Aria shook her head. Her husband had asked her to go. She knew she should at least try. “Thank you for the offer, but I’m fine. I have other things to wear.” The woman didn’t look as if she believed Aria. Her expression, with its raised eyebrows and turned-down nose, was dubious, to say the least. “I wasn’t expecting you. My husband just called, literally two minutes before you arrived, to tell me about the tea.”
“Oh, I see.” She was very polite, but her tone grew a little chilly. “Well, we need to be at Caybreena Hinnell’s house in fifteen minutes. She doesn’t like her guests to be tardy. If you don’t mind, I’d rather not be branded and stuck on her bad side. So, ahem, should I leave you the address, or are you coming with—”
“Give me a minute and I’ll be good to go.” Aria hurried into the bedroom.
Digging through the closet, she knew what she wanted to wear. Withdrawing an Armani blue silk dress, which was probably too dressy but fit her like a glove, she knew it would work. Carefully she pulled it on, then wedged herself into a pair of nude stockings and stuffed her feet into a pair of sparkly heels.
Unearthing her makeup bag, she quickly powdered her face, slapped on blush and mascara, went without eyeliner, but added a dash of her signature pink lipstick. She fluffed her hair so the curls were a wild mass of springy red gorgeousness.
Briskly, she left her bedroom and grabbed her keys off the kitchen counter. Stopping in front of her neighbor, whose eyes were wide, she asked, “Shall we go?”
Eve nodded, her chin practically on the floor and her mouth wide open. “Y-y-you look gorgeous.”
“Thanks.” Locking the house behind them, Aria walked down the street with her neighbor. “So tell me about yourself. What do you do? And the people I’m about to meet, what are they like?”
“Well, I’m a mom of triplets…Reggie, Ryan, and Rickie. You’ll hear them before you see them. Our last neighbors didn’t like them very much, but the military seems to change things up quickly enough that no one gets too annoyed. What rank is your husband?” The woman rattled on at a brisk pace.
“Uh, he just made Chief. I think. I don’t know too much about military stuff.”
Eve looked shocked. “Oh, you’ll need to learn ASAP. Everything is about rank in this neighborhood. My husband is a Senior Chief Petty Officer and—Caybreena Hinnell’s house that we’re on our way to—her husband is up for Command Master Chief Petty Officer. She’s the point person for the neighborhood, the one who sort of runs things.”
“Are all of the people in this neighborhood associated with the Teams?” Aria was curious.
“SEAL Team? Oh, goodness, no.” Her laughter was a titter, sounding like a little high-pitched bell. “You really are new, aren’t you? Most of us are Navy, of course, but there are some other branches here. Air Force and Marine Corps. But there are no Army families that I am aware of. This neighborhood mainly houses enlisted Marines or sailors and their families.” She stopped abruptly in front of a house with a manicured lawn and an insane amount of flowers planted so uniformly, Aria wondered if someone came out with a measuring stick to confirm they were all the same height, size, and width apart, ripping out the ones that did not fit.
The door opened before they made it even halfway up the walk. A tiny blond stood there with her hands on her hips.
Aria plastered a smile on her face and put out her hand. “Hi, Caybreena. I’m Aria McCullum. It’s nice to meet you. Thank you for inviting me to your tea.”
Her hostess gave her a cold look. “You may call me Mrs. Hinnell. And honestly, I had no idea Eve was bringing a guest.”
Aria barely knew what to say, and Eve was shifting uncomfortably beside her. But Aria refused to be cowed. She straightened her shoulders and looked Caybreena—or Mrs. Hiney, as Aria now thought of her—directly in the eyes. “Well, how kind of you to allow me into your home.” With no choice left to her, their hostess stepped aside.
“Well, if you insist on staying, Aria…” Caybreena’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Though I think it’s a mistake. It’s never too early to learn that rank and privilege go hand in hand.” A false bravado lifted her voice higher. “Then, come meet my neighbors.”
Mrs. Hiney led the way into heavily scented room, as if potpourri had been mashed into every fiber and thread of furniture and carpet. Aria wrinkled her nose and then sneezed, bringing another sour look from Caybreena.
Yep, like hell Aria would offer to leave now. She’d rather be the thorn in this woman’s paw then back down, and she wanted to know what she was up against. If a fight was what this tiny blond termagant wanted, then Aria could give it to her.
Oh, Dan, you should have let me stick to my plan and stay home. This tea is going to be awful.
***
She was right! The tea had been an unmitigated disaster. Especially after she’d accidently spilled tea on Caybreena’s new carpet. Aria was sure the spot would come out without much effort, but of course Mrs. Hinnell had to throw a hissy about it. If her husband hadn’t asked her to go to this event, she would never have attended. She cringed thinking about it.
Aria didn’t think things could get much worse until she saw her front lawn.
There was a refrigerator in front of the door to her house and furniture filling their yard. Digging into her pocket, she looked for her phone. It was in the house. Someone had probably called, but she had been in such a rush when she left that she had neglected to bring her cell phone with her.
Tears filled her eyes. How was she going to get the door open, with the refrigerator blocking it? Worse yet, what was she going to say to Dan?
Sitting down on the couch, which was actually pretty comfortable, she gave in to the day’s stresses, exhaustion from unpacking, and all the work she had to catch up on, and cried. She wept until there was nothing left inside of her, and then a thought occurred to her. She hadn’t closed the back door to the patio.
Getting up from her comfortable spot, she walked down the block to the gate that let her onto the path that went around the whole neighborhood and walked down to her house. Sure enough, the door was open. She took off her shoes, tossed them into the yard, and then hiked up her dress and climbed over the fence. She was relieved to be home. Grabbing her shoes, she went inside. There she found a six-pack of beer on the counter from her neighbor Stan and his wife, Julie. Had he climbed over the fence, too? The thought of his being in her house gave her uncomfortable chills, yet more than anything she wanted to crack one of them open and drown out the afternoon’s event.
“Nice.” They were still cold. She opened a drawer, found the bottle opener, popped the top, and drank a sip. It burned her throat a little—she wasn’t a beer drinker, just had an occasional glass of wine or champagne—but today she didn’t care. She took another sip and put it aside to go change into more comfortable clothes.
She knew Dan wouldn’t be able to answer his phone, but after such an awful afternoon, she just wanted to hear his voice. Even the way he asked to leave a message seemed deeply sexy, and she couldn’t wait for him to get home.
“Hey, babe. Just wanted to give you a heads-up, we have a furniture situation in our front yard. Can’t wait to see you tonight!”
She took a deep breath and tried not to let tears overwhelm her. She could get through this. They could get through this.
Her heart leaped as her phone rang. Maybe Dan had found a minute to call her back after all!
But it was Jimmy on the line—and he was crying.
“What’s wrong? Where are you?” she asked.
“I’m…in San Diego. At the h-h-hospital.”
“Jimmy, slow down. What hospital? Are you hurt? You were supposed to fly out a week ago.” Panic clawed through her. She was the adult, though, and always had to be. Making her voice calm and firm, she hoped he would hear her stability and slow down his breathing before he had an asthma attack. When he didn’t, she said, “Come on, Jimmy, draw your air in slowly. Do it with me. That’s right. Now let it out slowly
. Good, just breathe with me.” Aria walked him through it for several minutes, getting her teenage brother calm, and then she asked the question that was on the tip of her tongue through the entire phone call. “Jimmy, where is Uncle David?”
Her brother took in a ragged breath. “He’s dead. Uncle David was killed in the crash.” The weeping began again as Aria put the cell phone on speaker and stared at it.
A police officer came on the line. The details came out slowly. Instead of going back to Vermont so Jimmy could catch the first week of school, her uncle and brother had driven up the coast to visit her uncle’s friends. Today they were on their way back to San Diego. On Interstate 5, just past the exit for the Marine base, they’d been in a crash.
Uncle David went through the windshield and was killed instantly. Her brother was completely unharmed but needed to be picked up from the hospital.
She told the officer she would be there in twenty minutes.
She sent Dan a quick text before she allowed herself to give in to the grief. Flashes of her parents’ death ripped her heart apart. But Jimmy needed her. “Get it together, Aria.”
Swallowing the lump in her throat, she pushed her sorrow to the recesses of her brain as she made her way to the hospital. She knew delaying the grief would cost her later on, take a greater toll, but she told herself she needed to do it…for Jimmy. He must have felt so adrift. What would it be like to raise a teenager? She didn’t know. She had been away from home for five years. Regardless, she’d make it work, because family was what mattered.
“All we have is each other.”
As she entered the hospital, the smell of the antiseptic assaulted her nose. She coughed and then cleared her throat. Stopping at the water fountain, she took a quick sip.
Police officers were waiting for her in the small ER lobby area. “I’m Aria McCullum.”
“I’m Officer Kendrik and this is Officer Rosa. Thank you for coming so quickly.”
“Where is my little brother?”
The taller one, Officer Kendrik, said, “We’ll take you to him shortly. Only a couple of things. First I need to see your ID.”
“Yes, of course.” She took her new military ID out of her wallet and presented it to them.
“We’re very sorry for your loss. The doctor should be done checking your brother out by now. Let’s go find him.”
He handed her a business card as they walked toward a double-locked door that said Doctors and Registered Patients Only. “Someone will be in touch…you know, for the arrangements you would like to have made for your uncle.”
Oh, God! Aria’s stomach churned. Simultaneously, she put one hand on her stomach and the other on her head. She wanted to throw up or pass out. Her body was fighting both responses.
“Mrs. McCullum, you look pale. Why don’t you sit down?” The police officer sat next to her. To his partner, he said, “Go get the brother. It’s time for them to go home.” He picked up a magazine and fanned her with it. “Do you want us to call someone for you?”
“No, I’ll be fine. Just give me a minute.” Aria counted slowly in her head, using a yoga technique to get control of her breathing. When she heard the door open, she looked up and saw her brother.
She rushed toward him and pulled him into her arms. Holding him as he cried, she patted his back the way she had when he was younger. She couldn’t imagine what he was thinking or how afraid he must be.
“Aria,” he sobbed.
“It’ll be okay.” She willed her own sense of calm into him, trying to ease him. But everything had changed. Nothing she could do would ever take back the horror of her brother experiencing the accident and witnessing his uncle’s death. All she could do was make the present work. She would, too. Jimmy was her only blood kin on this planet, and she’d move mountains to protect him.
Closing her eyes to block out her own emotion, she said, “I’m here. I will always be here for you. I promise.”
Chapter 7
That evening Dan jumped the backyard fence, jogged across the small green expanse, and entered the house. The only light came from the bathroom. As he headed toward it, he saw Aria’s curvy figure in the doorway, standing guard as she watched her brother sleep.
He wrapped his arms around his wife, and together they watched Jimmy sleep—his gangly arms and legs completely tangled in the sheets on the air mattress. A protective, paternal instinct swept through him.
Aria turned toward him, her eyes swimming with tears. He pulled her to his chest, his hand brushing back her curls, and held her. There was so much they needed to say, but right now he knew physical comfort was the best thing he could give her. After a moment, he took her hand and led her to the patio. Once there, he brought her into his arms again. She seemed so tiny and fragile.
“Dan…” She tried to wiggle away, but he wouldn’t let go.
“I’m here for you, hon. Whatever you need, we’re one unit.” He heard her choke as he spoke that last word.
She hid her head against his chest. “I know what he feels…some of it. When I lost my parents, I was so alone and had to be strong for everyone. I don’t want him to have to go through the same stuff.”
He nodded. “I know. But you can’t protect him from his own emotions. The best thing you can do is…to be there for him. Talk to him.”
“Maybe if I had…”
“No, don’t go down that road. There’s nothing you could have done to prevent this.” He held her as she wept. “Let it out. I’m here. I’ll help, too.”
She wiped her face on her sleeve and her eyes lifted to his. The wealth of pain reflected in her gaze nearly broke his heart. She swallowed hard and he listened to her cough. Finally, she spoke. “Let me just say this. Someone else I loved…died, and I wasn’t there to stop it.” Her eyes searched his, begging for a response…some kind of balm to ease the pain. There was nothing that could ease that kind of pain. But he could try to cut the burden in half…bring part of the work onto himself when he was home. Maybe some of the wisdom his grandfather taught him would help Jimmy.
Moving his hands to her shoulders, he held her and said in a firm tone, “Listen to me, you didn’t do this, Aria.”
Her lips trembled. “But my parents—” Tears rolled down her face, dripping off her cheeks and disappearing into the darkness.
“Aria, your parents were in the wrong place at the wrong time. If you had been in the car with them, you would be dead now, too.” He drew her toward him and kissed the top of her head. “You are the kindest, sweetest, strongest, and most caring woman on the planet. You gave up a lot to care for your brother and uncle. I know I don’t know everything you did, but I can imagine some of it.” He placed a kiss on her lips. “I am here to help you with your brother and with everything. We’re teammates. I am a part of this and want to be here.”
His wife shook. He could feel the emotion bubbling up inside of her, and then it burst out in loud, wracking sobs. He held tightly to her, being her safety line in the storm of her emotions. “That’s it. Let it out.” Maybe this time my message sunk in. She can’t continue to make herself responsible.
Aria wept until her tears ran dry, and still he held fast to her. Hiccups replaced the sobs, and her rapid breathing slowed to a more even pace. As her body seemed to lose its strength, she sagged against him. Before she completely gave in to the exhaustion, he picked her up in his arms.
“I love you,” she whispered.
“I love you too,” he replied as he carried her through the darkened house and tucked her into the bed next to Jimmy. He grabbed a towel from the bathroom and draped it over the window, then closed the door quietly behind him.
Stepping back out on the patio, he sent a text to his buds. Hopping over the fence railing, he walked down the pathway, to the road, and around to the front of his house. He stared at the furniture littering the lawn. “You’ve been a busy lady, Aria. Now, let’s see if I can be the one to bring you some ease and comfort.”
***
&n
bsp; By the light of the streetlamps, JC and Hammer helped Dan survey the yard.
Taking a deep breath, Dan let it out slowly. “What a mess.”
“We can make quick work of it,” said Hammer, scratching his neck.
Dan didn’t want to think about the day’s events. It was much easier to tackle the project at hand. “Minimal talking once we’re inside the house. Aria and Jimmy are finally asleep.”
JC nodded. “Roger that.”
Hammer slapped Dan on the back and moved toward the refrigerator. Dan and JC had to double-time it to catch up to him. At the front door, Hammer said, “I’ll tip. Dan, you open the door, and JC, you catch the other end of the refrigerator and help me move it inside.” The choreography was timed perfectly, and the refrigerator was soon in place, connected properly, humming along, and beginning to cool down. Of course, they put several six-packs of beer inside before they went to the front lawn for the next load.
“Who has a knife?” asked Dan as he wrestled with a large box that had fifteen plastic straps crisscrossing it. A Ka-Bar was placed in his hand, and Dan smiled as he recognized the feel of it. “Aw, JC, you’re lending me Sally.” Sliding the blade over the straps, in one movement he severed all of the restraints and even slit the box for good measure. Tossing the blade at JC’s foot, the man caught it by the handle before it even touched the soil.
“Come to me, my precious.” JC slipped the knife into the sheath attached to his belt and went back to wrestling with the couch. “Dan, I’m not confident about our ability to fit this baby through the front door.”
“Is there another option?” Hammer did a quick measurement using his arms. “Unless you’d like me to get the ax out of my emergency tool locker and cut it down into three smaller pieces, this pup either has to go back or…”
Dan nodded. “Yeah, I was worried about that when I saw the size of it.” Ripping open another of the boxes, he smiled. “Great choice, Aria.” He pulled out the barstools and examined them. He liked them. “Let’s bring these inside. We’ll put them against the island in the kitchen. I think the back door, through the patio, will be our best option for the couch.”
Once a SEAL Page 8
