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Reece opened the door. “Let me take that for you.” His son-in-law took the heavy cardboard box.
Graham inhaled the aroma of freshly baked yeast rolls. A pleasant rush of emotion gripped him, walking into the small kitchen filled with the people he loved most.
“What’s this?” Megan asked when Reece set the large cardboard box on the kitchen table.
“Six place settings of our wedding china. I thought we’d use it for our family dinner tonight. Mom would want you to have it.” He swallowed the lump in his throat.
“Thanks, Dad.” Emotion choked Megan’s voice.
“There are copies of her favorite recipes for you and Alex.”
Megan put away the plates on the counter and began unwrapping the china. Reece set a platter laden with pork tenderloin and vegetables on the table, along with a basket of yeast rolls. It was like old times, except for the vacant seat.
Graham finished a second helping. “That was every bit as good as your mom’s.”
“Not quite. She had the magic touch. You and Jace both look like you’ve lost weight,” Megan added.
“Maybe.” These days, Graham usually picked up a sandwich or salad. Rather than an evening walk with Bethann, he’d added a run to his routine to fill the quiet evenings.
“You weren’t kidding about eating chicken at least three times a week while deployed. Better than an MRE, but not by much.” Jace slathered honey butter on another yeast roll.
“With Jace home, I was thinking we could resume regular family dinners,” Megan said.
“I’d be happy to take turns hosting,” Alex offered.
Less than two years apart in age, Megan and Jace had always been close, supporting each other and Bethann through their many moves and Graham’s five deployments. He’d missed so much time with them early in his career that when they moved here, Bethann had instituted family dinner nights. They’d stopped after her death.
“I’m in. It would make your mother happy if we continued the tradition. I’ll even take a turn hosting. Grill some steaks or ribs. Not chicken—for a while.” Graham grinned at Jace.
“Back to doing them every other week, or is that too much?” Megan cleared dishes from the table.
“I’m certainly free.” Which may be why Megan suggested it. She’d invited him to dinner several times while Jace was deployed, but he didn’t want to infringe on her and Reece. But now . . . “Actually, there’s something I need to tell you. There’s a strong possibility that I will be transferred after my initial assignment here ends.”
“I thought General McKittrick planned to keep you in command.” The I-don’t-like-the-sound-of-this in Megan’s tone was just like her mother.
“Well, some things have changed with your mother’s death.”
“You don’t want to be here without her?” Megan asked softly.
“I want to be heremorethan ever. To be near you all. But I may not have a choice. I don’t know how much you know about Colonel Thomsen, who had command before me.”
Reece snorted as he carried dishes to the sink. “Everybody in 3rdGroup knows.”
“What?” Alex asked wide-eyed.
“At our military ball two years ago,” Reece launched into storyteller mode, “a guy on one of the teams just back from deployment noticed his wife had gone MIA and went looking for her. He found her and Thomsen in an empty conference room. They’d been screwing around while Mateo was deployed and decided to have a quickie at the ball. Only they weren’t quick enough. Understandably, Mateo went a little nuts and pulled Thomsen off of his wife, decked him, then hauled him into the ballroom before he could get his pants up.”
“You’re kidding.” Alex’s mouth hung open.
“Trust me, I’m not.” Reece met Graham’s probably equally astonished gaze. “Mateo’s wife rushed in, trying to pull him away from Thomsen. Next thing you know, Kiser’s wife screamed ‘You cheating son of a bitch’—at Thomsen—and gets a kick in.”
“Kiser’s wife was the one who also fooled around with Colonel Boatman, Thomsen’s predecessor,” Megan rolled her eyes and shook her head.
“They managed to keep the Boatman thing fairly quiet, but that was not happening with a few hundred witnesses,” Reece went on. “Thomsen and his wife were off the base by noon on Monday. No way to keep him in command after losing the respect of every man in 3rdGroup. Kiser was also out, and he filed for divorce this time. That was a military ball no one will forget or top.”
Graham knew the gist of it, but . . . wow. No wonder McKittrick hadn’t shared all the details.
“It certainly ruined the night.” Megan loaded the last of the dishes into the washer.
