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“He’s not kidding. We waited three years for Hunter to finally call it quits,” York said.
“Hey, are they still offering him the position on the base? That would be a nice retirement plan. It’s a doable commute, and he won’t have to go elsewhere for work. He can also live in that big ass house you guys built,” C.J. said.
“We’ll see,” Bender said, and C.J. could tell that their brother’s absence was weighing a toll on Bender and Kenneth, too.
“To Sam,” Hunter said and raised his beer bottle.
“To Sam,” they all said and then chugged their beers.
C.J. looked around the place, his gut clenching and his investigative instincts kicking in full force. What if Caroline and even Shelby were hiding something and it was dangerous or they could get hurt? From what little Bender gathered it was enough to give C.J. crazy thoughts. He would make certain to talk to his mom tomorrow. Just as he would make certain to stop in to see Caroline at the clothing store on Monday.
* * * *
Caroline was standing by the book display table next to Marlena Courts. The library set up a booth and tent for the display outside of the library on the grass. One of her three boyfriends, Deputy Mike Spencer, was talking to them. It was odd, but she was curious about these ménage relationships and how they could work. Seriously, one woman being shared by two or more men? How could that be a good thing? Wouldn’t they hurt her, even unintentionally? She shivered from the thought of even being touched by a man, never mind more than one at once. She overanalyzed everything. Like even about Hunter. He was huge in all aspects of the word and he was a soldier. His mom said a Navy Seal. Now she didn’t know much about those types of things but from movies she had seen over the years, men like that were way beyond resourceful. They were killing machines geared toward violence, maybe even acquiescent to it. Not that it was their fault. Especially if they saw action in the military. Did Hunter see action? Was he in Iraq or some other military operation in the Middle East?
She swallowed hard. He scared her, but when she thought about him, she thought about his brothers, York and C.J. They were just as charismatic, hard, and authoritative. She understood how these ménage relationships got started. That a group of men, brothers or best friends, chose a woman and made some sort of commitment to her. Other than that she knew nothing more. She didn’t want to know more because it made her feel anxious and on edge. Like maybe coming here to hide out wasn’t a smart idea at all.
“So what do you think about our town, Caroline?” Mike asked her as he rested one hand on his holster and smiled. He was very nice, and she could see the love he had for Marlena. It was obvious.
“It’s a beautiful town. It’s clean and well maintained, and the people are very friendly,” she replied as a little girl came up to the table and stared at her with wide eyes.
“Hi, sweetie, are you looking for a book?” she asked the little girl.
“I…uhm…are you a princess?” she asked Caroline, and Mike and Marlena chuckled as the girl’s mother approached and placed her hands on her shoulders.
“I’m sorry, she has a bit of an imagination,” her mother said as she stroked her daughter’s hair.
Caroline walked around the table and squatted down to talk to the little girl.
“Do you like stories about princesses?” she asked the little girl.
“Yes. Ones with beautiful long hair like yours.” Carline smiled and then looked at the little girl’s long blonde hair and big blue eyes.
“Well, you have beautiful long blonde hair just like a princess would, too, and great big blue eyes as well.”
The little girl stepped closer. “And yours are kind of green but a different kind. They’re special.”
“Well thank you. So are you looking for a book about princesses?”
“Maybe. I have a bunch already.”
Caroline looked up at her mom who smiled and nodded.
Caroline reached up and took a book from the table.
“This is a very special story. Have you heard of it before?” She showed her the cover.
“The Secret Princess? I don’t think so. What’s it about?” the little girl asked.
“Mora, the nice young woman has work to do, maybe we can read the back of it and decide,” her mom suggested.
Caroline smiled. “It’s okay, I have help and I love books, so if Mora is interested in this one I would be happy to tell her just a little bit about it.”
“Really?” Mora asked.
“Sure. You see, this is a very special story. It’s about a young woman who has had a really hard life.”
“Like Cinderella?” Mora asked. Her mom chuckled and so did Marlena and Mike.
