The Heart of a Hero by Barbara Wallace Read Free Book Online Page A

felt hot and stifling. To quote her neighbor, she needed some fresh air. Outside was still light enough that she could take a good brisk walk on the beach and clear her head.
    “Come on, Rey.” She nudged the sleeping dog. “Let’s get out of here.”
    Grabbing the dachshund’s leash, she headed out the patio door. Halfway through, she collided with a wall of muscle and bay rum.
    “There a problem?” she heard Jake ask.
    She had a problem all right. Her life. “I was taking Reynaldo for a walk.”
    Since leaving her, he’d showered and changed. His bangs hung wet against his forehead, and she noticed droplet stains on the collar of his work shirt. The topthree buttons were undone, revealing an expanse of tanned skin and blond chest hair. To her mounting annoyance, he looked way too good.
    He held up a flashlight and what looked like a fisherman’s net. “I thought you wanted to tackle your bat problem.”
    Right, the bats. Dealing with her pest of an ex-husband had made her forget her house was potentially infested with rabid winged creatures. “And I thought you had to think about it?” she snapped back. Uncalled for? Yes. But he was staring at her in that intense way of his again, and she wasn’t in the mood. She wasn’t in the mood for anything right now except Reynaldo and a long walk on the beach.
    If her neighbor noticed her sharpness, he was ignoring it. In fact, he matched her, edge for edge. “If you want to find where they’re nesting, now’s the time to look.”
    “So go look.”
    He thrust an industrial-size flashlight in her direction. “It’s a two-person job.”
    Oh, great. Just what she wanted to do after a call from her ex. Go hunting for pests. Worse, she doubted her “handyman” would let her decline.
    She snatched the flashlight from his hand. “Lead the way,” she snapped. “Though, if I get rabies, I’m not paying you.”
    “They don’t usually bite people. You’re more likely to get rabies from a skunk than a bat.”
    “Well, aren’t you the bat expert.”
    “Not an expert. Read up on them, is all.”
    Zoe blushed. The phone call had left her feeling churlish, and she was taking the feelings out on Jake instead of her ex-husband, which wasn’t fair. Curmudgeon or not, he deserved better behavior from her.
    She followed him around to the front of the house. “Up there’s the area where I found the droppings,” he explained. “Flashing’s rippled on this side of the chimney, too. I’m guessing that’s the point of entry.”
    In the dusk, Zoe could barely make out where he was talking about, despite the flashlight beam. The “ripple” he mentioned was barely big enough for a bee’s nest. The netting, he explained, was to allow the bats to exit but not reenter. Then, after a week or so, they could plug the holes permanently.
    Sounded good to Zoe. “What made you read up on bats in the first place?” she asked. Having been put in her place, she was trying to make amends. Plus, the comment had her curious.
    “Spent a lot of time in caves. Figured knowing more about them would come in handy.”
    “Back where you grew up?”
    “Afghanistan. Look, there she is.” He pointed to a black dot zigzagging across the sky.
    Zoe followed his finger, but her mind was more on his last answer than on her winged invader. It allmade sense. The scars, the injury, the extreme reaction in the hardware store… How could she not have realized? Jake hadn’t been in an accident. He’d been in battle.
    “How long were you there?”
    “Second one,” he replied, ignoring the question. “Definitely coming out from the flashing. I’ll have to check for sure, but it’s early enough in the season that I don’t think they’ve gotten through to inside the house.”
    “Good to know.” Though she’d prefer to hear more about his military experience. “What am I out here for?”
    “You’re doing it. Keep the flashlight trained on the roof so I can see what I’m doing.