Forgive & Forget (Love in the Fleet) (31 page)

So he was in some kind of hospital. Probably in Bahrain or Kuwait. But he was off the ship. That’s why his dad and mom were here. But how did Hallie get here? And what happened to the ship? Were his men—and Trixie—okay?

“See right here. ‘Sailor Saves Ship.’ She practically did it single-handedly. Okay, the aircraft did their thing too, but Hallie’s the one who alerted them. She was taken hostage, but managed to alert Public Affairs through her camera. Everyone on the ship knew what was going on, but OS2 Davis in Combat didn’t know they knew. So they went to General Quarters via the phones and TVs and computers.”

Philip’s brain was on fire now. Come on, Dad, did they get the dhows? And how did Hallie get away from Davis?

“And the aircraft took out the fishing boats and Hallie took out the nut job.”

Thank God!

“Sir, I really don’t want to talk about it now. Especially in here.”

“But you shot him, right? You killed Davis. And then they de-fused the bomb, right?”

Hesitantly, Hallie answered, “I did.”

Hallie shot him?

Hallie killed Davis?

Hallie?

“Oh, honey,” Philip’s mother said as she embraced her.

“I had to. He was going to blow up the ship.”

She’s apologizing?

“Of course you had to, sweetie,” his mom said as she rocked Hallie from side to side. “But this can’t be easy for you. My goodness, you’ve lived through a nightmare.”

Doug Johnston was back in the game. “But I still don’t understand how you got to leave the ship and come here with our son to Germany.”

Aha. They were in Germany.

“I’d really rather not go into that right now, so let’s just say the CO thought it best if I accompanied Philip here.”

“You mean he knew about you two? When I was in the Navy, fraternization was considered—”

“Doug, not now.”

Yup, that was his mom, all right.

But Philip knew how Hallie had gotten here. She’d probably played her paternity card and threatened to expose the Captain if he didn’t let her go with him.

He would have laughed if he could. That was his Hallie. He wondered if the CO had reneged on his promise not to tell her he knew he was her father. It didn’t really matter anymore. Guess it worked out for her if she was here. All Philip knew was he was damn glad she was here.

Philip wished that he could get his hands on Hallie to make sure she was all in one piece, but all that seemed to be working were his eyelids, and they had sandbags or something on them.

“They’re calling her a McHero. I mean she saved the entire ship, Margaret. Our little Hallie saved that ship and everyone on it. And she saved our son’s life.” Captain Johnston joined the hug and murmured, “Thank you, Hallie. God bless you, darling.”

Again, Philip wished he could laugh. His dad in a group hug?

Whoa. Wait a minute. Was his dad crying? Spurs Johnston? Crying?

No way.

It was definitely time to intervene and join the party.

Philip reached down into the marrow of his bones for the strength to nudge the words off his tongue and push them out into the room. He was certain they’d be slurred. He just hoped they’d be loud enough.

“…mom was right…daughter with balls…s’my girl.”

The three turned as one. Although Philip’s eyelids were still at half-mast, his cracked lips had curved into a gentle smile.

His mom spoke first. “Philip?”

“Yeah, Mom…hey…you got any asp’rn?”

His dad took care of alerting the staff while his mother moved to the end of the bed, allowing Hallie first dibs on face time and kisses.

“Mmmm,” Philip murmured, “…feel better already. Give me some more of that med’cine, wud’ja honey?” She kissed him again. Oh, good. It seemed all his bodily functions were in working order.

“Hey, Cowboy. I missed you. Where you been?”

“Pretty sure I have been to hell and back, but sounds like you did, too. Way to go. You kicked some major ass. Not surprised. Nothing you do s’prises me.” His mouth curved up. “I think I’ll stick around and see what you pull out of your seabag next. First give me another one of those kisses.”

He saw his dad return to his mom’s side at the foot of the bed. And just as Philip closed his eyes for Hallie’s kiss, he watched his dad put an arm around his mother and heard him say, “You see, Margaret, like I always told you: ‘Every man in a foxhole needs a good woman to come back to.’”

About Heather Ashby

Heather Ashby is a Navy veteran, whose mother was one of the original Navy WAVES in World War II. After leaving the service, Heather taught school and raised a family while accompanying her Navy husband around the United States, Japan, and the Middle East.

In gratitude for her son’s safe return from Afghanistan and Iraq, she now writes military romance novels, donating half her royalties to benefit wounded warriors and their families. She lives in Atlantic Beach, Florida with her retired Naval Engineer husband. Reach Heather at www.heatherashby.com.

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