No Regrets, No Surrender(51)

She spilled the news to her mom at a little French bistro in Southlake. Zach drove her to the date, but excused himself at her request. The late summer heat finally gave away to autumn chill in the Dallas suburb. The quiet patio, emptied of the lunchtime crowd, seemed the best place to broach the subject.

“Mom, Logan and Zach asked me to marry them and I said yes.” She didn’t beat around the bush with the confession. Despite the occasional twinge of worry, she committed herself to the relationship. If that meant accepting censure from others, she would take it. But she wanted her mom’s approval—even if she didn’t—she needed it.

“Well, I’m proud of them for waiting until you were back on your feet.” Her mother cut the sandwich in half and divided the roasted fries between them. They’d split meals that way since Jazz was a child. Her mother didn’t have it easy when Jazz was growing up. She hadn’t been a difficult child, but she’d been heavily involved in sports, martial arts, and a fascination with her uncle who died in Beirut in 1982. Raising a Marine hadn’t been easy, but her single mother was unflagging in her support.

“Mom, you get that I just said they asked me, right?”

Her mother seemed to take the news far better than her Episcopalian upbringing would have suggested.

“Yes, darling. I heard you. Eat your sandwich. Logan told me you haven’t been eating as well as you should and that you’ve increased your workouts, which means a higher carb-burning threshold.”

Jazz picked up the sandwich automatically, but she hesitated to take a bite. “You don’t have a problem with it?”

“Do you love them?” Elizabeth Winters was a cool customer, tough, and forthright. She never minced her words.

“Yes.”

“Then I think it’s wonderful. They are good men, both of them. They’re honorable. They love you.” Wiping her fingers on a napkin, her mother pinned her with a look. “You’re worried about what people think? Don’t. You have served your country with distinction. You have given and given and given. You want those men. You take them. I rather like having two sons added to the family.”

Jazz stared down into her coffee. Her mother’s reaction and encouragement provided the last push she needed to feel totally confident about it. Parental disapproval wouldn’t have changed her mind, but giving her mom the first really girly thing of her life in a wedding to plan—that was priceless.

“You planning on getting dressed today?” Zach strolled out, bare-chested and beautiful, and shook her from her musings. His jeans were open at the top button as though he’d dragged them on after crawling out of their bed.

“Yep. But I have a couple of hours before my meeting, and I didn’t feel like repolishing my buttons if you guys decide to go all caveman and rip my clothes off.” Her lips curled up with the tease and Zach laughed. He reached out to take her cup, and she pulled it to herself protectively. “Logan already made me spill the first cup. Get your own.”

He laughed again and she loved the sound of it. “You make up your mind?”

“Yep.” Logan answered for her as he wandered in, his hair still damp from the shower. The white T-shirt was a crisp contrast to his darker skin, and stretched beautifully across his muscles. “Pour me one, too.”

They grabbed their mugs and joined her at the table, Zach one-armed her right into his lap and she leaned back, almost content. Almost. After meeting with her commanding officer later in the day, the final seal would be placed on their future.

“Do I get to know what you chose?” Zach sipped his coffee, blue eyes dancing with mirth. He had to know, he’d been campaigning for her to take the offer since it arrived two weeks before.

“Recruiting. I’ll be working with the local school districts and their ROTCs. I’ll rotate, primarily, through Plano, Allen, and McKinney, until I’m cleared for full active and then I’ll add more schools.” The recruitment position was perfect. She would remain on active duty, but she wasn’t stuck behind a desk. Her superior officer’s offer stunned her, but both Zach and Logan supported the idea. “It’s not Fallujah or Bamyan, but it’s still serving.”

He grinned and kissed her nose. “You’re going to have the guys lining up around the block to join.”

She snorted. “They can enlist, but they’ll have to prove they have what it takes to be our Marines.”

“As it should be.” Logan grunted and tilted his chair back on two legs. He gave her a sleepy smile, but the pride and love in his expression could be mistaken for nothing else.