Healing A Hero (The Camerons of Tide’s Way #4) by Skye Taylor Page A

later.
    He stepped out into the early evening dusk and headed for the bus stop, his mind and heart still reeling and confused. It had been her choice to move on after he’d gone back to the Peleliu , not his. She would not have expected him to carry a torch for her after she married another man.
    Of course, he had more or less carried that torch. He hadn’t been a monk over all these years, but he’d never gotten serious about another woman either. He couldn’t have—his heart still belonged to Elena. And that would have been the case, cross or no.
    But somehow, his continuing to wear it had gotten to her. Why?
    A hiccoughing sob penetrated the tangled web of memory and confusion.
    His head jerked up and he did a rapid perimeter check. Another muffled sob. He stopped walking to listen more carefully and something struck him from behind.
    He spun around, instantly on guard. His heart raced like a Kentucky Derby contender.
    “I’m s-sorry.” A small, fair-haired woman clutched a cell phone in one hand while she dashed tears from her cheeks with the other. She teetered, trying to catch her balance.
    He grabbed an elbow to steady her. “Are you all right, ma’am?”
    “I’m—” She sucked in a surprised breath, and a furrow appeared between her brows. “You’re him.”
    He swallowed, forcing himself to relax. “Him who?” He’d never met her before, but she seemed to recognize him.
    “You saved my husband’s life.”
    “I—Do I know you?” Philip struggled to place her.
    She shook her head slightly. “I’m Linda Diaz.”
    “Rico?” Philip’s breath caught in his throat, and his heart fell. The last time he’d seen Rico Diaz, he’d been sitting in a wheelchair making jokes about his latest prognosis. Had something gone wrong since then? “Is he—how is he doing?”
    Linda’s pretty mouth turned up in a brief smile. “He’s doing good. Really good. Thanks to you and a lot of others.”
    “Not thanks to me, ma’am. I—”
    “You’re our family hero.” She cut him off.
    “I’m no hero,” he muttered uncomfortably. It didn’t matter what her family thought. It didn’t matter what his citation said he’d done. He hadn’t done enough.
    She put her hand out, palm toward him like a crossing guard.
    “If it wasn’t for you, Rico would not be here at all. That makes you a hero as far as I’m concerned.”
    “I was just doing my job. I wish I’d done it better.” Discomfort had him tugging at his collar, wishing he could divert the conversation.
    She placed her hand on his forearm, her slender fingers strong and warm through the fabric of his uniform. “It’s not your fault, you know. The doctor told us Rico broke his neck when the truck got blown into the air, not when you pulled him out of it.” She squeezed his arm, then patted it before taking her hand back. “We’re going to be okay. It’ll take a while, but we’re going to be okay.”
    “But you were—” She’d been crying when she ran into him.
    She held up her cell phone. “I just got some bad news . . . about my aunt.”
    “Is there . . . anything I can do to help?”
    Another brief shake of her head as her eyes clouded with sadness. Then she nodded her head to the side and back. “Well, maybe when Rico gets down here, you’ll come by to visit. He’d like that, I know.”
    “He’s coming here?” Rico had mentioned being stuck at Walter Reed for months.
    “Next month. I’m here to make some of the arrangements. The ones the Marine Corps doesn’t take care of.”
    Philip lifted her phone from her fingers, woke it up, then tapped in his name and phone number. “Call me as soon as he gets here. Call me sooner if there’s anything I can do to help out.” He handed her back the phone. “I mean it. Anything. Any time.”
    Linda Diaz suddenly flung her arms about his neck and pulled him down to her level in a tight, hard hug. Then she kissed him on the cheek and set him free. “I can’t wait to tell Rico