wound deep within him.
Home…I’m going home. What a hell of a fix. What was he going to do? His mother was fifty-eight years old now. He hadn’t seen her in ten years. Then, two years ago, his father had died unexpectedly of a heart attack. Thane had seen her at his funeral in Washington, D.C. and had spoken stiltedly to her. She had pleaded with him to settle their differences and be a family once again, but he’d steadfastly refused. His father had died a lieutenant general in the Marine Corps, a man widely respected and well loved by those in his command. Thane tried to mirror him in every way. He’d loved his father deeply. And seeing his mother at the funeral only exacerbated his grief over his father’s passing.
“Damn….” he rasped.
The word echoed weakly around the silent room.
Only the fact that Paige Black would take care of his needs on a daily basis made going home anywhere near palatable. Thane felt like he had been thrown from the skillet into the fire. And yet his only objective while riding this emotional maelstrom was saving his leg and getting the hell out of his mother’s house as soon as possible, going back to work as a marine. Above all, he wanted his old job back. And one way or another, he was going to accomplish it. Nothing else mattered. Nothing.
Chapter Three
Thane spent his time on the Perseus jet that flew him back toward the States writing letters of condolence to the wives and families of the men he’d lost on the mission. It was a task demanded of him because he was the officer in charge of the Recon team. Even if it hadn’t of been, he’d have written. These men were his friends; they were like younger brothers to him. His handwriting was shaky and his eyes filled with tears again and again, until he was done. Sometime after that, with his hands folded over the last letter he’d written, he fell into an exhausted sleep.
At some point, someone gently removed the heartfelt letters from beneath his hands, which rested on his blanketed stomach. It might have been Jenny, the trauma physician, or Morgan himself. Thane wasn’t sure, but it didn’t matter. Both were from the military and he knew they understood.
When he awoke, they were within an hour of their destination. Morgan was up in front, speaking on a phone, at a makeshift desk with papers surrounding him. The rear of the Lear jet had been revamped to make it easy for patients like Thane, who lay on a gurney with tubes hanging out of him, to ride with relative ease. Pain had awakened him. Jenny, who was in her mid-thirties, with short red hair and sparkling green eyes, adjusted the IV drip to give him more painkiller to ease his discomfort.
As soon as she did, Thane lapsed once more into a deep, almost comalike sleep. He was sure his need to sleep was due to many things: his injuries, the trauma of the surgery, his escalating emotions and grief over the loss of his men, his concern over what these losses were doing to the families, among other things. And, beneath it all, lay something he didn’t look at very closely: the fact that he was going home to a mother who was more a stranger to him than a parent. And to a house he’d hated growing up in because he’d considered it a prison. The weight of all those emotions raged through him, unchecked.
The next time Thane woke up, he found himself in a pale pink room. It took him a few minutes to realize that he was in a hospital—more than likely Red Rock Hospital, in Sedona, Arizona. It was a far cry from the Cusco hospital. This room was cheery in comparison, with fuschia venetian blinds, green plants hanging near the window and several paintings of flowers and landscapes. His leg was suspended, once again, with a set of pulleys and he noticed he wore a pair of light blue pajamas. The bed covering was a deep fuschia color and matched the venetian blinds. To his left was a huge set of windows, and he could see he was on the ground floor. There were shiny-leafed pyracantha bushes along the bottom edge of the window. Beyond that, he saw the gorgeous spires and buttes of Sedona.
New emotions filtered through him as he gazed upon the red rock country where he’d grown up, noticing once more how the red sandstone was sandwiched between layers of white rock as it spiraled high into the dark blue sky. Turning his gaze from the late evening dusk that hung over the small community, he saw there were a number of bouquets of flowers in the room—bright red, rust-colored, yellow and pale lavender wildflowers from around the area. He would recognize these flowers anywhere and he welcomed their sweet scent over the antiseptic odor he’d encountered in the Cusco hospital. There was no mistaking that it was June in Sedona, for summer had come to this tourist town in all its colorful splendor.
The door to his room cautiously opened. Thane turned, his heart thudding hard in his chest. A young woman dressed in a pale blue smock and loosely fitting dark blue slacks, a stethoscope around her neck and a chart in her hands, moved quietly into the room. She gave him a shy, hesitant smile.
Thane recognized her at once. It was Paige Black. The fear that had knotted his stomach when he’d thought his mother had come to visit him dissolved instantly. A warmth flowed through him at the sight of her. How had she grown so beautiful? Her eyes were large and damp looking, as if she’d been crying recently. Yet the look in them welcomed him with undeniable warmth and recognition.
“Hi. I’m Paige Black, Captain Hamilton,” she said uncertainly. “I was just coming to check on you, to see if you were awake yet. Your mother wanted to know so she could drive over and welcome you home.”
Thane’s eyes traveled over her from her head down to her toes, and back up to her face. Paige could barely hold his narrowed green gaze. She could feel his intense look sweep over her like a fire suddenly out of control, creating a burning sensation. Inwardly, she was trembling with joy as well as trepidation.
Thane swallowed convulsively. Paige was more beautiful than ever. He remembered her in high school, when she hadn’t been half as pretty as she was now. Perhaps it was her height that gave her such a magnetic presence, for she stood about five foot seven inches tall. Her shining ebony hair was drawn back with a large sterling silver, turquoise-studded comb at the back of her head. She wore no makeup, but that didn’t matter. Her thick, arched eyebrows set off her very large, cinnamon-colored eyes. When he saw her dip her head and avoid his eyes, he recalled belatedly that Navajo did not like to make eye contact with strangers. They felt it assaultive. Disrespectful. And he’d been staring at her like a starving wolf. Still, she stood there, her hands crossed in front of her, and patiently endured his inspection.
Clearing his throat nervously, Thane lifted his hand, though he was still very weak. “Call me Thane, Paige. It’s good to see you again.” And it was. He hungrily absorbed her soft, placid looking features. Her skin was golden, her cheekbones high, her eyes slightly tilted to give her a look of mystery and intrigue. More than anything, her mouth looked delicious to him. Her lips parted in surprise when he talked to her in such a friendly manner. She lifted her head like a startled deer caught in headlights. Why?
“Y-you…remember me?”
Just the soft, husky tone of her voice soothed his jangled nerves and raw emotional state. Her eyes were huge with shock as she stared across the room at him.
He managed a brief, hoarse laugh. “Remember you? Sure I do. Why wouldn’t I?” And indeed, why wouldn’t he? Thane felt his heart beating rapidly in his chest. He found himself helplessly devouring the sight of this quiet, tranquil beauty. Everything about her spoke of peace and calmness.
Paige smiled gently and touched her cheek, which felt hot. “You have a wonderful memory, Captain—I mean, Thane….” Awkwardly, she clasped her hands again. How handsome he was! Paige tried to stop the old pain in her heart from leaking through her joy at seeing him once more. She’d never expected to see Thane Hamilton again after he’d left for Annapolis. If he knew that she’d had a crush on him in high school, he’d laugh himself silly. Now he was back here—with her. But not
