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The old wooden door to the Rathskeller opens with a loud crack as the wind catches it and our team leader, Ford, walks through with his arm around his wife, Jessie. Master Chief Ford Walker has been a member of Charlie Team for the better part of the last fifteen years, and the team leader for the last seven. According to him, this bar has always been home to our team. Even if tonight there seems to be an abundance of college kids filling the tables.
Ford looks around to see who’s here as he guides Jessie to a barstool next to Axel and nods at the bartender. “Hey, Brenda. You leave that husband of yours yet?”
“Oh, Brenda, we could be sister wives.” Jessie claps her hands together animatedly.
Brenda snaps her bar towel at Ford and smiles. She’s maybe five feet tall and at least sixty-five, but she’s a tough broad who I wouldn’t want to cross. Ford loves to make her blush, and then she turns into a high-school, shy girl. “Oh hush, you.” She slides two bottles of beer in front of them. “I’m just glad my boys are all home safe.”
She claimed Charlie Team as hers long before I joined the teams. Her son was a SEAL who died in Iraq after 9/11. His framed picture hangs on the wall of the bar, along with a few other fallen brothers. She looks over each of us with watery eyes, then turns quickly and heads to the other end of the bar to help some douche in a pink polo with a popped collar.
Never a good look.
Ford eyes me, Axel, Linc, and Rook. “Where’s Trick?”
“He’s putting Wanda to bed, then meeting us here.” Wanda’s a Belgian Malinois fur missile, who also happens to be the best damn military working dog there is.
“One of these days, he’s going to get in trouble for keeping that dog at the house instead of on base with the other military dogs.” Jessie may be Ford’s wife, but she tends to try to mother the rest of us.
“Come on now, Jessie. Don’t try to act like a hard ass. You love Wanda.” Ford pulls Jessie against him and whispers something in her ear, eliciting a giggle.
“I just want him to be careful. I know his dad pulled a few strings, but former SEAL or not, it makes me nervous. And before you say it, I know he’s also the top MWD trainer in the country and Wanda was one of his pups. But I grew up military, and they don’t bend rules. I just don’t want to see any of you get in trouble.” She sips her beer, ignoring the chatter happening around us.
Axe downs his shot of whiskey, then wraps his arm around Linc’s shoulder. “You gonna be my wingman tonight, kid?”
Jessie laughs into her beer. “You need a whole wing team, Axel.”
“You’re just pissed you settled for the old man next to you before you met me, Jess.” Axe grins like he thinks he’s being smooth, then elbows Linc.
Linc cups the brim of his University of Georgia baseball cap and looks away, distracted. When the teams were drafting from my BUD/S class, Charlie Team picked Linc and me. That was two years ago. But we’ll both be the two new kids on the team until somebody else comes along, and the guys take every chance to remind us.
“Come on, man.” Axe leans down and adds, “I’ll even teach you how to pick up a woman.”
Linc shoves Axel away. “Nah, brother. You’re on your own.” He tracks a beautiful brunette who’s walking toward the bar, then stands to make room for her. “Ma’am.” He lays his Georgia accent on thicker around the ladies.
“Hiya, handsome.” She leans against the bar between Linc and Axel. “Geez, is there aMagic Mikeconvention in town?”
“No, ma’am.” He offers her his hand. “I’m Linc.”
Her dark blue eyes are nearly purple as they drag over the length of him before settling on his face. The rest of us watch in amusement as she answers, “Emerson.”
“Can I buy you a drink, Emerson?” He steps in closer to her and waves down Brenda. “Brenda, can we get...”
“A hard cider, please,” Emerson answers as an appreciative smile spreads across her red painted lips.
Axel adds, “And another round of shots too, Brenda.”
The static of a microphone hums through the sound system. “How ya feeling, San Diego? I’m Jack, and we’re Six Day War. We’ve got a few guest performers with us tonight, so how about you show ’em how we do it at the Rathskeller? Let me hear you!” None of us are paying close attention to the dude on the mic. We’re too busy watching Linc, the eternally shy member of the team, kicking some pretty impressive game with the even prettier girl.
But then the song starts, and the voice that’s singing...
That voice.
I turn around to take in the stage and stop dead in my tracks.
Because on stage is my Carys Murphy.
My best friend’s little sister.
My new stepsister. Well, not completely new. But thanks to my dad marrying her mom a few years ago, she and her brother, Aiden Murphy, are now family. Never did feel like it though.
