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

his father and brother exchanged a knowing glance, the kind that only meant more bad news. “What about her job in Columbia?”
    Mike folded his arms across his chest, refusing to succumb to Danny’s questioning. So again his father answered. “She was laid off a few years ago.”
    “Because of the cancer? They can’t do that. She should sue their asses for wrongful termination or something.”
    “The second diagnosis came after. But your brother understands these things far better than I do. All I do know for certain is things have come a long way since your mother—”
    Now his father fell silent.
    Lily MacGregor had been dead twenty-three years and his father still couldn’t bring himself to say the words.
    Danny looked to his brother. “I understand Dad knowing and not saying anything, but how long have you known?”
    “From the get-go,” his brother answered nonchalantly. “Bev sends care packages on occasion and she always includes a letter filling me in on all the goings-on. Kind of like those Christmas letters Aunt Grace used to send each year.”
    Danny held up a hand to stop him. His head was spinning as he tried to process all this information at once. “Bree’s mom sends you care packages?”
    His brother shrugged as if this was no big deal. “Has from the time I was in medical school. Last one came around Thanksgiving while we were in Afghanistan. Had these really good oatmeal cookies with cranberries and nuts and stuff.”
    What. The. Hell?
    “Does she always send you cookies?”
    “Not always. Sometimes it’s brownies. Sometimes cupcakes. Depends on where I am at the time. If she’s sending it overseas it has to be vacuum-sealed. And that would really mess up the icing on cupcakes.”
    Danny’s jaw went slack from the shock of it. He looked to his father, who shook his head. No point in looking for answers from him. He glared at his brother. “You mean to tell me Bev’s been sending you cookies for what . . . eleven . . . twelve years? I never got any cookies! Why the fuck didn’t I get cookies?”
    Mike grinned then took another drink from his beer, making him wait for an answer. “Might be a wild guess on my part, but could it be you broke her only daughter’s heart?”
    Danny clenched his fists. It took every ounce of self-restraint to not wipe the smug look from his brother’s face. Even so, that wouldn’t do any good. This conversation needed to be with someone else. He turned on his heel and headed for the front door.
    “Where are you going?” his brother called after him.
    “Where do you think?” Danny yelled back as he crossed the threshold. “I’m going to get answers.”

 
    Chapter Three
    B REE SETTLED UPON the old wooden swing hanging from the large oak in her backyard, hoping the fresh air and sunshine would settle her mind. But she couldn’t escape her thoughts of Danny.
    At every turn, the memory of him haunted her like a ghost. It’s why she found her life in Columbia so much easier. Yes, he’d lived there for a while. But memories of him didn’t permeate every nook and cranny. Here in Myrtle Beach, no matter where she went, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t escape memories of him.
    Even worse were the times she didn’t want to.
    “How you doin’, pumpkin?” Her father’s low, slow Southern drawl pulled her from the past and brought her back into the present. “Everything okay?”
    If it had been her mother, she would have said whatever it took to make her mother feel better. No matter how big the lie. But Pete Dunbar had always been a straight shooter and asked everyone he knew to be the same in kind. Anyway, lying to him served no purpose. The man had a nose for bullshit.
    “I’ve been better.”
    From the nearby storage shed Pete grabbed an empty five-gallon paint bucket, overturning it on the grass. He took a seat on the makeshift stool, waiting for her to fill the silence.
    “Ran into Mike MacGregor at the store.”
    “Oh yeah?