Cupid's Mistake Read Online Free PDF

generously offered him to stay any time he wanted, for as long as
he wanted.
    "Shake," Ben had said after they'd worked out
their deal. Sally had grabbed his hand in her soft pudgy one, leading him
through the complicated series of moves they'd devised when they were kids.
Bargain sealed, they'd both walked away satisfied.
    The result being he now found himself sitting straight as a
poker in stiff new jeans and a pair of shoes in serious need of breaking in,
his face still tingling like wind-burn from his morning shave. He didn't
exactly miss the ZZ Top look, but neither had he missed the daily shaving
routine.
    "Brat," he said, thinking of his cousin.
    "I beg your pardon, sir?" The waiter, in the act
of setting a tall glass of iced tea in front of Ben, drew back in
consternation.
    "Nothing, sorry. Just thinking out loud."
    Withdrawing with an uncertain nod, the waiter left him in
peace.
    Shifting again in the hard-wood seat, Ben ran a hand across
his chin and cheeks. Aside from the unprotected skin, he felt. . . exposed. All
that hair had provided a decent disguise for a long time, almost like a mask.
He had nothing left to hide behind.
    Well, he was done with camouflage now, wasn't he? Cured.
Ready.
    Right.
    His heart gave a tug that had him rubbing a fist over the
spot to soothe the ache. He'd come to grips with the fact that the ache would
never fully fade. But after more than six years, he either had to get back in
the game or call it for good, and he wasn't willing to take the coward's way
out.
    Some might say he had already, with his years-long trek
across the planet, and in some ways they were probably right. He hadn't coped
with his losses well. Orphaned at fifteen when his parents' small plane had
crashed in the Rockies, Sally's parents had taken him in. They'd surrounded him
with all the support and love and affection in the world. Still, those were
tough times. Finishing his high school years with Sally—his cousin as
well as one of his best friends—by his side had helped, but he'd never
stopped missing his mom and dad.
    Then he'd met Caitlyn, and his future had seemed brighter
again. They'd married as soon as they could, right after they graduated high
school and she turned eighteen. With a sizeable inheritance from his parents,
Ben could afford to laze his way through life with Caitlyn by his side, but
they'd both believed it was important to accomplish something with their lives
and gifts. To give back.
    He didn't need to pull her photo from the beat-up wallet in
his back pocket to trace her beloved face in his mind. They'd been so
incredibly young. So naïve.
    They'd joined the army together, and both wound up in
Afghanistan over the years, only at different times and in different units.
Four years later, Ben finished his final tour and went home. And Caitlyn. . .
didn't.
    It was only later he learned a short visit home with him had
resulted in her first pregnancy. Their first child. Had she even known? If
she'd told her CO, would she have been sent home in time to save them both?
Those questions tormented him still.
    Maybe his inheritance had allowed him to be too
self-indulgent. People lost loved ones every day, but they had to get through
it, had to move on, go back to work, support their families. He'd had the
luxury of being able to do anything he wanted or nothing at all, and perhaps
he'd chosen ill, taking off the way he had. Chucking it all.
    On the other hand, he'd come to know himself over those six
years in ways he never had before. He'd learned to bear up under the pain. Had
finally learned that he had a purpose in life and deserved a future. That
living that life, fulfilling that purpose, maybe even finding love again, meant
honoring the lives of those he missed, not forgetting. He'd learned it was okay
to go on living.
    So he would live, as hard as it seemed some days. He would
love, if he was lucky a second time. And he would remember. He was done
running. He was ready to find his future and