Excerpt of Basic Training by Julie Miller

TRAVIS MCCORMICK had come home.

"Travis," Tess Bartlett whispered. She tucked her suitcase into the closet of her old bedroom and hurried to the window to see with her own eyes the return of the conquering hero.

He'd come so far. Been through so much.

Tess was almost ashamed to admit that she'd barely ventured away from the homefront. After college, one thing after another had seemed to draw her back to Ashton, Virginia. She'd come home when a cancer scare had left her widowed mother feeling vulnerable and alone. Then, she'd done her physical therapy internship here and stayed on when the hospital had offered her a generous salary to become a member of their staff.

She had her own apartment, her own career. She had old and new friends who were an integral part of her life. And when push came to shove, she could even finagle herself a date on a Saturday night.

But in one way, Tess had never moved on. Tess had never shared a bond with anyone, not even her sister and mother, like the one she shared with Travis. She'd lived so much of her life vicariously through him. He was a military hero with skills and knowledge she could only guess at. As a Marine, he'd traveled the world. Fought beside the bravest warriors and strategized with the best military minds.

And yet she'd always, always believed he was glad to come back to Ashton to see her, his little buddy Tess.

Over the years of their friendship, he'd confessed triumphs and tribulations that were their secrets alone. He never hesitated to offer a hug or a wink or a smile. He'd stood beside her and taken the heat when their youthful practical jokes had gotten them into trouble. And she'd stood beside him and listened and held his hand when that strong United States Marine hadn't been quite strong enough.

Would their friendship take up where they'd left off before he'd been called up for a covert assignment more than a year ago? She was thrilled that he was finally coming home to Ashton after spending most of that year in a hospital and therapy. But she knew he wouldn't be thrilled that he'd been injured while training for that mission — before ever shipping out overseas.

Despite the circumstances, was he looking forward to reconnecting with an old friend for a few weeks as much as she was?

Hidden by the glare of the afternoon sun off the water from Chesapeake Bay, Tess peeked through the curtains of the second-story bedroom window in the house where she'd grown up, next door to the McCormicks' bayside colonial. She and her older sister, Amy, had timed their annual summer get-together with their mom to coincide with the U.S. Marine Corps captain's home-coming. They were all invited over that evening for a welcome-home party, but Tess couldn't wait that long to see him with her own eyes. She couldn't wait to reassure herself that the boy next door — her classmate, teammate, and longtime friend — had finally come home after a full year.

She was thirty-three years old, had known Travis for more than half her life, and she still couldn't stop that little hitch in her breath each time she saw him. Damn the man. He was that good looking. Each reunion stirred her blood — as if she were discovering that well-sculpted hunk of testosterone for the first time. Discovering those clear blue eyes, that sexy crop of dark blond hair hugging the perfect shape of his head, and those shoulders broad enough to lead men and seduce women with equal success.

Tess closed her eyes and diligently ignored the heated rush of hormones that tripped along her pulse. She and Travis had been friends for far too long. She knew his taste in women — everything from busty and mysterious to slim and flirty. Blondes, brunettes, redheads all qualified — just as long as they weren't afraid of their sexuality, and weren't hung up about the whole commitment thing.

Tess opened her eyes on a frustrated huff. She might as well enjoy the view because that's all she'd be getting. No way in hell did she qualify as more than a friend to Travis. They'd shared just that one awkward kiss in college — and fortunately, Travis had been too drunk to remember it. Her inability to turn his head was probably why they'd been able to remain such good friends over the years.

First, the word sexy simply didn't apply to her practically-proportioned body, which was better suited for softball than seduction. Her bland hazel eyes and generic brown hair had never turned heads. Even with contact lenses to halt the nickname of "Four Eyes" from high school, and a few golden highlights to give her ponytail some pizzazz, she still oozed smarts and sensibility — not sex appeal.

Second, her sense of humor and reliability, which made her a trusted ally when it came to pulling off practical jokes and keeping secrets, made her a dud in the come-hither department. Back in high school she'd learned that sweaty shortstops and salutatorians didn't get asked to the senior prom if they lacked the boobs or legs or feminine mystique to compensate for an error-free season and nearly perfect GPA.

And third, in a small town like Ashton, Virginia, once you got labeled with a reputation for being a brainiac or tomboy or good ol' gal, you were stuck.

Tess had been stuck for fifteen years. "Hey, Tess. You upstairs?" Ah, yes. Her big sister, Amy, had much nicer labels. She had managed to get the right blend of genes to allow her to be smart, accomplished and sexy. Of course, she also wound up with the gene that allowed her to marry a real loser, and now the newly divorced school teacher had returned to her roots as much to heal from the nasty breakup as to support the Bartlett women's summer tradition of helping out at the festival. "Tess?"

Tess drew back from the window as if the call might alert the McCormicks to her subtle spying. "In here."

But she couldn't walk away. Not until she saw for her own eyes that Travis was alive. That the bomb that had shredded his body hadn't killed him. That his handsome mouth could still smile and those devilish blue eyes could still sparkle with mischief.

Tess answered the soft knock at her door without turning away from the scene visible through the lacy sheers at her window. "Come on in."

"Getting a sneak peek before tonight's festivities?" Amy asked, curling her long legs beneath her as she perched on the corner of Tess's bed.

"I'm just anxious to see Trav," Tess admitted, watching Travis's father, retired Brigadier General Hal McCormick, climb out from behind the wheel of his silver Chevy Suburban and stride up the sidewalk to the front door. Even at age 60, with a dusting of silver in his short blond hair, the man's military bearing was unmistakable. "The last time I talked to Travis in the hospital, he told me not to come visit. Said he'd be home soon enough."

Amy frowned as she joined Tess at the window. "What was that — two, three months ago?"

"Try six." She hugged her arms around her waist, trying not to feel the lingering sting of his rejection.

"He's been out of the hospital since then, but I doubt he'd be in Ashton now if he hadn't finally been ordered to take some R and R. Hal said he'd been working a desk job, but that Travis was so gung-ho about getting back to his Special Forces unit and whatever mission they were prepping for that he overdid his physical training and actually set back his recovery."

A pretty, perky brunette Tess identified as Travis's sister-in-law, J.C., climbed out of the backseat and opened the back of the Suburban to retrieve a couple of suitcases. J.C.'s husband, Ethan McCormick, followed right behind her in his khaki and olive green lieutenant colonel's uniform. He took both suitcases from her. She snatched one back. The argument that flared briefly between them ended with a perfunctory kiss. And then another, lingering this time. Then one more that lasted long enough for Amy and Tess to sigh in unison.

"You know, I always thought that at least one of us would wind up with a McCormick." Amy crossed her arms to match Tess's stance. They both giggled as Ethan's independent wife let him have the suitcase he insisted on carrying, but then pulled another bag from the car and scooted around him to follow Hal before Ethan could stop her. "We've lived next door to those two hotties for how many years? Now I'm divorced from Barry Can't-Keep-His- Pants-Zipped, and you're..."

Doomed to spinsterhood? Sentenced to celibacy? Amy pursed her lips, searching for the right word to finish her sentence. "Unattached." Her brown eyes were full of honest regret as she looked down at Tess. "You know I don't mean anything by that, right? You could have any man you wanted if you stopped listening to what the busybodies in this town have to say and just set your mind to it. Mom said you'd been dating Morty Camden," she added hopefully.

"Sure. Rub salt in an old wound. Morty might be the one person in town who's getting less sex than I am."

Her big sister didn't seem entirely relieved that Tess had made a joke of it. "But sex isn't the only reason to go out with a guy, right? He's a nice guy, isn't he? Doesn't he run his own business?"

"He's nice enough," Tess agreed. She was having a hard time picturing Morty's earnest face and receding hairline as she waited for Travis to emerge from the vehicle below them. "He has his own accounting firm.

But he's just a friend. Basically, we're each other's escort whenever something comes up."

They served together on the same committee that organized the fishing competition and other events for Ashton's annual Summer Bay Festival. Slated to start the following Monday and run the first full week of July, the festival drew in tourists, locals and a slew of sailors, Marines and soldiers from nearby bases for a celebration both on and off the water of Chesapeake Bay. Her "dates" with Morty had been little more than friendly business meetings. The closest they'd come to bodily contact was a little hand holding and a few high-five's.

But Tess didn't elaborate. Ethan had closed the rear hatch and was circling the car now. Leaning forward ever so slightly, Tess peered through the slit in the curtains. "Don't you think there's something a little too big-brotherly about Ethan and Travis for us to get involved with either of them?"

Man, she wished she believed what she'd said. But she'd lusted after Travis for too many years. And that one collegiate kiss had confirmed that brotherly wasn't really the way she felt about him. But it was the way she had to feel. He was her best bud. And since he'd never see her in any other way — not while sober, at any rate —

"I don't know. I dated Ethan that summer after high school — before he took off for Annapolis." Amy's husky sigh left Tess wondering just how far those dates had gone, and whether she was the only Bartlett with lust in her heart.

"Did you and Ethan ever do it?"

"Tess!" Amy's flawless skin darkened with a rosy blush.

Tess pointed an accusatory finger, but she was laughing. "Tell me."

Her sister tucked her thick, honey blond hair behind her ears and bought some time before she answered. "Even back then, Ethan was all about being a Marine. As sweet and smart as he was, he was saving himself for the Corps. I don't think he would have jumped my bones even if I had USS Amy tattooed on my boobs."

Tess narrowed her gaze. She wasn't getting the whole story. "But you blushed. You're holding back."

Amy arched a golden eyebrow in that mystery-woman expression that men found so irresistible. Tess had tried to duplicate the same maneuver for years, but could only manage to arch both brows at once and come off looking more like Larry, Curly and Moe than any femme fatale. "We never went all the way. Let's just say, he scouted out the ship."