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“It’s a beautiful tattoo, but my ink story beats your aunt’s.” He shoved his sleeve up to his shoulder, motioning for the girls to look at the black-and-gray rendition of the eagle, globe, and anchor tattoo. “You know what this is? It’s the insignia of the Marine Corps.”
“What’s ‘signia’ mean?” Cecily asked, approaching him first to peer at the ink on his arm.
“Insignia means our emblem. It’s what represents us as Marines. I’m proud of this tattoo.” He caught Bryce’s gaze before speaking to the girls again. “But I’m not proud of what’s underneath. I bet on a football game with some Marine buddies of mine. None of us had any money to bet, so the loser had to get a tattoo of the winner’s choice. I lost. And got stuck with a tattoo of a…unicorn. Jumping over a rainbow.”
Addison immediately jetted to his side, her bent yellow wings flapping. She squinted at the black-and-gray outline, her little hands grabbing his biceps. “Where? I don’t see it.”
“It’s under the feathers of the eagle. See? The unicorn’s horn is here.” He pointed to the beak of the eagle where the artist had blended it into the existing tattoo. Then he traced the curve of the globe. “Here’s where the rainbow was, and the clouds on either side of the rainbow are hidden under the dark parts of the anchor.”
Addison shrieked as she spotted it.
“There it is! I love unicorns!”
“I still can’t see it,” Cecily grumbled.
Out of the corner of his eye, Ryker saw June and Bryce approaching from different directions. Encouraged that he’d done a Zander-like maneuver to deflect tension by using himself as some sort of human stress ball, he pulled a black Sharpie from his coverall’s pocket and handed it to Addison.
“Trace it out for them.” He waved off Bryce’s small noise of protest, winking at Addison but directing his words to Cecily. “I get as grubby as I want during the day because I’ve got a special soap. This’ll wash right off with my dirt-magnet.”
Addison did a pretty accurate tracing of his first tat, only adding a few embellishments to the original—like a pair of oddly shaped stars above the unicorn’s head. Then she drew a big, sloppy smile on the unicorn’s face.
“There. Now Lady-Glitter-Sparkle the unicorn is perfect!” She capped the Sharpie and handed it to him with a twirl of her purple tutu. Then she gazed at the VW, her bright blue eyes lighting up. “Hey, is that a fort? I see pillows back there.”
Before he could do anything, the little girl had flitted behind the yellow front end, her wings getting caught up as she wedged herself into the small space behind where it was bolted to the wall. Soon her little moon face appeared behind the curved windshield, her tiny hands reaching for the rearview mirror his Marine brothers had brought from Sangin, Afghanistan.
Panic welled up and he jolted up from the bistro chair. His hand went to the notch in his left ear.
“It’s not safe.” He’d meant for the words to come out easily, but they had the hard-edged, clipped bark that reminded him of the loudest Marine he knew. His father. Clearing his throat, he fought down the rising anxiety, forcing a more kid-friendly tone. “It’s only loosely bolted to the wall. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Bryce sprang into action, fast-clapping her hands as if trying to startle a flock of birds instead of a five-year-old girl.
“C’mon out of there, Addie, and go play with the boxes. June, go pick up Mr. Matthews’s box cutter before someone gets hurt.”
June’s eyes widened. “Wait. Did you say Matthews? Is…is this guy related to Drake Matthews?” At Ryker’s nod, the girl’s angry annoyance melted into an expression of wonder. “Are you freaking kidding me? The Knight of Nightmares is your brother?”
Ryker gave a nod. “One and the same.”
“Wow,” June breathed. “I lovedDark Dollsand just finishedHalloween Hackerand can’t wait for the movie—although books are always better. Did you know he was going to be a famous writer when you were growing up?”
“I don’t think any of us expected that. When we lost our dad, Drake stepped up for me and my brother. That’s when his writing played a big role in his life—he used his pen and paper to escape reality when things got…hard.” Then, although he never offered up his brother to anyone, he figured after reminding the girls of their dead father he could toss out this bone. “If you ever want to meet him, I’m sure we can make that happen.”
June’s face flushed. “Th-that would be great.” Grabbing Cecily’s hand, she called to Addison, who was still flitting around the VW hood. “Let’s finish the pirate ship and save Peter Pan. That dumb boy can’t seem to stay out of trouble.”
The little girls flew to the cardboard boxes, and June went back to playing sentry by the garage door, where she alternated between reluctantly helping her sisters and gazing off into the distance with a look that reminded Ryker of his oldest brother.
“Thank you. That was kind,” Bryce said.
Ryker shoved down his shirtsleeve. Covering his leftover chicken meal with the foil, he shot Bryce a glance. Her face was thoughtful. And sad.
Damn.
He cleared his throat. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to…dredge it up for all of you. For the record, I like your ink. It’s a hell of a tribute to your brother.”
She blinked the moisture from her stormy-blue eyes. “Thanks. At the time, I thought the placement was perfect, but June has a point. Low back stamps have a bad rep. I should’ve—”
Ryker stood, shaking his head. “Nope. Don’t do that. Thoughts starting with ‘should have’ are a waste of time. Or so says my PTSD therapist.”
Double damn. He hadn’t meant to tell her he was in counseling. She barely knew him, and now that info was splattered like a fast-flying bug on a windshield.
