Navy

THE FOLLOWING MORNING, I headed next door to check on my elderly neighbor, Dorothy Levy. She was eighty, widowed thrice, had two children who lived in Wisconsin, one in Maine, and one who’d died during the Gulf War.

She’d been the first person to welcome me when I moved in and we’d formed a close bond, despite her reputation for being a crotchety old lady.

In fact, we had dinner together a couple of times a week. She was a phenomenal cook, and I had a gift for baking, so we worked in trade and had become a little adopted family unit.

I rang the doorbell before using my key. “Dottie?”

“Kitchen, bubaleh,” she called back. “Come on in.”

I closed and locked the door, then headed down the hall to the back of the house, where I found Dottie at the sink unloading the dishwasher.

“Hi, Dot,” I said, setting a glass container with fresh blueberry muffins on her island.

“Hey, sweet pea. Whatya got there?”

“Blueberry muffins,” I said, closing the distance between us and kissing her cheek. “Why don’t you sit down and have one and I’ll finish putting your dishes away?”

She patted my cheek. “You’re the best girl on the planet.”

I chuckled. “I’m going to have that engraved on a decorative plate.”

She shuffled to one of the stools at the island and settled into one of the seats before opening the Pyrex dish. “Ooh, they’re still warm.”

“Just pulled them out of the oven,” I confirmed, putting a stack of plates away in her cupboard. “Do you want me to make coffee?”

“I just made a fresh pot, sweet pea. Help yourself.”

“Would you like a cup as well?”

“Is a frog’s ass watertight?”

“I honestly don’t know,” I admitted, biting back a laugh as I pulled two mugs out of the dishwasher. “I’m afraid my expertise in amphibian behavior is sadly lacking.”

She grinned as she peeled away the muffin lining. “Well, I can confirm it’s watertight.”

“Good to know.” I poured us both a cup of coffee, then went to the fridge for the cream.

Once I’d prepared our caffeine fix, I finished with the dishes, then joined her at the island.

“I think you’ve outdone yourself,” Dottie said.

“Yeah?”

“Absolutely,” she said, popping another bit of muffin into her mouth. “I’ve never tasted a better muffin.”

I grinned, wrapping my hands around my mug. “You are so good for my ego, Dot.”

“Just speaking the truth.”

“I’m glad you like them. I’ll put them in our regular rotation.”

“Oh, that sounds like a good idea.”

“I’m trying out a new chocolate cake recipe for after dinner on Sunday. It has a Bavarian cream filling and a ganache icing. How does that sound?”

“It sounds like Sunday’s too far away.”

I let out a quiet snort. “You might be right.”

She sipped her coffee before snagging another muffin. “What are you up to today?”

“I have a meeting at ten, and then client work for the rest of the day. What about you?”

“I have a call into my doctor to get an appointment. Are you sure you can take me?”

“Absolutely. You make the appointment and I’ll work around it.”

She patted my hand. “You’re the best.”

“I’m happy to help, lovely. Truly.”

We chatted for another half an hour or so, but then I needed to get home to prep for my meeting. With a promise to check in with her after dinner, I hugged her and headed back to my house, my phone buzzing as I let myself inside.

“Well, hello, little brother, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Can’t I just call my much older sister to shoot the shit?” Reed retorted.

I chuckled, locking my door behind me. “You are such an arsehole.”

“Thank you. I do try.”

“What’s up?”

“I wanted to know if I could borrow your crockpot.”

“You want to borrow my crockpot?”

“Yeah, guys are coming over to watch the game on Sunday and I thought I’d make chili.”

“You know you can buy one for less than fifty-bucks, right?”

“Yeah, but then I don’t have an excuse to see my sister,” he crooned.

“Oh my god, you’re layin’ it on really thick there, buddy.”

He laughed. “I’ll be over in twenty.”

“Okay, see you then.”

I hung up and went about pulling my crockpot out of the cupboard.

* * *

Two weeks later, a knock at my office door brought Jim holding a bouquet of flowers. Wildflowers to be exact, which just happened to be my favorite.

I pushed away from my desk and rushed to greet him. “Hi, what are you doing here?”

“Taking my favorite daughter to lunch for her birthday.”

“Are you checking up on me?”

I’d been having some issues with nasty emails, some threatening, from my ex and I’d made the mistake of telling Jim about it.

“I’m well aware that your mother raised an independent, amazing human, so I don’t need to check up on her, but spending time with my favorite daughter on the day of her birth is one of the many things that brings me pleasure.”

“That’s a really good answer, Dad.”

“I practiced on the way over,” he retorted.

I chuckled. “The problem is, I’m not sure I have time for lunch.”

“You can take an hour away to eat, honey bun. Gotta watch your glucose.”

I smirked. “Well, if it’s a medical emergency, how can I say no?”

“Exactly.”

“Okay, let me grab my bag.”

He grinned from ear-to-ear. “You got it.”

“Do you want me to put those in water, Navy?” my assistant, Alisa, asked.

Alisa was new. She’d been with me about a month, but she was doing a great job. A few hiccups along the way, but so far, so good. She seemed sweet, if a little timid, but I was determined to bring her out of her shell.

“Oh, yes, please, that would be great.” I handed her the flowers. “Thank you. We won’t be long.”

She smiled. “Take your time. You don’t have anything on the schedule this afternoon.”

Jim waggled his eyebrows and I laughed. “That does not mean I can take a four hour lunch.”

“Well, damn.”

I slung my bag over my shoulder and looped my arm with his. “Come on, the sooner we go, the longer we can chat.”

Jim grinned and walked me out to his car. “Where am I taking you?”

“Main Street Deli is great. It’s Wednesday, so pastrami’s the special today.”

“This is why you’re my favorite.”

We headed that way and found a parking spot right outside, so Jim paid the meter, and we made our way to the door.

Jim pulled it open, but as I stepped through, I ran into a wall of muscle. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” I said at the same time the man muttered, “Shit, sorry.”

I glanced up and nearly passed out.

“Navy,” Cade Wallace said on a breathy grunt.

I managed to stay on my feet but couldn’t regulate my shock and burst into tears. “Oh. Um. Wow.”

Holy hell, the man looked good. The same. Well, almost the same. He had grey in his dark hair now, and a few more lines around his eyes, but time really hadn’t changed him.

I swallowed convulsively as I tried to get myself in check.

“Honey bun?” Jim wrapped an arm around my shoulders and frowned. “You know this man?”

Before I could respond, I heard, “Why the hell’s my sister crying, and who the fuck are you?”

Reed was now twenty-two and more protective than Jim would ever be. He was my ride or die and I adored him.

“Language, son,” Jim warned.

“Jesus,” Cade hissed toward Reed.

Cade’s irritation surprised me, and I stepped back, closer to my dad.

“Sorry, Navy. Didn’t mean to scare you,” Cade rushed to say.

“You know this guy?” Reed asked.

“A long time ago,” I rasped with a nod.

“Seems like a lifetime,” Cade said, and I pressed my lips together and took a few deep breaths.

“What are you doing here?” I asked my brother.

“I’m surprising you for lunch,” he said, hugging me.

Jim smiled. “Why don’t Reed and I get a table while you two chat?”

Reed straightened his shoulders. “I don’t want to leave her—”

“Reed, leave your sister to her reunion,” Jim pressed. “She’s not going far.”

I smiled at my little family as they walked away.

“Let’s step outside,” Cade suggested, and I nodded, following him out the door.

I fished a tissue out of my purse, giving myself a distraction as I continued to bring my emotions to heel.

“Jesus, you haven’t changed a bit,” Cade said, drawing my focus to him.

I bit my lip. “Neither have you.”

“How the hell did you end up here of all places? I thought you were up in Seattle.”

“Jim hated the rat race of it all, so we moved down here when Reed was in middle school. He could still do his job from here but have a better balance. I followed after law school and don’t think I could live anywhere else now. It’s so much like home.”

“You’re a lawyer?”

I nodded. “Discrimination attorney.”

He smiled. “Of course you are. That’s awesome, Navy.”

I wiped my nose and blushed. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize, sweetheart, this is a shock.”

“How about you?” I asked, trying not to melt at his endearment. “How did you end up here?”

“Long story. Why don’t I take you to dinner and I’ll tell it?”

Oh god, there’s no way I could deal with dinner.

“Um, I don’t know.”

Cade narrowed his eyes. “You got a man?”

“No, but—”

He raised an eyebrow. “A woman?”

I snorted. “I can’t keep women as friends, what makes you think I’d date one?”

He chuckled. “That’s not true. You got tight with Celia at the end there, and you have your best friend in New Zealand still, right?”

“Yes. Cola.”

He laughed. “Right, I was going to say ‘Coke,’ but I knew that wasn’t right.”

“Nicola, but I’ve never called her that.” I smiled. “I still have Celia too. She and I keep in touch.”

“I like that, Navy.”

“Me too.”

“Dinner, then. Tonight?”

“I can’t tonight.” He studied me and I couldn’t take it for more than a few seconds. “Okay, technically I could tonight, I just...”

“Fuck, do you have any idea how much I’ve missed you?”

I couldn’t stop staring at him. I wanted to believe him, but so much time had passed without word. “You didn’t write back.”

He frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I sent letters, but they were all returned.”

“Where did you send them?”

“To your parents’ home.”

He sighed. “After Dad got sent up, we were moving all over the place, that doesn’t surprise me.”

“Well, you could have written to me,” I said, tears filling my eyes again.

“Couldn’t,” he said, gruffly, glancing at his boots. “Wasn’t clean.”

“You were at war, Cade.”

“Still wasn’t clean.”

“Holy hell, Cade, you could have strangled puppies, and I still would have read your letters.”

He chuckled. “You are the worst liar.”

“I am the worst liar. Nothing has changed in that regard.” I wrinkled my nose. “And I love puppies, so, yeah, I probably would have burned your letters. But I’m not too proud to say that I might have read them first.”

His mouth twitched and I was once again talking to my other best friend in the whole world. “Did you ever get a dog?”

I shook my head. “Mom never allowed it and by the time I was old enough to make that decision, I was at school, or a new job. It was never the right time.”

“You got your phone in that Mary Poppins bag?”

My mouth gaped. “This is not as big as Mary Poppins’ bag.”

He cocked his head. “Close.”

“Whatever, Trevor.” I pulled my phone out and handed it to him. “Put your number in and I’ll text you.”

His fingers slid over my screen. “You just texted me.”

“Sneaky,” I retorted taking my phone back.

His eyes bored into mine. “Not letting you slip through my fingers again, Navy.”

I shivered. “Don’t say things like that.”

His expression grew dark. “Baby, I have missed you like a fuckin’ fat kid misses cake.”

“That’s a lot,” I whispered.

“Yeah. Let me take you out so we can catch up. If you never want to see me after that, I’ll let you go.” He frowned. “I won’t fuckin’ like it, but I’ll do it.”

I blinked back even more tears. “Okay, Cade. Dinner.”

His whole body seemed to relax, and he smiled before leaning down to kiss my cheek. “I’ll see you tonight.”

I watched him walk around the building before taking a few deep breaths and heading back inside.

“Who was that?” Reed demanded the second I got to the table.

“Long story, little brother.”

“Was that the boy you were close with in high school?” Jim asked.

I nodded. “Cade Wallace.”

“Oh, shit, that was him?” Reed asked, as I opened my menu. “You cried forever over that guy.”

Reed had walked into my room one day when I was having a serious crying jag and demanded to know what had happened. He was six, so it wasn’t like I could tell him everything, but I did tell him a little bit about the boy I missed. I’d felt so dumb because it had been over seven years since I’d seen Cade, but my heart had still ached for him.

“You remember that?” I asked.

“Hell, yeah, I remember. I decided that day I wasn’t ever gonna fall in love.”

I snorted. “Well, you’ve succeeded.”

“Don’t knock falling in love, Reed,” Jim said. “It’s the best thing in the world.”

“Not if it makes you sad like Navy is.”

“I’m not sad, Reed.”

He rolled his eyes. “Whatever you say, sis.”

“No talk of being sad on Navy’s birthday,” Jim admonished. “Today’s a happy day. The day she made the world a better place by being born.”

I smiled. “Thanks, Dad.”

“Well, this is true,” Reed said with a grin.

I focused on being fully present with my family, even though my heart had a mind of its own. Dinner could not come soon enough.