Read Online Wild Dakota Heart by Lisa Mondello - Free Book Online Page A

left him raw. “How could I tell your parents something like this? What parent wants to think their kid wanted to die? It’s horrible.”
    She started to sob. “But you left anyway, Ethan. All these years you were gone. You never came back. I hated you for it.”
    She walked over to him and she started beating Ethan against the chest with her fists. But he grabbed her hands and held her back as she sobbed. “You left him to die alone and then you never came back.”
    Ethan pulled Maddie close to his chest, feeling her tiny body quaking against his. Every bit of him was raw and aching, but not from the lashing Maddie tried to give him. It was because he finally had some clarity that eight years as a Navy SEAL had never given him.
    “You don’t hate me because I left Denny alone, Maddie. You hate me because I left you alone. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I did that to you. I couldn’t save Denny. But I should have been there for you.”
    Her sobs grew louder and mingled in with his own.
    She pulled away from Ethan and wiped her face. “After all this time, why are you telling me this now?”
    “Because I see the way Denny’s death is still eating you up inside. You’re existing. You’re not living, Maddie. You’re just as angry with Denny as you were with me. Maybe it was easier to hate me than hate him for what he did. I don’t know.”
    “His death didn’t seem to hold you back at all. And you have all the military accommodations to prove it.”
    He shook his head, trying to make her understand what had been driving him all these years since Denny died. “Denny believed in me. Don’t you see, I thought if I didn’t achieve all those things Denny thought I could be that it would somehow mean his death was meaningless. It drove me every single day to be the man he saw through his eyes.”
    Her tears returned anew. “How could Denny want to die? Didn’t he know how special he was? How much he was loved?”
    Ethan shook his head. “He was in a lot of pain. I never knew just how much until that day.”
    “Why did you let me believe all these years it was your fault, Ethan? That wasn’t your burden to carry.”
    “He was my friend.”
    Her bottom lip trembled. With a shake of her head, she said, “Take me home.”
    Ethan pulled her closer and walked with her back to the SUV. When she climbed inside, he said, “I’m sorry, Maddie.”
    “I am, too.”
    # # #
     

Chapter Eight
     
    The ride home brought silence. Maddie held the fuel tank cap in her lap and kept her eyes glued to the scenery out the window, watching their surroundings accelerate alongside the SUV's movements. The sun was already sinking low, just touching the tree line. In a few minutes it would be dark and she wouldn’t have to hide her face by turning away.
    Ethan had tried to save Denny. All these years, why had no one told her? Of course, he would try to save Denny. Not because he was a hero. Because he loved Denny. They were like brothers.
    It had never occurred to her that Ethan had been suffering over Denny’s death as much as her family had. He’d stayed away to spare her and to make himself into the man Denny insisted he could be. And Ethan had achieved all those goals and more by earning his place as a Navy SEAL and then becoming a police officer.
    She’d been so wrong about Ethan. And for what?
    As the car rolled up in front of her condo, she placed the fuel tank cap on the seat and released her seat belt.
    “Do you mind taking this into the house? It’s a little heavy,” she said.
    Ethan nodded.
    Maddie rummaged through her purse for her house key as they walked to the front door of her condo. The key slipped easily into the lock and the door opened. A cool rush of air, from keeping her air conditioning on during the day, bathed her face as she stepped inside.
    Maddie led Ethan through the hallway to the kitchen.
    “You can put the fuel tank cap on the kitchen table for now. That’s probably where I’ll work on