To Honor and To Protect by Debra Webb Read Free Book Online Page B

was a cruel twist of her overwrought imagination. She pushed to her feet, away from the man with Drew’s face. Any second now she’d wake up from this horrible nightmare.
    “Mommy?” It was her son’s tiny voice that ripped through her confusion and brought her back to her senses. She had to protect Andy at all costs.
    “I’m here, Andy.” She couldn’t decide. Comfort her son or confront the man in front of her.
    “Take care of him.” The man carefully leaned the gun against the wall closest to her. “Then I’ll explain and you can shoot me if you want to.”
    It was such a Drew thing to say that she followed her instincts and tended to Andy.
    “Why did the gun go off? Are we in trouble?”
    “Someone startled me, that’s all.” She ushered her boy back into bed and pulled the covers up tight. “It’s late. Go back to sleep.”
    “Who is that?” He rubbed his eyes.
    “An unexpected friend.” It was a simpler answer than explaining her possible hallucinations. “He doesn’t want to hurt us.” Apparitions and hallucinations didn’t have enough substance to hurt anyone. She hoped. Whoever—whatever—was out there, he’d taken the gun from her all too easily. “He startled me and I fired the gun, that’s all.”
    “I’m scared.”
    “That’s understandable,” she said with more calm than she felt with her heart pounding. “But I won’t let anything bad happen. In the morning I’ll tell you the whole story.” Assuming she’d know the story by then. At least it gave her a bit of time to think of something logical.
    They both gave the doorway a look when they heard the scrape of a chair across the wood floor.
    “Promise?”
    She pressed a kiss to his brow and wrapped him in a big hug. “I promise.” Holding her son in her arms and smelling the sweet scent of his hair, she knew this wasn’t a bizarre, unbelievable nightmare. The man in the kitchen might really be Drew. She tensed. If so, he owed her a detailed explanation.
    “You’ll tell me if I need to find Nico, right?” he whispered into her ear.
    Her heart slammed against her ribs. She couldn’t imagine sending her little boy into the swamp, even if they had talked about that very scenario as a safety precaution. “That’s not necessary this time, especially not in the dark,” she said. “For now I need you to stay right here in this bed.” She leaned back, held his shoulders as she looked him in the eye. “Promise me.”
    Andy promised, gave her another fierce hug and released her to deal with the man in the kitchen.

Chapter Five
    Drew heard the low voices in the other room and felt like an ass for his clumsy entrance. His hands shook and not from dodging the shotgun blast. He trembled for her. If there’d ever been any doubt, he knew for sure that he’d lost everything in that POW camp. Years of his life, sure, but so much more.
    Addison seemed to grow more beautiful every time he saw her. Remembering her radiance the day before their wedding had carried him through those dark days in unthinkable conditions. Seeing her playing with her new family in the park had filled him with jealousy and later—much later—with a weird sense of peace. She’d found her place, the happy life she’d dreamed of, even if it was without him. And just now, despite the messy hair, her face pale with shock, the shorts and oversize T-shirt concealing the sweet curves of her body, he looked at her and saw the prettiest woman on the planet.
    Not that he could tell her, even if he hadn’t mishandled this completely. She wasn’t his. He’d let her go, let her keep believing he was dead. He should’ve stayed in the boat under the house and waited until morning to talk to her. But he’d needed to see her.
    He told himself the confirmation was required for the job. Waiting until morning and protecting people who might not need it was a waste of time and resources. He pulled a chair away from the kitchen table, sat down and tried to believe