me, though.

  “I will walk you through everything I’m doing to you. Every poke, every prick, and every test. I’ll explain, in full detail, why it is necessary. And if you don’t feel it’s necessary, then we won’t do it. But if you’re here, in my ER, then something is wrong. And I want to help you figure it out,” I said.

  Then, the man’s eyes met mine.

  “I slipped and fell this morning in my driveway, and my hip is pretty bruised,” the man said.

  Good. Finally, we were getting somewhere.

  Chapter 3

  Rhett

  I clutched my duffle bag in my hand and walked out of the airport. Yesterday morning, I had been sitting with my commander in his office talking about a possible future of mine in the Navy. And twenty-four hours later, I was walking out of Capetown’s small airport and into my hometown. A place I hadn’t come back to since I’d left for the military.

  I drew in a deep breath of the cold, fresh wooded air as I flagged down a taxi.

  I’d always convinced my mother to come see me. I’d enticed her with the ocean and the good California food to get her to come stay in my guest bedroom. I didn’t want to be home. There were too many memories that distracted me from my goals and the voices in my head that kept me on track. But I needed a bit of home to help me figure out what my next move was.

  That, and my commanding officer expected me to be here. Because my home address was what he put on my damn leave form before submitting it.

  I slipped into the taxi that pulled up and was thankful for the blasting heat. I leaned back into my seat and closed my eyes, trying to come to terms with the fact that I was back home.

  “Where to?” the driver asked.

  And I knew the first place I wanted to go.

  I stepped out of the taxi with my bag and paid the driver. Then, I started into the diner. J.J.’s Diner, to be exact. They had the best fucking pancakes in town, and anyone could get them slathered in anything. My favorite stack of pancake
s was the banana nut pancakes, with crumbled bacon on top and syrup and butter running down the sides. I slipped into the booth I’d always taken up as a teenage boy, then waited to hear his voice.

  “Holy fuck, is that Rhett Reed?”

  I turned my head around and smiled at Milo.

  “Hey there,” I said.

  “Holy shit! It’s Rhett! You guys! Rhett’s home!”

  I stood and clapped my best friend’s back. I knew he’d still be a damn cook in this place. Had been since we were kids back in high school. I never understood why he was okay settling for nothing more than a cooking job at a local diner, but to each their own. I hugged some of the other staff as they ogled over me and kissed my cheeks.

  Then, Milo took a break and sat down with me.

  “What the actual fuck are you doing here?” Milo asked.

  “I’m on leave,” I said.

  “And you decided to come back this time?”

  “My hand was a little forced.”

  “That sounds more like it,” he said, smiling.

  “Why the hell are you still cooking in this place?” I asked.

  “Because I love it and I’m good at what I do.”

  “If you’re so good, you know you could open a damn place of your own.”

  “Eh, who wants all that stress? Life is what we make of it. And besides, you as well as anyone should know that tomorrow isn’t guaranteed,” he said.

  My mind ran through all the men I’d lost at my side. All the soldiers I’d buried. I felt my face fall to stone as a cup of hot coffee and carafe was sat in front of me, along with a creamer saucer and a sugar cup.