Free The Soldier's Holiday Vow by Jillian Hart

he had no right to. He more than cared about her. He liked her. A lot. Guilt returned to pierce him like a blade.
    â€œHe’s a good-looking horse.” What he knew about the creatures could fit into a boot, but it didn’t take a horseman to see the quality of the animal. His face was finely shaped, his forehead high and intelligent, his eyes wise and kind. His coat gleamed like honey in sunshine, and his mane shimmered like white silk. Beneath the purple blanketlike garment he wore, the horse looked pleasingly built.
    â€œComanche has an impressive pedigree. A quality quarter horse isn’t cheap. I think my parents took out a second mortgage on their house for him and the mare they bought my sister when we were in junior high.”
    â€œGood parents.”
    â€œThe best.” She readily agreed, and she had never looked lovelier or more wholesome, the kind of woman a man wanted to come home to. She could make a soldier like him wish for things that were out of his reach.
    He winced, wanting to retreat. He had no right feeling this way. He was wrong to look at September and wish.
    â€œMy sister mostly grew out of her horse phase, but Inever will.” Her laughter rippled, the sound of gentle chiming joy, as the horse lapped at her coat pocket, trying to work it open. Gently, she focused her attention on Comanche. “Let me see what I have in here. I might be out of peppermint.”
    They were a pair, Hawk decided as he watched woman and horse. September bent to her task, her hair hiding her face as she searched in her pocket and came up with a single wrapped piece of candy. Best friends, she had said. He didn’t doubt that the horse adored her. Being close to her had to be as sweet as walking in heaven.
    â€œThis is the only one, sorry, buddy.” She unwrapped the candy, while the horse tried to grab it with his whiskery lips. When he succeeded, she laughed again, a sound that wrapped around Hawk’s heart, a memory he would never let go of.
    His quiet, unspoken wish remained, right and wrong all at once. Torture. He cleared his throat, struggling to hide it. “I bet there isn’t anything Comanche doesn’t know about you.”
    â€œTrue. He is my closest confidant.”
    â€œSo, if I want to learn your secrets, I would have to go to him. Get him to talk.” He ambled closer and rubbed the gelding’s nose. Comanche crunched happily on his candy.
    â€œWhy? Is there something you want to know about me?” She cast him a sideways glance, curiosity alight on her delicate features.
    â€œDon’t worry. Your secrets are safe. I don’t speak horse.”
    â€œLucky for me.” She dipped her head, as if suddenly shy.
    Maybe because he was studying her too boldly. He didn’t mean to. She had hints of little dimples, and he missed seeing her real smile, the full-fledged, all-out one he remembered back when she had been dating Tim. What would it take to see that full-out grin again? Everything within him longed for the sight.
    Guilt wedged again into his soul. What would Tim think? Was his buddy looking down from heaven right now with anger? Or would he understand? Hawk shifted his weight, stepping away, and the horse nickered in protest. Apparently Comanche was used to a lot of adoration.
    September had turned to him, about to speak, when someone called her name. She whipped around, her hair flying, calling out a howdy to the woman bouncing down the aisle.
    â€œI knew you couldn’t stay away!” A redhead wrapped September in a careful hug. “Everyone has been asking about you and wanting to know when you’re coming back.”
    â€œAs soon as the doctor says I can.”
    The two women fell into a lively conversation about people and horses. Hawk leaned against Comanche’s stall and folded his arms. September was all he could see—the graceful, tall way she stood like a ballet dancer. Her warm manner, her concern for the