This Time by Kristin Leigh Read Free Book Online Page A

me.”
    Tara chuckled at the memory. No matter how many times she’d told the officer her name wasn’t Carrie, they’d continued calling her that. She’d been too afraid for her wonderful, outspoken friend to care during those hours while Rebecca was in surgery. But as soon as she woke, Rebecca was right back to her old self, demanding coffee and insisting on new sheets every day.
    Tara listened to the three of them joke back and forth while Rebecca gave Sara and Callie pedicures. But when it was her turn to put her feet in the foot tub, she’d barely gotten her toes wet before Rebecca started asking questions Tara didn’t want to answer.
    “So have you heard from him again?” Rebecca glanced up at Tara from her position on the floor. There was no need to ask who she was talking about.
    “He sent me a laptop and webcam. I hooked the webcam to my computer and chatted with him last night.” Rebecca dumped a little box of sweet-smelling salts into the foot tub.
    “Well?” Rebecca looked up at Tara expectantly and then began filing away on her toes.
    “We just talked about Madelynn. He told me you called him.” Tara glared at Rebecca and nudged her slightly with a hand to the shoulder.
    “Who did you call?” This came from Callie, who sat reading a magazine while waiting for her toenails to dry.
    Sara piped up from beside her, “Ghostbusters!”
    Callie rolled her eyes and said, “That’s ‘who ya gonna’ call, Sara.”
    Sara just laughed and shrugged.
    Rebecca looked over at Callie and replied, “Madelynn’s dad.” She focused on Tara’s toes again. “And yes, Tara, I called him and told him when you went into labor. I’ve had my doubts about Michael in the past, and I’m not saying to meet him at the altar, but it seems like he’s putting forth an honest effort.”
    Callie frowned at Tara. “So you’re not on good terms with your ex.”
    Tara laughed at that. “Saying I’m not on good terms with Michael is like saying the sun doesn’t rise in the west.”
    “Whoa, hold on a minute.” Sara eyed Tara curiously. “What’s his last name? He’s a SEAL, right? And Rebecca said he’d lost a leg.”
    “Yeah, he’s a SEAL, and he lost a leg a few months back. Iraq or Afghanistan or somewhere. His last name is Davis. He’s a chief now, but he wasn’t when we met.”
    Sara and Callie looked at each other, their eyes wide.
    Tara caught the look and said, “Why? Do you guys know him?”
    Sara laughed and said, “Know him? He was one of the groomsmen at my wedding! He’s part of Alan’s team. Why didn’t you mention that, Rebecca?”
    Rebecca just shrugged and focused on Tara’s toes.
    Tara stared at them, dumbfounded. “Seriously?”
    Callie nodded and said, “My fiancé is Lieutenant Paulson. Chief Davis was on his SEAL team before he was…injured. I recognize the name but don’t really know him.” Callie stopped, looking over at Sara.
    Tara gaped at them. “Well, it’s a small world, isn’t it?” She was having trouble picturing Michael as a groomsman.
    Sara nodded and explained to Callie, “He was always kind of a loner. He’s in Bethesda now. He got attached to an Army unit of some kind and went to Afghanistan for…well, I don’t know why. Anyway, something went wrong and just about everyone died.”
    Tara shook her head again in disbelief. “I can’t believe you guys know him.” She glared at Rebecca. “And I can’t believe you were in a wedding with him.”
    Rebecca shrugged again and said, “It’s not like it was my wedding. He was there, I was there. I didn’t even speak to him.”
    Sara raised her eyebrows and said, “I can’t believe Davis has a daughter. I wonder if Alan knows.” She looked up thoughtfully and then said, “Wait. Michael and Davis are really common names. We may not be talking about the same guy. Because the Davis I know isn’t the type to have a kid that no one knows about.”
    Rebecca laughed, still focused on Tara’s toes. “It’s the