AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Meeting her was a blip on the radar. A reminder that there is a heart beating in my chest and not a chilled-over muscle that merely does its job to keep me alive.
And yet, I cannot stop thinking about her, our conversation in the darkness as yet another new day dawns, and what it could mean to have forever with someone.
“But I have to focus on family issues and you, Boo.”
We cruise past the faded sign welcoming visitors to Coco Key. It’s a long-forgotten spit of land that used to be a thriving resort town. I chuckle to myself. Chip Almeida was the resort. A larger-than-life figure that was as gregarious as he was mysterious.
He could captivate a room with a story of treasure and pirates and adventures to faraway lands one minute and then seem just as far away the next.
Something tragic that he didn’t talk about happened with my grandmother. One day, she was on the beach and disappeared. Never heard from again.
After that, he made it his mission to find a family heirloom. Then, when we lost our parents, he became more reclusive, yet determined. At times, it was like he was Indiana Jones and the four of us McGregor brothers were his apprentices. At others, he’d be lost somewhere in the resort, adding another piece of driftwood to a structure, fastening a sail to an island-bound ship, or affixing a slab of stained glass to a door that led nowhere.
And that’s just what it seemed like—as if half the time he was full of hope that he’d recover his wife, daughter, son-in-law, and the treasure, and the other half he’d accepted that the hunt was going nowhere.
Then we got the will.
As I cruise down Main Street in the truck, I focus on my surroundings. Growing up on this island when it was booming fooled me into thinking that it would never change.
Now, it’s weathered wood, overgrown sea grapes, and abandoned businesses.
“Welcome to Coco Key, Boo. Let’s see. There must be a veterinarian for you somewhere.”
He whines.
“Not a fan of the vet?”
He lowers onto the seat, his body filling it completely with his chin hanging over the edge.
“Hopefully, you’re a fan of this vet. You’re stuck with me now, buddy. But don’t worry. We’ll visit Nora and Alex as often as possible. Maybe pay a visit to some of my brothers who were injured in the line of duty.” I’m one even though my wounds aren’t visible—I sustained a traumatic brain injury and am one of the few warriors who fully recovered except for the occasional headache—it’s very specific, unlike a regular one.
I think about Palmer who lost his left arm at the elbow. Jones, his right leg. Prado left behind both and the countless guys whose wounds are invisible. The ones who can’t sleep. Can’t focus. Have flashbacks and guilt and confusion about what it was all for—like Sean.
Those are my men.
I’m them. They’re me.
An idea sparks.
First, what am I going to do with the cottages? Do I give any weight to the will Chip left? The day, not long ago, when I got the invitation from Chip returns to me.
I’ve known two kinds of guys who give their lives to brotherhood, to the military, for four years or more. Those who cannot wait to get out and have a plan once they receive their discharge papers. Then there are those, like me, who never imagined leaving. I was in it for life. Knew at some point it would put me in the grave, but I never expected to walk away.
To retire.
To have to make a tough choice.
To have to think about my future outside the service.
Who am I without the uniform? The mission? That was the focus and everything else was filler. But now what will I do with my days?
I got the letter from Chip while I was trying to figure that out. Still am. Less than a week as a civilian, and the first step was deciding where to live. Staying at Nora’s for longer than a week wasn’t an option.
The two of us were never in the same room alone—Sean was always there with us. It’s not that I didn’t want to remember my best friend, but the heaviness of it, even all these years later, hasn’t dissipated, at least not when around her.
I scratch Boo’s ears. “How’s it going to be with you, buddy? You’re a walking, barking, heavy-breathing reminder of Sean. Okay, the last two aren’t entirely true. But he did bark orders, and I always worried the guy’s snoring would wake the enemy two districts over.
I drive by Mr. Edmonston’s hacienda-style mansion, recalling the suspicious invitation from Chip, my grandfather. Royal and Ryan, the twins, thought it was a birthday party. I had my doubts but didn’t expect a confounding challenge in place of the family fortune—not that I was entitled to a penny of that either.
