Love Me Last: A Military Man Romance (New Dawn Book 2)

by Rhea Wilde

  “Aren’t you late for work?”

  Mya glanced at her watch.

  “I’ve still got some time. Maybe we should figure out how we can get in contact with him.”

  “With who?”

  “Who do you think? Him.”

  Her finger aimed at the dog tags on my chest. I’d gotten so used to them being there that it wasn’t strange to me, no matter what outfit I wore.

  “I don’t think there’s a way,” I said, shaking my head. “If Lee Taurus can’t pull strings, I don’t see how I can.”

  “Lee Taurus didn’t solve the case of missing people, you did. Don’t count yourself out yet.”

  “No,” I said as I shook my head.

  “You’re just going to give up?”

  “I’m not giving up. I’m moving on. I can’t get hung up on him. We’ve all been there before. It happens. For all I know, he’s getting locked up for years. Thinking about him will just make things worse. It’s not fair to what he wanted. It’s not fair to Brandon.”

  “Then what are you going to do?”

  I looked around the coffee shop. All of the groups were having conversations of their own. The men and women all laughed and smiled while they enjoyed their drinks.

  “Look around,” I said. “They’re all happy and having the time of their lives. I don’t even know them and I envy them. I’m the only person in the room who’s miserable.”

  I turned back to my friend.

  “I have so much to be grateful for. I just have to focus on that.”

  “Are you sure about this?” she asked.

  “Yeah, I’m sure. I’ll always have the time I spent with him. Nobody can take those memories away from me.”

  “I admire you so much. I know you can do this.”

  “Come on. You don’t have much time left. Let’s go find something to do.”

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  Mya and I got up from our seats and left the coffee shop. The weather was hot and humid. Summer in New Gardens was in full swing.

  Chapter 29

  EVA

  One month later…

  Dee Sabin lived an ordinary life. She worked in an office downtown as a receptionist. From what I could tell, she was a good woman. She treated Brandon well and provided everything he needed.

  James Sabin was much the same. He was a blue-collar worker doing construction in the city. From the way New Gardens looked, work was plentiful for him. James and Dee made a good-living for themselves in the city, even though it wasn’t glamorous. They were just an average middle-aged couple trying to live ordinary lives. More important than anything else, they showed a genuine affection for Brandon. After what happened, it only seemed appropriate.

  It was Saturday when they invited me over to their apartment for a late lunch. I’d spent the morning with myself as Mya was too busy getting caught up with work. Another lazy day was in store for me but I didn’t mind. As usual, seeing Brandon was the highlight of my week.

  I arrived at their apartment building in the middle of the day. Dee greeted me with a smile.

  “Hey, Brandon, look who’s here!”

  I looked over her shoulder and saw Brandon playing with an iPad. When he saw me, he dropped everything and rushed up to me.

  “Auntie Eva!”

  He hugged me in his arms, his head digging into my stomach.

  “Hey, little man,” I said, running my fingers through his brown hair. “How are you doing? You doing okay?”

  “Great! Come on! Let’s go play on my iPad. I got a new game!”

  “Now, now,” Dee interrupted him. “There’s no time for that. Your auntie is here to eat. You can’t be playing as much. School is starting soon.”

  “Aww… But she’s here. I always play when she comes over.”

  He looked up into his aunt’s eyes pleadingly. I couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight of it. There was no way to turn him down.

  “All right,” she sighed.

  “Yes!” he said, pumping one of his fists ecstatically.

  “But only after we have lunch, okay?”

  “Fine. Come on!”

  Brandon took my hand and led me into their small apartment. I couldn’t help but continue to laugh at his enthusiasm. With every week that went by, Brandon’s excitement continued to grow. Dee and James treated Brandon like he was their own child, so he always had some new toy or gadget to mess around with.

  We got to the end of the hall and I saw James sitting at their dinner table. The food was already prepared. A large bowl of salad sat next to a plate of chips. Four settings were ready and made, with a sandwich on each one of them.

  “Hello, Eva,” James said as he welcomed me with a smile. “Take a seat. Please.”

  James offered me a chair while Brandon led me to it. I sat down and everybody else took their places. Seeing all of the food made my stomach growl. I didn’t realize how hungry I was until now.

  A window was open and I could hear the sound of traffic just outside. The breeze was warm but not enough to bother me since I’d gotten used to it. It was a pleasant atmosphere sitting with the family. I couldn’t remember the last time I had an experience like this. There weren’t too many families that invited me to eat with them.

  “Sandwiches,” Eva said as she sat across from me. “It was Brandon’s idea. I hope you don’t mind.”

  “Not at all,” I said as I examined the bread and the meat inside of it. “There are people in this city who are starving. I’m not gonna complain about it.”

  Brandon tugged on my sleeve.

  “Auntie, I got this new game—”

  “Brandon,” Dee said, her voice stern. “What did I tell you?”

  “I know, I know,” he said. “After we eat.”

  The dejection in his voice made me smile. After everything that happened, I wondered if things would be any different for him. But every time I saw him, he appeared to be more and more like a child his age. It was a relief things were finally coming back to normal.

  “Don’t wait for us,” James said to me. “Eat up. There’s plenty to go around.”

  I nodded to him and helped myself.

  James told me about the latest project he was working on. He said it was bigger than anything else he’d done previously. I wasn’t too interested in it but his remarks about it potentially being bigger than the Taurus building caught my ear.

  The entire time, Brandon didn’t say anything. He would just look up at me while he ate, grinning at me like he was up to something. Seeing him like that always made me smile just the same.

  “Where are my manners?” James said. “I’ve been talking your ear off this whole time. How are you, Eva? Are you doing all right?”

  “I’m fine. I couldn’t be better. Not much has changed.”

  “How is your place doing?” Dee chimed in. “Is it all fixed up?”

  “They just finished cleaning the place up last week,” I said. “I haven’t gone back there though. Mr. Chen was happy to see my rent money but I don’t know if I can sleep there.”

  “Well, you always have a place here,” Dee said. “We’ve got plenty of room.”

  “Thanks. I appreciate that. But my friend doesn’t seem to mind me staying over. She’s barely at home, anyway. I’ve got the whole place to myself.”

  “What about your work?” James asked me. “Have you given more thought about going back?”

  “I’ve… I’ve thought about it,” I sighed. “Not yet. I… I don’t know.”

  “I don’t mean to pry.”

  “It’s all right. It’s not a big deal. I just don’t know if I’ll ever go back to doing that. It’s been more than a month. I’m not sure if I can.”

  “Well, whatever decision you make, just remember to do what’s best for you,” Dee added.

  “Yeah…”

  I looked down at my half-eaten sandwich and chewed on my bite while I thought about it.

  I hadn’t taken a case since. I’d only been to my ap
artment to make sure the door was locked and the damage Reese’s men did was repaired. I never bothered with anything else. Being in my office brought back too many memories that distracted me. Sooner or later, I would have to do something. I was waiting for as long as I could until that time came.

  Lunch with the Sabins was as carefree as I could ask for. It was a good way to relax and forget about everything else going on in my life, even though there was nothing at the moment. Brandon was my only focus, so being here with him was enough for me.

  After we’d finished, Brandon tugged on my sleeve again like he’d done earlier.

  “Now can we go play?” he asked his aunt.

  Dee looked at him then turned to me with a smile.

  “Okay. But not for too long. You have to get some reading done. You spend too much time on that iPad and you’re gonna go blind.”

  “I know, I know. Come on, Auntie!”

  He practically pulled me off of my chair. I smiled and laughed as he dragged me into their living room.

  “Over here.”

  He pulled me down to the ground in the center of the room, about two meters away from the television. I looked up and saw a box of toys sitting in the corner of the room.

  “What about those?” I asked. “Do you still play with those? We did last week.”

  “Oh, I don’t play with those anymore,” he explained. “It’s all about this.”

  He picked up the iPad. I watched him swipe through it and point at all of the different apps on it.

  “What do you want to play?” he asked. “I’ve got hundreds of games.”

  “I don’t know,” I said with a chuckle. “Whatever you wanna play.”

  I sat down next to him and looked over his shoulder while he poked and swiped at the screen. He leaned up against me, his attention taken completely by all of the games for him to choose from.

  “Where is it?” he mumbled to himself.

  “Let me see. Maybe I can help you.”

  I peered over him and stared at the screen. As I moved against him, my necklace hung down from my chest. The dog tags swung and tapped him on the side of the face. He quickly pulled his head away from me and I leaned back.

  “Oh,” I said as I put a hand to his face. “Are you all right?”

  “Yeah. It’s nothing…”

  I looked into his eyes but he didn’t look back. His attention was taken by the dog tags on my chest. I stared down to see what he was looking at then back to him.

  “What are those?” he asked. “I always see you wearing them.”

  “They’re… They’re dog tags.”

  “Why are they called dog tags? Does that mean dogs wear them?”

  “I don’t know why they call them dog tags,” I said with a chuckle. “I think it’s because they look like the tags that dogs wear, so you know their name and where they’re from. In case they get lost.”

  “Is that why you wear those? In case you get lost?”

  He reached forward and took the tags in his hand. I watched him turn them over and tilt his head so he could read them.

  “What does it say?” he asked. “It’s hard to read.”

  I looked into his eyes as he continued to try and read them. There was something calming about how innocent he looked. I put my fingers over his hand and gently caressed him.

  “Brandon, can I ask you something?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Your Aunt Dee and Uncle James… Did they ever tell you about your dad?”

  He didn’t say anything. He just shook his head while he continued to fiddle with the tags around my chest. I swallowed as I looked into his eyes, wondering if he knew the truth about his father and his friend.

  “I can barely make it out,” he muttered to himself. “This one doesn’t say Eva on it though. It says something else… John… John something… How will this help someone when they’re lost when it’s so hard to read?”

  I chuckled softly at him. His eyes were so enthralled he still wasn’t looking at me.

  “It’s not hard to read,” I explained. “You just have to get used to the font. Let me show you…”

  There was a knock at the door.

  “I’ll get it,” Dee said.

  I looked up and saw her walking down the hall toward the door. I turned my attention back to Brandon and held the tag up for him.

  “It’s a name,” I said, running my index finger over the letters. “See, this is an S. And that’s an A. B. I. N.”

  “Sabin? That’s my last name!”

  “That’s right,” I said with a chuckle. “John Sabin. Here…”

  I pulled the necklace off of me and pulled John’s dog tag from it. I held it out to Brandon.

  “You can have it,” I said. “You can use it in case you get lost.”

  “But I’m not John.”

  “Neither am I,” I said with a smile. “Your last name is Sabin. That’s close enough.”

  He took the tag from me and examined it between his small hands.

  “Yeah… But I don’t have a necklace.”

  “I’ll get you one. A nice one that we can put your new tag on. What color do you want?”

  “Blue!”

  “Okay,” I said, laughing softly at his enthusiasm. “Blue.”

  “What about the other one? What does it say?”

  He pointed at the other tag in my hand. I grabbed it between my fingers and showed it to him. I ran my finger underneath the top line.

  “What does it say?” I asked.

  “De… rek… Jay… cobs.”

  “Cubs. Like a little bear. Derek Jacobs.”

  “Derek…”

  He muttered to himself as he read the dog tag.

  “Derek!”

  I heard Dee’s voice from down the hall. I raised my head and looked even though I couldn’t see anything. My ears perked up as I listened.

  “What’s wrong?” Brandon said to me.

  “Dee? Dee, are you all right?” I called out.

  I slowly stood up from my seat and put the chain back around my neck.

  “What’s wrong, Auntie Eva?”

  Brandon held my hand as I walked from the living room toward their hallway. I couldn’t hear Dee anymore. I paced my way quickly to the hall. When I got there, I saw something I wasn’t sure I was seeing.

  Dee was hugging someone, a man more than a foot taller than her, her eyes closed and her face buried against his chest. The man looked down as he squeezed her right back.

  “What’s going on?” James said as he made his way into the hallway.

  He stopped in his tracks and appeared just as confused as I was.

  “Is that… Derek, is that you?”

  The man hugging Dee raised his head up and looked at James and me. His eyes met mine and I blinked several times, unable to believe what I was seeing.

  It was him.

  “Derek! It is you!”

  James rushed up to him and greeted him with a handshake and a hug. The two of them hugged like they were long-lost brothers. Derek eventually pulled away from him and the two of them laughed at one another.

  “Uncle Derek!”

  Brandon rushed up to him. Derek saw him coming and held his arms out to him. He picked him up from the ground and lifted Brandon so high his head almost hit the ceiling. Derek put his arms around him and held him up with one arm.

  “How are you, little man?” he said to him. “Have you been behaving?”

  “Yeah. Of course.”

  “Of course. I’ll know if you’re lying.”

  “I haven’t done anything wrong. Honest.”

  Everybody laughed except for me. I was still trying to figure out what was happening.

  This didn’t seem real.

  He didn’t seem real.

  Derek looked at me then at everybody else.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t call or anything,” he said. “Thought I’d drop in and surprise everybody.”

  “That’s quite a surprise,” Dee said to
him, running her hand along his arm. “You almost gave me a heart attack!”

  “I’m sorry,” Derek said with a laugh. “I wasn’t expecting to be back in town so soon.”

  “What happened?” James asked.

  “I’ve… I’ve been relieved of duty.”

  “Derek, I’m sorry—”

  “It’s all right,” he said as he shook his head. “It’s been a long time coming.”

  “Come on,” Dee said to him. “You must be starving. We’ve got plenty to eat in the kitchen. You can tell us all about it.”

  “Sounds great,” Derek said to her.

  He put Brandon down and he went racing into the kitchen. Dee and James walked by me, leaving me alone in the hallway with Derek.

  He stood there, his arms at his sides. His face was shaved clean. His blond hair was a little longer than before but still short. He wore a plain white t-shirt that barely fit him, his muscles bulging out of it. His blue jeans looked like they had seen better days. He looked different. But it was him. I could tell just from the way he looked at me.

  He had a half-smile on his face as he walked up to me. His hands were in his pockets as his eyes shifted to the side, not looking at me while he spoke.

  “So…”

  “So…” I sighed.

  “It’s been a long time.”

  “It has. How have you been?”

  “I’m fine,” his stare shifting back toward me. “I’ve been through worse.”

  He stood right in front of me, so close that I could reach out and touch him. I looked up at him. There was a knot in my stomach. I didn’t think I’d ever see him again. Now that he was here, my entire body wasn’t sure how to respond.

  “What happened?” I asked.

  “Let’s see,” he said, exhaling a deep breath through his nostrils. “My first time facing a court martial. You don’t usually see more than one. They put me in front of a judge. Said I disobeyed orders, so I had to be punished. But because of what I’d done and how I helped saved the city along with some kind testimony on my behalf…”

  “Agent Neville?”

  He nodded to me.

  “They let me off easy,” he explained. “I only spent about a month in jail. And I’ve been relieved.”

  “You mean—”

  “Dishonorable discharge. I won’t be serving again.”