Page 15 of Shane

Mark shook his head and rolled his eyes at her nosy enthusiasm, and Alex had to smile. Over the years, he’d unintentionally surrounded himself with positive go-getters. Like Mark and Everlee. And Kelsey. Knowing her, she’d probably been halfway to his office before Everlee had even disconnected.

Sure enough, Kelsey rapped on the door, then peeked in and said, “Oh, there you are.”

Alex held out his arm and invited her to join them.

She came swiftly to his side with an anxious, “Are you okay, sweetheart?”

He stood. Putting one arm around her waist he admitted, “I am now. Kelsey, I’d like you to meet my newest hire, former USMC scout sniper, Sergeant Shane Hayes. Shane, this is my wife and the biggest blessing in my life, Kelsey.”

Kelsey’s eyes widened a fraction at hearing that name. Shane Hayes. She knew who he was, but she had the grace and good sense not to react or make things more difficult for the guy.

Shane and Mark were on their feet by then. Shane leaned around Alex, offered his hand to Kelsey, and said, “I can’t tell you what an honor it is to meet you, Mrs. Stewart.” Poor man’s voice was still tight as shit, and if he stiffened that spine any farther, he’d make a good flagpole.

Kelsey untangled herself from Alex. Unlike him, she walked up to Shane, brushed his hand aside, and pulled him into a welcoming hug. Tipping up on her toes, she told him quietly, “I’m so glad to meet you, Shane. But you’re so young. I thought you’d be an old troll like Alex, but you’re just a baby.”

The guy choked, but he didn’t pull away from the amazing woman hanging onto him and patting his bulky shoulder, holding him close like his mother probably had once upon a different time. But when he squeezed his red-rimmed eyes tight, Alex gritted his teeth and turned away.

There. That thing Kelsey was doing right then was what Alex should’ve done in the first place. Instead of barking like a rabid dog, he should’ve welcomed Shane at first sight and let everything work itself out. He’d known most of what had happened the day of the accident, and he’d known the man behind the wheel of that delivery van had been barely out of high school, just a freshman at a local community college.

Until he’d seen Shane’s name on Mark’s roll of interviewees and prospective new-hires, Alex hadn’t dug any further into his history. He hadn’t realized until today that Shane had been dealt a devastating blow earlier the same morning, nor that he had no family to lean on afterward. Made Alex feel like an ass now for ever believing his loss was worse than Shane’s. If anything, the pain and losses not yet dealt with in Shane’s hard head were still eating him alive. Whereas Alex was whole and calm these days. Most days anyway. He could lend a no-kidding helping hand to this youngster. He just wished he’d done it sooner.

Alex shook his head, amazed he still had so far to go to be as good and kind as his wife. He was so damned thankful for Kelsey. Somehow, she’d smoothed over his jagged edges, at least made them less cutting. “I’m not a troll, damn it,” he teased to lessen some of the sting he’d led with. “You ought to hire my wife as our welcoming committee, Mark. She’s better at this than I am.”

Shane licked his lips and released Kelsey, but she didn’t step back, just kept looking up at him, holding his wrists like he was a little boy. Kelsey was like that. Alex knew damned well that she believed all men—didn’t matter how scary-big they were, how mean they looked, or how many tattoos they had—were just little boys in grown-up disguises. That if she stood there long enough and looked hard enough, she’d see past the defensive mask Shane led with, to the hurting person behind it. There was no denying she was light-years ahead of Alex when it came to seeing through bullshit. His in particular.

Shane hadn’t broken eye contact with her yet, but he kept blinking. Before the poor guy broke down, Alex tugged his wife away and settled her under his arm. At the same time, he extended his right hand in friendship. “Welcome to The TEAM, Shane,” he said sincerely. “You’re right, I know most of what happened that day. Just wasn’t as prepared to meet you as I thought I was.”

“Thank you. I think.” Shane had a good strong handshake, but what Devil Dog didn’t?

Alex felt stable again. With Kelsey at his side and the herbal scent of her shampoo in his nose, he was a better man. Her being here this morning sure as hell proved that.

Mark blew out a breath between his pursed lips. “You might as well know I was prepared to fight you for this guy, Boss. Congratulations. We’ve just hired one of the best.”

“Well, of course we did. He’s a Marine, isn’t he?” Alex replied quickly. “Not sure if you’ve heard Mark’s spiel already, but plan on staying the rest of the day, Shane. He’ll show you around, introduce you to whichever other agents are in, maybe even take you over to the barns. You got a dog?”

Shane held up two fingers. “They’re in the lobby with LT Yeager.”

“Great. Harley’s got a good set-up, complete with kennels for visitors if you’d rather not have them underfoot while you’re working.”

“You’ll be perfect for this band of roughnecks, Shane,” Kelsey added.

She hadn’t taken her pretty, brown eyes off him, and Alex knew damned well she’d tuned into the guy’s ragged emotions. Not like anyone could miss them. They were written all over his face. No doubt Kelsey had also homed in on the fact that Shane was alone in the world, that he just might need an invite to dinner. She had a knack for finding lost boys and bringing them home.

Alex beat her to it. “My place,” he ordered his new hire. “Five pm sharp today. I know Kelsey, and I can see she’d love to cook for you.”

“Err, but I’ve got—”

“Stuff to do. Yeah, yeah, I doubt that, and this is not a request. Let me show you what Stewart hospitality’s really like.” Alex knew he’d hit the mark the way his wife’s eyes glistened.

Shane rubbed a hand up the back of his neck, a sure sign he was still stressed, that an invite to his boss’s home might stress him out more. Well, too bad. He’d get over that as soon as Lexie climbed up onto his lap and ordered him to read her favorite book of the week to her.

Alex was finally understanding that life was just one beginning after another. Which unfortunately, also meant there were plenty of tear-filled endings between each of those awesome fresh starts. That was the key, the mystery, and the damned difference between living and living well. A guy had to learn the hard way how to weather painful endings before he could move on to his much-deserved new beginnings. Before he could find his Kelsey.

At last, Shane replied, “I’ll be there. Thank you.”

“You said you left your dogs with Lieutenant Yeager?” Alex teased. “With Everlee? The only TEAM member to sprain both ankles within months of each other?”

“And both on the job,” Mark added playfully.