Page 14 of Chasing Honor

“Not well. We had a few deployments together. He talked about you and your mom all the time, and there were pictures of the two of you above his cot. He was a good man, I was sorry to hear about his passing. Did you know he was stationed here?”

“Thank you,” I whispered. “I did. I don’t remember it well, but my mom loved the area.”

I was grateful Ethan hadn’t removed his hands, they were the only thing anchoring me in place.

“Your name is fitting. Honor. He served with great honor and sacrifice.”

Ethan must’ve felt my body start to shake because he finally spoke up.

“We’ll be back to pick up Carson in a bit. It shouldn’t take long to move Honor’s stuff.”

“Take your time,” Lenox said, our eyes still locked, and I prayed he wasn’t as observant as he looked. I didn’t want him to see the hurt and sadness I tried to hide. “It was nice meeting you, Honor. I hope Ethan will bring you back when you can stay and visit.”

Lenox finally looked over my head to Ethan and smiled at his son. Damn. I missed my mom smiling at me like that. With a nod he turned and walked back into the house.

Ethan helped me back into the truck and, without needing directions, headed to the motel.

“I’m sorry if my dad upset you.”

“He didn’t. I was just shocked.”

“What happened to your dad?”

I took a few cleansing breaths before I could speak. It had been a long time since I’d been allowed to talk about my father. His very name had been off-limits in Frank’s house. He’d made sure all memories of my mother’s first husband had been wiped clean.

“He died on deployment in Kosovo. RPG took out the convoy. I was ten.”

“Fuck, Honor, I’m so sorry.”

“It was a long time ago.”

“Doesn’t matter how long ago it was.” We’d been silent for a while when he asked his next question. “Where’s your mom?”

That question was a direct hit to my heart. Talking about a father I barely knew was one thing, but my mom was different.

“She’s gone.”

He pulled into the parking lot of the motel, and I muttered my room number. He found a spot and rolled to a stop. Cutting the engine, he turned in his seat, his gaze assessing and full of something I hoped wasn’t pity.

“She died four years ago in a car accident,” I told him.

It almost felt good to say it out loud. Frank hadn’t talked about my mom after her death. He said it was because it was too painful, he’d lost the true love of his life. He didn’t mean those words, they were just for show; the grieving widower act made for great headlines. He had whores sneaking in the staff entrance before my mother’s body was cold.

“Jesus, Honor. I can’t imagine.”

There was nothing to say to that, so I didn’t speak. I got out of the truck and made my way to the room, trying to remember if I’d cleaned up before I’d left this afternoon. I didn’t want my new landlord to think I was a slob and change his mind. I opened the door and looked around the small space. My belongings were neatly stacked against the wall.

“Is that it?” Ethan questioned, scanning the area for more.

“That’s it. I have to grab a few things from the shower.” I told him and went to gather my toiletries, leaving him alone by the door.

When I came back out Ethan was gone as well as some of the boxes. I was sorry I’d missed him picking up the heavy load. I’d wanted to watch his biceps flex like they had when he’d picked up Carson to help her into the truck. It was probably a little inappropriate for me to have drooled over the sexy way his muscles bulged, but I couldn’t help it. He was a far cry from Sam and his soft, country club friends he’d brought around the house. It was laughable how they used to parade shirtless around the pool, their skinny bodies doing nothing for me, even as a teenager. Sam used to watch my reaction when his friends were over, and if I looked a little too long at one of them, he accused me of being a slut and wanting to fuck his friends. It was done under the pretense of him being a caring big brother. But as I got older, I saw it for what it was—him being an obsessive, disgusting asshole.

“One more trip and we’ll be done if you can grab your suit cases,” Ethan said appearing in the doorway.

“You can’t carry those three boxes in one trip. I’ll help you.”

The sexy smirk that crossed his face was panty-melting or panty-dropping or let-me-take-my-panties-off-myself-and-throw-them-at-you hot. Shit on a shingle he was dangerous.