Rescued Hearts Read online

  Copyright 2018 © Angela Nicole

  All Rights Reserved

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to real events, real people, and real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the Author’s imagination and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, organizations or places is entirely coincidental.

  All rights are reserved. This book is intended for the reader of this ebook ONLY. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage retrieval system, without the express written permission of the Author. All songs, song titles and lyrics contained in this book are the property of the respective songwriters and copyright holders.

  Cover Design & Formatting:

  Decadent Designs by Dee

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to the great men and women of the United States Armed Forces, past, present and future.

  I want to especially acknowledge my mom, Angelia, Lt. Col. USAF (Ret.), my dad, John, SCPO, USN (Ret.) and my husband, William, Spec/4. USA MPC.

  Contents

  Prologue

  Emily

  Mac

  Emily

  Mac

  Emily

  Mac

  Emily

  Mac

  Emily

  Mac

  Emily

  Mac

  Emily

  Mac

  Emily

  Emily

  Mac

  Emily

  Mac

  Emily

  Emily

  Mac

  Emily

  Mac

  Emily

  Mac

  Emily

  Mac

  Emily

  Mac

  Emily

  Mac

  Emily

  Mac

  Emily

  Mac

  Emily

  Mac

  Emily

  Mac

  Emily

  Mac

  Emily

  Mac

  Emily

  Mac

  Emily

  Mac

  Emily

  Emily

  Mac

  Emily

  Mac

  Emily

  Mac

  Emily

  Mac

  Emily

  Mac

  Emily

  Mac

  Emily

  Mac

  Emily

  Mac

  Emily

  Mac

  Emily

  Mac

  Emily

  Mac

  Emily

  Mac

  Emily

  Mac

  Emily

  Mac

  Emily

  Mac

  Emily

  Mac

  Emily

  Mac

  Epilogue

  Afterword

  The Mastered Hearts Series

  Acknowledgments

  About Angela

  Emily

  “Hey, wait for me guys!” I yell to my brother and his best friend, Sean MacAlister. Everyone calls him Mac.

  “Hurry Em, try to keep up.” My brother Jackson is always worried that I would slow him and Mac down.

  “Why does your sister always have to tag along?” Mac asked.

  “Dad says since she is my little sister, I am to look out for her.” My brother whispers as if I can’t hear him.

  “I can take of myself…I don’t need a boy to take care of me” I yell to them as I try to keep up.

  I can hear Mac whisper in my brother’s ear that he is glad that he is doesn’t have a little sister to bother him. I don’t mean to be a pest but I like to fish too. I am a big girl, almost 8 years old, I can even put the worm on the hook by myself.

  Jackson, Mac and I walk to the small pier. It is close to where we live and the fishing is good. My Dad takes us here when he isn’t working. He seems to be working a lot lately. He sells houses to people.

  When we find a good fishing spot we drop our fishing poles and get our chairs situated on the edge of the pier. Mac yells over his shoulder to me that I must bait my own hook. What does he think? I am not a helpless little girl…I don’t need his help.

  Once I get the worm on the hook, I cast the fishing pole out into the water and wait. Jackson and Mac are talking about the cute girls in school. They are best friends and do everything together. My brother is my best friend too. I wonder if you can have more than one best friend?

  “Hey Jackson, Dad said we can stop and get ice cream on the way home. Did he give you money?” I ask.

  Before he can answer me, I have a fish on my line. It must be a big fish because my pole is bent over. Mac and my brother run over to where I am to cheer me on but just as I turn to ask for my brother to help me, my foot slips and I feel my foot slip and I fall into the water.

  Jackson

  It happened in slow motion, but I was still not fast enough to catch my sister as she fell into the water down below. People started screaming and running over to us, yelling to call 911. The next thing I knew, Mac jumped in after Emily. Snapping out of my shock I leapt in after them.

  I can hear Emily screaming, she isn’t a great swimmer and thank God the current isn’t strong enough to pull her under. Mac gets to her first and I can hear him tell her to calm down and not panic. I swim over to them and once I know that Mac has her I breathe a sigh of relief even though we still have to get her to shore.

  “Emily are you ok?” I ask her.

  “Help me Jackson, please!” I can hear the terror in her voice.

  “Jackson, get on the other side of your sister and we will swim her to shore.” Mac says with confidence.

  I wrap my arm around Emily and we start to swim toward all the people that are now starting to enter the water to help. We are about 10 feet from shore when a man comes in to bring Emily in the rest of the way. I don’t want to let go of my sister, but I am getting tired and I think Mac is too.

  “Here, give her to me.” the man says. Mac and I both nod and reluctantly let go of Emily.

  “Don’t leave me.” Emily cries to us. We both tell her that we will be with her the rest of the way in and to let the man help her.

  The man helps us finally get my sister to shore. We lay her on the sand as the medics run to us.

  “Are you ok?” I ask as I lean over her. She looks so tired and scared.

  “I was so afraid that I was going to die but you and Mac saved me.” She says in a trembling voice.

  “Excuse me son, I need to check her out and make sure she is ok. Are you parents here?” the medic asks.

  “No, I need to call my father.” I say.

  It seems like it takes forever for my Dad to show up. When my sister sees him, she starts crying. I look at Mac, he hasn’t taken his eyes off my sister since she fell in.

  “Mac, thank you for going in to get Emily. I was so shocked to see her disappear from the pier, I froze.”

  “No, you didn’t, Jackson. You helped, I was struggling to help her on my own.” Mac says trying to reassure me. “I couldn’t have helped her without you.”

  Once my Dad makes sure that Emily is ok, he comes over with her in his arms. She is asleep, and my Dad hugs me and Mac. “You boys saved Emily and you should be very proud of yourselves.” My Dad says with tears in his eyes.

  It is at that moment that Mac and I have rescued our first person, knowing Emily would not be our last.

  Mac

  Eight Years Later

  This was a bad idea. It’s not that I don’t like Maisy but
I leave for basic training next month and shit if I need to worry about getting involved with some girl back home.

  Thank God this is a double date with Daniel and Serena. I don’t think I could carry on a conversation with Maisy all by myself. The movie we went to was ok but she tried to talk to me through the whole thing.

  “Do you guys want to stop at Hazel’s for a quick bite?” Daniel asks.

  I inwardly cringe hoping that Maisy says no.

  Maisy wraps her arm around mine. “That sounds like a great idea, doesn’t it Sean?”

  All I can manage to get out is a nod.

  Daniel pulls into the parking lot at Hazel’s diner and when I glance in the window to see if my favorite booth is open, I spot Emily sitting in it all be herself. Shit. She looks upset.

  When we get up to the door, I open it for everyone and once inside my heart immediately starts to beat faster.

  I glance over at Emily and can tell that she has been crying because her face is splotchy red like it always is when she cries.

  “Hey guys go grab a booth. I will be over in a few minutes.”

  “Everything ok?” Maisy asks.

  “Yeah, I just see a friend that I need to talk too. Go with Daniel and Serena. I won’t be long.”

  I don’t even hesitate to walk away from Maisy to get to Emily. I have had special feelings for Emily for a long time but I can never act on those feelings.

  For one thing she is only sixteen and I am eighteen, not going to happen. Even if she was older, she is my best friend’s sister. There is an unspoken code among guys that you don’t hit on your friend’s sister.

  When I start to get closer, Emily looks up from the table and when she sees me she starts crying harder. What the hell happened to her?

  Emily

  Shit. It’s Mac. Oh my God he can’t see me like this. I am such an ugly crier; my face gets all red and splotchy.

  I look around for an escape but there isn’t one. For a brief moment, I wonder if I can make it to the bathroom window.

  “Emily, what is going on?” Mac says as he slides into the booth across from me.

  How do I tell the guy that I have the biggest crush on that I don’t want him and my brother to leave next month to go to basic training? I can’t, it isn’t fair to make them feel bad. So, I lie.

  “I just got into an argument with one of my friends, that’s all. I am going to go home now.” I slide out of the booth when Mac grabs my hand. “Why are you lying to me Emily?”

  I feel his hand touching me, I swallow hard trying not to freak out.

  “How do you know I am lying?”

  He chuckles, “Because you always wrinkle your nose when you lie. Now tell me why you are so upset?”

  Mac is still holding onto my hand. I wish he were holding it because he was my boyfriend. I look at him, and I start to cry again.

  “Alright, come here.” Mac pulls me in next to him. He wraps his arm around my shoulder.

  “Do you want me to call your brother?”

  “No, he is working at Woodson’s Grocery tonight until midnight.”

  “Ok, if you don’t want to talk about it we don’t have too. I just want you to know that I will always be here if you want to talk about anything.”

  I turn to him. Good God he is so damn handsome.

  “But that’s just it. You won’t be here and neither will Jackson.”

  He takes my chin in his hand and turns my face to his. Oh my God, is he going to kiss me? Surely, he won’t kiss me.

  “You are right Em. Jackson and I will not be here for you physically after we leave next month but that doesn’t mean that we won’t be thinking about you.”

  I look into his big brown eyes, and I could get in them.

  “You will really think about me when you are gone?” I ask with tears streaming down my cheeks.

  He gives me a wink, and I melt. I feel weak in my knees.

  “Of course, I will think about you Emily. You are family to me.”

  I sniffle, “I will think about you and Jackson every day.”

  “I hope you know that Jackson and I will stay in contact with you while we are away. You will probably get tired of hearing from us.”

  I grabbed a napkin and started wiping the tears but I still can’t help but smile a little.

  “You will be too busy with your boyfriends and won’t have time for us.”

  I look over to him thinking that I will see Mac’s playful smile but I see something else. I don’t know if it is my mind playing tricks on me but Mac looks annoyed when he mentions the word boyfriends.

  My thoughts are racing: if only he cared for me the way I care for him.

  “Are you feeling any better?”

  “I think so. I just know that I am going to miss you both so much.”

  Mac pulls me into a hug and I hug him back with everything that I have.

  “Come on, I will walk you home.”

  Glancing at the other end of the diner, I see his date staring at me. I wonder if she knows how lucky she is.

  “What about Daisy?” I ask, purposely saying the wrong name.

  Mac shakes his head and laughs. “You know her name is Maisy and I am sure that Daniel and Serena will take her home. Give me a minute to say goodbye, then we can head out.”

  Mac gets out of the booth, walks up to the counter and pays for my soda and fries. He paid for my dinner. No boy has ever done that for me before.

  Then again, Sean MacAlister isn’t a boy anymore.

  I don’t know how I will survive when Jackson and Mac leave but I am determined not to break down again…at least until they are gone.

  Eleven Years Later

  All I can do is stare at the mourners around me. So many have to come to say goodbye. My brother, TSgt. Jackson Michael Mills age 29 died while saving others. He is…was…a pararescue jumper in the United States Air Force. He along with his best friend Mac always wanted to join the Air Force and jump out of airplanes. It seemed like a natural fit that they then joined the Special Ops, so they could save our military who needed rescuing. While on a covert operation, Jackson went in to save the crew of a downed helicopter and was killed by enemy fire. We received the terrible news two weeks ago while my father and I were working in his real estate office. I looked up as the two military personnel entered the office. I knew immediately what they were there for.

  I will never forget that day. The day our family of three was no more. Now it is just my father and me. My mother died when I was four so we are not strangers to loss but who would expect my brother to die so young?

  As I look out among the mourners, I focus on Mac. He is standing next to me looking absolutely devastated. He and Jackson had been like brothers since they were young. They did everything together.

  He is wearing sunglasses but I can see the anguish in his expression. I reach down and grab his hand because at that moment other than my father, he is the only one who is as devastated as I am.

  He doesn’t turn to me but squeezes my hand. I have no idea how I am going to go get through this. My father is a pillar of strength but I am having a difficult time leaning on him. We are close but I feel if I lean on him too much I will push him to his breaking point.

  As the minister finishes the graveside service, the Florida sun comes out of the clouds and shines down on us. I turn my face to the sun and feel as if my brother is smiling down saying that everything will be ok. I don’t know if I believe that.

  When Taps is played, I almost lost all sense of control. I try to hold myself together as the flag is folded and presented to my Dad. Is it strange to feel that a military funeral is so beautiful with the colors of the flag, the uniforms and the ceremonial gestures? How can it be both beautiful and sad at the same time?

  After the funeral everyone is standing under a pavilion by the water which reminds me of all the times that Jackson, Mac and I hung out on the beach because we all loved the water so much. When we were younger we would hang out on the beach
every weekend until the sun went down. Jackson and I would spend a lot of time fishing and just talking about life. In fact, when I was young, they both saved my life while we were fishing. Who am I going to go fishing and talk about life with now?

  It isn’t like I don’t have any friends, but it isn’t the same…Jackson was my best friend. Looking over, I see Mac standing on the edge of the seawall. My heart breaks for him.

  Mac was granted special leave to attend the funeral but he must report back soon. I miss him almost as much as I will miss my brother. He has become like my surrogate big brother.

  As people start to leave they come to say goodbye to me and my Dad. A bevy of condolences come our way and I know that people are being sincere but it felt so empty. All the blessings in the world won’t bring my brother back.