Absolute Valor (Southern Justice #3)

by Cayce Poponea

  The resort was a shopper’s wet dream, with all the big names present and accounted for. I chose to stick to perusing the windows, admiring the handbags, scarves, and jewelry from my spot in the main hall. When I passed by the spa, I took a quick look at the lotions and salt crystals they had for people to sample. One particular scent reminded me of grass after being freshly cut. It left my hands feeling soft and smooth, but the price tag made my eyes bulge.

  Chase was the brand of guy who took care of his appearance, still I was willing to bet he would be showered and dressed in less than half an hour. As I rounded the corner near the elevator bank, the doors opened and he stepped out, dressed in jeans and a button up shirt. “Well, imagine meeting you here.” He teased as he crossed the marble floor and placed a single kiss to my cheek. His proximity circles me in a wave of his cologne, something he didn’t wear every day, but when he did, it makes a person stand and take notice.

  We walked slowly to the restaurant, passing many of the shops I’d admired in my walk about. Chase stopped at two different shops when he saw something that caught his eye. He purchased a beautiful purple scarf for Priscilla, admitting she is impossible to buy a gift for. Then he saw a silver picture frame, with a matching perfume decanter. I’d never admit this, but I had looked at it as well. I was fascinated at how the light danced off the metal, casting rays of light on the table below. He signed for all of his purchases, had them sent to his room, and then apologized for making me wait so long for him.

  The restaurant he chose wasn’t what I expected. With its white washed interior and casual atmosphere, it was the perfect place to enjoy a burger and fries. Chase had reserved a table near the window and I could see the rows of cabanas along the beach. As the waiter took our drink orders, Chase rested his forearms against his chest on the table. “I have something to confess.” His blue eyes were full of worry. “Do you see the cabana there on the end?” He pointed to the one closest to us.

  I followed the direction of his finger. “Yes,” I responded as I turned back to him.

  “Well, we came here so Austin could ask Lainie to marry him.” My eyes went wide as I turned back to the white cabana. “He plans to propose tonight and marry her in the morning.”

  Looking back at him, I double-checked to see if he was serious. “But they just got together. Isn’t this a little soon?”

  Chase wrinkled up his chin, tossing his head from side to side. “Perhaps to some, but not to a man who knows what he wants and is willing to take a leap of faith that she feels the same.” Something told me his answer had nothing to do with Austin or Lainie, and everything to do with the couple who were currently sitting across from each other.

  Fire is the test of gold; adversity, of strong men.

  —Martha Graham

  Granddaddy always said if you wanted a drink of water, you’d best be able to get it yourself or be willing to ask where the faucet is. Audrey is as cautious as a new father holding a baby for the first time, and with good reason. Not even a month ago, I was ready to move to a new state over my family’s dislike of a girl I thought I knew. Now, I’m sitting before a different girl, about to tell her all the ways I’m the perfect guy for her. Ready to make all of her dreams come true and convince her I’m completely over the first girl. A girl who, by six degrees of separation, knows the current girl. Yep, clear as mud.

  “Audrey, I know you’ve been through a lot of things I may never be able to understand, but I want to try and help if I can.” She listens, something I know she has come to rely on. She’s always paying attention and looking for the first sign of trouble. If I can steer her in the direction I want, she’ll be even more cautious, questioning everything I say, and more importantly, what I don’t.

  “When I was in Afghanistan, there were things going on around me I had no control of. Imagine spending your day constantly looking over your shoulder, wondering if the lady sweeping her stoop is harboring a gun under her clothing. I learned to be good at reading people, watching their expressions and how they carried themselves. I was good at my job, so I got extra duty and responsibility. One of those extras was to become an unofficial member of a SEAL team. I couldn’t tell anyone where I was going or who I was with. My family knew only what I told them, that I was doing my tour in a large sandbox.” I paused as the waitress placed our drink orders in front of us, giving me a look I’d gotten a few times over the years. I’ve learned woman can be catty, encroaching on one another’s relationships and finding some sort of victory when they split a relationship in half. Reaching over and taking Audrey’s fingers in mine, hopefully sends the waitress a clear message I wasn’t available to her and she needed to move on.

  “The team made me work hard to prove myself, setting me up with practical jokes and messing with my head—all to see what I was made out of. It was more like a week with my brothers than anything. One guy in particular, Reaper, our OPS guy, had incredible range when it came to long distance shooting. Anyway, he and his high school sweetheart had been together obviously since they were in school. She was a beautiful girl with a great family and education. They were due to get married the next time he took leave. Unfortunately, he got in an altercation with a guy in a bar. His face was slashed from his ear to chin. I forget how many stitches he ended up with, but when he called his girl back home, she took one look at his face and sent him a ‘Dear John’ letter.” Audrey’s face slipped slightly, the same aggravation I felt as I watched Lucas hit her.

  “When he got the ring he gave her back in the mail, he swore he would never love another beautiful, educated woman again. At first I ignored it, chalking up his decision to being angry and hurt, but the more I thought about it, the more sense it made—at least, at the time. Not long after, I got my first email from a shy girl named Harmony. In her communications with me, she spelled certain words wrong and used others in the wrong place. All leading me to believe she was this uneducated girl. When she sent her picture, it wasn’t like the girl you knew. In her picture she had on very little makeup and her hair pulled back.” I knew the instant the words left my mouth, I’d just helped her build a wall around her heart. I could feel the pain in her chest from here as she listened to me describe her to a tee.

  Squeezing her fingers tighter, I see the edge of her chin tremble slightly as she shifts in her chair and attempts to pull her fingers from my grasp. “Audrey, I know what you’re thinkin’, but you have to let me finish before you bust out of here and walk back home.” Her face twitches a little, surprised I could read her so well. I know exactly what she has in her head to do. “Where Austin likes the super smart girl, and Dylan liked the ones who gave him no challenge, I prefer a girl who is willing to climb on the back of my bike or jump in my truck and not worry about how much mud I get us into. One who I can take to any hole in the wall shack for lunch and not fuss ‘cause the food is served on wax paper and not china.” A sliver of a smile forms on her face as she leans back into her chair.

  “I don’t know how Harmony, or Ginny, found out the type of girl I preferred, but she did. She faked the smile she showed for me, took everything she could from me, and tried to break me, maybe she did a little. But you know what? One look from you, took away all the crap she did to me. Where she wanted everything I could give her, you won’t even let me buy you a stick of gum. She expected the world, yet you won’t even let me give you a bottle of water and a candy bar.”

  Audrey shook her head, looking briefly to our intertwined hands. “Gifts, no matter where they come from, have strings attached. Even charity. Although it’s meant to be a good thing, charity comes with the label of being underprivileged and poor. Some expect little in return, but they still want something.” She pauses, taking a look at the waves crashing along the beach. “I don’t have anything left to give.” Her voice is whisper soft, and I suspect she’s admitting this to herself more than to me. She is wrong, and I’m willing to prove it to her.

  “When we were much younger, momma would take us to differ
ent places and show us folks who were having a hard time. She wanted us to always remain humble and kind, seeing every situation for what it really was; temporary. Every Christmas she would host a party for the children in the church, bringing them out to the house and letting them enjoy a day of fun and games. Then she would have the ladies of the church use the children to put together baskets for the less fortunate. As we got older, and perhaps a little crass, she would assign each of us a basket to fill. She never gave us a name or where they lived, only what gender they were and an age. It was the Christmas before I went to boot camp when she handed out envelopes to each of us.”

  Dylan had fussed about having to do it since he was in college and didn’t feel he should spend what little time he had on shopping for a stranger. Momma told him he could take care of the basket or he could figure out how to pay for his tuition and boarding for the year. Austin wanted to buy everything on the internet, until momma warned him she would call the company and turn the service off if he did. The basket I was responsible for was to go to a seventeen-year-old girl. I had just turned eighteen and broken up with a girl I had been seeing so I could go off to Cherry Point without having to worry about being faithful.

  “Granddaddy came over as I was getting ready to go buy some girly shit, toss it into a box and be done. It was the day he took us to the barn and gave us the paracords I told you about.” The band on my right wrist had faded so much since he gave it to me, but it would have to fall apart before I ever considered removing it.

  “As I pulled into the mall, I was playing with the bracelet, tossing around what he’d said about it. I spotted a jewelry store as I first walked in, but at first I walked right by it. However, as I got to the food court, I couldn’t get what Granddaddy said out of my head. So I turned around and went back to the jewelry store. After telling the lady behind the counter what I needed, she showed me a section of pendants she thought might work.” Miss Tessa, I’ll never forget her as long as I live. Her accent had been so thick I had to concentrate to understand her. She asked if it was for a girlfriend or wife, and teased me when I told her I didn’t have either. She listened as I told her the truth of what I needed to do, said she knew the perfect one.

  “The wings were so simple—silver with a little filigree on the body.” Audrey released one of my hands as she touched her necklace. “When Miss Tessa laid the necklace on the counter, she flipped the piece over, showing me the tiny clasp.” Reaching out with my free hand, “May I?” She pulled the wings away from her chest and the chain over her head. Miss Tessa had suggested a longer chain, as we didn’t know if the girl was thick or not. “She’d opened the back, telling me I could send a message if I wanted.” Audrey carefully places the necklace in my outstretched hand. Turning it around, I used the edge of my thumbnail, just as I did all those years ago, lifting the lid as I turned it back in her direction.

  Tessa showed me several charms they had available, had this been a gift for someone I knew, the jeweler could have her name made. “I couldn’t decide which one I liked best, so I chose the three you see.” Audrey turned the pendant over, allowing the three charms to fall into her palm. They look exactly the same as they had the day I’d put them there. About half the size of a pencil eraser, each one reflected the light from the setting sun. Each word is handmade and numbered, with only a few hundred in circulation. I’ll keep to myself the quality of what they are made of. Considering what she did over a bottle of water, she would never wear the necklace again if she knew how much I’d actually paid for them.

  “I wanted you to always have faith, just as my Granddaddy gave me.” With her index finger, she turned the word around and placed it back inside the pendant. “I told you how big I am on trust and it’s my hope you’ll be able to have some in me one day.” She placed the word back into the opening and I swallowed hard as she turned to the final charm. “Everyone deserves a little love in their life. It was my eighteen year old self who wanted a faceless girl to hold love close to her heart and carry it with her.” As she goes to put the charm back into the pendant, I place my hand over hers. “But it is the grown man who sits before you, who wants to be the one who gives it to you.” The waitress tried to ask if we needed a refill, but the moment is solid and she goes away in a huff.

  “Ginny took many things from me; my time, and money. Hell, she tried to take so much more by breaking the bonds I share with my family. But she never got my heart, not really. My love, and my faith, had already been given to a faceless girl I would meet when the time was right. Just like the man who is now standing under the evening sky, about to drop to one knee and ask a girl who he’s known less than a year to stand by his side for the rest of his life.”

  Audrey snapped her attention to the cabana filled with flowers and lanterns. Austin, dressed in white linen pants and matching shirt, stood still staring at his love, as the fabric flapped in the ocean breeze. Lainie stood shocked, both hands covering her mouth, as she watched my brother drop to the sand and ask for her hand.

  Lainie joined Austin on the sand, her arms wrapped around his neck as my parents, Dylan and Claire, and Lainie’s family come out of the line of palm trees. Momma is hugging who I think is Lainie’s mother, they’re both crying by the looks of it.

  Audrey’s eyes are fixed on the couple. Several patrons have also noticed and are clapping. “Sweetness?” I reached over to grab her hand. “You know the tattoo on my ribs, the one that says trust?” She nods slowly, casting a look down in the general direction. “Ginny never had my trust, but you have from the moment I touched your face. This tattoo,” I point to my ribs, “is yours.”

  I don’t let her hand go as we enjoy our dinner. After congratulating Austin and Lainie, we went back to our table where the waitress had left our plates. Audrey dove in, never saying a word until she took a drink of diet coke, something I’ve learned is her favorite. I been around her enough to know she doesn’t enjoy it often and I suspect it is due to her finances, but this is one of the many things I plan to change. Audrey Faith Lynn Helms will have a diet coke any time her heart desires.

  After I signed the check and left the money she’d shoved down my pants as a tip, I help her from her chair and hold the door as I’ve been taught my entire life. “Help your girl with her chair or she’ll stand and wait for some other guy to do it for her.” Where some would have considered Granddaddy’s word of wisdom ancient, I can tell it impresses my Audrey by the genuine smile she sends me.

  We make it to the end of the pool deck before Audrey lets go of my hand, bends over and removes her shoes. She’s like a young girl as she runs onto the sand, walking out until the water laps at her ankles, dancing around and kicking the waves as they crash around her. She doesn’t try to suppress her giggles which have rapidly developed into full on laughter. Sitting back on the warm sand, I watch her enjoy herself, finding a smile of my own as she dances in the water.

  “You know this is my first real vacation.” She admits as she looks to the rising moon in the sky. “We visited relatives every couple of years, but we didn’t do anything fun like this.” All the places I’ve been flash in my mind, the foods I’ve tasted, and the adventures I’ve experienced. While her life has yet to begin, she has lived far more than I have. Never have I questioned where my next meal will come from or where I’ll sleep at night. How many things has Audrey missed out on? More importantly, how quickly can I help her check them off her list?

  “I’ve never even been on an airplane, can you believe that?” She comes to sit beside me on the beach, the moon casting its reflection along the caps of the ocean. The lights from the hotel make it hard to see many stars, but a few twinkle in an attempt to be noticed.

  “I wish you could have been with me on one of the nights I slept on the desert floor, wrapped up in my sleeping bag and freezing to death. The sky was full of stars, lighting up everything around me.” Turning to look at her, our faces are so close I can feel her breath mingle with mine. The urge to kiss her is stron
g, but it’s too soon and would scare the shit out of her. “Come on, it’s getting late and I have a date with this incredibly beautiful girl in the morning.”

  Lainie had agreed to marry Austin, her mother gushed over everything from the ring to the size of the hotel. Momma shooed everyone away so the newly engaged couple could enjoy their last few hours of single life. She was already planning a huge reception for them when they returned from their honeymoon.

  I held her hand as we walked past the pool and back inside the hotel, stopping at one of the shops to grab her a diet coke and a bag of popcorn, another favorite she’d admitted. I was feeling more like a pubescent teen than a man halfway to thirty, as I held tight to her hand escorted her back to her room, saying good night as she slowly closed the door.

  I had barely started unbuttoning my shirt when the pounding started at my door. Pulling my gun from my bag, I checked the peephole seeing my two brothers standing in the hall, a bottle of Hennessy in Austin’s hand. Opening the door, I moved to the side, silently inviting them into my room. Austin didn’t have to say anything, the bottle spoke volumes. Had Granddaddy been alive, he would have been the one to have a drink ready to go.

  “Here is to my last,” he looks at his watch, “nine hours of bachelorhood.” Clinking of glasses filled the area on the balcony as we silently drank to his toast.

  Dylan poured another round and held his glass in the air. “To being lucky enough to have a girl like Lainie choose your sorry ass out of a line up.” Austin scowled at first, and then nodded in agreement.

  “You know, I always assumed it would be you who got married first.” I said to Dylan. “Somehow I pictured the Daddy of one of the multitude of girls you bedded, holding a shotgun to your head as he pushed you down the aisle.”