a
happy ending. Eventually. I'm here, aren't I?"
"Yes, you are," she murmured. He was here. And how. Huge and strong
and utterly unlike any other man she'd ever met. She tried to suppress the sharp
punch she'd felt when he called her "honey." Stop that, she told herself sternly.
This wasn't going anywhere. Getting her heart involved wasn't going to help
anyone, least of all her.
"Someone had seen her doing it and fished me out. They took me to the
hospital immediately and I was put in an incubator stat. Apparently I was about a
month old and seriously underweight. Hard to believe, isn't it?"
"Yes, it is." Nicole looked him over. Immensely broad and tall, with hardpacked dense muscles. It was impossible to connect him with an undernourished
baby. This tragic story definitely had a happy ending.
"This woman--my mother--was a drunk and a prostitute. She was known in
the area. I have no idea who my father was. I don't think she did, either. The police
tracked her down and she was tried and convicted for attempted homicide and was
sentenced to ten years in jail. She served eight years, then was paroled. She went
looking for me at the orphanage, spouting nonsense about wanting to atone and
start over." He rolled his eyes. "Some nutcase of a social worker believed her and
they simply gave me to her. I was eight years old and I'd never seen the woman
who claimed to be my mother before."
"Oh no," Nicole breathed. The story might have a happy ending but it
sounded like there was to be tragedy before they got there.
"Yeah." His hands tightened on hers. "Her name was Darlene Reston. I
can't think of her as my mother, she was just this...woman I had to live with for a
few years. She drank away the welfare checks and there were drugs going on, too.
One thing I do know is that she sure wasn't buying food and milk and clothes with
what the State sent her. Once I got a bad ear infection that went untreated and I
was left with a weakened eardrum. I squeaked by the physical to get into the Navy
55
but then a mortar round finished the eardrum off. I was almost deaf in one ear, had
to leave the Navy on a medical discharge. I had an operation that restored some of
my hearing. But I can't dive to any depth." He shook his head. "Can't be a SEAL if
you can't dive."
Nicole had a flash of a young, skinny, vulnerable Sam, trapped in the care
of a woman who drank away his food money, who wouldn't get him medical care
when he needed it.
"There were men around, too, lots of them." Sam's deep voice was low and
dispassionate. "Most of them were high and stayed high for days. They barely
noticed me but when they did, I got the shit kicked out of me. For most of my
childhood, I was badly undernourished and weak." His mouth tightened. "The kind
of kid a bully loves to kick around. Makes them feel strong. When I was around
twelve, a teacher finally noticed that something was deeply wrong. So the State
took me out of Darlene's care and put me in a foster home."
"Thank God." Nicole blinked the tears back. The strong, successful man in
front of her was light-years away from the small, abused boy and he wouldn't want
her tears. But her heart ached.
"Not really. The foster home wasn't any better. Old Man Hughes and his
wife took in older, unadoptable kids because they got paid more. The wife gave us
watered-down canned soup and crackers bought in bulk, slapped us upside the
head when the spirit took her, and locked herself in her room when her husband
had his little spells of rage. He could go beserk on a dime. Anything could set him
off. An unmade bed. Cracker crumbs on the table. A look, even. We learned never
to say anything, ever. He hated a lot of things, but mostly he hated what he called
'mouthy' women and kids. He was a big, mean son of a bitch and he loved using
his fists on us."
There was a huge boulder on Nicole's chest, making it hard to breathe. Her
battle against her tears was a losing one. He
happy ending. Eventually. I'm here, aren't I?"
"Yes, you are," she murmured. He was here. And how. Huge and strong
and utterly unlike any other man she'd ever met. She tried to suppress the sharp
punch she'd felt when he called her "honey." Stop that, she told herself sternly.
This wasn't going anywhere. Getting her heart involved wasn't going to help
anyone, least of all her.
"Someone had seen her doing it and fished me out. They took me to the
hospital immediately and I was put in an incubator stat. Apparently I was about a
month old and seriously underweight. Hard to believe, isn't it?"
"Yes, it is." Nicole looked him over. Immensely broad and tall, with hardpacked dense muscles. It was impossible to connect him with an undernourished
baby. This tragic story definitely had a happy ending.
"This woman--my mother--was a drunk and a prostitute. She was known in
the area. I have no idea who my father was. I don't think she did, either. The police
tracked her down and she was tried and convicted for attempted homicide and was
sentenced to ten years in jail. She served eight years, then was paroled. She went
looking for me at the orphanage, spouting nonsense about wanting to atone and
start over." He rolled his eyes. "Some nutcase of a social worker believed her and
they simply gave me to her. I was eight years old and I'd never seen the woman
who claimed to be my mother before."
"Oh no," Nicole breathed. The story might have a happy ending but it
sounded like there was to be tragedy before they got there.
"Yeah." His hands tightened on hers. "Her name was Darlene Reston. I
can't think of her as my mother, she was just this...woman I had to live with for a
few years. She drank away the welfare checks and there were drugs going on, too.
One thing I do know is that she sure wasn't buying food and milk and clothes with
what the State sent her. Once I got a bad ear infection that went untreated and I
was left with a weakened eardrum. I squeaked by the physical to get into the Navy
55
but then a mortar round finished the eardrum off. I was almost deaf in one ear, had
to leave the Navy on a medical discharge. I had an operation that restored some of
my hearing. But I can't dive to any depth." He shook his head. "Can't be a SEAL if
you can't dive."
Nicole had a flash of a young, skinny, vulnerable Sam, trapped in the care
of a woman who drank away his food money, who wouldn't get him medical care
when he needed it.
"There were men around, too, lots of them." Sam's deep voice was low and
dispassionate. "Most of them were high and stayed high for days. They barely
noticed me but when they did, I got the shit kicked out of me. For most of my
childhood, I was badly undernourished and weak." His mouth tightened. "The kind
of kid a bully loves to kick around. Makes them feel strong. When I was around
twelve, a teacher finally noticed that something was deeply wrong. So the State
took me out of Darlene's care and put me in a foster home."
"Thank God." Nicole blinked the tears back. The strong, successful man in
front of her was light-years away from the small, abused boy and he wouldn't want
her tears. But her heart ached.
"Not really. The foster home wasn't any better. Old Man Hughes and his
wife took in older, unadoptable kids because they got paid more. The wife gave us
watered-down canned soup and crackers bought in bulk, slapped us upside the
head when the spirit took her, and locked herself in her room when her husband
had his little spells of rage. He could go beserk on a dime. Anything could set him
off. An unmade bed. Cracker crumbs on the table. A look, even. We learned never
to say anything, ever. He hated a lot of things, but mostly he hated what he called
'mouthy' women and kids. He was a big, mean son of a bitch and he loved using
his fists on us."
There was a huge boulder on Nicole's chest, making it hard to breathe. Her
battle against her tears was a losing one. He
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