Page 108 of One Lucky Hero (Men in Uniform 1)

“Hello, Sergeant Sparks.” General Reynolds smiled beneath his salt and pepper mustache. “How are you doing?”

Dean stood and saluted him. Instead of telling him the truth, he lied. “Doing well, sir.”

“That’s good.” As the general sat down, so did Dean. “I wanted to have this meeting because I know you’ve been requesting to get back into the field for some time and we have a spot open with a team leaving at the end of the month.”

Dean sat stunned as the general kept talking, unable to get his mind to shut up. Still reeling from the blowup with Violet, he had no idea where they stood. And now, here was the opportunity to get back out there after all this time, and it was the last thing he wanted.

Rita’s questions raced through his head. In five years, he wanted to see Alpha Dog expanding and helping more kids and dogs. He wanted to create a better system for the kids who left the program, better placements for the ones who didn’t have families.

Forget about Alpha Dog. What about you?

As clear as day, he pictured living in a nice house with a big backyard and coming home from work to Violet in the kitchen. Violet laughing at something Casey said while balancing a red-headed little girl on her hip.

His kid.

He hadn’t meant to push so hard about her dad. Why had he tried to fix it? He should have just sat back and been her sounding board, but he’d had to play devil’s advocate. He knew enough from dealing with his mother and sisters not to do it, and yet, seeing Violet so miserable had made him want to solve all her problems. All he had been doing since meeting her was trying to fix everything wrong in her life, while she kept repeating she didn’t want or need his help.

But he hadn’t listened, had just continued to push. Now he might have lost her.

Realizing that he hadn’t been listening to anything else the general had said, he caught only the last bit.

“I hate to lose you because you have done a great job running the Alpha Dog pilot program, but if you’re still interested—”

“Actually, sir, with all due respect, I’m not.” It was blunter than he’d intended, but there it was. Even if his future with Violet was gone, he knew what he wanted, finally.

The general’s bushy eyebrows rose up. “You’re not?”

“No, sir. I’m not.” Feeling as if he should elaborate, Dean continued, “Once I realized that the only reason I wanted to go on tour again was to prove that I wasn’t done, I actually started thinking about my life now. And I’m happy, sir. I enjoy working with the kids and the dogs. I like making a difference to them. I like having a purpose and knowing that they are getting the best from me.”

Leaning back in his chair, the general grinned broadly. “Well, I’m actually glad to hear it. It would have been a bitch replacing you.” The general stood and held out his hand. “Keep up the good work.”

Dean took his hand. “Thank you, sir.”

As Dean left the general’s office and the base, he was tempted to call Violet. Although she had definitely been out of line and flown off the handle, he shouldn’t have slammed out of there like that.

Still, he waited. The conversation they needed to have was one that shouldn’t happen over the phone.

He pulled into Alpha Dog and was surprised to find Casey standing out in front, waiting.

Dean climbed out of his car. “Does your sister know you’re here?”

“Yeah, she dropped me off. I told her I wanted to see Apollo, and she said she’d come back and get me.”

“So what are you doing out here instead of visiting Apollo?”

“I wanted to talk to you about this morning.”

Dean shook his head. “Casey, I don’t know what you heard, but this is between me and Violet.”

“You know she didn’t mean it, though, right? That she was just being an idiot because that’s what she does? She overreacts and then regrets what she does after. It’s her MO.” Casey cast him a pleading look. “Just don’t give up on her yet, okay?”

“I’m not doing anything, Casey. I think we both just need time to cool off.”

Casey’s phone rang, and he jerked it out of his pocket, looking at the caller ID before answering. “What’s up, dude?”

Casey’s face lost all its color, and Dean stepped toward him, afraid he’d collapse.

“You did? Holy shit.” Casey swallowed and nodded, his eyes huge. “Yeah, yeah man. I’m coming now.”