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EPILOGUE
ZAC
“You ready?”
Grayson pursed his lips. “Shouldn’t we wait for Auntie Jo?”
I shook my head, sticking my key in the lock. “Nah, she’s on the phone with Grandma.”
“That could take forever,” he lamented.
Grayson knew as well as I did that my sister and mom could talk until the sun came up. Jo was probably telling Mom all about how good my son had done on the flight over, how cute the town was, and whatever else she could think of. I was eager to get inside and check out our new digs. The sooner we got settled, the better.
“Exactly. Let’s check it out,” I replied with a grin, opening the door to let us into our new apartment.
It wasn’t huge, but it had three bedrooms and was in a great location. Everything we needed was within walking distance, which was great since our car was still being shipped across the country and wouldn’t be here for another week.
“Okay, bud, home sweet home.”
I dropped my sea bag and my son’s duffel just inside the door. Jo still had her bag with her, so I made a mental note to go help her with it. Being a single dad and a Marine wasn’t easy, but thankfully, I had a ridiculously supportive family. And my sister, totally charmed by the little boy who’d been practically dumped on my doorstep three years ago, had given up her life to move in with us to help out. And I couldn’t be more grateful.
Grayson surveyed the living room with its temporary furniture—loaners while we waited for our stuff to get here from California. He blinked up at me. “That’s not our couch.”
“I know, it’s still on the moving truck with the rest of our stuff. It’ll be delivered soon. This is just for now.”
His six-year-old brain processed my words as he looked around. “So, we’re borrowing it?”
“Yes.”
“Did we borrow any toys?”
I laughed, mussing his hair. “No. But we’ll hit up the toy store later and get you some cool stuff.”
“Will we have to give it back when my real toys come?”
“No, Gray. We’ll buy you a couple new things you can keep.”
His eyes brightened, making my heart squeeze. All things considered, the kid had handled the move pretty well so far. He’d been a gem on the plane, flirting with the flight attendants and making friends with neighboring passengers when he wasn’t peacefully sleeping with his head in my lap or Jo’s.
I’d worried it would be traumatizing for him to leave the only home he remembered in San Diego to move across the country, but so far, he’d been acting like it was an adventure. In fact, he was handling it better than I was. Moving from California to South Carolina was an unexpected twist, without a doubt. I’d been stationed here three years ago, and I honestly hadn’t thought they’d send me back so soon. But here we were.
Last time, I’d been stationed at MCAS Beaufort. This time, I’d been assigned to the recruit depot, Parris Island. As a military police officer, I could pretty much get stationed at any of our bases. And yet, fate had brought me back here. Since I was a fool who thought it was smart to tempt fate, I chose to hang our hats in the small town of Bluffton, instead of closer to where I worked. Becauseshewas here, and I just couldn’t help myself.
“I’m gonna go see my room,” he said, dropping his Spiderman backpack at my feet and taking off to the right. “Wow, I have a bathroom in my room!”
I shook my head and followed after him, stepping into what I knew was the main bedroom. “Sorry, little dude. This one’s mine.”
“Why?”
“Because the parent gets the room with the bathroom. Yours and Auntie Jo’s are across the living room.”
He sprinted by me, running through the apartment until he found the other two rooms. “Where am I supposed to pee?”
I pointed to the left as I joined him on that side of the small place. “Your bathroom’s right here.”
“How come we don’t get to have one in our rooms like you?”
“That way you don’t try to take a bubble bath in the middle of the night,” I said with a shrug. It seemed like just as good an explanation as any.
