Page 103 of Trusting a Warrior

His wife wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a repentant hug. “I misunderstood. I’m sorry.”

“You should be,” he groused, even as he hugged her back. “They’re my friends, babe.”

Geo left them nuzzling, and wandered closer to the group just as Rhys crouched behind both Lani’s and Devon’s chairs and whispered something that made them both look at Matt.

“You can sing?” he heard Lani say. “Really?”

“Like an angel,” Devon assured her as Matt rolled his eyes.

“Arts and theater, not much else to do at a North Dakota high school,” he said jokingly. “I wanted to stay warm.”

“Except he’s really, really good,” Devon said. “I’m the one who looked like a chump singing karaoke with him.”

“Lani can sing.” Rhys squeezed her shoulder, laughing when she turned to swat at him. “Get her drunk enough and she’ll serenade you.”

Hoots from around the group as she raised her voice to be heard over them. “Whoa, whoa! It’ll be a long time before I’m ever that drunk again.” She pointed to her baby bump. “So don’t hold your breath, people. I don’t sing sober.”

“And I only sing when I’m trying to convince certain clowns I don’t care about the date he’s flaunting in my face,” Matt chimed in, yanking away from Shane in mock disgust. “I never asked, who was that guy anyway?”

“Nobody, my love,” Shane said as he wrapped his arms around Matt’s waist and pulled him back against him. “Absolutely nobody.”

Wistfulness and a feeling of disconnect drove Geo off the deck and out into the shadows of the backyard. After all, he didn’t really belong here. His time in this platoon was only temporary, and it’d be over soon enough.

Then what?

Then he’d focus on his career. He’d make Chief, and move into leadership, where he’d be able to mentor young SEALs. Yeah, it’d certainly be rewarding, to help usher the next generation of young men—and maybe soon young women—into the ranks.

But what about when it was over? When he hit his twenty, twenty-five, maybe thirty-year mark? Eventually he’d have to retire, and what would he have to show for it? A rank on his sleeve, maybe a few medals, a trail of broken relationships scattered in his wake?

He gazed up at the now-neatly trimmed tree in the moonlight, a sudden wave of loneliness, of sadness, crashing over him and nearly driving him to his knees.

What if I’m alone?

As he bent double, struggling for air, footsteps rushed through the grass and then an arm wrapped around his waist, anchoring him. “I’m here. I’m here, Geo.”

At Lani’s whispered words, the last of the walls he’d built around his heart started to crumble into dust.

“God, I just miss him so much,” he gasped. “I’m so fucking angry at him, and I love him, and I hate him.”

“I know,” she crooned, holding him tight. “I know.”

“You had it all, Cade. A family,” he whispered brokenly. “You belonged. You were loved.”

And suddenly, for the first time, Geo caught a glimpse of how deep, how pervasive, how black the hole of Cade’s pain must have been. It’d overshadowed everything, and stolen his hope for tomorrow. It’d rendered him unreachable, having grown too big, too vast, for him to climb out of.

Or for anyone to simply stick their hand down and rescue him from it.

The first sob that broke from his chest came out muffled, like a hiccup. The second was a ragged, gasping explosion that had Lani pulling him closer.

Clutching onto her, he sank down into the grass. She never let go, and under the shadow of Cade’s tree, safe in Lani’s arms, Geo wept.

Chapter Twenty-Two

“Will you go somewhere with me?”

Geo’s voice was quiet, hoarse.

Brushing her lips over his forehead, Lani whispered, “Anywhere.”