Free Secrets of War: A Military Romance by RD Jordan

red plaid button down shirt, a pair of light denim jeans, red cowboy boots, and a tan straw cowboy hat. For the first time since returning here, she felt like she’d come home. “Good Evening Jamie. Where is that beautiful boy of yours?” she asked. She knew if she looked up at him, her stomach would start doing flips.
    “Tuck is helping pop out at the petting zoo, having a ball,” he said walking around the booth until he came to stand in front of her. “You want to take a spin around the dance floor?” he asked
    “Uhh—I—No I can’t. I need to be here for g-granny,” she stammered.
    “I can stay with granny,” Jade chimed in winking at her grandmother. “Besides, it’s not nearly as busy as it was earlier.”
    “Thanks Jade,” Jamie said with a snicker.
    “Yeah! Thanks Jade!” Suzy said giving her the evil eye from under her hat.
    “Come on Suzy, let’s see if you lost a step in Hollywood,” Jamie challenged.
    “Once again, I’m going to remind you, I’m not seventeen anymore. Challenging me to prove I can still dance. I will come with you to keep granny off my back though,” she said coming from behind the stand. She did feel nervous though, as he hadn’t spoken to her since that day at the restaurant when Momma told them the truth about what happened all those years ago.
    “Hey, I’ll take what I can get,” Jamie replied taking her hand and walking to the dance floor.
    Suzy went into his arms with ease and they waltzed across the floor together, like they’d ever been apart. She’d always been a curvy girl and was now a curvy woman, but when she was cuddled into Jamie’s arms she felt like a size two beauty queen.
    The band ended the upbeat song they’d been dancing to and started a slower one. For a moment, Suzy thought of trying to get way but she found herself pulled in closer to him before she could take a step. He started to move her across the dance floor, never taking his eyes away from her. Suzy could feel herself falling under his spell. “What are you doing?” she finally asked leaning back a little as they kept dancing.
    “Dancing with the love of my life, feeling like I’m on top of the world,” he quickly replied without hesitation. When she stared at him in shock. He smiled a smile of satisfaction. “What? Did you think I stopped loving you?”
    It took her a moment to recover from hearing those words from him. “I—well, to be honest—yes, I did. What about Tuck’s mom?” she asked.
    “The truth?” he asked.
    “Always.”
    “No judgements?” he asked.
    “Never,” she whispered.
    Taking a deep breath, he took the plunge, “I love Tuck more than I ever thought was possible. But he was the result of what I intended to be a one-night stand. I came back from the war, different. A broken man and Asia was more than willing to offer herself up to me. We spent the night together, and two months later, Tuck was on the way. Three months after that, I was married to Asia. I wasn’t going to have my child come into the world a bastard, especially in this town.”
    Suzy knew the pain of being judged in Brightwood. Right or wrong, the minds in this town were closed and could be ruthless.
    “Within a couple of years she was cheating on me, with half the town. I let it go. Hell, I think I even understood. With my leg being gone, my PTSD, and I just didn’t love her. I could understand her wanting to feel like someone cared. It was when I caught her shooting up in the closet of Tuck’s room that I put an end to things.”
    “I-I’m so sorry, Jamie,” she replied still wrapped tightly in his arms, as they glided across the floor.
    “I’m not. Tuck is the best thing in my life. He made me want to get help with my PTSD with the VA. You have to take the good with the bad.” He smiled. “So let me ask you a question?”
    “Okay,” she said her stomach doing a line dance.
    “Now that you know, I didn’t want to be rid of you. Do you think that you can give us