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She huffed out a sigh. “I feel silly now, for not trying to reach you some other way. I could have sent a letter or called one of your brothers. But when I thought you were ignoring my messages, I just…I gave up.”
I tried to hide a wince. It sounded too much like what she’d said when she’d broken up with me. “I give up. I can’t do this anymore.” She’d been my everything, the person I loved with all my heart. Imagining coming home to her was the thought that got me through every mission, every miserable hour I spent in a sniper’s nest in the freezing cold or blazing heat for hours on end. And then all of the sudden, she was telling me that everything we had together was over. After that, I’d never even dreamed that there was any road back to her or to the future I’d always wanted us to share. But now…now there was Austin. At the very least, I wanted to know my son, be part of his life. And if that meant I could be part of Carolyn’s life again, too… Well, we’d have to take it one step at a time. But for the first time in a long while, I felt some hope.
“Okay, so…where do we go from here, since I’m out of the service and home now?” I asked.
She gave me a sharp glance, meeting my eyes for a moment before looking away.
“I think it’s best if we take it slow. You can come over and spend time with him. Get to know him. He’s a great kid, Zach.”
“He’d have to be, with us as his parents.” I got a smile in response, and I felt that old, familiar rush of satisfaction . It always felt like something special, being the cause of a smile that pretty.
“You can’t tell him you’re his daddy, though, not yet,” she warned. “I want to ease him into this. We can’t overwhelm him.”
I nodded eagerly. Whatever hoops she wanted me to jump through, I’d jump. Hell, she could set the hoops on fire and I’d still jump. Now that I knew about Austin, I’d make my son the center of my universe. I wanted to rush upstairs and see him again, but she probably wouldn’t let me. Instead, I looked at a picture on the coffee table from what must have been Austin’s first birthday. The boy sat in a highchair and smashed a little cake with his fist, smiling gleefully. I vowed to never miss another celebration or holiday with my son.
I looked back over to Carolyn when I heard her stifling a yawn. She looked exhausted. Of course she does, you moron. She got held hostage, was nearly killed, and then had you showing up to drop a new bombshell on her. As badly as I wanted to stay and ask her a million questions about Austin, it was clear that now really wasn’t the time. “I should go, let you get some rest,” I said, knowing I’d made the right decision when I saw relief wash over her face. “Will you be all right for the night?” I asked.
“We’ll be fine,” she assured me. “I have a security system. You can take my car back to the store. Charlotte or my mom will pick us up in the morning.”
“I don’t want to leave you without a vehicle.” My head filled with scenario after scenario in which she’d need a car in the night. What if she needed to escape the house quickly or Austin became ill and had to go to the emergency room? “Can I come back tomorrow?”
“That’s fine.” She pulled out her phone, unlocked it, and handed it to me. “Go ahead and put in your new number. I’ll text you and let you know when we’re home.” I accessed her contacts and went to my entry. Knowing I only had a minute, I took a few screencaps of the messages she had sent me—the ones I hadn’t received. I forwarded them to myself, entered my new number, and handed the phone back to her. She stood as she took it, signaling it was time for me to leave.
She walked me to the door, leaning on it a little as she held it open. She looked so exhausted. Everything in me wanted to scoop her up in my arms—to hold her close, pamper her, make her feel better. But I kept my hands to myself. “Good night.”
4
ZACH
Outside, the heat of the day was gone, but I was still riled up inside. As I walked to the corner, I pulled up Chance’s number to give him a call.
“Hey there, cuz—what’s up?” he said as he answered, and I couldn’t help chuckling a little. I still wasn’t used to having cousins, even if the McCallister brothers insisted that that was what we were.
It had only been a little over a year since Chance’s father, Ray, had died, leading to the discovery—thanks to some old letters hidden away in a closet—that Ray had a half-brother he hadn’t spoken to in years. That brother, Admiral Peter Anderson, was the same man who had fostered me and my brothers. The Admiral had already been three years gone by then, so there was no opportunity for Chance or his siblings to get to know their uncle firsthand, but they’d been surprisingly determined to welcome me, Colin, and Alex into the family. They’d even insisted on me moving into what had been their childhood home while I found my feet in civilian life.
Chance and I were the only ones currently living in Springwell—me in the old McCallister house, Chance with his wife, Mandy—but we had a family group chat with the three McCallister brothers, plus their significant others, and the three Vales, and we all kept in touch as regularly as we could. Chance had also, personally, made it clear that he wanted me to come to him whenever I needed help with anything—and, in fact, that he’d be pretty pissed off if I didn’t. It took a little getting used to not being the default oldest in the family anymore, but I had to admit, I kinda liked having an older cousin to look out for me.
“If you’re not too busy, could you come give me a lift?”
“Sure thing, just let me clear it with the boss lady. You know what a dragon she can be,” he said, his tone warmly teasing in a way that I knew meant his wife—also his boss, and the owner of the garage where he worked—was standing right there.
“Please get him out of here before I beat him over the head with a wrench!” I heard Mandy call out, laughing. “You wouldn’t believe what a pest he’s being. And make sure to send him back with ice cream!”
“Sounds like I’ve got my marching orders. Where do you need me to come get you?” Chance asked. I gave him the address, and he pulled up just a few minutes later.
“Hey, man, thanks for this. I appreciate it,” I said as I climbed into the passenger seat.
“No problem,” Chance said. “Mandy wasn’t kidding about me being a pest. Don’t think she was kidding about coming after me with a wrench either.”
“Still driving her crazy with the hovering, huh?” I asked.
Chance grinned, wide and easy. “Well, that and she just looks so damn hot pregnant. Kinda hard to keep my hands to myself. But I might have been a little too distracting while she was replacing a transmission, so I’m kinda in the doghouse now. But don’t worry, I know exactly what ice cream to buy to get back out of it.” Their first baby was due in December, and Chance was over-the-moon excited about it.
“That works out. I need you to take me to my car. It’s downtown, by All That Sparkles—which will put you right by Sweet Peach Creamery.”
Chance gave me a sharp look before putting the car into gear. “All That Sparkles, huh? Isn’t that your ex’s shop?”
“Yeah. I got called out there earlier today for work. They needed a sniper.”
