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“Yuck.”
“Pffft. Don’t knock it till you tried it.”
“Thanks for picking me up.”
“No problem, sis. You let me stay at your place and let me use your car. It’s the least I can do. So, where’s Mr. Perfect?” Gwenn said as she took another bite out of her neon colored ice cream. Her straight, long brown hair spilled into her cone, making her swear out loud.
Bree chuckled. “He’s too sweet. Too… well, you know…”
“I get it. He’s not Dec. That’s wrong with the poor guy. If we could give him some of that Mills Irish fire, he’d be perfect, right?” Gwenn smiled.
“I guess,” Bree said before taking the last bite out of her cone.
“Didn’t you have dinner tonight? You’re gobbling like it’s the first thing you’ve eaten all day.”
“It almost is. I called it quits before dinner.”
“Haha, it must have been real bad tonight,” Gwenn said with a twinkle in her azure eyes.
“Not that bad…” Now she felt bad for Craig. She didn’t need to be bitchy about him.
“Bad enough to miss out on dinner. And I know how you can eat.”
Bree shoved her sister playfully, making her miss her ice cream cone as she leaned in for another bite. “Hey!”
As Bree laughed out loud, her sister gave her a playful shove of her own. “Come, let’s get a move on. Kera is coming over tonight.”
“I thought she was spending a few nights at Caitlin’s?”
“No, she called and said Fi was driving her crazy already,” Gwenn said as they walked over to Bree’s purple sedan. Gwenn and Kera have both returned home from their deployment in the military yesterday. Gwenn completed one tour in Afghanistan, and their sister Kera had been a field medic for several years now.
“Fi is on a roll, eh?” Bree said after clicking her seat belt in place.
“Yep. Don’t know how Cait can stand living with her. She’s our sister but—”
Bree interrupted. “I know. It’s like that U2 song, ‘With or Without You’.” Bree gave it her all as she bellowed the song lyrics, “With or without you, ah, ah… I can’t liveeeee.”
They both laughed. Ever since Fianna had retired from show jumping with her horse, Stormchaser, she had a stick up her bum. Like living in the spare room of her sister in Austin, Texas wasn’t good enough.
“I swear, if I hear her yapping about the Mills men one more time, I’m putting her down in a headlock,” Gwenn said after changing lanes. She wasn’t kidding. Bree could easily see Gwenn do it. Working in a male dominated environment had made the youngest Ryan sister strong, although still feminine.
“Ro still get’s her riled up, Gwennie.”
“Well, maybe she just needs to get over it. I’m sick and tired about hearing these same stupid arguments between them. Like any of it all matters. There are far more important things in this world….”
Gwenn cleared her throat, and silence filled the car. Bree knew her sister had encountered awful situations abroad. Being in the military had changed her, not particularly in a bad way. But it had toughened her, made her grow up in a really short time.
A few times, Bree had asked her about her experiences, but Gwenn had said she’d rather not talk about it. So for Gwenn to mention misdoings in the world was a big thing. Bree glanced over at Gwenn. “What are your plans now?”
“I’m thinking about doing one last tour, Bree.”
Bree’s heart skipped. She fisted her seat belt and took a deep breath. All the Ryan women had been thankful Gwenn and Kera had made it back in one piece. It had been just yesterday that they’ve hugged each other for the first time since months and months. And now Gwenn was throwing it out there that she was putting her life on the line again?
“I know. I didn’t want to blurt it out like that. I’m sorry,” Gwenn said.
Bree looked out of her window. She was searching for the words, but minute after minute passed. She jumped when a car door slammed shut. She looked over at Gwenn’s vacated seat and then over to Gwenn, who walked in front of the windshield. Apparently, Gwenn had parked the car in front of her apartment building without Bree even noticing. Damn, she was a mess.
She followed her sister in. Kera greeted them when they entered Bree’s apartment on the second floor.
