Elisa’s heart broke for Alex and for Serena. “I’m so sorry.”
He squeezed her hip. “Don’t be. You weren’t there and I try not to be. My ex-wife was a long-time drug user. Not street drugs or anything obvious. But she managed to get a hold of all the prescription meds she could ever want while she was cheating on me with some doctor. He made sure she had all the hydrocodone, oxycodone, diazepam, or alprazolam she could want, and she popped them like candy, depending on what new thing she didn’t want to deal with on a particular day. She’d been hooked for years. When she came down with a cold, it advanced so fast into pneumonia no one knew what was happening until it was too late, and all the drugs she was self-dosing, thinking she’d make herself feel better, only made her condition worse. By the time her parents came to check on her and Boom…they called an ambulance right away, but the hospital couldn’t save her.”
“Oh no.” Elisa didn’t think there was anything she could say. But she felt for him, for the awful situation.
“After that, I didn’t care about anything but Serena. My wife’s parents wanted custody, made an argument about them being able to provide a more stable home environment, but I asked Serena what she wanted and she said she wanted to stay with me.” His tone had turned fierce.
And she loved him for it, for how much he would fight the world for Serena.
“They threatened to take me to court, but their finances were already tied up in going after the doctor for providing my wife with all of those medications. I took advantage of their split attention and managed to keep custody of Serena.” Alex relaxed against her again, brushing his lips over her shoulder. “Forte invited me here. Said he’d set this place up to start over on home soil. Close enough to a couple major cities to get work if we didn’t want to get into training the dogs, but with enough privacy from the immediate community that we weren’t constantly fighting our old selves to blend into civilian life. It’s a steady income with health benefits for Serena and an actual house for her to grow up in.”
“Hope’s Crossing is a nice place.” Simple statement, maybe. But exactly what she’d thought when she’d first come up the drive to return Boom’s glove. “It’s peaceful and active at the same time. There’s plenty to do for all of you and it’s not so quiet it drives you crazy.”
“Exactly.” He squeezed her hip again before running his hand up and over her hip in lazy circles. “When each of us arrived, we were all sort of raw. But we started getting better at our own pace. I just—I had to pull myself together right away to talk to schools and teachers for Boom. I kept telling myself I could handle things, but crowded public places got worse for me, too frenetic. It was harder and harder to keep my temper under control.”
“Like at the ER.” She turned in his arms and started to run her hand over his chest.
He made a deep sound of appreciation in his chest and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Like at the ER. You coming in when you did actually helped me calm down. But my temper wasn’t the most dangerous part. That’s just hot air, and it doesn’t make friends. I try to keep it under control to make social life easier for Serena. I don’t particularly care if random strangers like me. The bigger issues come when I think I’m back overseas. The minute or two when I’m not sure where I am and I’m prepared to act as if I’m in a combat zone. I could come out of it amid a body count one of these days. And I can’t do that. I can’t.”
“Do they have counselors to help you?” Elisa was absolutely sure his sharing would make a difference. With her, but with a professional, too, who could offer more advice.
“Yeah. Cruz has a contact for a decent one over in Jersey at McGuire Air Force Base.” Alex sighed. “I didn’t want to go because it’d give my late wife’s parents leverage if they do decide to take me to court for custody of Serena. But I was avoiding public places more and more.”
“And avoiding those situations wasn’t helping you handle them.” She snuggled into the hollow of his shoulder. “What can I do?”
“Well, I realized the first weekend you were here that we have a mutual friend with unexpected talents.” He chuckled. “Seriously, if Souze hadn’t been there, things could’ve gone south fast.”