Heart of a Hero. Anne Marie Winston

give.” She smiled as Melanie breezed into the living room of her small apartment on the weekend of their first class reunion. It had been nice to move away from home and get away from her sister, but it also was nice to see her from time to time. Melanie was lovable; she was just…too much sometimes. “Who?”

      “Wade!”

      Phoebe froze. She’d been expecting her sister to name a classmate, probably a male one, knowing Melanie. “Wade didn’t graduate with us,” she said carefully.

      “I know, silly.” Melanie shook her head in exasperation. “I invited him.”

      “But…”

      “He’s going to wear his uniform.” Melanie waved a hand as if she was fanning herself. “I can’t resist a man in uniform.”

      Neither could Phoebe, if that man was Wade. But she couldn’t say that to Mel.

      The doorbell rang then, saving her from making a response. Melanie said, “That must be Wade. Let him in, will you? I’ve got to finish getting ready!”

      Phoebe resisted the temptation to salute as she reluctantly moved toward the door and opened it.

      “Wade.” It wasn’t hard to smile as she lifted her arms. It was much harder not to appear too thrilled. “It’s great to see you.”

      “You, too.” Wade’s arms came around her and he kissed her lightly on the cheek before she backed away. “How’ve you been, Phoeber? You look terrific.”

      He released her and stepped back a pace. “Seriously terrific,” he added, as he scanned the simple navy-blue dress she’d chosen.

      “Thank you.” She knew she was blushing, and not just because of the admiration in his eyes. The feel of his hard arms around her had been overwhelming to senses that had been starved for even the sight of him. To suddenly be in her version of heaven was too much. She took a deep breath. “You look good, too. The army’s agreeing with you?”

      He nodded. “And you’re enjoying teaching.” It wasn’t a question; they had stayed in loose touch by e-mail once or twice a month since she’d graduated from high school and headed off to Berkeley. As badly as she longed to hear from him, Phoebe always forced herself to wait at least a week before e-mailing him back. The last thing she wanted was for Wade to realize how she felt about him.

      She nodded. “I think I told you I’m switching from first grade to fourth next year. It’ll be an interesting change.”

      He grinned. “Yeah, the boys will have gone from being mildly annoying to thoroughly bratty.”

      She laughed. “Hmm. Sounds like personal experience speaking.”

      “Fourth grade was the year I got sent to the principal’s office for putting a tadpole in Miss Ladly’s Thermos of iced tea.”

      “I’ve heard that story before. Guess I’ll be checking before I take a sip of anything.”

      They smiled at each other and a companionable silence fell for a moment. But then she broke the mood. “How long are you home for, and where do you go after that?” He probably had no idea that she could recite every move he’d made in the nine years since he’d graduated from high school.

      Wade’s face suddenly seemed guarded, his gray eyes darkening. “I have a few more days left of my two weeks’ leave and then I’m being deployed to Afghanistan.”

      Afghanistan. The fear she’d always lived with rose, almost choking her. “Oh, God, Wade.”

      “I’ll be back,” he said. “Who would come around to bug you once in a while if I didn’t?”

      She forced herself to smile. “Just be careful.”

      He nodded, reaching out a hand and rubbing her arm. “Thanks. I will.”

      “Hey there!” Her sister’s voice singsonged a flirtatious greeting Phoebe had heard her employ dozens of times before. And just like many of those other times, Wade’s head swiveled around and Phoebe was instantly forgotten.

      Lowering her eyes, she stepped away and busied herself gathering a few items for her evening bag while Melanie threw herself into Wade’s arms and gave him a loud kiss.

      For the rest of the evening, she avoided looking at Wade and her sister as much as she could. It was just too painful.

      Not long after they arrived at the reunion, she lost herself on the other side of the crowd. Her best friend from high school, June Nash, had come. June still lived in town. She’d married a former classmate and was expecting her first child. Phoebe felt conspicuously alone as she looked around. Everyone seemed either to be married by now or to have brought a date.

      But June was genuinely delighted to see her, and they spent the mealtime catching up on the years since high school. Although they faithfully exchanged Christmas cards, their e-mails and phone calls had gradually slowed as their lives took different paths.

      “So you’re teaching.” June smiled. “I bet you’re fantastic with children. I still remember how great you were when the student council helped with Special Olympics.”

      Phoebe shrugged. “I enjoy it.” And the school district in which she taught was far enough from where she’d grown up that few people knew her as “the quiet twin.”

      “That’s good.” June nodded her head in the direction of another group. “I see Melanie and Wade are an item again. I thought that ended a couple of years ago.”

      Phoebe winced. “It did. But we’ve all stayed friends and Melanie invited him as her date tonight.”

      Thankfully, the band began to play at that moment and she was spared any more discussion. June wasn’t dancing since her first child was due in less than two weeks and she said she felt like a hippo in a mud hole. But a group of girls Phoebe had known when they were all in the marching band dragged her up to the dance floor with them, and Phoebe decided she was going to enjoy what was left of the evening. She danced with a group of her classmates until the first slow song and then moved to another table to visit, forbidding herself to look around the room for Wade.

      An hour later, she’d had enough. She’d seen the people she’d wanted to see, had danced and laughed and done her best to give the impression that life was treating Phoebe Merriman well. Melanie, as always, was the life of the party. She had abandoned Wade for a guy Phoebe barely remembered, and the two of them were knocking back drinks with a like-minded group.

      This time Phoebe did look for Wade. He was standing alone by the bar and, as she watched, he set down his drink and approached Melanie. After a brief exchange, Melanie laughed and Wade turned and walked away.

      When she realized he was heading for the door, she panicked. Plain and simple, she couldn’t bear the thought of Wade leaving without at least speaking to him one more time.

      “Wade!” she called out. “Wait!”

      Two little words. She could still remember them. Two little words that had altered her life. And not just hers. Three lives had been altered by that evening, four if you counted Bridget. If Wade had left the dance when he’d intended to, Melanie might still be alive. If Melanie were still alive, Phoebe and Wade would never have walked up to that cabin, would never have…and Bridget would never have been conceived.

      Try as she might, Phoebe couldn’t regret those stolen moments of heaven she’d experienced with him. Nor could she imagine her world without her beautiful baby daughter in it.

      “Would you like to go to a movie when we’re finished eating?” Wade smiled at her across the table. A movie. With Wade.

      There was a time when she would have given an arm for that invitation. But things were different now. What she wanted and what was reality were two very separate things.

      “Thank you, but no,” she said. “I have to get home pretty soon.”

      He