Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 74256 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 371(@200wpm)___ 297(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74256 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 371(@200wpm)___ 297(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
Graduating from college is bittersweet. I’ve accomplished my dreams, obtained my teaching degree, and am ready to find my dream job. However, I never realized how difficult or stressful it would be to find a position.
That’s why I jump at the chance to visit Chad, one of my best friends, on base in California.
It was meant to be two weeks of catching up and putting all thoughts of job hunting out of my mind. Little did I know those two weeks would change my life and alter the course we were both on.
Chad
The day she agrees to join me in California is one of the happiest days of my life. Having her with me gives me the taste of home I’ve been craving, but deep down, it’s more than that. She’s important to me, more than just my friend, and my closest friend’s twin sister.
Spending my nights with her has done nothing but reinforce this feeling I get when I’m with her. I know we said we’d keep things light, but she’s making it so damn hard not to want more.
Then I get stationed overseas. Everything changes in the blink of an eye, and I’m not just talking about our jobs or the fact we’re suddenly thousands of miles apart. Call it fate or destiny or just pure luck, but it’s beneath the desert sun that finally our future becomes clear.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
CHAPTER
ONE
Chad
The letter in my bag is burning a hole through it, but I promised I wouldn’t read it until I arrived at my new base.
I almost caved. When I got on the plane, sitting alone in a tin can full of strangers, all I wanted to do was pull it out of the zipper compartment and read her words, but I refrained. Maybe it’s because I knew she’d know. Somehow. Ever since I first met her fourteen months ago, she had an uncanny ability to read me, to see past my cocky smile and find the real me I hid from almost everyone behind witty humor.
Faith.
The one I left behind.
I push all thoughts of her out of my head as the Uber pulls up in front of Fort Cavazos, my new base, as of 0600 tomorrow morning. The moment I step out, the sweltering Texas heat wraps her hands around my neck and slowly applies pressure. This kind of heat is familiar, yet different from growing up in Kentucky. There, it would be hot and humid in the summer. The type of humidity that made it hard to breathe and clothes cling to your body in the worst way. That’s not too far off a description of the muggy air in Texas, yet it still feels…off.
Before I can dive into the whys, the MP steps out of the guardhouse.
“Specialist Chad Anthony reporting,” I say with a salute before handing over my transfer papers.
The man in the military uniform scans his clipboard before taking my document. “You’re to report to Colonel Martinez’s office,” he states, handing back my papers. “Up this road and to the right. We’ll take you.”
Another MP steps forward and gets in the Jeep parked along the guardhouse, so I follow suit and climb inside. We don’t have time for idle chitchat as we speed away, heading in the direction of the colonel’s office. The Jeep stops in front of the large building, and without fanfare, I grab my duffle bag and head inside.
The cool air conditioning hits me the moment I enter. It only takes me a few minutes to go through the security process before I’m escorted down a long hallway to where I’ll meet Colonel Martinez.
“Enter.” I hear in a low, clipped voice after I knock on the door.
“Specialist Anthony, sir. I was told you wanted to see me, sir,” I state once I’ve saluted the base commander.
“Of course,” he replies, leaning back in his chair as he levels me with an intense gaze. “Welcome to Fort Cavazos. Unfortunately, your stay with us will be a rather short one. You’re being sent to Fort Irwin in California where you’ll join the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, Blackhorse. You will be promoted to corporal upon your arrival. You ship out immediately,” he states, causing my mind to swirl and my heart to skip a beat.
Corporal.
“Yes, sir,” I state, standing at attention.
“See Sergeant Holmes out front for your transfer orders. Dismissed.”
I salute the man who was supposed to be my commanding officer but is now sending me on my way to another base. In another state. To do another job.
My mind reels as I receive my new orders and I’m sent to catch a ride to the airport. Even though the letter I carry is still weighing down my bag like a brick, I won’t open it until I arrive in California and find out exactly what my new orders are.
But that doesn’t stop my brain from thinking about her the entire time.
When I board the plane, I close my eyes and see her long brown hair pulled up high on her head. Her sleepy green eyes sparkling in the morning light as they focused on me. The sound of her laugh, and how it quickly became my most favorite sound in the whole world. The way I miss her, even after all this time.
Faith is my best friend’s twin sister.
Never in a million years did I expect to meet a woman who’d challenge me so much when I went to visit his hometown over fourteen months ago. Ford’s family lives in Cooper, Ohio, and while we were on a two-week leave, we split our time between his family and mine. That’s when he met and fell in love with my cousin, Shayne. I teased him relentlessly, even though I was pretty excited about the whole thing. It happened so quickly. They met, and I watched my best friend fall in love within a matter of days.
Then, we had to leave my hometown in Kentucky and go to his before returning to base. He didn’t want to go. No, I take that back. He wanted to see his family, but he didn’t want to leave Shayne behind. He did, because that was the job we signed up for, but it was hard. And not just on him, but on me too. I hated watching two people I love hurt the way they did when they were apart, but they made it.