“YOU WERE SUPPOSED to turn right.”
“We’re supposed to turn right at the next right,” Rudy said. He was exhausted, not because he was physically tired but because Elias Blackwell was the single most annoying human on the planet.
“I’m not even sure this is a good idea. What is this guy going to tell us that we don’t already know?”
Rudy couldn’t care less about what Elias thought was a good idea or not. Thomas Blackwell’s commanding officer had retired last month. He’d had a very large party, and many of those who had been under his command came from near and far.
It was possible that Thomas was at the party. It was also possible that he wasn’t. Someone who had been there may know more about where Thomas might be. Navy men and women stuck together even after they were done living side by side on a ship.
“Is it hard to earn one of these medals?” Elias folded and unfolded the certificate that had come with Thomas’s Medal of Honor. Rudy had known that Peyton had it, kept it hidden somewhere. That child had always wanted to stay connected to him. Probably because she was the only child who remembered that he existed.
“It’s hard. You never would have been able to do it.”
“Pfft! You don’t know me, Harrison. When I put my mind to something, there’s no stopping me. If I had wanted a medal, I would have gotten a medal.”
“That’s not how it works. You don’t get one because you want one. You earn it because you put your life on the line for someone else. I don’t know you that well, but you don’t come across as the kind of guy who would stick his neck out for anyone other than himself.”
Elias wore a scowl. “You said it—you don’t know me very well.”
“When we get there, can you please let me do the talking? We will get more information out of him if he hears from a fellow officer, not some cowboy.”
“Why do you always act like being a cowboy is such a bad thing? Lily fell in love with a cowboy. I bet Amanda would, too, if she stayed longer.”
“Amanda loves the sand and the surf as well as her best friend, who rides those waves. Blake and Amanda are happy and we’re going to leave it that way.”
Rudy checked the mailboxes that lined the street for the number 501, home of Admiral Cole Larson. He was their best lead yet, but there was no guarantee he’d have any information. Finding Thomas was proving to be harder than they’d thought.
Rudy put the RV in Park and put the keys in his pocket. “Don’t embarrass me, Elias.”
The old man got a chuckle out of that one. “Who—me?”
Don’t miss Montana Dreams, the next installment of The Blackwell Sisters, coming next month from USA TODAY bestselling author Anna J. Stewart and Harlequin Heartwarming!
For more great romances in the Harlequin Heartwarming series, visit www.Harlequin.com today!
Keep reading for an excerpt from Rescuing the Rancher by Claire McEwen.