I catch him taking a picture off the dresser and sliding it into the drawer.
“What’s that?” I ask.
“It’s nothing, just a photo.”
“Of your girlfriend?”
Tucker turns around and I can see that I’m wrong. His face is pinched and his cheeks are red. He reaches blindly for the frame and shows it to me. It’s our wedding photo. I’m dressed in a flowery summer dress and he’s in his dress whites.
“I’m sorry. I thought—”
He doesn’t let me finish my sentence before he’s standing before me. My heart is thundering in my chest, the sound clearly audible in the room. The moment his lips touch mine, I’m a heap of nothing as he takes me in his arms to hold me up. This is unlike the kiss we shared a while back; this one is full of passion and heat. My toes curl when his tongue traces the outline of my lower lip and when I sigh he uses it to his advantage by letting me taste him. With his hand on my back and the other pressed against the nape of my neck, Tucker kisses me with abandon. Our lips move together, in sync and with rhythm, making up for all the time lost during the past seven years. That’s how long it’s been since this man kissed me like he owns me.
And he does, heart and soul.
“Don’t be nervous,” Tucker says as he hands me a cup of coffee. I can’t stop the jitters and my legs bounce up and down. I’m nervous and slightly freaked about seeing Lawson in court today. On the way over here, the guys mentioned something about telling him to plead guilty, but they don’t know what he’s going to do. River assures me that I will not be getting on the stand if he can help it.
Claire is spending the day with Ryley, EJ, and her parents at their house on the lake. Tucker bought her a bow and arrow and suggested she take it over there. When we arrived to drop her off, her mouth dropped open when she saw targets spread around for her to use.
I wanted her to be comfortable while I was away and Tucker promised that Carole and Jensen would take great care of her. Having Ryley at the house helps, though, because she knows Claire.
This was also the first time I got to meet her son. He just had his birthday and is a spitting image of Evan, except for his hair. That is all Ryley. Claire took an immediate liking to EJ and didn’t even care when I left.
A group of reporters come into view and I quickly realize that they are surrounding Lawson. We make eye contact and I freeze. His little finger wave causes my stomach to roll and then he’s out of sight because River is standing in front of me.
“I think I’m going to be sick.” I stand up and cover my mouth. Tucker is right behind me, guiding me to the ladies room. If I expected him to wait outside, I’d be foolish. He follows me in and holds my hair back as I release the contents of my stomach into the bowl. I stand and start to cry, collapsing into his arms. He kisses my forehead and tries to soothe me, but it’s to avail.
“I can’t do this,” I tell him as I weep into his shoulder. “I can’t go in there and look at him, knowing what he did to our baby.”
“You won’t have to. I promise.”
Tucker holds me for a moment longer before he takes me to the basin to rinse my mouth out and fix my make-up. When I feel somewhat presentable, he takes my hand and guides me out of the restroom and back to our friends.
“It’s time to go in,” Nate says, leading the way. He waves at Cara, who is seated up front. We choose to sit in the back, with River, Evan, Nate, and Rask sitting in front of us, blocking our view. I don’t want to see Lawson and I definitely don’t want him to see me.
When the judge enters, I refuse to stand up. I’m small enough that the bailiff will never notice anyway.
“Be seated,” the judge says and I hear the faint sound of papers being shuffled. “It seems we have something to discuss, Mr. Reyes.”
“That’s Lawson’s attorney,” Tucker whispers in my ear.
“Yes, your honor. My client has decided to change his plea.”
There’s a collective gasp from the galley and my heart soars. The only thing I want to hear is for him to say he’s guilty. If he pleads insanity, I still have to testify.
“So be it, please rise and enter your plea.”
The chair grinds against the linoleum floor as he moves it back to stand. I can barely see them through the gap of shoulders of Nate and Evan.
“What’s your plea for the charges against you?”
“I wish to enter a plea of guilty.”
The gasp is much louder this time and Tucker squeezes my hand. I lean into him and sigh. ‘Thank you,’ I mouth to him, but he points at River.
“Sentencing will be tomorrow at nine a.m. where you will hear from your victims.” The gavel slams down and when the bailiff says ‘all rise’ Tucker pulls me out of the courtroom and into this arms. He swings me around like we’re two young kids in love.
It’s only a matter of moments before the rest of the guys join us, and once my feet are firmly planted on the ground, I slip out of Tucker’s hold and into River’s arms.
“Thank you, for whatever you did.”
He doesn’t really hug me back, but I hear a sniffle and know he’s grateful that I’m thanking him. I don’t know if the guys are treating him the same, but after what he’s done for me, I’ll never be able to thank him enough. I know, deep in my heart, that if he knew what was going on, he would’ve never brought Frannie into our lives.
“We should go celebrate,” Cara exclaims as she comes out of the courtroom.
“Jensen will be more than happy to fire up the grill and we have to go there anyway,” Evan says as he volunteers his future father-in-law for cooking duty.
Tucker pulls me to him and whispers in my ear, “Is that what you want to do?”
I nod. “It’ll feel good to be with friends again. It’s been a long time.”
“The McCoys are in,” he says proudly, and I don’t dare correct him.
“I’m out,” River states. “I have some business to take care of.” He doesn’t say good-bye, but walks briskly down the corridor and out of sight.
“What’s that about?” Nate asks.
Rask shakes his head. “He still feels like he’s let us down.”
“He’ll come around,” Cara adds. “Come on, let’s go.”
The group of us walks out of the courthouse and down the steps. Tucker stops, pulling me to him.
He places his hands on my cheeks and my hands instantly hang on to his arms. I shouldn’t have the feelings that I do—the longing, the desire, and most importantly the butterflies when he touches me—but I do.
“You know the picture of us that’s in my room?”
I nod, biting my lip in anticipation.
“We took that here, in this spot.”
I look around and see that he’s right, or almost right.
“I know you’ve only been here for a day, Penelope, but having you here feels like home. I’m not going to pressure you, or ask you over and over again, but just know that I don’t want you and Claire to leave. This is your home. This is the life we had planned out for us. Give us a chance.”
Tucker doesn’t give me an opportunity to answer him. He places a kiss on the tip of my nose and takes my hand in his until we reach his car. I quickly glance back at the courthouse and remember the day I said ‘I do’.
IN THE END, I won. Shortly after Lawson’s trial, Penny informed me that her and Claire were moving back to California. All I heard was that they were moving home, where they belonged. It was the same day Claire made it known that once she moved here, we could call her Claire since no one would know her as Chloe. I wanted to hug her, but kept my distance and hands to myself.
Claire and I have come a long way in our rebuilding process. I know living together helps and she sees how much I love her mother. I will say, though, sleeping on the couch is getting old, but I refuse to pressure Penny. For right now I can live with stolen kisses and sweet moments with her.
It’s been six months since they moved in, leaving the day after Clai
re’s school let out for the summer. Nate and Cara went and helped them move. I wanted to as well, but we thought it would be best that I didn’t. Penny wanted to make sure Ray’s reputation stayed intact. I acted like I understood, but really I didn’t. Maybe she was afraid that I would kiss her in front of her friends or something. Knowing me, I probably would’ve slipped and done so and that wouldn’t have been good.
My house … our house finally feels like a home. Pictures of Claire from her years in school decorate the hallway. We don’t have many pictures of her when she was a baby with those being left in the house and who knows where they are now, but I have the one I kept in my wallet all these years and that sits on our mantle. I often find Claire staring at it when she thinks no one is watching.
I’ve also learned how to use a bow and arrow thanks to my well-educated daughter. That is one thing that I have to give Ray credit for, he raised her well and taught her everything he knew about the outdoors, leaving me enough room to teach her what I know. Right now, Claire can tie fifty different rope knots and is learning how to scale a wall. These days when I ask her if she wants to go to the park, she suggests the SEAL beach so she can play on the apparatuses. She’s a girl after my own heart and has told me that she’s going to be the first female SEAL. I wished her luck after she witnessed a group of BUD/s sleeping with their feet in the air.
Most importantly, Claire loves it here. She loves the weather, the ocean, and is excited to start at her new school. Having her and Penny home, with me, makes me feel complete and it makes me feel like I can conquer anything, like my new job as a SEAL instructor.
Penny and I discussed retirement and both agreed I wasn’t ready, but I’m also not ready to go back to combat or deploy on secret missions. When I was offered the job as an instructor, I jumped at the opportunity. I can still train, with the fun stuff, all while kicking snot-nosed punks in the ass. It’s the best of both worlds.
Lawson is currently serving twenty consecutive life sentences and Ingram goes on trial in the fall. We’re hoping he pleads out, but have a feeling he won’t. He’s too proud of a man to do so and we’ll be required to testify. It’ll be worth it this time.
The team is together except Ryley and Evan are still living up north. They come down often, but refuse to move. I know once Carole retires, we’ll never see them again. I’m secretly hoping that Jensen refuses to sell his lake house, giving us a place to still hang out.
River is around, every now and again. Sometimes we don’t see him for a month, and other times he’s at everything we do. I know he’s lost and I’ve tried to reach out to him, but his walls are up. It’s a hard thing, as a SEAL, to get over letting your team down and it doesn’t matter how many times we tell him he’s forgiven, he still distances himself from us.
“You home?” The sound of Evan’s voice echoes down my hall. I come out of my bedroom to find him dressed in a cream-colored linen suit.
“Hi, and what are you doing here?”
He hands me the black bag he’s holding nods toward my bedroom. “Go put this on, we gotta go.”
“Where?”
He looks down at this suit and back at me, with a shit-eating grin on his face. I understand it now; he’s getting married today. I quickly look at the fridge, wondering if I forgot, but I don’t see an invite.
I change quickly, racking my brain about the date. I must’ve been so caught up with Penny that I forgot and that’s not like me. When I come out, I notice that we’re dressed similarly except my tie is blue, while he’s not wearing one.
“Where’s your tie?”
“In the car, let’s go.”
“Is Penny with Ryley?”
“Yep,” he says, rushing to his car. I get in and he pulls away before the door is even shut.
“Are we late?”
“Nah, just eager that’s all.”
That I can understand. His wedding to Ryley has been a long time coming. He should’ve married her a long time ago, but then we died and plans got off track for about six years. Now that we’ve been back, they’ve been waiting for Carole to say she can walk on the sand. She must be ready.
We pull into the beach and I immediately see white chairs and lots of white lacy crap flying in the breeze. River and Rask are already there, dressed similarly. We trudge through the sand, shaking hands with the guys when we reach them.
“You stand here,” Evan says, putting me in place. I look at him questioningly because I assumed Nate would be his best man, but he shakes his head and stands to my left.
“Wait—”
“Watch,” he says as he points down the sandy aisle. Music starts and Cara walks down first followed by Ryley. My mouth is open and catching sand from the wind, but I’m in too much shock to close it.
EJ appears next, dressed just like us, except he’s wearing a tie and Evan still isn’t.
“Hi, Uncle Tucker.”
“Hey, buddy. Do you know what’s going on?”
He shakes his head and starts laughing.
I glance back at Evan who has a smug look on his face. “This should be you and Ryley,” I say, nodding toward the white chairs with a few of our family and friends.
“Nah, Ryley wants this for you guys. It’s important to her. Besides, Carole isn’t quite ready yet, but don’t worry, McCoy, I will be marrying my girl on this beach very soon.”
“I look forward to it.”
Evan taps me on shoulder and points toward the aisle where my daughter appears in the same lavender dress as Cara and Ryley and I can’t help the tears that are falling.
When the music changes, the few guests who are here stand, and my wife appears with Nate on her arm. Her dress flows in the wind as she lets Nate guide her down the makeshift aisle.
He hands her to me, patting me on the back.
“What’s all this?”
“It’s our anniversary,” she says, stunning me into silence. “I want this life with you and I know you want it, too. I love you, Tucker, and I think it’s time we renew our vows in front of our friends and family.”
Hearing her say that she loves me makes me feel like I’m ten feet tall. I lean to the side slightly, to see Claire, who is beaming at me. I think she wants this, too. But I have to know for sure.
“Are you okay with this, Claire?”
“Yeah, Dad, I am.”
Forget ten feet, I’m now twenty feet tall because not only does my wife love me, but my daughter just called me dad.
Nate, who has stepped around me, is now front and center with his hands clasped in front of him. He leans into me and whispers loudly, “I got ordained this morning so don’t worry, this is legit.”
I can’t help but laugh at this situation and shrug. “Let’s do this.”
“I can’t believe we’re having a reception at Magoos.” It makes sense that we’d come here—it’s our home away from home. The party is loud behind us with Evan signing karaoke and Ryley feeding into his ego. I’m sitting at the bar, entertaining myself by watching Penelope dance with Cara.
“There are worse places,” Slick Rick says from behind me. He’s also dressed in a matching suit even though he couldn’t make the ceremony.
“Did you know about this?” I ask as I turn around and face him.
“I know everything that goes on with my guys,” he says as he hands me another beer. The bar is closed tonight for this private party and I hate to think about him losing business because of us. There are a lot more people at the bar than at the wedding and I’m fine with that. It could’ve just been Penny and me and I would’ve been happy.
“Is this seat taken?”
I give Penny a sideways glance and remember the first time we met. A fucking dare from her friends sent her over to me.
“I don’t know, I guess that depends on what you’re looking for.”
“Well, I’m looking for a strong man who has tattoos and a motorcycle. Do you know anyone like that?”
I shake my head. “Sorry, you’re out of luc
k.”
Penny slaps me on the shoulder and sits down, nestling into my neck. The moment I feel her lips I freeze. Aside from kissing, we haven’t done anything and the only time I’ve been intimate is in the shower with my hand.
“Not to be forward or anything, but does this mean I’m getting lucky tonight?”
“I’m pretty much a sure thing,” she replies, batting her eyelashes.
“You know the only action I’ve seen in seven years is my hand. The second I have you naked, I’m going to come all over you and I won’t be able to stop it. I’ll be your worst middle school memory.”
Penny breaks out into fits of laughter, causing my ego to deflate quickly. “How many of those have you had?” She points to my beer.
“This is my second.”
“Do you want to get out of here? We have the night to ourselves.”
She doesn’t have to ask me twice. I put my beer down and holler to the guys that we’re leaving. The amount of catcalls we get in return is enough to make me blush. I all but drag Penny outside, only to realize that I don’t have a car. I stop short of the door, prepared to ask Slick Rick to call us a cab, but she pushes me out and into the parking lot where my motorcycle is decorated with toilet paper and cans hanging off the back.
“Well isn’t this cute.”
Before I know what’s happening, birdseed is being tossed at us and we quickly scramble to get on the bike. I push the start button and she roars to life, and feel of Penny’s arms wrap around my waist.
Pulling out of the parking lot, I head toward our house, taking the scenic route. A few planes are coming in, but we don’t stay to watch. There will be other days for that. Tonight is about us being husband and wife.
Save Me Page 22
