A SEAL's Vigilant Heart (Midnight Delta Book 8) Read online

  A SEAL’s Vigilant Heart

  A Midnight Delta Series Novella

  Book 7

  By Caitlyn O’Leary

  © Copyright 2016 Caitlyn O’Leary

  ISBN # 978-1-68419-403-2

  All cover art and logo © Copyright 2016 by Passionately Kind Publishing, Inc.

  All rights reserved.

  Edited by Lynne St. James

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from the author.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, and places portrayed in this book are entirely products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and not intended by the author.

  The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to five years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  If you find any of my eBooks being sold or shared illegally, please contact me at [email protected].

  Dedication

  To Those that Have Served, May You Find the Love and Happiness You So Richly Deserve.

  Synopsis

  A WEDDING: Mason Gault and Sophia Anderson are beyond happy that their wedding day is finally near. Even when Mason comes home injured from a mission, the couple forges ahead knowing their life together is only going to get better.

  DREAMS AND DOUBTS: When Sophia is plagued by nightmares that she can’t remember in the light of day, and Mason is sure it is because she can’t handle the stress of his dangerous job. This hard-headed man will do anything to keep the woman he loves happy, even if it means giving up his dreams.

  A RECOMMITMENT: Sophia battles her way through her emotions and finally realizes what is causing her so much anguish. But can she convince her white knight that what she needs is for him to be the man she fell in love with?

  Table of Contents

  Dedication

  Synopsis

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Biography

  Books by Caitlyn O’Leary

  Chapter One

  Frannie’s head peeked out of the dressing room stall.

  “Psst. Sophia. Margie. Get in here.” The two women looked at one another in confusion. Frannie was supposed to come out of the dressing room and model her bridesmaid dress on the raised dais in front of all the ladies, just like she had with the last two. Why wasn’t she following protocol?

  “Just come on out,” Lydia Hidalgo encouraged. “We all want to see. The saleslady was sure this one would be perfect.”

  Frannie’s head popped out again. This time, Sophia noted her face was apple red. “Fine, you come in too. Make it quick, before she comes back.” The three of them looked at the remaining women, and one girl seated on the couch, shrugged, and then went over to the dressing room with Sophia leading the way. After all, she was the bride-to-be.

  Frannie opened the door enough for the three to come in. It was a very tight fit, and that wasn’t the only thing fitting tightly. It took all of Sophia’s will power not to burst out laughing. Margie wasn’t made of such stern stuff. She let out a belly laugh at her best friend’s expense.

  “Laugh it up, she’s out there scoping out dresses with ruffles for you,” Frannie said with a glare.

  “How in the hell did she get you into that thing? Crisco?” Margie asked, still laughing.

  “Just look at my boobs?” Frannie wailed.

  “How can I look at anything else?” Lydia asked in awe.

  Sophia giggled, then Lydia, and then, so did Frannie. With the corset style dress, her mammoth cleavage started to shake and jiggle, and Sophia feared they were going to be seeing a lot more of their older friend than she would want. Frannie must have realized the potential because she crossed her arms over her bosom.

  “Girls, what do I do? She thinks this is the perfect dress for my figure. I don’t want to hurt her feelings? What’s worse, I don’t think I can get out of this dress. I’m going to be stuck wearing it for the next six weeks until the wedding. For God’s sake, I’m sixty-five. I knew we should have gone for matching bridesmaid dresses,” Frannie wailed.

  Out of the corner of her eye, Sophia saw her friend Lydia shudder at the thought.

  “Frannie, we couldn’t very well have Rebecca wearing the same thing you all would be wearing. She’s only fourteen.”

  “She sure as hell couldn’t be wearing whatever this sales woman picks out, she’d end up looking like a streetwalker,” Margie warned.

  “Not entirely true, you’re getting ruffles,” Frannie reminded her. “I haven’t even shown you girls the worst part.”

  “It gets worse? How can it get worse?” Margie asked.

  Frannie turned around. Margie let out another whoop of laughter. Right across the center of Frannie’s ass was a big satin bow.

  “Never mind the fact they managed to put a bow on my fattest attribute, how in the hell are you supposed to sit down?”

  “You can sit down in this thing? Considering how you’re trussed in, it’s a wonder you’re able to walk.”

  There was a loud knock.

  “Warning. Saleslady coming this way,” Ashley Richmond’s voice sounded through the opening.

  Sophia opened the door, and preceded the others out of the room, just as the sales lady returned with four navy dresses covered in ruffles. Margie was the last one to exit.

  “Ms. Daniels, perfect. I can start a room for you. I have some dresses picked out.” Frannie choked back a laugh in her dressing room. Ashley grabbed Lydia’s arm and pulled Lydia’s sister Beth off the couch.

  “Ladies, I used to work at a bridal shop,” she lied effortlessly to the sales lady, Evelyn. “I have some ideas of what would look great on you for bridesmaid dresses. Let’s go hit the racks.” She turned to Rebecca, who was the only one still sitting on the couch. “You too, sweetheart.”

  “Sophia, they’re ready for you downstairs for your last wedding gown fitting.” Sophia was suffused with a sense of panic.

  The saleslady looked over at Ashley. “Do you want me to help?”

  “Oh no, you stick with Margie and Frannie, we have this covered,” Ashley assured her.

  “Hold up.” Lydia broke away. “Take Beth and Rebecca, I’m sticking with Sophia,” Lydia said. Ashley gave Sophia a once over and nodded at Lydia.

  “Sounds like a plan. I’ll take Beth and Rebecca; you go with Sophia to her fitting.” Before anyone could even blink, Ashley had Beth, and young Rebecca Barnes rushed out of the dressing area. Lydia turned to Sophia.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I don’t know,” Sophia answered honestly. “I should be excited, but now I’m scared.”

  “Of getting married?” Lydia asked gently.

  “God no,” Sophia said vehemently. “I’d marry Mason tomorrow if possible. No, but what happens if I still don’t like the dress? What happens if it doesn’t fit right? I can’t find a new one now.”

  “Honey, it’s fine. Every woman worries about these things.”

  “It can’t be worse than ruffles,” Margie yelled over the top of her dressing room door.

&nb
sp; “Or my boobalicious dress,” Frannie called out. “Someone rescue me for God’s sake, I’m going to need CPR soon.”

  Everyone, including Evelyn, started to laugh. “Sophia, how about I go down to the fitting area with you,” Lydia suggested.

  “That would be great.” Sophia breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Do you know the way?” Evelyn asked.

  “Yes.” Sophia walked with Lydia.

  “Margie and Frannie are crazy, you know that, don’t you?” Lydia teased. “I thought I might wet my pants when I saw Frannie in the dress. I’ve never been around older women who were so much fun. It’s great.”

  “You know, most of the time I don’t even think about them being senior citizens,” Sophia responded. “They’re just my friends. Of course, then they’ll refer to my laptop as a typewriter, and I do a double take...” Lydia laughed.

  “So tell me more about Ashley,” Lydia requested.

  “You mean my stepmother?” Sophia said tongue in cheek.

  “I wasn’t going to go there.”

  “Then allow me. Ashley is so much better off now she dumped my father. But I worry about her,” Sophia said as they reached the bottom of the stairs and turned towards the fitting rooms.

  “What do you mean? Why do you worry about her?”

  “She’s acting out a lot.”

  “You mean pretending to have sold wedding dresses?”

  “Oh no, that’s minor. She’s been serial dating and almost reverting to teenager behavior. It’s like she wants to do everything she can to erase the time she was subjugated by my father.”

  “How is it impacting your little sister?”

  “When she’s with her, she’s a great mom. But Louisa is spending a lot of time with her grandparents. Dad was such an asshole. He ruined a lot of people’s lives.”

  “There’s no way Louisa will end up with your father, will she?”

  “God no! Mr. Richmond, Ashley’s dad, has Louisa protected every which way. He’s amazing. I’m thankful dad won’t have anything to do with raising her.”

  “From everything you’ve told me about your father, I agree. I think even though he’s Louisa’s daddy, she’s better off without him.”

  “Billy and I would have been better off without him, that’s for sure,” Sophia said. She suddenly smiled. “Lydia, it’s the first time I said it without being bitter. I think I’ve finally put the past in the past. God, I love Mason.”

  “What does Mason have to do with it?” Lydia was confused with the abrupt change of topic.

  “He’s helped me so much to get past my bitterness. He’s helped me, in so many ways.”

  “Boy, do I hear that. Those SEAL boys are amazing. Don’t tell Clint, because I don’t want him to get a swelled head, but he’s been my rock.” Lydia’s expression was dreamy as she thought about her fiancé, Clint Archer.

  “We are pretty lucky, aren’t we?”

  “We are.” Lydia gave Sophia a hug.

  “Hello? Are you Sophia Anderson?” A woman with a thick German accent asked.

  “Yes, that’s me.”

  “I’m Betta, and I have your dress ready to try on.”

  The woman held open the curtain to the dressing room, and Sophia went inside. Lydia gave her a wink and a thumbs-up.

  Betta helped Sophia into the dress, but it wasn’t until she was totally cinched in that she was allowed to turn around and look in the mirror. She gasped. The lace and beaded corset bared her shoulders and flowed into a silk skirt.

  “What? Are you all right, Sophia?” Lydia asked from outside the room. “Can I come in?”

  Betta opened the curtain.

  “Oh my. Oh my. Sophia, you look stunning. There couldn’t be a dress any more perfect for you. You look like a glamorous movie star from a bygone era.”

  Sophia bit her thumb. Was that a good thing?

  “You look like a fucking pin-up girl. Mason is going to lose his shit,” Ashley said. “My God, who in the hell helped pick this out? They should have earned a double commission.”

  “Where did you come from?” Lydia asked.

  “The saleslady made us come downstairs when Ashley tried to help one of her other customers,” Rebecca said as she giggled.

  Sophia smiled at the woman who ended up becoming a good friend, despite the fact she’d had the bad sense to marry Sophia’s father.

  “Margie and Frannie came with me to pick out the dress,” Sophia told Ashley in answer to her question.

  “I knew I liked them,” Ashley said with a bright smile.

  “Oh my God, can they come help pick out my dress?” Beth asked.

  “Your bridesmaid dress?” Sophia asked in confusion. “But I like the one you’re wearing.” She looked at the three different styles of navy dresses each girl was wearing and they each looked great.

  “No, not the bridesmaid dress. My wedding dress. I would love to look half as good as you.” Sophia looked at the beautiful Hispanic girl in disbelief. Before she could protest, Lydia gave her ‘the hand’, demanding her silence.

  “Beth’s right. You look too good for words, Sophia. I can’t wait to see Mason’s face when you walk down the aisle.”

  Sophia looked in the mirror. Really looked at herself, and finally breathed a sigh of satisfaction. She did look good.

  “You really do, Sophia,” Rebecca agreed shyly.

  Sophia blushed when she realized she’d spoken her thoughts out loud. She smoothed her hands over the mermaid-style satin dress and grinned. Lydia came up from behind her and gave her a hug. She whispered in her ear. “That SEAL won’t know what hit him.”

  Sophia looked at her wedding dress and an overwhelming wave of sadness washed over her. It hit her from out of the clear blue sky. Her mother should have been here for this. As a child, she used to draw pictures of wedding dresses and show her mother. It had been a fun thing between the two of them, and now her mom wasn’t here to see the dress she had actually chosen. Why aren’t you here, Mom?

  “Oh Sophia, they did a marvelous job,” Frannie’s voice boomed throughout the downstairs area. Sophia saw Frannie and Margie come up behind her in the mirror and was delighted to see they were in stylish dresses that flattered their respective figures.

  “Why did they send you downstairs? Were you misbehaving too?” Ashley asked.

  “Frannie always misbehaves,” Margie answered. “But this time, we demanded to see Sophia. We wanted to see her final fitting. You look gorgeous, Sophia.”

  “Margie, get me a tissue. I’m going to cry.” Margie found a fast food napkin in her purse and handed it to Frannie.

  “All of you look so beautiful. This wedding is going to be spectacular,” Margie said with a wide smile.

  “She’s right. Rebecca, you look lovely,” Sophia enthused. “Billy won’t know what hit him.”

  “Really? Are you sure this is within the budget? It seems like a lot.” The girl eyed the price tag on her dress.

  Five voices rang out assuring her the dress was well within the budget of the wedding, and Sophia loved her friends for it. Rebecca was a foster child and always worried about things, even though she now had a foster mother who would easily purchase the dress for her. Rebecca was still very conscientious about money.

  “Okay, now that I have burned two thousand calories doing contortions to get in and out of dresses, who’s up for lunch? I vote for Mexican food. I desperately need a margarita,” Frannie called out.

  A round of ‘yes’s’ sealed the deal.

  Sophia took one last look in the mirror and gave a secret smile. Yes, Mason is going to love seeing me in this dress.

  Chapter Two

  If he was told one more fucking time it was a quick in and out mission, he was going to quit the SEAL team! Lieutenant Mason Gault gripped his Sig Sauer P239 and glanced at Drake Avery out of the corner of his eye. His second in command was angry, but he really didn’t give a shit. He was in command, and if someone was going to take the risk on this goat fuck, it
was going to be him.

  Mason didn’t mind hard assignments, hell he relished impossible assignments. That’s what he and his team were trained for, the reason they had signed up to be SEALs. But this was the third time in a row the intelligence had been one hundred percent wrong. Thank God his gut had warned him, and he and his team had double-timed it to the Middle Eastern village where the reporters were being held.

  Supposedly they were going to be ransomed, and it was Mason’s team’s job to rescue them. However, when they got there, the city square was filled for public beheadings. It was clear by the faces of the people many of them were too scared not to attend, and the armed guards around the perimeter had forced them to be there.

  Mason, Drake, Finn, Clint, Jack, and Aiden had scouted the area for the last twenty minutes. Aiden was going climb to one of the high points and act as a sharp shooter if necessary. They were hoping it wouldn’t be. If it came to that, they were toast, since the odds were easily five to one and they still had to get three civilians the hell out of Dodge. He was also going to be the eyes of the team, and that was definitely needed.

  Clint was going to be the one coordinating communications again. Every one of the men was wearing a tracking device so he would know their whereabouts. As soon as one of them got ahold of the civilians, they would be tagged with trackers as well. It was Clint’s job to coordinate with Aiden to come up with the best escape route and to stay on the ass of their extraction team.

  Finn had already provided Mason, Drake, Jack and himself with thaubs, the Arabic robes would disguise their fatigues and vests. However, in this village only about twenty percent of the men wore them, so there was still a chance they would stand out. Thank God Finn also scored agals to wear on their heads. Otherwise, Jack with his blond hair would stick out like a sore thumb.

  The scaffolding where the executions were to take place looked brand new, which to Mason’s way of thinking was a very good sign. It meant this was the first time the terrorists had performed a high-profile execution in this village, so they weren’t practiced. Drake, Jack, and Finn were to mingle with the crowd while Mason went to the building behind the scaffolding where they had to be holding the reporters. It’s what had Drake’s panties in a twist.