At Home in Stone Creek (Silhouette Special Edition) by Linda Lael Miller Page A

get any argument there,” Tanner said, without hesitation.
    â€œI can’t keep doing this. Every time I’ve left that woman, I’ve meant to stay gone. But Ashley hauntsme, Tanner. She’s in the air I breathe and the water I drink—”
    â€œIt’s called love , you idiot,” Tanner informed him.
    â€œLove,” Jack scoffed. “This isn’t the Lifetime channel, old buddy. And it’s not as if I’m doing Ashley some big, fat favor by loving her. My kind of romance could get her killed .”
    Tanner’s mouth crooked up at one corner. “You watch the Lifetime channel? ”
    â€œShut up,” Jack bit out.
    Tanner laughed. “You are so screwed,” he said.
    â€œMaybe,” Jack snapped. “But you’re not being much help here, in case you haven’t noticed.”
    â€œIt’s time to stop running,” Tanner said decisively. “Take a stand.”
    â€œSuppose Lombard shows up? He’d like nothing better than to take out everybody I care about.”
    Tanner’s expression turned serious again, and both his eyebrows went up. “What about your dad, the dentist, and your mom, the librarian, and your three brothers, who probably have the misfortune to look just like you?”
    Something tightened inside Jack, a wrenching grab, cold as steel. “Why do you think I haven’t seen them since I got out of high school?” he shot back. “Nobody knows I have a family, and I want it to stay that way.”
    Tanner leaned forward a little. “Which means your name isn’t Jack McCall,” he said. “Who the hell are you, anyway?”
    â€œDammit, you know who I am. We’ve been through a lot together.”
    â€œDo I? Jack is probably your real first name, but I’ll bet it doesn’t say McCall on your birth certificate.”
    â€œMy birth certificate conveniently disappeared into cyberspace a long time ago,” Jack said. “And if youthink I’m going to tell you my last name, so you can tap into a search engine and get the goods on me, you’re a bigger sucker than I ever guessed.”
    Tanner frowned. He loved puzzles, and he was exceptionally good at figuring them out. “Wait a second. You and Ashley dated in college, and she knew you as Jack McCall. Did you change your name in high school?”
    â€œLet this go, Tanner,” Jack answered tightly. He had to give his friend something, or he’d never get off his back—that much was clear. And while they were sitting there planning his segment on Biography , Chad Lombard was looking for him. By that scumbag’s watch, it was payback time. “I was one of those difficult types in high school—my folks, with some help from a judge, sent me to one of those military schools where they try to scare kids into behaving like human beings. One of the teachers was a former SEAL. Long story short, the Navy tapped me for their version of Special Forces and put me through college. I never went home, after that, and the name change was their idea, not mine.”
    Tanner let out a long, low whistle. “Hot damn,” he muttered. “Your folks must be frantic, wondering what happened to you.”
    â€œThey think I’m dead,” Jack said, stunned at how much he was giving up. That toxin must be digesting his brain. “There’s a grave and a headstone; they put flowers on it once in a while. As far as they’re concerned, I was blown to unidentifiable smithereens in Iraq.”
    Tanner glared at him. “How could you put them through that?”
    â€œAsk the Navy,” Jack said.
    Outside, snow crunched under tires as Ashley pulled into the driveway.
    â€œEnd of conversation,” Jack told Tanner.
    â€œThat’s what you think,” Tanner replied, pushing back his chair to stand.
    â€œI’ll be out of here as soon as I can arrange it,” Jack warned quietly.
    Tanner