LITMIR.BIZ

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one arm over her shoulders, drawing her close to his side. “Darren would be so proud. He deserves this. To be remembered as a hero.”

      Darren had given his life for his country. That was the definition of the word, wasn’t it? Whether she built a dog breeding facility in his honor would never change that fact. “He does,” she said. “But—”

      “But he always was your hero, wasn’t he, Ames?” Gabe added. “Always perfect in your eyes.”

      No. Amy pressed her lips together, not saying a word. Darren had been her husband and her best friend. She would always love him. But there was a time, before his death, when he’d stopped being her hero.

      Gabe shook his head. “How did my brother get so lucky? We were born and raised in the same town, went to the same high school, and not one of us found a girl like you.”

      “You found plenty of girls like me. I was under the impression you preferred to catch and release.” She glanced at her audience, hoping for a laugh, or at least a smile.

      Nothing.

      Amy felt something heavy pressing against her leg and looked down to see Jango. Good boy, he’d sensed her tension and decided she needed him.

      Amy crouched down. “Need to go out, buddy?”

      The dog looked at her as if to say, I can hold it, but you need to get out of here. Pronto.

      “I’ll let you guys get started. I’ll be up at the house with the dogs if you need anything.” She stood and led Jango out the door.

      “You got it, Amy. But don’t worry about us. We’ll have this place ready for you,” Gabe said. “We’ll swing by later after we pick up Mark and give you a progress report.”

      “Thanks.” She followed Jango outside.

      Four more days. She had to make it through the opening and dedication. After that, the Benton brothers would return to serving their country. She could pretend her dream was nothing more than a way to keep Darren’s memory alive for a few days. For their sake. Maybe it would help them. Transforming her vision for this place into a reality had allowed her to restart her life after losing Darren. It had given her a reason to get out of bed each day.

      But purpose infused the Benton brothers’ lives. They served their country. For them, coming home was like opening an old wound. She had a hunch their grief felt fresh and overwhelming when they were back in Heart’s Landing. They didn’t see this town as a place to move forward. They came here to remember.

      She stopped halfway between the farmhouse and the kennel, waiting while Jango marked a tree. Would Mark feel the same? Unease settled in her stomach, forming a tight ball.

      For months now, their Sunday talks had centered on the present—how the kennel was progressing, her trip to Denmark to pick up the dogs she planned to breed and, when he felt like sharing, the lives he’d saved. Would coming home open old wounds? Would he join the others in the seemingly endless toast to her late husband’s memory?

      Probably. After all, Darren had been like a brother to Mark.

      She crossed her arms in front of her chest, bracing against the cool March wind. Winter had lingered this year, refusing to give way to spring. Jango trotted back to her side, and they headed for the house to check on the puppies. It would be nice, she thought, hugging her arms tight, if someone saw how much she needed this place to be hers.

      * * *

      THREE HOURS LATER, Amy raced down the stairs in a T-shirt and underwear with Jango at her side.

      “Let go,” she called. Charlie and Foxtrot, the two most promising and troublesome puppies, ran in different directions, each holding a leg of her jeans between their teeth.

      “Come on, guys, I need my pants,” she said.

      Foxtrot won the tug-of-war game, ripping the jeans from Charlie’s mouth. Amy smiled. Out of this litter, Foxtrot showed the most promise. He had the drive to win. Just like a solider entering Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training had to want a place on the SEAL teams so badly he’d push past anything to get there, the dogs selected to work with the SEALs had to be the best. And being the best meant they never gave up. Every game of tug-of-war mattered. They had to win. Every ball thrown had to be retrieved. The dog wouldn’t have it any other way. And that was Foxtrot, always the winner.

      Charlie, the loser, tumbled but quickly recovered to chase his brother around the corner and into the kitchen.

      Following them, she heard a loud rip. Maybe Charlie had it in him to serve with the SEALs, too. He’d just won half of her pants.

      “Okay, you can keep the jeans,” she said. “I’ll find another pair. But I need you guys to go back to the guest room.”

      Ignoring her, the dogs disappeared from view, heading for the front room. While two stories, the farmhouse’s footprint was small. A living room off the main entrance with a hall that led to the kitchen, the spare bedroom and the stairs. The upper floor featured an open, loft-style master bedroom. When the puppies escaped their room, they had free rein of the house. And she was starting to suspect they knew it. All the more reason to whelp this litter and move them into the kennel.

      She heard a knocking from the front room followed by a series of barks and closed her eyes. She didn’t want to know what they’d done to make that sound.

      Amy rounded the corner and found the puppies on the couch shredding her jeans.

      “Drop it,” she said in a loud, authoritative tone.

      This time they released her pants and looked up at her. But a second knocking diverted their attention. The front door.

      “Amy?”

      Oh, no. For the past eighteen months, she’d heard that voice through her computer every Sunday.

      “Just a minute.” But the puppies barked, drowning out her words. They jumped off the couch, taking her destroyed jeans with them.

      She heard the knob turn, and Gabe say, “It should be unlocked. She knows we’re coming.”

      Amy glanced down and groaned. Leopard-print undies with the words Feeling Lucky in big red letters. She’d bought them on sale months ago. At the time she’d thought no one would ever see them.

      Her three brothers-in-law stepped into her living room. Mark followed, his rucksack over his shoulder, still wearing his uniform. She watched as four sets of eyes widened.

      “Shit, Amy. The door was open. I’m sorry,” Gabe said, redirecting his gaze. The rest of the brothers did the same, looking at the walls, the ceiling, anywhere but at her.

      Not Mark. His were the only eyes in the room still fixed on her. And judging from the intensity of his stare, he wasn’t embarrassed. He looked...interested. But it had been so long since a man had glanced at her with even a hint of desire that she was probably imagining it. She watched his lips move and realized he was reading the words on her underwear.

      “The puppies stole my pants,” she said.

      Amy saw the exact moment it clicked for Mark. He heard her voice, and he no longer saw her as a woman in her undies, but as Darren’s widow. That hint of desire, the one she may or may not have imagined, vanished. He looked away, shaking his head.

      And great, now she was standing in a room full of drop-dead gorgeous men, in her underwear, and not one of them was looking at her.

       3

      FEELING LUCKY?

      Mark read the red letters, knowing he should look away. The other guys radiated discomfort, shifting restlessly. But Mark couldn’t do it.

      Those long bare legs begged a man to fall to his knees and worship her. One glance and he knew he’d start by running his hands over her calves, gently guiding her legs farther

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