Towed

She then respectfully explained how he began feeling ill, an initial misdiagnosis of the flu, followed by blood tests and then a PET scan.

"Six months later...he was gone," she said very quietly.

"I can't tell you how sorry I am," Kash said again. "For both of you."

Without going into any gory details he then just as respectfully explained how his parents had been taken from him.

Both of them wanted to move on so Jordyn asked about his Uncle Art and how Josh had mentioned going to college.

"Right. Well, I mentioned how we had serious money problems, but even so, my Uncle Art insisted on paying for college. But even as a sixteen and seventeen-year old kid, I knew we couldn't afford that. I mean, he's still paying on our tow trucks and the shop."

"So did you get an academic or athletic scholarship?" Jordyn asked.

"Um, yes. I got a full Army ROTC scholarship. I lived at home and they paid 100% of my tuition, books, and fees."

"That's amazing, Kash!" she told him. "And very impressive."

"You were in the Army?" Dax asked with genuine surprise.

"I was. For a little over two years," Kash told him.

"My dad was in the Air Force for 20 years," Dax announced proudly.

"Yes, he was, and although I didn't know your dad, I respect him for that," Kash said sincerely.

"And I feel the same way about you," Jordyn said. "But I do have a question."

"Sure," Kash said, pretty sure this would lead to having 'the discussion'.

"I wasn't aware you could serve for just two years. Was that a special...deal...because of the scholarship?"

Kash didn't laugh at her naïveté, even after being married to a career serviceman, as most spouses didn't know those kinds of things.

"No, I actually had a five-year commitment. But well, things changed after I'd been in Afghanistan for seven months."

Jordyn didn't reply right away. She wasn't exactly sure what he meant, but she understood something must have happened there. And yet he truly was incredibly handsome and she couldn't see a scratch or a scar on him.

"That's what I was hoping to maybe discuss with you, Jordyn," he said rather quietly.

"Do you want me to leave?" Dax said which nearly made Kash laugh, and his expression told her it didn't have to be right then.

"No. You can stay here, honey," she told him.

"Cool. Can we play a game now?" he asked, thus ending the conversation.

"I think we've played enough video games for one day," his mom said.

"How about...an old-school game?" Dax asked getting another chuckle.

"Such as?"

"Um...Monopoly?"

"Too long, buddy," his mom said.

"Sorry?" he suggested.

"I love Sorry," Kash said.

"Well, okay. That might be fun," Jordyn said once she knew Kash wouldn't mind.

An hour later they'd played twice with Dax winning once and Jordyn winning the second time.

"I stink!" Kash said after the second loss. "At everything!"

"It's okay. You'll get better!" Dax assured him as he put the game away.

He ignored the laughter that came right after that comment, too, then went to put the game away.

They made small talk until it was a little after nine when Jordyn told Dax he needed to go take a bath and get ready for bed.

Once again, he surprised her by not arguing and saying, "Okay!" almost as soon as she said it.

When they were sitting there alone, Kash said, "I was wondering if this might be a good time to explain a few things."

Jordyn turned to face him and said, "Only if you feel like it. It's completely up to you."

"I do," he replied.

Kash smiled then said, "First, I want to tell you again how much I enjoy being with you, Jordyn. I can't ever remember feeling this way about anyone before."

"I...I'll take your word for that, Kash, but I can't imagine there haven't been, you know, quite a few other girls in your life."

"There were. But since Afghanistan, not so much."

"I'm almost afraid to ask why," she said with real concern.

"I think it's difficult for most women to accept the um...the new me."

Jordyn raised her eyebrows but didn't speak.

Kash looked right at her then said, "I lost both of my legs in Afghanistan."

Jordyn didn't want to recoil in horror, but she couldn't help it as her hand came up over her mouth.

"Oh, Kash! I...I am so sorry. I...had no idea. You...I couldn't tell by..."

"It's okay," he said quietly.

He smiled then told her, "I don't limp because well, I have a matching set. The orthopedic surgeons did a really good job. Good enough that I could have stayed on active duty. But I opted for a medical retirement, all of which is tax free because I'm considered 100% disabled even though I can do pretty much anything."

Jordyn still couldn't speak so Kash kept talking.

"I'd just been promoted to first lieutenant two days before this happened. We were in a convoy and passing through this small village. I was upfront in the lead vehicle on the right side, and everyone was on high alert because any of these little towns are prime locations for an ambush. We got about 50 meters into the village when I saw an RPG on my right. A shoulder-mounted grenade launcher. I grabbed the mic for the radio and called out 'RPG' and as I was saying the location, the round hit the Humvee door just inches away from my right leg. It took that one off at the knee and mangled the left leg enough that it had to be removed, too."

Jordyn was softly crying and there was nothing Kash could say to stop it.

"Anyway, the doctors at Bagram in Afghanistan removed my legs from the knee down then I flew to Germany where they put me in rehab and eventually fitted me with prosthetics. And now you know 'the rest of the story'."

"Oh, wait. My truck. I forgot about that. I mentioned my 'alive day' and that's what people like me who survive that kind of thing call it. On the one-year anniversary of the attack, I bought that beast."

"I'm sorry for crying, Kash, but I just can't help it. That's so incredibly sad and yet so courageous and brave and..."

He smiled then said, "And stupid. You know, wrong place/wrong time? Yeah, it wasn't exactly brave to sit there and get blown up. But hey, I'm just a dumb tow truck driver, right?"

Jordyn was drying her eyes then something 'compelled' her to stand up and move over to the couch where he was sitting.

"May I?" she asked.

"Sure," he told her thinking she meant next to him.

"No. May I...sit on you?" she asked. "Will it hurt?"

He gently pulled her onto his lap and said, "No, it won't hurt, and that would make me very happy."

Still very emotional, Jordyn put a hand on his face then said, "I know you're trying to downplay all of this, but you need to know I think you're a hero, Kash. And I would never, ever see your...changes...as anything but reminders of just what a hero you are."

He didn't tell her that the only girl he'd taken home to make love with since that happened called him a 'freak show' when he tried to prepare her for the 'new Kash'. Nor did he say that ever since he'd been extremely 'gun shy' about sharing that with anyone. But he did say something that touched her very deeply.

"You're the first woman I've told that to who's made me feel like I'm not less of a man."

"Less of a man? Oh, my goodness. Kash, I could never even think that let alone say it," she told him.

They sat there looking into one another's eyes when Jordyn leaned in and kissed him. It was a soft, gentle kiss followed by another and then one that was very deep and passionate. Tongues touched then tangled and then they heard the sound of laughter.

Jordyn sat up immediately and Kash looked over his shoulder. Dax was standing there in shorts and a tee-shirt giggling like a school girl.

"You guys are so busted!" he said.

Jordyn looked down at Kash who smiled at her and said, "True statement."

"Are we in trouble?" his mom asked.

"Uh-uh. I already told you if you like Kash, too, that's okay. Did you already forget?"

"No. I didn't forget, honey," she told him as she smiled at the handsome, younger man she now knew she loved.

Neither of them used the 'L' word for another couple of months, but they did see each other almost every day after that. When Dax went back to school Jordyn did, too, but when they went home every day, the only question was whether Kash was coming to their house or if they would be going to his apartment.

Art became like family to them in in a matter of days, and after a couple of weeks or so offered to take care of Dax anytime the new couple needed some alone time. They took him up that several times in order to go to dinner or a movie together, but the big favor came the day Art agreed to watch his new best friend for the weekend.

In spite of her previous history with Glacier Lodge, Jordyn happily agreed to spend the weekend there with Kash where they made love for the first time.

"You're not...freaked out?" Kash asked as he undressed in front of her.

"Not now. Not ever," she told him once he stood before her completely naked. "If you can stand to see my...40-year old body, I can stand to see some plastic and metal."

Kash embraced the woman he loved who was also naked and told her she was the most beautiful woman of any age he'd ever seen.

"That can't be true," she said as he held her. "You've never told me your exact age before, but I can't accept that you're 40 years old."

"It's true," he assured her.

He stroked her hair then said, "I love you more than I've ever loved anyone, Jordyn."

Jordyn looked into his eyes as hers filled with tears and said, "I love you, too, Kash."

And moments later she did love him. And over the course of the weekend they loved one another several more times, each time growing closer and loving each other even more.

Just before Christmas, Kash bought a ring and was planning on proposing that evening after dinner with just the three of them in her living room.

When he said he had an announcement to make, Dax said he did, too.

"Oh, okay. You go first," Kash told him.

"Okay. Well, I am now one inch taller than I was when school started, and I weigh ten pounds less."

"Oh, my goodness! I knew you were losing weight, honey, but I had no idea it was that much!" his mother said. "I am so proud of you!"

"Me, too, Daxster," Kash said calling him by his favorite new nickname. "You are one handsome devil."

"I'm gonna ask Courtney Abbott to the end-of-the-year dance," he told them.

"Lucky girl," his mom said with a smile before giving him a big hug.

"So what's your announcement?" Dax asked.

"I uh, I was hoping someone else would feel like a 'lucky girl'," he said as he got up and walked over to Jordyn then stopped right in front of her.

"What...what are you doing?" she asked just as he reached in his pocket then got down on one knee.

"See? They really did do a good job on my legs, huh?" he teased as he opened the tiny box.

Jordyn's hands began to shake and then instinctively covered her mouth as Kash told her again how much he loved her and that he couldn't imagine spending another day without her.

"So...Jordyn Knight. Will you marry me?" Kash asked.

Her head was nodding, but she couldn't speak. She stuck her hand out, and Kash said to Dax, "Go ahead, buddy. You put it on."

The boy smiled, removed the ring, then slid it on his mom's finger. Her face was a mess, but her heart was filled with joy as she put her arms around the two men she loved more than anyone and told them just that.

"I love you both so much!"

"We love you, too, Mom," Dax told her.

"What he said," Kash said with a smile as they all held one another, all of them happier than they'd been in a very long time.

Jordyn took a deep breath then found her voice.

"I was so upset the day my car died on the way home that day back in August," she began. "But if that check engine light hadn't come back on, I'd have never found the love and happiness I've experienced since."

"And had I not decided to leave the Army and come back home, I wouldn't have been there to be the lucky guy who towed your car. And had that not happened, I'd have never known the joy of knowing you both and falling in love with the most beautiful woman on earth."

"No, I'm the lucky one," Jordyn told him.

"How do you figure, Mom?" Dax asked. "Our car still sucks."

Jordyn's eyes open wide in surprise as she looked at Kash who was already laughing then kissed him and told him how happy she was.

Jordyn was still laughing happily a few seconds later when she asked Kash, "Are you sure you want to marry us?"

"Oh, yeah. More sure than I've ever been about anything I my life," Kash told her.

Dax was already 'over' the whole proposal thing.

He ignored the laughter and asked, "Can we get a Mustang this time? Those things rock!"

That only caused Jordyn and her future husband to laugh even harder then grab the boy they both loved and wrestle him to the floor where they tickled him until he begged for mercy.

"Okay, okay! I give up!" he said until things got quiet.

As soon as they did he started laughing again then said loudly, "But I still want a Mustang!" which brought on another round of tickling and happy laughter.

As they lay there on the floor, the three of them together in a row, Jordyn realized how lucky she was her car had died and needed to be towed.

When Dax graduated from college, his adoptive father, who now owned the business, handed him the keys to a brand new car. He'd gotten over the Mustang somewhere along the way, but he was old enough by then to realize that his mom's car dying that day was the best thing that had ever happened to him; something his mother thought about every time her gorgeous, younger husband came home and took her in his arms and told her how much he loved her—something that happened every day of their lives together.