Free Letters to Her Soldier by Hazel Gower

Chapter One
     
    “I don’t know
why you can’t pick your brother up , ” Bianca said on the
phone with her friend Greta.
    “We’re getting a
surprise ready for him.   You know it’s
his birthday next weekend.   We’re doing a
big combined welcome home party.   It’s
taking a lot to organize.   ” Greta paused.   “Because I’m off next weekend for the
celebration, I couldn’t get this weekend too.   And I thought you might like to pick him up
since you’ve been sending him letters for the last couple of years. ”
    Bianca groaned.   “Sending letters is totally different than
talking and seeing him in person.   The
last time I saw Caleb, I was a chubby little girl who followed him around
everywhere. ”
    Greta laughed.   “Well, you’re not anymore.   You can’t keep avoiding him.   Don’t think I haven’t noticed that every time
he gets leave, you go MIA.   He’s home for
a while now teaching new recruits, so you won’t be able to avoid him the whole
time.   Unless you move. ”
    Bianca wondered
if her work would okay a transfer.   She
was their star wedding cake maker.
    “Don’t even
think about it, Bianca.   I will hunt you
down and drag you back. ”
    Sighing in
defeat, Bianca looked around the airport for Caleb.   “Fine, but he doesn’t know what I look like.   I haven’t se—”
    “Yes, he does.   I’ve been sending him pictures of us, of you. ”
    “You what?” A bunch of people turned
to glare at Bianca.   “You did what? I
told him no when he asked for pictures. ”
    “Why on earth
would you do that?”
    Scrubbing a hand
over her face, Bianca looked up at the arrival board to see Caleb’s plane had
landed a good ten minutes ago.   “I was
scared.   I didn’t know what picture to
send.   I look nothing like the girls I
remember he liked to date.   I’m not
five-seven with legs that go on forever, a blonde, or a size under double
digits.   I don’t think I ever will be any
of those things.   I’m a wedding cake
maker and designer, and I like taste testing my food too much. ”
    There was quiet
on the other end of the line for a moment before Greta replied.   “You do realize the way to a man’s heart is
with food . ”
    “You can say
that because you’re a size ten, and your mother taught you how to cook.   Hey, aren’t you supposed to be at work? That’s
why I had to come and pick Caleb up instead of you?”
    Bianca was met
with another silent reply, and a niggling feeling came over her that Greta was
up to something more than just a welcome-home, birthday surprise for Caleb.
    “Sorry.   Busy working and getting
the surprise ready to go.   Talk
later.   Bye. ”
    The uneasy
feeling got bigger as Bianca put the phone back in her bag.   Straightening her shoulders, she looked
around again.   Army men come out of the
gate in full uniform, and she slowly walked forward.   “Oh my, they do look so good .
”
    An older lady
next to her chuckled and asked, “Yes, they do.   Any of them yours?”
    Bianca shook her
head and started to say no when Caleb walked out with two other men.   Tall, he stood well over six feet with broad
shoulders and a tight muscular body.   Bianca couldn’t see much of his dark olive
skin in his Army uniform.   His hat
covered his jet black hair and his piercing deep dark brown eyes set above a
strong masculine jaw.
    Caleb searched
the crowd before his gaze stopped on her.   He stalked forward.   “Hey, beautiful . ”
    Bianca stared at
him, stunned, as he pulled her to him, and his mouth come down on hers.   He held her tightly as his lips crushed hers
and his tongue traced her lips, asking for entry.  
    With her mind
going a million miles a minute, it took her a moment before she moaned, wrapped
her arms around Caleb, opened her mouth, and met his tongue with hers.
    He pulled away, leaving
her panting, and she wondered if she’d fallen into some parallel universe.  
    Caleb smiled
down at her, showing