Once and For All: An American Valor Novel Read Online Free

If he had hit the links with them, maybe he could’ve cleared his head for a few hours. But it wouldn’t have been that easy. After all, ten years had passed and he still hadn’t been able to completely shake her from his thoughts.
    His first year in the army, he hardly had time to eat and sleep, much less think about Bree. Fourteen weeks in Infantry OSUT. Another three weeks in Airborne, followed by a month of hell known as the Ranger Indoctrination Program. From there he was assigned to 75th Ranger Regiment’s 1st Battalion in Savannah, Georgia.
    But he wasn’t there long enough to settle in. Instead, by the end of the week, he was a newbie on patrol in Iraq. Kicking in doors. Blowing shit up. His training an extreme version of sink or swim. Suddenly he was a scared shitless nineteen-year-old doing his damnedest to follow orders and stay alive.
    Twenty-seven weeks later 1st Batt returned stateside and Danny had his first mandatory block leave. Then with the freedom to go where he wanted and do what he wanted, he felt lost. His only guidance came from his squad leader. “Stay out of jail and, for the love of all things holy, wrap it up no matter what she says.”
    Good, solid advice, for sure, but not very helpful for a kid needing direction. So he packed his duffel and borrowed a car, intending to drive home to Myrtle Beach. Instead, he found himself on campus at the University of South Carolina.
    He had no plan. No idea what he was going to say when he found her. If he found her. He had since lost her cell number and didn’t know where she lived. Hoping she still majored in finance, he figured the business building was his best bet. Finding a comfortable place to sit, he prepared himself to wait hours, days, if necessary. Only it didn’t take anywhere near that long. Within thirty minutes she came out the main entrance, smiling and laughing with a group of friends. Danny rose to his feet, picked up his backpack from off the ground. In that brief moment he looked away, some guy he didn’t recognize appeared from nowhere, draping an arm over her shoulder and kissing her cheek.
    And that was that.
    He was too late. Waited too damn long to try and make things right and she’d moved on without him. And he had no one but himself to blame.
    “What the hell is wrong with you?” Footsteps pounded across the living room’s wooden floors. “What’s with him? Just standing there staring out into space.”
    Danny turned to see his father, Mac, settle into his favorite chair, careful to not upturn the plate of food he held in one hand or the beer in the other. Since he now directed his attention to the television, Danny assumed the question to be rhetorical. He turned back to look out the large picture window and stare at the house across the street.
    “We ran into Aubrey at the grocery store,” he heard his brother say.
    Only then did Danny turn back again to look at the two of them. His father nodded in understanding and took a bite from his sandwich. He chewed thoughtfully as if in deep contemplation then washed it down with a pull from his longneck.
    “Goddamn cancer. Although she’s doing much better now. Pete said she’s out of the woods for now, mostly because they caught it sooner than last time.”
    Last time?
    The words hit him like a round to the chest, knocking the air from his lungs and his weight off his feet. Danny moved to the end of the couch and sat down, waiting for the shock to wear off. But soon the shock was replaced by rage.
    “Bree’s had cancer twice? Which I assume means she’s gone through chemo and whatever the hell else twice. And no one thought to tell me?”
    Mac shrugged his shoulders. “I wanted to tell you, but—”
    Danny held his hand up, silencing his father. He didn’t want to hear excuses. He wanted answers.
    “Is that why she’s back in Myrtle Beach? What about her job in Columbia? I remember you talking about this great job she got after graduation.” Danny waited as