Epilogue

One Delta North soldier has found his happy ending with a strong young woman, as well as their two devoted dogs—sweet, mischievous Ryker, and stalwart Prince. The town has come to appreciate the man’s unique worth, and they’ll tell anyone who’ll listen.

They’re proud of Nathan Hero, and he feels the very real love they have for him, every day. And returns it, as he and Amy build their life together, in the tiny cabin in the woods.

But in another area of Jack’s Bay, a few short months later, things are not going so well for another ex-Delta North Force soldier.

In the worst part of town and on Christmas Eve, as the snow swirls and the wind blows icy gusts, a man is sitting in the front seat of his dilapidated rental car on a forgotten street, alone. Frozen.

Not frozen bodily…that would be too kind.

No. Eli Austin is frozen in spirit, and in his heart. And that is much worse.

* * *

So this was what hell felt like.

Way back, when Eli had made his decision, he’d hated it. But there’d been no second-guessing, no matter what it meant to his life.

He was needed. He was the only one that could fill the requirement. He’d go.

That’s what soldiers did, men who protected. Especially ex-Delta North special ops. They did what had to be done.

It had been awful. So bad. He’d had to drop everything, his whole bloody life. And it was a life that damn well meant everything to him. Especially one special part…

…her.

Ever since he’d laid eyes on that bright star in high school, she’d been the only one for him. Then, the miracle had happened. She thought he was pretty much hot shit too.

They were set, for life They’d had their own personal miracle, and they were both going to hang on to it, with everything they had.

And then, it had changed, in a split-second moment…when he got the call.

His mind had made quick calculations. The fact he’d have to leave her? It was so bad he couldn’t let himself think about it. He’d shut his heart down, on the spot, through the earthquake of pain. Clamped iron bars around it, squeezed them tight. Threw away the key.

He’d done what he needed to. But he’d never realized what it would cost him, in his heart.

The numbness was almost complete now, years later. He’d missed her so damn bad, at first. But hell. He was a guy, and you just damn well couldn’t go there, all the time. For fuck’s sake, he was military. Ex-Delta North. Tish Taylor had moved on, married another guy. End of story.

He needed to do that, too.

Yet, tonight, on this cold street, the memories raged through him, stronger and brighter than before. The timing for those memories couldn’t have been worse. He was slated to go off the grid completely, today. Far away from this little town that he still loved, that held all the secret dreams of a special ops soldier’s heart, a heart that had been stopped in mid-beat, when that one damn call had come in.

And had never started beating again. Not really.

Seemed all the Delta North men had ended up with trouble.

Like his buddy Rand Peters, who’d gone back to a life of obsessive partying to kill the pain of losing his Dad, days before he’d been able to prove to him that he’d made something of himself. Now, it was too late.

Like Parker Bowles, who shielded all the animals in their small township, but still hadn’t found that one person he wanted to shield for life, with that big heart of his.

Like Ruf Richardson, too, the town’s butcher, who even now was likely delivering a care package to some old pensioner. But there was no one waiting for him, either, at home…to warm his bed, his heart, or his life.

And lastly, like Og Reiden, the toughest man he’d met in Delta North. He still didn’t have a partner, either. Just grim, forced determination to continue his business down in Refuge Bay, off Chesapeake Bay, while trying to save the brother who’d gotten in with a bad element, and paid horribly for it.

Damn it. He was just like these guys, only soon, he’d be much worse. He’d lost her, and by leaving the place where they’d built all their memories, he felt like it was really, irrevocably over.

Yeah. His heart was truly a fucking block of ice. No thaw in sight, ever. It was frozen solid.

But the icy Jack’s Bay gusts didn’t know that. He wiped a glove across his ice-cold cheek, desperate for warmth, yet unable to move. To stir life. Heat.

What the hell was it, with these memories? They weren’t welcome. His life had no line item for damn memories. Not a one.

But, he was leaving. For good. Did that change things? Maybe, this last night before Christmas, it was okay? They were allowed? This one last time?

The truth was, he’d always be swallowed up in them. He couldn’t move on, because there’d been no closure. Not for him.

He was destined to never get Tish Taylor, that sweet, sexy, sassy beauty—the one he’d hurt so badly…

…out of his cold, dead, lifeless heart. Ever.