Intermix titles by June Gray
The Disarm Series
DISARM
BESIEGE
RETREAT
THE HENRY SESSIONS
ENGAGE
CAPTURE
RETREAT
A Disarm Novella
June Gray
INTERMIX BOOKS, NEW YORK
INTERMIX BOOKS
Published by the Penguin Group
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have control over and does not have any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
RETREAT
An InterMix Book / published by arrangement with the author
PUBLISHING HISTORY
InterMix eBook edition / May 2013
Copyright © 2012 by June Gray.
Cover photo by Andrey Kiselev.
Cover design by June Gray.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
ISBN: 978-0-698-14967-0
INTERMIX
InterMix Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group and New American Library, divisions of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
INTERMIX and the “IM” design are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
DEDICATION
To my husband. You are the best man I know.
1 | REVEILLE
I was calm during the four-hour flight but the moment the plane touched down at the Monterey Airport that drizzly Thursday night, my insides immediately turned to mush.
I’d flown to California many times before, but this time, Henry had no clue I was coming. I had managed to get some time off work to spend the last three of his eighteen days of therapy with him, and was planning to surprise him tonight.
My stomach trembled at the thought of showing up unannounced. A voice niggled at the back of my mind, wondering if Henry would be happy to see me. I didn’t even know which version I would be faced with: the one that left for Afghanistan or the one who came back.
As I made my way off the plane, I gave myself a pep talk. It didn’t matter which version of Henry greeted me tonight. I loved him regardless.
All of my jitters disappeared when I saw my dad at baggage claim, looking a little rounder around the middle, but still the same man with hazel eyes and light brown hair. He was standing against the wall, his back straight, his arms folded across his chest looking very much like he’s about to start handing out orders.
His rigid demeanor melted the moment he saw me.
“Hi, Dad,” I said, greeting him with a hug and kiss on the cheek.
“Sweetheart,” he said, gathering me in his arms for a bear hug. “It’s good to see you.”
I pulled away and looked around. “Where’s Mom?”
“She’s at home, making sure the entire house is clean and that your room is just as you remembered it,” he said with a hint of sarcasm.
I laughed. “You mean you haven’t turned it into a workout room or something? Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do when your kids move out?”
“I’ve been trying to turn it into a man cave, but she won’t let me,” Dad said. “She wants to keep it as is until you have children of your own, then she’s planning on turning it into a kid’s room.”
“That’s . . . ”
“Crazy?” he asked with a shake of the head. The smile melted off his face and he turned to me with a sort of panicked expression. “She doesn’t know something that I don’t, right? You’re not pregnant, are you?”
“Not that I’m aware of,” I said with a snort.
He sighed in relief, wiping imaginary sweat off his forehead. “Okay then. Let’s go get your luggage, my sweet girl.”
~
My dad was an AWACS pilot in the Air Force and, when he was still a major, he had taken a fifteen-month-long program at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. He and Mom had liked the area so much that they’d decided to live there after he separated from the military four years later. They had taken their savings and bought a house in Monterey, not far from the famed 17-Mile Drive. The blue two-story Craftsman house was only five minutes from the beach, but most importantly, was a mere two houses down from the Logans.
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