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My parents look at one another and smile.
“He left for your happiness. Not his,” my dad says. “He doesn’t feel deserving of you. The man I met was already struggling with that. I’m assuming he’s shared things with you that he hasn’t with us that might make sense to you?” I open my mouth to respond, and my dad puts up his hand. “I don’t want to know unless he tells me himself, but something happened to make him feel that way. This whole thing coming to light couldn’t have helped.” Another pat on my knee. “But you’re not going to get there with all of us here. So.” He eyes my cousins, and they scramble toward the door. “We’re leaving. Don’t rush to a decision, Brinley. Take your time. Don’t worry, I’ll help track him down if you decide he’s what you want.”
I stand and hug my parents, feeling safe and loved in their arms.
“Liam, you always say the right things,” my mom coos.
My dad has his arm around my mom’s shoulders, escorting her out of my apartment. Then his footsteps stop, and he stares at the whiteboard.
“‘Must wear panties under pajamas. Shirts worn all the time. No masturbating while the other one is home or could come home.’” He shakes his head. “There are some things fathers aren’t meant to see.”
“I always knew she was kinky,” Easton says, and Calista smacks the back of his head.
After I say goodbye to my family and shut the door, the click of the lock echoes in the small apartment. I toss the chocolate cake in the trash and go into my room, picking up my clothes, unsure what to do with myself.
Out of curiosity, I open Van’s bedroom door. Sure enough, it’s been stripped of the small number of personal items. I step inside, smelling the mix of his cologne and his natural scent that lingers in the room. I crawl into his bed, smell his pillows, and close my eyes, looking for any type of guidance from the universe.
Twenty-Nine
Van
It’s been one week since I left Lake Starlight, and every night is still torture. So I’m not surprised when I walk into the commander’s office and his first words are, “You look like shit. What about the word vacation did you not understand?”
I salute him and he tells me to be at ease, putting his hand out for me to sit.
I hold up my finger and circle it around my face. “This is because of your great advice to get a life.”
“You sounded happy the last time I heard from you.” He leans back in his chair and puts his feet up on the corner of his desk, displaying his perfectly polished black shoes.
“If I told you what happened, you’d never believe me. Doesn’t matter though. I’m here for my reenlistment papers.”
I messaged him two days ago to tell him I was back and looking for him to sign my papers.
“The agreement was eight weeks.”
“And that changed.”
“What happened?”
I shake my head. “I don’t want to talk about it.” I lean forward and hand him my papers.
He tosses the packet of papers on his desk. “I’m not signing any papers until you do. It’s me or a therapist.”
I didn’t mind my therapist. He did a helluva good job. Although I still have that feeling of hesitation when I know a call isn’t going to be routine. He assured me that’s the way it is after something like what I went through.
“The woman. Turns out she’s one of the widows.”
He stares blankly at me. It’s a reminder of how much that night lives within me and probably not anyone else. I’m sure my commander has his own nightmares.
“Four years ago.”
His head rocks back. “Ah.”
“That’s all you have to say?”
“It’s crazy but not unthinkable. There’s not a huge population up here. It’s like a story you hear on the Today Show or something when siblings find out they’ve been living in the same town their whole lives and didn’t know it. Or did you ever hear about how a scuba diver found a man’s wedding ring after his plane crashed and fell in love with the widow when he went to return it to her?”
“Are you reading romance novels?”
