Her heart had always belonged to Wade McKinnon...
When single mother, Skylar Barnett, came to South Dakota, she thought her life was just beginning. Newly pregnant, she waited for the love of her life, Wade McKinnon, to join her so they could start their life near his family. But her joy quickly shattered after learning Wade was presumed killed during a tsunami that hit the small Asian island they'd both worked on in the Peace Corp. She'd spent the last four years making peace with her decision to marry a man she didn't love so her baby would have a father. But marrying the wrong man when her heart belonged to Wade was the biggest mistake of her life.
Secrets and circumstance kept them apart...
No one in Wade McKinnon's life knew that his work with the Peace Corp. was just a cover for his real job in a secret military agency. Not even Skylar, the woman he'd fallen hard for the moment he'd laid eyes on her. But when his mission in Asia suddenly became too dangerous and all agents in the field were ordered to disappear, using the tragic events of the tsunami on the island where they'd met seemed like the only way to keep Skylar and their unborn baby safe until the situation cooled down. As much as it killed him, Wade stepped aside when he learned Skylar had moved on with another man. But now that she's free, he's determined to do everything he can to win back her love and claim the life they'd dreamed of sharing.
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His Dakota Bride ~ Chapter One:
The McKinnon
clan didn’t need a reason to get together and celebrate, but this Labor Day
weekend they were going to get one.
Homecomings were always a good cause for a party. But this was one homecoming no one was
expecting.
He parked his
car in the driveway under a shady tree along the driveway, making note of the
fact that there was a pick-up truck parked next to the garage in the spot where
he used to park his old sixty-seven mustang.
He recognized the truck, although the last time he’d seen Logan McKinnon
driving it, the truck had been in better condition.
He paused at the
corner of the house and heard laughter filtering through the air. The boisterous laughing he always heard when
his brothers were all together. The
giggles and shouts of young children he’d yet to meet. It called to him as strong as the smell of
food being cooked over an open flame that tickled his senses. But a hunger of another kind was stronger. The voices he heard had been missing from his
life for too long. But he listened
closely until the female voice that had haunted him grew louder.
“I need to
finish up in the kitchen. Hawk can you
give me a minute and then come carry a few things out to the table? No, Kate you put your feet up. You’re always serving everyone at the
diner. Let me do this.”
The screen door
on the back deck opened and then shut.
With his heart pounding, he walked to the front door so he could have
the precious few moments alone with her before the rest of the family converged
on him. He needed those few moments.
His old key
still fit the lock on the front door.
Turning the knob slowly, he pushed the door open quietly and stepped
into the foyer. He glanced into the
living room, taking in every detail and exchanging what was different with what
he’d committed to memory long ago. The
familiar smell of the house magnified the realization that he had finally made
it. He
was home.
He didn’t want
to scare her. He could only imagine her
reaction when she saw him. So he slipped
through the living room and into the kitchen through the dining room so he
wouldn’t startle her. And when he
finally saw her, he thought his legs would crumble beneath him.
Skylar Barnett. If there truly was just one great love in the
universe for every person, Skylar was surely his.
She buzzed
around the kitchen, almost dancing on the balls of her feet as she moved. He used to say she looked like a ballerina,
dancing as she walked in the sand. She’d
told him it was only because he made her happy.
“I heard the
front door. Did I lock the screen door
on you by accident again, Hawk?” Skylar asked, licking her fingers of the
dressing she’d just stirred in the bowl.
“This potato salad has to get into the ice bowl on the table or it will
spoil in his heat.”
She turned in
the opposite direction towards the refrigerator, opened it, and then pulled out
a bottle. “Oh, and I forgot the Italian dressing for the salad. Would you mind bringing that with you, too?”
She still hadn’t
lifted her gaze to him. And he didn’t
rush to get her attention. He enjoyed
just watching her move. He’d always
loved the way she moved as she rushed from one side of the kitchen to the next.
Picking up the
bowl of potato salad from the counter, she turned to him, her smile as bright
as the blazing sun outside, and said, “Those barbeque ribs your dad has on the
grill smell so good, it’s making me-”
Their eyes met
for the first time in over five years and she gasped. He should have done something to prevent the
bowl of food in her hand from slipping through her grip and crashing to the
floor. The bowl shattered and the potato
salad splattered on the tile floor and the cabinet Skylar was standing
near. She barely noticed the remnants of
the mess at her feet.
“I’m not Hawk,”
he said, never taking his eyes off hers.
Her mouth
dropped open, as tears welled up in her eyes.
“Wade?”
He barely heard
the words escape her lips, but he felt them just as strong as he had the last
time they’d been together. The memory of
what it tasted like to kiss her, and that small intake of breath she made
before her lips touched his.
“Is it really
you?”
Her voice was a
whisper and surged him forward. He took a slow step toward her as she took in
seeing him for the first time in years. Her hand came up to touch his face but
stopped short before making contact.
He leaned
closer, giving her access to reach him without overwhelming her. When she still didn’t touch him, he took her
small hand in his and pressed it against his cheek.
“Flesh and
blood, sweetheart.”
He’d had years
to dream about this day. He’d waited
until the time was right, agonized over the best way, and played this moment in
his mind a thousand times. And yet,
nothing prepared him for what it would be like to touch Skylar again.
Tears streamed
down her cheeks. She did nothing to wipe
them clean.
“Wha…where have
you been?” A sob escaped her lips before
she could finish.
“We have plenty
of time for that. I just want to hold
you now for a minute.” And then he
slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her close against his chest. The heat of her body penetrated the thin
fabric of his shirt, bringing back memories of their burning love making on a
hot evening.
Her sob against
his neck tugged at his gut. “I’ve missed
you so much. How can this be happening?”
“It’s happening. It’s real.
I’m never leaving you again.”
“What the hell
took you so long? When they couldn’t
find you after the tsunami, I called everyone we knew in the Peace Corp. They said there was no trace of you at all. Then your father used whatever connections he
had and called every hospital in the region.”
“I wasn’t in the
hospital.”
“I heard lots of
stories where people had amnesia because of head injuries. They didn’t know who they were. I can’t imagine what that was like.”
He pulled back
just a little to look at her face. The
last thing he wanted to do now was lie to her.
“That’s not what happened. I
didn’t have amnesia.”
“Then…where were
you? Why didn’t you follow me here like
you said you would?”
“It wasn’t
safe.”
“Of course it
wasn’t safe. There was a tsunami, for
God’s sake! That small village we stayed
at was washed away by the tide. And all
this time I thought you were washed away with it. You know we lost six people from our group
that day.”
“I know.”
“You know.” She touched his face and searched his eyes
for answers. “Wade, what happened to
you? Where have you been?”
“Do you remember
me telling you that I was involved in something dangerous?”
“Of course. That was the reason you wanted me to leave
the island so quickly. You told me not
to tell a soul until you came back and that you’d explain everything then. Oh, my God, are you telling me you were in
prison? Couldn’t the State Department
have helped you get word to us?”
She hugged him
tight.
“There was no
way I could get word to you. Not at
first.”
“At first. What does that mean? Why couldn’t you have gotten word to me? For God’s sake, why didn’t you get word to
your parents?”
“You have to
believe me that I wanted to. But it was
impossible.”
“I don’t
understand, Wade. What happened to
you? Where have you been all this time?”
“Watching you.”
Her mouth
dropped open. “Watching? For how long?”
“Ever since you
came to South Dakota. I know about Jay,
Skylar.”
The screen door
creaked. Skylar abruptly pulled away
from Wade, leaving him cold. Her eyes
widened with confusion and anger as she stared at him. She turned her gaze toward the doorway,
placing a hand on her chest. “I…ah…dropped the bowl.”
Wade turned to
see which McKinnon Skylar was talking to and his heart filled with emotion
beyond capacity when he recognized his best friend and brother Hawk standing
there. Hawk didn’t look at Skylar or the
mess on the floor around her feet that she’d just confessed to making. Instead, his brother had the same confused
expression Skylar had greeted him with.
“Wade?”
The next moments
were a blur filled with lots of tears and hugs and jumping up and down as Hawk
pulled Wade outside into the yard and announced his return to the family. Each of the McKinnons ran to greet him. The moment that was most difficult was seeing
his mother and how much the news of his death had worn her down. She still had the twinkle in her eyes, but
the years had taken a toll.
“My boy is
home,” Kate said through sobs, pulling him into an embrace. “I have all my boys again.”
His father
wrapped his arms around both Kate and Wade and gave them a long hug. “Now I believe in miracles,” he said.
They made quick
introduction of all the new people in the McKinnon family. Although Wade had been watching closely to make
sure his family had been safe, he knew none of the details that changed the
dynamics of his family.
He quickly
learned that Hawk, the closest in age to him, was now engaged to Regis, a
beautiful woman who’d traveled the world with her father while he was in the
military. His family as well as Hawk had
won her over and now Regis was determined to dig some roots for the first time
in her life here in Rudolph.
Wade had known
for some time that Logan had lost his wife, Kelly, nearly two years ago and
that in the time he’d been gone, they’d had a son who was now five years
old. But he was equally pleased to see
that Logan’s old flame, Poppy Ericksen, had healed Logan’s broken heart. A wedding was already being planned for the
end of the year.
Wade didn’t think
he’d ever seen Ethan, Logan’s twin, in love before. But after a stellar military career as a Navy
SEAL where he dealt with the tragic death of his best friend, Denny, he’d
managed to capture the heart of Denny’s younger sister, Maddie. Whatever ghosts had been haunting his brother
all these years were now gone.
But the biggest
surprise of all had been Sam, who’d had always had a passion for women and for
fighting fires. He’d met his match with
Summer Bigelow, a dispatcher who’d moved to South Dakota from Providence. He soon learned that the two of them had
taken up residence in his old room above the garage.
As he moved
through the crowd of family, Wade stopped in front of Logan and peered down at
the young boy who had wrapped himself around Logan’s leg.
“I know who this
little man is,” Wade said. “But does he
know who I am?”
Little Keith
half hid himself from view. “Daddy says
you’re Uncle Wade,” he said in a small voice.
Wade laughed as
he crouched down. “That’s right.” He held out his hand to shake Keith’s. Keith glanced up at Logan who gave him the
okay. Keith reached out and gave Wade a
hard shake of his hand.
Wade tried to
act surprised by Keith’s grip. “Wow,
he’s a McKinnon all right.”
“And who’s this
little guy in Auntie Poppy’s arms?” The
little boy buried his face in Poppy’s neck, hiding from his view. Wade already knew the little boys name. He’d done his homework before deciding to
finally come home.
Hawk tried to
pull the boy from Poppy’s arms, but the little guy wouldn’t budge. Then Hawk turned to Wade and said, “This is
Alex. Skylar’s son.”
Looking around,
it suddenly dawned on Wade that he hadn’t seen Skylar in a while.
“Where did
Skylar go?”
“I don’t know,”
Poppy said. “Alex didn’t want to leave
so I said I’d take him for the night.
Then she ran out.”
His stomach
sank. “Wait, she just left? Where did she go?”
His mother’s
eyes probed his face. She must have
sensed the unrest in him from his reaction.
She said to Poppy, “Why don’t you bring the boys to the table for something
to eat. I’m sure they’re hungry after
all this excitement”
Poppy lowered
Alex to the ground and took both Alex and Keith by the hand. “Sounds like a good idea. Let’s go see if Grandpa saved the hamburgers
from burning. If not, we’ll skip lunch
and eat some watermelon first.”
Both of the boys
yelled, “Yeah!” Then they pulled from
her grip and ran to the other side of the yard where the picnic table was set
up.
Kate waited
until the boys were fully out of earshot.
“What’s going on, Wade?”
He watched the
two boys laughing as they climbed onto the picnic table, sitting next to each
other. “They could be brothers.”
Hawk took a deep
breath and placed a hand on Wade’s shoulder.
“Close. They’re cousins.”
Kate’s eyes
widened with surprise. “What?”
Wade stared at
Hawk’s face to see if he was serious, to confirm what he’d long suspected, but
didn’t know as fact.
Hawk
nodded. “Alex is your son, Wade.”
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