by Denise Riley
When Tyson had told Jessica that his parents weren’t going to be able to meet him and Marcus when they arrived, she’d formed the idea of surprising him. She knew that Tyson’s parents would show up if they could. She also knew that Marcus didn’t have anyone to meet him. She wanted them both to have a smiling face waiting like so many of the other returning Soldiers; so here she was, smile in place just waiting for them to make their way out.
******
Tyson was tired - dog-ass tired. He and Marcus had been flying for what seemed like weeks. He wanted a shower, a hot meal, and a bed. Preferably one he didn’t have to get out of for days. Of course that wasn’t going to happen. He had a little downtime and then he had to go through what he and his team had coined their detox. They basically had to complete debriefs and the scheduled processes for what the military called reintegration. It was to help them transition back to their “normal” lives. Normal. Yeah right, he thought. Their normal had been so altered by what they saw and did on a daily basis during their tours that it wasn’t even funny. Tyson just wanted to get home.
Marcus was dragging ass next to him, barely bothering to respond to anyone’s attempts at interaction. As usual, Marcus approached total social dysfunction as they passed the awaiting friends and loved ones that lined the corridor of the airport terminal. There were nearly thirty soldiers on their flight alone that were making it back today. So there were a lot of people waiting to greet them as they were exiting the security checkpoint. Marcus, having no family, became withdrawn under the best of conditions, which included times when Tyson’s family or Lassiter’s showed up to welcome them home. As Tyson had already informed Marcus that the Kidds were not making an appearance today to celebrate their return, Marcus had gone near silent and sullen. Tyson wasn’t far off from the same state given his degree of fatigue, so the two of them were of the same mind. Eyes forward, walk straight to baggage claim, and move the hell on quickly. But just as they were about to hit the escalator for the baggage area, Marcus let out a low wolf whistle. Tyson took in his grin and then followed Marcus’ line-of-sight. What he saw stopped Tyson in his tracks.
Jessica was no more than ten yards from him. Her eyes were raking over him systematically. She seemed to be taking stock of his wellbeing. When she was satisfied with what she’d gleaned, she smiled at him. She looked amazing. Her hair was loose and flowing. Her normal curls were straightened so that the silky strands fell gracefully over and past her shoulders. Her lips were glossy and her cheeks were tinted with the barest color. Long, dark lashes framed her luminous brown eyes. She wore jeans that fit like a second skin, a fitted graphic tee and a lightweight blazer. Tyson noted that she looked taller and wondered about it until his slow perusal of her fantastic form ended at the high, and very sexy heels that made her legs look a mile long.
She’s beautiful.
“That she is, brother,” Marcus said, clueing Tyson in on the fact that he’d actually said the words out loud.
They stood still, looking at each other. It was much like when he’d awakened to find her in the infirmary in Afghanistan. He couldn’t believe she was there. He couldn’t look away. She had come to meet him, to welcome him home. Tyson couldn’t stop the wide grin that spread across his face. Her smile brightened and his chest went tight. He took a step toward her and she mimicked his action.
“Ah, shit!”
Tyson heard Marcus speak just before he felt someone slam into him. His arms went up to grab the body that was flung at him so that they wouldn’t fall over in the middle of the crowd. He took his eyes off of Jessica and looked down to find Bethany plastered to the front of his uniform. Her arms had been flung around his neck and she was hanging from his body with her head pushed into the curve of his shoulder. Before he could speak, she shifted, kissed him, and started gushing about how glad she was to have him back home.
Tyson quickly looked over at Jessica. She wrapped her arms around her middle and went completely still. Her smile had disappeared. Her eyes were pinned to the woman in his arms. Still in a bit of shock over Bethany’s sudden appearance and assault on his person, Tyson hadn’t yet let Bethany go. He knew he should hasten to do so, but one look at Jessica’s pained expression and his limbs stopped functioning. She wasn’t that far away, so Tyson could see the muscles along her jaw flexing. He could see the increased rate in the rise and fall of Jessica’s chest. He could see the hurt in her eyes.
He shook his head at her, never taking his eyes off of hers. He willed her to not leave, to not believe what she was seeing, to give him a chance to explain. But, she was already backing away.
“Marcus,” he called out. Begging his friend to intercede with that one word.
“I’m gonna kick your ass,” Marcus said under his breath, but he went after Jessica.
******
Jessica felt strong arms grab her from behind. She immediately went tense. She had gotten maybe twenty feet away from the view of Tyson Kidd with that cute little brunette wrapped around his traitorous self. She had thought she might throw up. The pain had been just that swift, hitting her in the gut. Jessica had literally grabbed her stomach it had hurt so badly. She couldn’t believe he had the nerve to come after her and stop her exit. An uncontrollable growl began to emanate from deep within her. Jessica tried, but was powerless to silence it. She was about to scream her fucking head off in the middle of the goddamn international airport.
“Shh. It’s me, sweetheart.”
Marcus. He was the one holding her. The fight went out of her and Jessica began to tremble. Marcus turned them so that she wasn’t facing Tyson and his...Wife? Girlfriend? Hell, she had no idea what the woman was to him, had been too stupid to ask. Oh my God! Jessica started up a steady mantra that she assumed was in her head, but when Marcus shushed her again and pulled her into an embrace, she suspected she might have been repeating it aloud.
“Are they married?” Jessica heard her voice travel up from beneath her face, which was buried in his chest.
“No. Things aren’t as they appear, Jess. You should let him explain.”
“She’s his girlfriend, then?” she asked, ignoring his statement.
“Jessica...” he started.
“Answer me,” she demanded. Even she hear the crack in her voice.
“She has been, but you should talk to Tyson.”
“No. I’m going home.” Jessica pulled out of Marcus’ embrace. “Thank you...for that. I’m glad you’re home.” She quickly put a palm to his face. “I missed you guys, so I thought I’d surprise you. Stupid. But I’m glad I got to be here when you got home, Marcus.” She kissed his cheek. Then, for the second time, she turned to walk out.
******
Marcus looked over at the very sullen Jessica Watts. It had been one hell of a chore convincing her to stay over, to not drive off in the middle of the night when she was hurt and angry. He hadn’t realized how stubborn she was. She had finally relented and they were now sitting in his living room. She’d driven him home in the car she had rented. All he’d had with him from the plane was his duffle. He’d left his other bag because she refused to go to baggage claim. If Tyson didn’t get his stuff for him, Marcus was going to be pissed.
Speaking of Tyson, Marcus’ phone was ringing yet again. They guy was blowing his mobile up.
“If you answer that phone, I’m out of here. Do you hear me?”
“Yeah, yeah. I hear you,” he said. “Just like the first five times you said it,” he muttered under his breath.
“I heard that. I can just leave, you know,” she said. She’d folded her arms over chest.
“No you can’t. It’s too late, and I’m not letting you drive off, so stop threatening me with it.”
She harrumphed and Marcus seriously had to fight the urge to roll his eyes. He checked the screen on his phone and found that it wasn’t Tyson. He wasn’t expecting the call or the caller.
“Don’t you answer that!”
“It’s not even him,” Marcus grumbl
ed.
“Fine,” she groused. “You should get it then.”
He answered the call. The conversation took him completely by surprise and warmed his heart all the same. He could feel himself smiling, but was hard pressed to control it. After a few minutes he ended the call with a promise to return it at a more convenient time. Days like today typically put his mood in the crapper. Walking off the plane and through the airport watching so many happy reunions and welcome home exchanges only served to remind him of his aloneness. It was particularly bad when Tyson’s family or Lassiter’s couldn’t be there. Couple that with Tyson’s ass backwards handling of his female situation, and the result was a piss-poor return home. But, that call had just improved his mood considerably.
“If you’re not into talking, we might as well drink,” he teased Jessica, trying to lighten her mood, too. “You game?”
“Sure. Why not?”
“No reason I can think of. What do you want? Of course I had no time to stock up before your, um, visit, but I should have something around here.” He looked through the bottles in the cabinets below his bar.
“Whatever you’ve got is fine. And I didn’t say I wouldn’t talk to you. I don’t want to talk about Tyson. Feel free to chat away about anything else,” she said with a smirk. “Or anyone else, as the case may be. Like...who that was on the phone who so easily cheered your sour mood?”
“I don’t have a sour...” he stopped the lie when he saw the pointed expression Jessica leveled on him. He chuckled. “Ok, so not the best of moods. It’s tough when there’s nobody there to see you come home.”
“Yeah. I get that.”
“The call; that was Terri. She is...was Lassiter’s wife. I told you about her. She was calling to welcome me back. She told me she wanted to be there today, but she and Jacob are with her parents for the weekend. It’s good to know she was thinking about me, on a day when her husband should be coming home, too. She’s a good person, a good friend.”
“Sounds like,” Jessica said. She accepted the drink Marcus handed her. She took a gulp and almost immediately pounded a hand to her chest as her nostrils flared. She sputtered through a cough, causing Marcus to suggest she sip instead of chug. Jessica agreed with a silent nod and watery eyes.
“If I ask a question about them, will you answer me honestly?” she asked Marcus a few moments later.
“Of course, Jess,” he replied aloud. In his head he said, “That depends”.
“What’s her name?”
“Bethany Franks. She the daughter of a retired Colonel.”
“Are they serious?”
“Tyson should answer that.” He refused to be the one to tell her they lived together.
“Ok. Then, tell me how long they’ve been together,” she requested.
“A while,” he hedged.
“How long, Jones?” she pushed.
“Well, we were deployed for a year, so you know there’s that time. Plus, you said a question, one.”
“Marcus!”
“Two years. They were together two year, Jessica.”
“That’s a long time, a significant time,” Jessica murmured out loud.
“Jessica, I honestly don’t know why Bethany was there today. I don’t know why she showed up. He didn’t know she was coming and he wasn’t expecting her.”
“Yeah, well that doesn’t mean she didn’t think she had a right or a reason to show up.”
After that she let it go and they talked about other stuff. Marcus didn’t know how to convince her to talk to Tyson. He knew she felt betrayed, but he suspected she also felt she’d walk right into it. She was hurt, and Marcus knew it wasn’t what Tyson wanted. He tried a number of times to sneak away to call Tyson, but Jessica was like a dog with a bone. She told him to leave his phone whenever he made a move to leave the room, always threatening to drive off if he even thought of contacting Tyson. She was lucky he liked her so much, Marcus thought with a smile, because in her current sulking and snarky state he’d actually considered kicking her out and sending her on her way himself.
******
There was banging. Loud, annoying banging. His frickin’ door was rattling on its hinges. Marcus heard it, but truly didn’t care to answer. He didn’t want to move. Hours on planes, up all night talking...drinking. Marcus just wanted to sleep, to sleep and not move. But the banging was loud and very insistent. Marcus shouted a course curse to his empty room and rolled out of his bed. Looking down, he made sure he was wearing bottoms. Marcus made his way to the front of his house. He deactivated the alarm and yanked the door open.
“What?” he yelled.
“Where is she?”
Tyson pushed past Marcus and into his living room. Marcus sighed and rubbed his gritty eyes. Shutting the door, Marcus turned bleary eyes on Tyson. Sometimes it didn’t pay to have a best friend. They stopped by at all times of the day with no consideration for your desperate need for sleep.
“You gotta be kidding, man. It’s got to be like six in the morning. Why are you here so early?”
“It’s just after five and I would have been here earlier had it not taken me most of the night and into the wee hours of this morning to get rid of Bethany. Where’s Jessica?”
“In the guest room,” Marcus yawned out.
Tyson went off to find Jessica, but came back with a note.
“Shit and damn! She’s gone.” He read the note out loud. “Thanks for taking care of me last night. I’m glad you were there when I needed you. What the hell does that mean?” he yelled at Marcus.
“Don’t you start with me,” Marcus yelled back. “First off, it’s too damn early. Secondly, you know I wouldn’t try anything with your woman!” Marcus winced at clanking in his head because of their shouting. He’d perhaps partaken of too much tequila. Maybe that was Jessica’s plan since she was nowhere to be found.
“Why did you let her leave?”
“I didn’t let her do a damned thing, Tyson. I thought she was still in the house.” Marcus shook his head. “She must have watched me set the alarm.” He paused and turned to his friend, thinking of the incident at the airport the day before. “What the hell happened? Why didn’t you tell her about Bethany? And what was Bethany doing waiting on you yesterday?”
“I didn’t know how to tell her. I thought it didn’t matter. I broke up with Bethany, told her she had to move out. She said she had already started, was going to be gone long before I got back. She basically said “good riddance”. Her stuff wasn’t even at the condo. I don’t know what she was thinking or doing.” Marcus watched as Tyson ran his hands over his head. “She said she was there to see if I’d give it one more try. Something about her father thinking I was good for her. I guess her parents may have put her up to it.”
“Well, you’re in a mess, man. Jessica’s hurt, and she’s angry,” Marcus said. He was positive he’d just informed Tyson of what was elephant-in-the-room obvious, but he said it anyway.
“I have to fix it. I can’t lose her again,” Tyson said.
“What are you going to do?” Marcus asked him.
“Go get her.”
Chapter 17
“You here again?”
“Yes. I figure I’ll wear you down and you’ll eventually let me in,” Tyson said. His tone suggested that he had unlimited patience for the wear-down tactic. Though, he had to admit his degree of frustration was reaching a tipping point.
“How long do you plan to keep this up?”
“Until it works,” Tyson said. Or, until I have to back to work and then get time off to start it up all over again!
“What do you want?”
“To talk, that’s all. Just let me in. Please,” Tyson said.
“Fine. But it won’t do you much good.”
Tyson walked into the modestly appointed home. It was an older house, but was spacious and well kept. He’d been trying for three days to get in the door having been turned away twice the day before and completely ignored the day before that. H
is goal was to get Jessica to hear him out, to listen to his explanation about Bethany’s presence at the airport. He had to explain about Bethany period.
He’d flown into Georgia after hearing from Marcus that Jessica had some time off and was spending it with her father not at her home in Texas. Wasting no time, he’d booked a flight thinking he would only be hours behind her. Turns out he wasn’t far behind, but she had promptly determined she didn’t want to talk to him. As such, she refused to acknowledge he was even at the front door of her childhood home when he’d showed up. The next day, she had successfully recruited her father to do the turning away. Turning toward the now closed door, he watched Mr. Watts walk across the room and take a seat. Looked like the man was on duty again today.
“You can sit down,” the man said. “Tyson, right?”
“Yes, sir.”
“You’re the one from the military academy.”
“Yes.”
“A lot...happened between you and Jessica.”
“Yes, sir. And I’m sorry about not being around.”
“Well, wasn’t much you could do if she wouldn’t tell you. She’s tough, my Jessica. But that time was hard for her. I wasn’t a lot of help back then. Hadn’t done so well at dealing with my own losses.” Mr. Watts sighed and then continued. “So, I wasn’t much good with helping her through hers.”
“I would have come. I would have been here. I want you to know that,” Tyson said adamantly.
Tyson didn’t have a clue as to what Mr. Watts knew about him or thought of him, but he wanted Jessica’s father to know he would have been available for her when she needed him.
“I believe you. She said as much, especially in the first few months after she came home. And then when she started dodging your calls.”
