A Marine of Plenty Read Online Free

pants slowed. Easing away, he squatted in front of her to meet her gaze. “Better?”
    Sitting up a straighter, she swiped at the tears again. “I’m sorry. I don’t usually go basket case on strangers.”
    “I didn’t see anything.” The least he could offer was her dignity.
    “Thank you for that, for escorting me here, and for the letters you sent.” She swallowed.
    Gut-checked, he decided the time for strategic withdrawal had arrived. “I’ll let you get settled in and cleaned up. The room has a private shower. It’s small, but you should have enough hot water at this time of day.”
    “Wait.” She caught his arm before he could rise, and he stilled at the contact. Her hand was delicate, soft with rounded, well-manicured nails. She had no business being in Afghanistan. “Please.” She tacked the word on as though it were an afterthought. “You knew Robbie, right?”
    Even expecting the question would come didn’t make it easier to face. “Unfortunately, not as well as you might have hoped. I knew of him. We’d been introduced and I saw him around, but we didn’t work together that often.” He regretted the disappointment flickering across her face.
    “You wrote the nicest letter about him.”
    “No one had anything bad to say about your brother. I didn’t know him, but I wished I had—after.” Guilt lodged like a dead weight against his chest. “He was a stand-up guy, well-respected, dedicated, and damn good at his job.”
    “So you said.” A smile flickered around the corners of her mouth. She had the prettiest pale pink lips.
    And I don’t need to think about her mouth or what she could be doing with it .
    Distance. He needed distance. “Miss Grimaldi, this isn’t going to be a fun three days for you.” Maybe she didn’t need his advice and she certainly hadn’t asked for it. “Are you really sure that you want to do this? It’s not too late to back out. No harm, no foul.”
    I’ll make sure you’re on a flight back home tonight—where you belong, safe and sound .
    “Jana, remember? And I don’t want to back out.” She sniffled once. “You have brothers, Captain?”
    “Charlie.” Acquiescing to her demand. “Yeah, I do.” Three brothers and one sister.
    “Robbie was my only brother and older than me by four years. I can’t remember a time in my life when he wasn’t sticking up for me or picking me up after I hurt myself or helping me. Even when he deployed here, he used to send me pep talks in his letters. He called me on every holiday, just to see how I was doing. He never complained about going without and he never worried about himself. I’m never going to get another call or letter from him again. I never got to be the one to take care of him.” She sucked her upper lip between her teeth and went silent so long Charlie thought she might have forgotten him.
    Exhaling, Jana leaned forward and clasped her hands. “I had a plan. I’ve been studying all about PTSD and therapeutic recovery and reintegration—I had a plan to be his person and be there for him the way he’d always been for me. But I don’t get to do that anymore, and I’m angry, and I’m sad, and I want to understand how this happened, and it’s no one’s fault—it’s what happened, but it didn’t just happen to him.”
    “It happened to you, too.” He got that. An accident took his brother Brent’s leg years before and it happened to his whole family, too. “I wish I had the words to tell you how sorry I am.”
    “I didn’t come here for that,” she murmured. “I promise you, this isn’t about blame or seeking some kind of restitution. It’s about doing something for Robbie. He loved the Marines so much. I can’t spend Thanksgiving with him, but I can spend it with all of you and make this the best possible Thanksgiving I can. I’m sorry I cried on you, but please don’t ask me if I want to go home. I have three days and then I’ll go, but until then, I’m here and all