Off Limits to the Alpha

Chapter 1 - The Girl Next Door

What the hell was all that racket? Cal Appleton reached across to the bedside table and snagged his cellphone. Sliding his thumb across the face, he activated it, and saw that the time was just after seven in the morning. He dropped the phone on his bed, and stretched his upper body, regretting the extra three beers he had had the night before. Drowning his sorrows in tequila shots and beer was not the best move for a military man of his experience. And this unwelcome wake-up call was not going to put him in the best mood for the start of his next phase of rehab. Now that he was out of the wheelchair, he felt the need to push his body so he could get rid of the cane as well. Swimming laps would no doubt help with strengthening his lung function and mobility. The pain meds had been gradually decreased as well, but his goal was to stop taking them altogether. So there was lots left to do.

Swinging his legs over the side of the big bed, he stood and limped to the bathroom. He had no plans for the day, it being Saturday, which explained his drinking the night before. His buddies had all come for a visit, and the laughter had been good for him. He had needed to see them, and they had not disappointed him. At thirty-eight, Cal was one of the older ones on the team, looking at almost four more years before he could legitimately retire from the Army, and get on with the rest of his life. He intended to end his time on the battlefront, not convalescing at home. His teammates’ support was invaluable to him, and he fully intended to get back out there with them, even one last time before he called it quits.

An hour later, the racket next door had not lessened, and Cal was at the end of his patience. He had done a half hour of stretching, and had decided to go visit his friend the owner of the local gym where all the guys who lived off base went; but first he’d have a word with whoever must have moved in while he was out painting the town with his buddies yesterday. This was a quiet street...at least his part of it was. Even the kids played circumspectly. The newbie would have to learn that channeling banshees from Ye Olde Eire would not do. And especially not if he or she planned to live a stress-free life next door to Cal. When he went back to the front, the whole neighborhood could implode, but not while he was there.

Grabbing his gym bag and his keys, he picked up the cane and headed out the door. A bucket truck blocked his driveway, and the bucket was being maneuvered into position to cut down the last branch of a huge maple that had been threatening the house next door for the last six years. Apparently whoever had moved in had decided the house was safer with less shade. Cal had to agree, although now that the tree had been trimmed, the yard looked almost bare. He locked his front door and walked down to the end of his driveway. The man on the ground saw him and yelled something to the one in the bucket. Then, blessed silence.

Morning, Cal said, extending his hand. It never hurt to be polite.

Sorry, man, the guy said, shaking his hand. We’ll be outta your hair in a few.

Cal caught sight of the third guy, the one who guided the cut-off branches to the ground so they wouldn’t swing wildly and smash into anything they shouldn’t. He turned his attention to the house in whose front yard the tree lived. No one seemed to be home, but then, if someone had moved in only the night before, their signs of life would still be minimal. The house looked smaller now, and somehow lonelier without the big tree spreading its branches over it. The siding could use a power wash, and the lawn and garden would benefit from some serious TLC, but otherwise the house was fine. He wasn’t sure how he felt about having a neighbor after being in his house for so many years without one. The lot on the other side was empty of any buildings, and he hoped that it would remain so. He had half a mind to buy it himself so it would remain that way. Maybe, when he sat down with his investment advisor, he’d see if he could swing the cash for it.

The bucket truck moved, and he got into his big blue pickup truck and backed it out into the still quiet street. Weekends were a lazy time on his street, and he hoped his new neighbor could handle that, and not make any waves. He forgave this morning’s disturbance, but they were going to knock heads if this kind of thing became a weekly occurrence. As he straightened the wheel, a movement caught the corner of his eye. Someone had come out of the house as he was reversing onto the street. He paused to look and his jaw dropped. Inching the vehicle forward, he looked again, to make sure his eyes weren’t deceiving him. They weren’t. The last person he had expected to see, dressed in a pair of faded blue jeans and a body-hugging t-shirt, was talking to the men. He stared, unable to help himself.

Vivica Bassett had filled in nicely since they had been in high school together twenty years ago. She was two years his junior, a city girl who had come to live in the small country town just outside the Army base where her parents were stationed. She was one of a pair of girls -- her twin was nothing like her except in size and coloring -- and they had become fast friends as soon as he realized she wasn’t shy, just lonely. She was as different from her twin as night from day.

Valerie was the ultimate in femininity, round, sexy, and determined to be an actress or a model when she grew up. She and Vivica never moved in the same circles, and Val had never had trouble making friends. Always a head taller than her peers, Viv played basketball, volleyball, tennis, and golf. She excelled in every subject in school, and could sing the birds from the trees. They were always in competition, because he had been as well rounded as she, and they were always within decimal points of each other’s GPAs through his last two years of high school. They had both been valedictorian in their senior years. And they had fallen in love.

Suddenly, Cal didn’t want to remember. He had done her wrong, and he knew it. How could he possibly face her now, after all these years, and not expect to have his ass handed to him? He had bailed on her to enlist, to go to the military academy, to follow his dream of being in the Army Special Ops unit. He was eighteen and gung ho for fighting and winning. Love could wait. That’s what he had thought then. Now, he saw where he might have been wrong. Dragging his eyes away from her, he drove off, hoping she hadn’t seen him. He needed time to process the fact that his new neighbor was his one-time girlfriend, and to figure out a way to handle the situation.

Trey Jonas, former Marine and current owner of the gym over on Main and West, was in the middle of a training routine when Cal walked in and set his gym bag down. He called a greeting as he watched the tough trainer put his trainee through her paces. Knowing that it was part of Trey’s mission to train women to defend themselves made Cal proud to be associated with him. He had first-hand knowledge of the devastation that being attacked and defenseless could have on a woman, because his older sister had been there. It had taken him and Trey over two years to get Sara out of her house and into the gym after her deadbeat ex-husband had beaten her almost to death. Now, after four years in training, she was a kickass part-time instructor of women in the gym, and had a new confidence that filled him with pride.

As if he had called her name, Sara appeared across the room, waving at him as she came. She hugged him when she was close enough, and it was good to hold her. They had grown closer in the last six years than they had been before, and these days he was even happier for that than before. It helped to have family close by.

You’re up early on a Saturday, Cal! Feeling some pain, eh? I saw you boys last night whooping it up. Heard you, too, after a while! She laughed as she released him.

That was all Tank! he protested. I just sat quietly grinning into my beer. He laughed with her, remembering how rowdy they had gotten in the bar, thankful that the owner was their friend.

You look chipper this morning! he commented, taking in the fresh glow that seemed to surround her. New man?

She punched his arm hard, and he complained loudly. Ouch! What was that for?

For teasing your big sister, that’s what! She reached up to kiss his cheek. Awww! The big bad Green Beret has a booboo? She made a face as she said it, and Cal laughed, still rubbing his arm.

Wounded warrior here, he protested, still teasing.

I remember, she retorted. That’s the only reason you’re not hopping around on one leg as well! She grinned at him. Trey will be busy for another half hour. Can I help?

Sure, he answered readily. Though he and Sara rarely worked out together, he always enjoyed any time he spent with her in the gym. She was as exacting a task master as her mentor, and though she would most likely render him infertile if he were even to hint at it, he knew that she and Trey had a thing for each other. Trey at least admitted it, but refused to act on it, because Sara was determined to be independent, to never fall in love again, and definitely not with someone five years her junior. In the interests of preserving his family jewels, therefore, he refrained from making any comment, but went to change while she set up.

So, did you see who is back in town? she asked as she worked with him through the stretches.

Who? he puffed, groaning at the burn in his muscles.