AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I ended up buying a work truck off one of Steve’s friends. He called it his “tootler.” It was in great condition, low mileage, but he’d purchased it almost a decade earlier when he got out of the Army and decided to be a general contractor–but then ended up working at the same hospital Steve was now a part of. So the truck sat in his garage season after season, only occasionally coming out to haul yard waste to the dump or to make a trip to a big box store, and because he knew it would be used and loved, he gave me a pretty sweet deal and I handed over cash.
I promptly named the truck “Huey,” after the old faithful helicopter, known for a decent load capacity, and Huey and I made the trip several times a week to the Sacred Heart facility–an orphanage, for want of a nicer term.
After introductions to the rest of the team, some who’d flown clear across the States for the meeting, Scott presented an update on the situation at the border. I noticed him watching Michael closely, and he indicated several key players in the trafficking ring had been identified and summarily dealt with in the past month. It didn’t eliminate the need for eyes on the situation, and it looked like our involvement was indefinite, at least until the FBI decided to end our contract.
“Mutt, Blitz and Boomer have another six weeks to go on the ground. At that point we’ll swap them out for you three.” He gestured toward the back of the room where three men with heads shaped like anvils sat with their arms crossed over their chests.
Something told me that with one look at the mountain ranges those men had for shoulders, the opposition would wave the white flag of surrender. Those guys were fucking terrifying. Then again, they were from Texas, where it seemed people generally didn’t fuck around, so that explained a lot. I suspected all three of them lived along the border to begin with and had strong opinions about the situation that hadn’t been influenced by their employment.
Mia waved at Scott from the kitchen and I watched every eye in the room light up at the promise of food.
“Break for lunch,” Scott announced in his gravelly voice and the guys rushed for the door like it was every man for himself.
“VanBuren.” He stood looking at me and there was something in his expression that made me nervous. “Something you need to tell me about why you’ve requested not to do a second border rotation?”
I swallowed hard, because I was about to put into words the very thing that could kill my new career.
“I processed an infant at the border…placed her with Sacred Heart.”
His left eyebrow pulled up just a little, likeGet on with it.
“Her parents were hardly more than babies themselves–they died in that camp.”
What looked like understanding started to dawn in his eyes. “You fell in love.” His smile was slow.
“I think I did.” I sighed, looking down at my feet, because this was a big, difficult kind of love. Maybe the most painful kind, because it could never be equal.
“You know you’re going to have a problem,” he said and a loud whoop from the kitchen momentarily distracted me. “Catholic charity? You might have a few differences of opinion if you’ve…drifted over the years.”
I scoffed. “We’ve had one of those already. They want to name her after a saint or a famous nun or something. She should be allowed to keep theonlything that was hers.”
Scott’s eyes were kind. “They’ll do a home study. Ask for character references. Mia’s the best character reference you could hope for; use her for a personal and me for a business reference. Atholton would be a good one, too.”
I swallowed hard. He knew my train of thought before I could speak it.
“Hardest job you’ll ever have,” he said gently. “Anyone interested in helping you out?”
“I know my brother and sister-in-law will do what they can, and she’d have an older cousin–maybe two cousins if Steve and Kennedy have another soon.” I paused. “Oh. That’s not what you meant.”
Yeah, I didn’t know about that part. I was in this alone.
Hey Adam, wanna be my pretend husband so I can adopt an infant from a foreign country?
That seemed likely to go over well.
“If anyone can do this alone, it’s you. But it’s awfully nice to have an extra set of hands for the mess and an extra set of arms for hugs–for the kids and for you, because you’re gonna need them too.” He looked out at Mia as he said it and her eyes tracked to his like she’d felt him reaching for her, and I tried not to gag.
He noticed and the corner of his mouth lifted. “Ask me how I know.”
Atholton and McEvoy ate lunch with everyone else in the kitchen and I squeezed right in between the two of them with a “Lemme just scooch right in here, boys…” It made both of them grin at me and they wiggled over to let me slide in between them. We’d become close during our months at the border, to the point we’d developed our own shorthand version of communication filled with acronyms, hand signals and eyebrow raises.
“How you holding up, big guy?” I asked softly as I leaned left and into the mountain of muscle named Michael McEvoy. Big Mike sure lived up to his not-so-creative nickname, probably 6’5”, all blond-haired, blue-eyed Nebraskan farm boy with muscles that were positively unnatural.
“Been better,” he answered under his breath, and under the table I squeezed his knee. The man still wore his wedding band, clinging to the thinnest sort of hope. He’d spoken of his beautiful wife in reverential tones during our time in the camp and I’d spent hours sitting with him, listening to the stories that brought him joy. “She’s extended her time in the city and renewed her sublet.”
I felt Aaron heave a deep sigh on my right. “Can’t let her sit and stew all by herself,” he said around a mouthful of what was probably his ninth cookie. I had no idea where he was putting all the food I’d watched him shovel into his mouth. “You’re going to have to remind her of the good things; remind her of what she’s missing.”
“She’s not missing anything,” Michael said bitterly and I knew that couldn’t be true. There was no way the love he had for his wife, something so strong it was positively visceral, was one-sided.
