No Man Left Behind: A Veteran Inspired Charity Anthology by Elizabeth Knox (black authors fiction TXT) 📕

“Like riding a bike.” Chance winks at me. Well shit, I must have said that out loud.

“Eat up and welcome home, Sienna. We sure missed you,” Mom says and all the guys echo it.

I still don’t know how I feel about being home but I’m sure over time things will start to feel a bit more normal. Mom uncovers the dishes on the table and passes them one by one to Dad, who then passes them to Bear and then myself. As my eyes land on his I can’t help but remember the first time I met Bear and Chance.

Chapter Eight

Sienna

Eighteen years ago . . .

First day of high school

I’m excited. Only three more years until I’m done and can blow this popsicle stand.

I put my backpack in my locker and grab my first period book when I hear a ruckus in the hallway and I see my new boyfriend, Hawke, arguing with two guys I’ve never seen before.

“What’s going on?” I ask him.

“Just a misunderstanding,” Hawke growls.

“Only for you. Scores don’t lie,” one of the guys says. He has dark chocolate colored hair and green eyes with amber flakes. And a winning smile, not that I’m really looking.

“Fuck you, Chance,” Hawke snarls.

“Hey. Let the scores lie until the next rodeo,” the other guy says. He’s huge, black hair and eyes that remind me of a winter sky. God, he’s gorgeous.

“Fine,” Hawke says as he storms off.

“Sorry about that,” the guy named Chance says to me when everyone heads to class.

“I’m not even sure what happened,” I admit.

“He said we stole the last rodeo. That Bear’s dad paid off the officials.”

“Seriously?” I snort. “Does that even happen?”

“No, but he had a poor ride and he is trying to blame someone,” the guy named Bear says.

“I’m sorry he’s being a spoiled sport,” I whisper.

“It’s alright. You’re Sienna, then?” Chance asks.

I nod.

“My dad has a meeting with your dad to expand his cattle business,” Bear says.

“Oh cool.”

“See you around.” They wave as they head to class.

I guess I’ll be seeing them around a lot if his dad does business with mine.

Chapter Nine

Sienna

Present Day . . .

Bug barks at me and jumps on the bed, waking me up, covering my face in sweet doggy kisses until I push her away.

I know it’s early and I’m surprised I’m not up yet. I never sleep in, it was always ingrained in my brain from the beginning of basic training to be early. Ten minutes to formation is late was my saying.

“Morning, girl.” I pat her head and let her go so she can wrestle with Mystic while I roll out of bed, stretching, glancing out the window before heading to the shower.

I shower and dress. Nothing fancy, we’re simple folk around here and I’m going to get dirty anyways, mucking stalls, shoveling cow and horse shit. After another glance at myself in the mirror, I bound down to the kitchen to find Bear pouring a cup of coffee.

“Morning.” He hands me his cup and pours another one with a once over me as he smirks.

“Morning.” I blush again. What the hell?

“Chance and your dad are riding fences with Hank and Chuck, they’re the other hands your dad hired,” he says.

“Oh, okay,” I mutter.

“I’ll help you with the stalls,” he says and smiles at me.

“Ummm okay,” I murmur, because getting dirty with Bear is not something I want to do unless it’s between the sheets. But that will never happen.

Let me remind you of how hot Bear is. He could be a model, a book cover model, even a model on a magazine. Yeah, he’s that hot. His eyes are hypnotizing, his body tight. I’m sure you could bounce a quarter off his abs, his hair is longer but dark and lush, like you could run your fingers through it lush. His lips look so kissable and are probably soft, and now I’m rambling.

I finish my coffee and put it in the sink trying to still my beating heart before following him out to the barn as my mom starts breakfast, she sticks a carrot in my pocket as I pass her. We do most of the work before breakfast or try to and then we all eat together. In fact my parents make it mandatory that we eat breakfast and dinner together. Lunch usually is grab and go since there is lots to do on the farm.

Bear hands me a rake and shovel and nods to the first stall.

I know why he sent me to this one. This is my horse. We don’t ride him anymore, but he’s still around.

Thunder.

“Hey, buddy,” I say softly. His brown eyes flick to mine and he puts his head over the stall and lets me pet him.

I pull the carrot out of my pocket and open the stall, handing him the carrot as I lead him to the outdoor paddock. He follows me, nudging me, wanting attention. Horses are just like other pets.

“I’ll come back and spend time with you after breakfast,” I tell him as I kiss his muzzle and send him on his way to socialize with the other horses

I can’t believe he is still alive, he’s been around for a long time.

“He’s waiting for you,” Bear says as I wipe a tear when I step out.

“What?” I wheel around on him.

“He hasn’t been well, but I think he was waiting on you,” he says.

That makes me sad. He’s waited all these years for me and I only came home a few times during my time in the service. I feel so selfish right now.

I someday want to own my own horse ranch and open it up to veterans, like equine therapy. Animal therapy helps a lot of veterans with PTSD. And I want to help others.

But it sucks when a family pet dies. Granted Thunder doesn’t live inside the house, but he’s a part of the family. When he dies, I’ll lose