Home of Her Heart (Hearts of the War Book 2) Page 25

  But he hadn’t.

  Until he could walk up to her and take her in his arms, he hadn’t wanted her to know where he was or what he was doing. He didn’t want her to think of him as an invalid who’d had to spend months dependent on others to care for his every need. Not until he could stand on his own two feet did he give any thought to letting her know his whereabouts. Even then, rather than telling her he was in Portland at the hospital, he kept quiet. Every day that he regained strength and healed from his wounds he counted as one day closer to coming home to his wife.

  Now, she’d been the one to run away from him.

  He couldn’t help but question if she’d been repulsed by the scars on his face. The entire time he was in the hospital, he refused to look in a mirror. Fear of his monstrous appearance held him back. He refused to get a haircut or shave, using the tenderness of the scars as an excuse to hide behind a growth of bushy hair.

  Nurse Billie Brighton discovered he had a wife one day when she caught him sniffing Delaney’s handkerchief. The fragrance had long since disappeared, but he liked to pretend it still held a faint hint of her scent.

  The nurse took him to task for not contacting his wife, but he held firm in his decision to keep Delaney from seeing him in such a state. Nurse Billie did help him heal as quickly as humanly possible, pushing him to exercise his limbs, eat healthy meals, and gain strength.

  As his release date neared, she harangued him until he promised the moment he left the hospital to get a haircut and a shave. Even then, he couldn’t force himself to look in the mirror, imagining how hideous he looked.

  It wasn’t until that very morning as he dressed and hurried to catch the train heading to Pendleton that he took a quick glance at his image. It was the first time he’d seen his reflection since he was in the hospital in China.

  To him, the scars looked jagged, raw, and horrid, especially the cloudy streak through his eye. He settled his hat at an angle to shadow the left side of his face and kept his head tipped down, shielding people from the view of his scars.

  Yet, he knew the scars weren’t the reason his wife ran away from him. With a nod to those who were slowly drawing near, Klayne turned and limped to the house.

  By the time he reached the back door where Delaney had escaped inside, Dill stood in the doorway, propped up by two crutches with both legs encased in casts from hip to ankle.

  “Sergeant Campbell,” Dill said in a flat voice.

  “Sir,” Klayne said, removing his hat and holding it in one hand as he stood on the back step. A bump from behind almost sent him sprawling, but he used his cane to catch his weight. When he regained his balance, he looked down at Moose. The dog’s tongue lolled out of his mouth in what could have been a smile. Moose wagged his entire back end, as though he alone would serve as Klayne’s welcoming committee.

  “Hey, Moose. How are you, buddy?” He rubbed his hand over the dog’s head and along his back, grateful for a scrap of affection, even if it came from the excited canine.

  Moose offered a friendly woof and leaned against Klayne’s leg, his tail beating out a steady rhythm.

  Klayne looked up and found Dill giving him a long, studying glance. Reluctantly, the man turned just enough so Klayne could enter the house. Apparently, the dog’s approval carried more weight than he realized.

  The two men limped into the kitchen where the girl Klayne had spoken with earlier poured lemonade into glasses.

  Dill tilted his head toward the girl. “This is Lina. She’s helped around the house this summer. Delaney says Lina is the only reason the clothes and house are clean and I’m not in the insane asylum. Lina, this is Sergeant Campbell, Delaney’s husband.”

  Lina blushed again and dipped her head with a timid smile. “I recognized you from your wedding photos. Welcome home, sir.”

  “Thank you, Lina.” Klayne said, pleased the girl and the dog seemed happy he was back. He looked to Dill. “If you don’t mind my asking, sir, what happened?”

  “I fell out of the hayloft and landed on the grain drill. I wouldn’t recommend it.” Dill eased himself down to a kitchen chair and stretched out both legs. “I broke two legs, half a dozen ribs, had a punctured lung and I don’t remember what all else Doc said was wrong with me. I spent half the summer in the hospital and the rest of it confined to bed. They’ve only let me be up on crutches recently.” The rancher gave Klayne another long look. “I reckon you know a thing or two about healing from injuries.”

  Klayne kept his expression impassive. “I do, sir.”

  Dill raised an eyebrow. “Where have you been since the raid on Tokyo? Delaney was convinced you were part of it. When the government finally released the names of the raiders, it turned out she was right.”

  “I was injured that night, sir, when our plane crashed. It took several weeks to make it out of China and back to the states. I spent a month at a hospital in Washington D.C., and two more at a hospital in Portland. Yesterday, the doctor there released me.” Klayne forced himself to meet Dill’s gaze. “I came back to my wife as soon as I could.”

  The older man didn’t move, didn’t even blink, as he continued glaring at him. “I don’t know why you decided not to write my daughter, and it isn’t any of my business, but you shattered her heart. It’s going to take more than a few words of apology to fix what’s broken.”

  Klayne nodded. “I know, sir. I’m sorry, sir.” He swallowed hard. “Had I known she was… that a baby…” Overcome by the thought that he would soon be a father, he took a moment to draw in a deep breath before continuing. “The choices I made seemed best at the time, but I see very clearly how wrong I was. I can only hope Delaney gives me a second chance.”

  “I pray, for your sake and hers, but most especially for my grandchild, that she does, too.” With great effort Dill lumbered to a standing position, propped up on his crutches. Klayne stood, balancing himself with his cane. To his amazement, Dill reached out a hand toward him. He took it and received the man’s hearty handshake. “All that aside, I want to thank you for serving our country, Klayne. The bravery of the men who went on that raid is something people will long remember. I can only imagine how hard the last several months have been on you. I’m grateful for what you’ve all done to not only boost the morale of our nation, but also make those Japs think twice about attacking us.”

  Klayne almost smiled. “Thank you, sir.”

  Dill started to say something but the back door swung open and Ryatt ran inside. “Grandpa! Me and Tommy just got back from town and guess what I saw! There was a…” Ryatt drew up beside Dill and stared in awe at Klayne. “Wow! You’re a real soldier!”

  “You must be Ryatt,” Klayne said, grinning at the youngster.

  The boy bobbed his head up and down, sending his light brown hair flopping over his forehead and into hazel eyes very similar to his aunt’s. Ryatt hurried to push the hair out of his way as he continued staring at Klayne. “Who are you?”

  “I’m the man who married your aunt,” Klayne said, continuing to smile at the boy.

  “The one who bombed the Japs?” Ryatt asked, his face animated and eager to hear more.

  “The very same.” Klayne dug in his pocket and pulled out a jawbreaker, tossing it to the child.

  “Gee, thanks, mister.” Ryatt popped the candy into his mouth and tucked it into his cheek.

  Klayne thought about reaching out to ruffle the lad’s hair, but refrained. “How about you call me Klayne?”

  “Golly, that’d be swell.” The boy looked to his grandfather. “Where’s Aunt Dee, Grandpa?”

  Rather than answer, Dill pointed a crutch toward the door. “Go tell Butch we’ll need an extra plate at supper tonight for Sergeant Campbell.”

  “Okay!” Ryatt turned for the door then stopped and glanced at Klayne. “It’s nice to meet you, Klayne.”

  “It’s nice to meet you, too, Ryatt.”

  Klayne watched him run outside then glanced at Dill. “Are his folks visiting? Is Mac home on lea
ve?”

  A pained expression crossed Dill’s face and Klayne wished he hadn’t asked about Delaney’s brother. “Mac’s gone. Carol, too. My son died from wounds he received at the Battle of Midway. Carol was so distraught when she received the news, she missed a curve in the road and crashed into a tree. I was still in bad shape then, so Delaney had to go to Portland and see to everything on her own. Ryatt… well, that poor boy…” Dill blinked away the moisture in his eyes. “It took some time for him to get back to acting like himself. Delaney’s been worried about how he’ll do when school begins next week. It was hard for him to leave behind his best friend, although those two boys write more letters than a lovesick girl with her first crush.”

  “I’m so sorry, sir. I had no idea about…” The enormity of all that had transpired in the last several months hit Klayne like a punch to the gut. Without showing a hint of his emotions, he tried to compartmentalize them and found he couldn’t. What had Delaney been through since he left? What had she endured? He ticked off a list of what he knew.

  Marriage to a man she barely knew who abruptly disappeared the day after their wedding. The wedding night, a glorious night Klayne would never forget, resulted in a completely unexpected pregnancy. The death of her brother and sister-in-law, both of whom she loved dearly. Stepping into the role of parent to her traumatized nephew. Dill’s injuries. And, from the faces of the young men and women he’d seen outside, the necessity to replace her ranch hands with kids.

  How had she handled it all and survived with her sanity intact?

  Dill must have sensed his thoughts. He tipped his head toward the stairs. “Go on up and talk to her, Klayne. She’s mad and hurt, but she’s glad to see you, even if she hasn’t exactly shown it. Her… condition, makes her emotions simmer on high most of the time. We’ve all been on the receiving end of her temper as she draws closer to her due date.” Dill grinned. “For reasons I can’t explain and don’t really want to know, my daughter is still head over heels in love with you. At least she sure seems to be, when she isn’t ranting about filling you full of bird shot if you dare set foot on the place again.”

  Klayne caught the man’s teasing grin and offered one in return. “Heaven knows I don’t know why she cares about me. I’m sure I deserve the bird shot and a lot worse,” he said, then turned toward the back steps. “Thank you, sir.”

  “Go on,” Dill urged then sat at the table with a painful groan.

  As Klayne started up the steps, he heard Dill ask Lina to bring him a glass of lemonade and some of the cookies she’d baked that afternoon. At the top of the stairs, Klayne took a moment to muster his courage before stopping in front of the door he knew was Delaney’s. Muffled sobs seeping from the room pinched his heart.

  Klayne didn’t know a lot about women and even less about one who was expecting a baby, but he considered Dill’s warning about the pregnancy stirring her emotions. Unsure what to do, he finally reached down and twisted the knob. The door opened and he pushed it back then moved inside.

  Delaney didn’t bother to see who had come in. “Butch, I don’t care what you have to say, just leave me alone. After all this time of wanting Klayne home, I slapped him. He’ll never speak to me again. I already know I’m an idiot and don’t need a lecture from you, or whatever command Dad ordered you to give me. Please, just go away.”

  “I can’t do that, Delaney. Not when all I’ve thought about since I left in February is getting back here to you.” Klayne took a step closer to her. The sound of his voice startled her and she bolted upright, glaring at him with tear tracks on her cheeks and droplets clinging to her eyelashes. He fished a pristine white handkerchief from his pocket and made his way to the bed, gingerly lowering himself beside her. “Don’t cry. Please?”

  “Klayne!” she whispered, looking at him as though he might be an apparition. For a long moment, they stared at each other, drinking in the sight of one another. Then she threw herself into his arms and hugged him tightly as her tears soaked his shirt.

  “It’s okay, Delaney. It’s all okay now,” he said, wrapping his arms around her and holding her close. As he held her, the baby kicked and Klayne jerked back in surprise, staring at her belly.

  Delaney misread his reaction. Instead of seeing his interest in the baby and concern for her health, she assumed it was repulsion. She stiffened and moved away from him. “If you don’t like the way I look, Klayne Campbell, you’ve no one but yourself to blame.”

  She stood and would have stormed from the room, except Klayne caught her hand and refused to let go. With effort, he rose to his feet then stepped in front of her, blocking her escape. He let go of the cane and it fell to the floor with a thud. His hand traced over the soft curve of her cheek.

  Trying to gauge Delaney’s thoughts and feelings was like riding on a runaway train, squealing around curves with metal grinding and no idea when or if he might crash, but there was no place he’d rather be.

  Unyielding, she pulled back from him again and scowled. “Don’t play nice with me, Sergeant Campbell. You let me think you were dead or being tortured somewhere for months. Months! You can’t just waltz back in here and pretend you never left, pretend you…” Her voice cracked. “… love me.”

  Klayne took her arms in his hands and held on, refusing to let go, although his grip was gentle. “I’m not pretending, Delaney Marie. I do love you, with all my heart. I’m sorry I didn’t write. At first, I couldn’t, and then I just didn’t. I was afraid if you knew what had happened, how I looked, you’d…” He stopped and stared down at her, losing himself in those hazel eyes so full of life, and right now brimming with anger and pain. “I was afraid you’d regret marrying me.”

  She sighed and some of the hostility melted out of her. “I don’t regret marrying you, at least not right at this moment.” A little of the Delaney he remembered sparked in her eyes and lingered in the hint of her smile. “I’m just mad and hurt you didn’t trust me enough to not be a shallow nincompoop. Do you really think those little scars mean anything to me? You could have returned missing limbs and it wouldn’t have made a difference in how I feel about you.”

  Encouraged by her words, Klayne took a step closer, but she took one back. “Just because I’m not giving you a black eye doesn’t mean I’m ready to forgive you. You abandoned me, Klayne, right when I needed you the most. I understood about the mission and the secrecy, but once it was finished, you should have let me know you’d survived. You had no right to hide from me.”

  Chagrin rode his features. “I know, Delaney, but I…”

  She held up a hand to silence him. “You can tell me all about what happened later. Right now, I need some time to absorb the fact that you are safe and you are here.” A curious look crossed her features. “You are staying, aren’t you? Are they sending you somewhere else? On another mission?”

  Klayne shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. The Army won’t have much use for a bombardier who’s lost the ability to sight his targets.”

  Delaney squeezed his hand and offered him a sympathetic glance. “I’m sorry, Klayne. Truly, I am. It’s just… I don’t…” Tears glistened in her eyes. “Please, give me a time to adjust to the suddenness of this.”

  He bent down and picked up his cane then backed toward the door. “Take all the time you need, Delaney. I’m not going anywhere.”

  Klayne returned downstairs and walked with Dill and Lina over to the bunkhouse where he found himself sitting between two of the high school girls Delaney hired to work on the place. Delaney hurried in just before Dill asked them all to bow their heads as he offered a prayer of thanks for the meal and for Klayne’s safe return.

  Throughout the meal, Klayne cast glances at his wife as she sat across from him and felt a sense of gratification when he caught her watching him a few times.

  Everyone spoke about the wheat harvest, talking animatedly about finishing soon. Dill informed Klayne the harvest was late that year, due to the long, cold winter and a wet, cool spring.<
br />
  Eventually, one of the boys asked Klayne about the raid he flew over Japan. Apparently, they all were aware of what he’d done, just not where he’d been since then.

  “Did you really drop bombs on Tokyo?” the young man asked.

  Slowly, Klayne nodded. “We did. Sixteen bombers flew that day, each with five-man crews and two thousand pounds of bombs.”

  “Wow!” Ryatt said, his eyes wide.

  “Did you really take off from a place named Shangri-La?” One of the cheeky girls sitting next to him asked.

  He grinned. “Of course. Isn’t that what you read in the newspaper?”

  Dill chuckled then turned to the girl who asked the question. “Sometimes the military can’t share details, even after a mission, Jilly.”

  The girl nodded and gave Klayne another admiring glance before one of the boys asked another question. “What happened to the rest of the planes?”

  “I’ll tell you, but you all have to swear you won’t repeat a word you hear.”

  Everyone nodded solemnly.

  Klayne glanced around the faces before he continued. “Fifteen of the planes crash landed in China and on the water. One of the planes ended up in Russia. They didn’t have enough fuel to make it to China, so they flew there. I know they landed safely, but I’m not sure where those men are right now.”

  “And the fifteen planes that crashed? Were many injured?” Delaney asked. Klayne noted the concern and sincerity in her gaze as she looked across the table at him.

  He nodded. “One died during the crash. A few were banged up pretty good, others had minor injuries. All but one of the men on my plane suffered extensive injuries. Two of them will remain in the hospital for a good long while yet.”

  “Gosh, that sounds horrible,” Jilly said.

  “It was horrible,” Klayne agreed.

  “What about you, Sergeant? How badly were you injured?” Delaney inquired. Her eyes traveled from the scar near his hairline down his face.

  Klayne wanted to duck his head and hide from her intense scrutiny, but he sat up straight and kept an impassive expression on his face. “Our pilot knew we didn’t have much fuel left as we neared China. The night was dark, stormy, and we were a long way from where we were supposed to land. Even if we’d been close, we probably couldn’t have found the airfield because they kept the lights out since the Japanese were so close. Anyway, the weather broke just enough we could see what appeared to be a smooth beach ahead. The pilot buzzed closer, to check for anything that might wreck us if we landed on the sand. We didn’t see anything, so we were exchanging our parachutes for life vests when both engines spluttered and quit. Just like that.” Klayne snapped his fingers, making Lina jump.