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From where he stood, it looked as if the entire county had showed up.
He took a quick step back, or tried to, but his sisters threw themselves at him.
“You’re here,” Em said happily.
“Really here,” Jaimie said.
“You’re home,” Lissa added, and what could he finally do but close his arms around them all?
Caleb pounded him on the back.
Travis squeezed his shoulder.
Despite everything, Jake began to grin.
“Is this a welcoming committee?” he said, “or a plot to do me in?”
They laughed with him, his sisters weeping, his brothers grinning from ear to ear.
For a few seconds, it was as if nothing had changed, as if they were all still kids and the world was a wonderland of endless possibilities….
Then Caleb cleared hi
s throat.
“The General sends his best.”
Jake checked the room. “He’s not here?”
“No,” Travis said uncomfortably. “He said to tell you he’s sorry but he got hung up at a NATO meeting in London.”
Reality returned in a cold, hard rush.
“Of course,” Jake said politely. “I understand.”
There was a moment of silence. Then Jaimie touched his arm.
“Everyone’s waiting to say hello,” she said softly.
Jake forced a smile. “So I see.”
Caleb leaned in closer. “Sorry about the crowd,” he murmured.
“Yeah,” Travis said. “Trust me, bro. We didn’t plan any of this.”
“It’s just that word got around,” Lissa said. “And people were so eager to welcome you home….”
“You don’t mind, Jake,” Em said, “do you?”
“No,” he said, “of course not.”
His brothers saw right through the polite response. They exchanged a look.
“You ladies can have him later,” Caleb said. “What he needs right now is a cold brew. Right, my man?”
What he needed was to get the hell out of here, especially because he knew what would happen once he stepped fully inside the room, where the lights were brighter and the crowd could get its first good look at him, but why add cowardice to his other sins?
“Unless,” Travis said quickly, “baby brother wants champagne. Or wine.”
