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Tenaya stared down at the remains of the hearty stew in her bowl, stomach pleasantly full. Around her, the dining table rang with laughter and lively conversation as Graham’s friends passed dishes and traded joking barbs.
She speared a final chunk of potato, keenly aware that she was the outsider amidst their easy camaraderie. These people were so different from her world—the upscale restaurants and sleek high-rises of LA, the polished attorneys who measured every look. Every word. Designing every bit of dialog to create the perfect impression. Here on this rustic ranch, she was the fish out of water.
Through the window behind the team leader, Bridger, the cold Sierra peaks gleamed, making her shiver. Even though the ranch was thousands of feet below ridgetops, the high desert air wasn’t as warm as she would have expected. Not the climate for yoga pants and a light sweater. Another sign she didn’t belong.
Fork clinking against her empty plate, she rose to help clear dishes. But the beautiful pilot, Kate, intercepted her in the kitchen doorway. “We’ve got this. Why don’t you go get settled?” The other woman smiled, but her sharp eyes took in Tenaya’s unsuitable clothing.
Face hot, Tenaya slipped away. What she wouldn’t give for a set of thick socks and comfy sweats. Eventually she‘d have to venture back outside. How had she not realized she’d need a parka and boots? She’d been so frantic to escape LA, she hadn’t thought it all through. Her brain had not been firing on all cylinders as she blasted through that department store outside the city. It was all she could do to keep the car at the speed limit as she’d raced out of town. Images of Victor, eyes alight with triumph as he sped to catch her had haunted her for a thousand miles.
In the guest bedroom, she eyed the cheap suitcase she’d grabbed at that big box store off the highway. She could barely remember what she bought as she hurried down the aisles, throwing anything she thought she might use in the cart. Maybe she had something warmer buried in its depths.
Zipping it open revealed only jeans, tee shirts, sundresses and one marginally warm sweatshirt. Definitely no winter-ready attire. She pulled on the sweatshirt with a sigh. It would have to do.
Down the hall, the team’s raucous voices carried from the great room. She followed the sound, hovering in the wide archway. There, with his former team gathered around, Graham was in his element, joking, leaning forward intently to make some point.
He gestured expansively, mouth curving in a grin she’d never seen. “You kids have done all right for yourselves.”
Bridger raised his glass in a toast. “Thanks to you, Gunny. Not sure we would have made it through mountain warfare training without your motherly advice.” Bridger shook his head. “Three weeks in the winter wilderness with nothing but our rucksacks? I had my doubts.”
Graham chuckled. “So did I, truth be told.”
“We survived,” Tai protested lightly. “Thanks to my excellent fishing skills.”
Graham snorted. “Fishing skills? Are you serious? I’ll never know how you could hit a bull’s eye at five hundred yards and fail to catch one lousy trout.”
Tai shrugged. “I’m an ocean boy. What can I say?”
The table erupted in laughter.
Kate raised her glass to her teammate, Mason. “I think it’s more thanks to you that we made it out fat and happy.”
Tenaya’s father shot the grizzled soldier a fake glare. “You weren’t exactly playing by the rules, there, Ortiz.”
“I thought the point was to survive,” Mason protested. “Just ‘cause I was smart enough to call in a favor or two.”
Her father’s mouth dropped open. “You called in an air drop. For espresso!”
“Well I wasn’t gonna waste precious military resources on MREs.” Mason rolled his eyes.
More laughter followed, her father shaking his head in wry amusement. “And here I thought you boys learned wilderness survival that trip.”
“We did learn one thing,” Kate added, eyes dancing. “Never trust Tai for the protein source on a mission.”
Tai spread his hands helplessly amid the good-natured ribbing from his friends. “But more importantly,” he added, “always pick the O man for your team.”
The tough-looking Mason nodded sagely. “You know I’m watching your six, bro. And your stomach.”
The lonely ache in her chest grew as Tenaya listened to the easy back-and-forth banter. Their camaraderie was so foreign to her. Sure, she and her colleagues joked around, but they’d never had each others’ lives in their hands.
Graham pushed away his bowl. “Joking aside, you all proved your resourcefulness out there. I never should’ve doubted you’d make it through, no matter how green you were.”
Her father’s praise clearly meant a lot to the team.
A reluctant envy ate at her. She’d pegged her father for the quiet, reclusive type. Apparently not. Here, he was the life of the party. A treasured friend. Yet to his own daughter, he was nothing but a stranger. She and Graham couldn’t carry on a ten-minute conversation if the fate of the world hung in the balance.
She bit her lip, trying to make the stab of jealousy fade. She didn’t want to be close to a man who could walk away from his own child. And these people didn’t have that history with him. Maybe Graham was an amazing mentor. Just because he was a washout as a father didn’t mean the man didn’t have his good points.
Longing speared her. He might be her biological father, but these people were his true family. She was the outsider, unsure how to breach the gap.
