Aidan woke before the sun and listened to the rain lashing the windows. The last year had been everything she’d fantasized, but last night had been a total shock. They’d talked about a future together, and she’d mentioned not being able to have that big day many of her friends had enjoyed. Leave it to Berkley to prove her wrong.
“Are you okay?” Berkley’s deep voice made her shiver, so she pressed closer to her.
“I’m too happy to sleep.” The ring on her finger still didn’t feel real, which made her run her thumb over the band again. “You’re everything I’ve ever wanted from the moment you first touched me.”
“With everything that’s been happening since we’ve been back together, I’ve learned a valuable lesson,” Berkley said, moving so they faced each other. “I never want to put anything off, especially if it comes to showing you how I feel about you.”
“You seldom have.” She leaned forward and kissed Berkley softly. “I’m the screwup in this relationship, remember?”
“You’re the woman I love and am planning to spend the rest of my life with, and I happen to have great taste, so stop knocking yourself. I’m thankful we both got our mistakes out of the way early on and not after we make the kind of commitment I want.” Berkley moved until she was on top of her and kissed her. “The way I see it, we’re old enough to know what we want now, so we’re home free.”
“Thank you for loving me.”
There was a loud knock on the door before they could kiss again, and Berkley dropped her head to Aidan’s shoulder when she heard Preston in the hallway. “Cletus, get your hands off my daughter and open the door.”
“What in the world?” Aidan asked, laughing. “The sun just came up,” she said, glancing over Berkley’s shoulder.
“We’re going out to breakfast, and then we volunteered to pick up the tremendous amount of meat my father ordered. I didn’t think we were starting this early, though.” Berkley gave Aidan another quick kiss before she jumped up and searched for her sleep pants and T-shirt. “Good morning, sir.”
“You’re not dressed?” Preston asked, coming in and appearing as if he’d been up for hours.
“My mistake. I thought we said eight,” Berkley said, realizing Preston’s clock ran earlier than hers. “If you give me a minute, I’ll be ready.”
Aidan came in and started making coffee. Berkley stopped and watched for a moment, knowing her life with Aidan would be way different from the military existence she’d had for so long, but she’d never be bored. The fact that Preston and Mary Beth came along as part of the package would make it much more interesting.
Their errands and breakfast took over an hour, and Berkley enjoyed Preston’s company as he shared some of the stories from his days of active duty. He and Mary Beth had met her parents, but today they’d be introduced to the rest of her family as they enjoyed the holiday.
“Are you sure we’re not too early?” Mary Beth asked as they drove to the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain to Berkley’s mother’s family compound that faced the water. Her grandparents had built it and owned it for years as a weekend retreat large enough for their family.
“Believe me, ma’am, my dad’s been up as long as Mr. Sullivan has,” she said, and Aidan squeezed her fingers.
“Cletus, if we’re going to be family you can’t keep calling me Mr. Sullivan,” Preston said, making it sound like an order. “Let’s start with Preston and Mary Beth, and see where that leads us.”
“Where that leads us? Isn’t that your names?” Berkley asked, confused. “What other possibilities are there?”
“Grandpa and Nana, but you’ve got plenty of time for that. We just wanted a jump on those names before Corbin and Maggie decide to get cute,” Preston said, making everyone laugh.
The day had gotten Louisiana hot by the time they arrived, and Berkley wasn’t surprised that the rest of her family was already there. Her grandfather had founded a successful air-freight company, but he’d been a marine before that and was a stickler for promptness. They were forty-five minutes early, but they were already late.
Her grandfather stood at the center of the wide wraparound porch of the Acadian-style home and tapped his watch. “Papa, the sun’s barely up so smile, and you’ve got people to meet so lose the glare,” Berkley said, hugging the much-shorter man with the straight posture that had been perfected in boot camp. “Where’s Bubbe?”
“Inside cooking for about a thousand people, and not a damn bit of it has a lick of salt. Damn heart doctor.”
Berkley’s grandmother came out and flicked her husband with a kitchen towel to stop the health-food tirade before it really got started. “Bubbe, Papa,” Berkley said after she was kissed a dozen times by her grandmother, “this is Admiral Preston Sullivan and his wife Mary Beth. Guys, these are my grandparents.”
“It’s an honor to meet you both, sir,” Preston said, shaking her grandfather’s hand. “Ma’am, it’s a pleasure.”
“Around here we’re Papa and Bubbe. Welcome,” her grandfather said, opening his arms to Aidan. “Come here, beautiful girl. Still giving our Cletus hell?”
“I’d say yes, but she might take this back.” Aidan held up her hand, and all the Levine sisters surrounded her.
“You did it by the big tree?” her grandfather asked once he’d gotten his hug.
“Things that sound dirty but aren’t,” Berkley said and got a hard flick from Bubbe’s towel. “Yes, sir, I did, and she said yes, even if you all come as part of the package.”
“Get inside, troublemaker, and help your father with the grill,” Bubbe said.
Corbin helped Berkley with the cooler of meat from the butcher her grandparents used and set it next to the grill that was roaring with the logs Corbin had put in to burn down. They sat close by, drinking some beers with her grandfather and Preston, while her sisters, mom, and grandmother joined Mary Beth and Aidan inside. They’d visited here a few times, and she was glad Aidan loved her family as much as she did.
“You’re growing up, Cletus,” her grandfather said, and she smiled. She was over thirty and a navy pilot, but to him, she’d just climbed down from her highchair. “And come home with the prettiest girl I’ve seen since your Bubbe.”
“Thanks, Papa, and she said yes to moving back with me too. We’ve got a couple of weeks to convince these guys to join us.” She pointed to Preston.
“Don’t worry. He won’t be a problem,” Papa said, handing Preston a Cuban cigar. “Once the babies come, you won’t be able to keep him out of your house.”
“The babies might have to wait, Papa.”
“We see how Aidan looks at you and vice versa,” Preston said, touching his cigar to the match Papa had struck. “She might be pregnant already.”
She blushed as the three men laughed. “See, he won’t be a problem,” Papa said.
“There’s no way this was a good idea,” she said, and the men only laughed harder.
* * *
“Way to go,” Berkley’s sister Ann said as she held up Aidan’s hand. “Every single woman in New Orleans will be crying over this for months to come.”
All three of Berkley’s sisters—Ann, Willow, and Suzette—were married, with two girls each. Berkley was the oldest, but all the women in her life, from Bubbe down to each niece, babied and doted on her with the kind of love found only in close families. That they had accepted her was a blessing. “I don’t know about that, but I’m not letting her out of my sight on the off chance that’s true,” she joked, sitting at Bubbe’s large kitchen table. “Where are my babies?”
“We sent them to get fireworks with our immature spouses,” Willow said. “I swear if my husband had said the words bottle rocket one more time, I was going to smash him over the head with one.”
The sudden noise of slamming doors made Aidan smile, and she opened her arms to the six little girls who ran in and jumped on her. No matter their partners in life, all the Levine sisters were redheads like Maggie, Berkley’s mom, and they’d given birth to six little clones with the same coloring.
They all enjoyed getting to know the Sullivans and celebrating Berkley and Aidan’s good news as Corbin and Berkley grilled everything that’d been packed in the cooler. By the afternoon, Berkley had tired out her nieces enough in the big pool that none of them complained when they’d been led inside to be changed into dry clothes. The family sat around and talked while Berkley joined her in-laws and father on the levee to shoot off the ton of fireworks they’d purchased.
Aidan sat with her parents holding River, the newest addition to the family, as she sucked on her evening bottle. “You look beautiful doing that,” Maggie said as she joined them.
“You have beautiful grandchildren,” Mary Beth said.
“They’re a wonder, for sure, but I’m still waiting on my Berkley and Corbin lookalike,” Maggie said. “Those two are still the only two brunettes in the bunch.”
“I’ll see what I can do, but I’ve got to get her to retire first,” Aidan said, lifting the baby to her shoulder.
“Don’t worry. We’ll work on her,” Ann said, “but right now I’m happy for both of you. We’re proud of her for so many reasons, but getting the girl to say yes has surpassed all of them.”
“I’m looking forward to retirement, but hell if I won’t miss her in that uniform,” she said, and they all laughed.
“I totally understand that.” Maggie kissed her cheek. “Let’s see if the pyromaniacs will take a break for chocolate cake.”
“They still have those big boxes, so I don’t know,” Mary Beth said as Preston and Papa headed out with a large box of matches.
“This has been a great day,” Aidan said, hoping this would be as exciting as life got for a while. Until they were out of the service, she doubted that would stay true. “But here’s hoping,” she said as she watched Berkley have fun with her family.
* * *
“Thank you all for coming,” Peter Khalid said as everyone sat on the lawn enjoying the meal the staff had prepared. The press conference that morning with former President Butler was still the topic of discussion on the news channels, according to his staff, and he planned to keep it in the headlines.
The only way to make the rats feel cornered was to remove as much support for their cause as he could, and George was still a favorite in conservative circles. If he thought a man he’d entrusted with the second-highest office in the land was a traitor, those right-leaning circles were more apt to believe it.
“Sir, would you like to move to the balcony?” Shimmy Laurel asked, standing next to Peter in jeans and a golf shirt. He’d ordered his Secret Service detail to dress casual and fit in, and was glad to see every agent out there was dressed the same.
“I’m okay down here until everyone’s finished. There are too many guests to be comfortable up there,” Peter said, and Shimmy appeared not to like his answer. “Don’t worry so much. Looks like everyone’s enjoying being an American and has taken the day off from the revolution.”
Shimmy smiled but shook his head. “I’m never going to let my guard down, sir, no matter what day it is.”
“I told them to save you a plate. Make sure you eat once I’m inside and you can take a breath.” Peter patted him on the back and joined his wife Eva at their table. He leaned in and kissed her cheek, glancing at his kids playing close by. “You know,” he said softly to Eva. “Sometimes I feel like I’m going to wake up and be back in that crappy apartment in Detroit, and you and all this won’t have been real.”
“Oh no, my love,” Eva said and kissed him on the lips. “You outgrew that kid a long time ago, and you’re the guy who’s going to continue making history. I love you and that kid though, and I’m really proud of you.”
He smiled at her sweet words, and then there was only darkness. The world had gone mad.
* * *
“We interrupt—” the radio announcer said in a shrill, panicky voice.
“Berkley,” Aidan said, holding up her phone and walking to a quiet spot. “Yes, sir, we’ll be there by tonight.”
“What?” Berkley asked as her family became visibly upset. “What’s going on?”
“Someone shot President Khalid—he’s dead,” Aidan said, falling against her. “Oh my god, Berk, he’s dead. Those bastards killed him.”
“It’s okay.” Berkley held her, but being okay was the last thing on Berkley’s mind. Peter Khalid was a good and decent man whom she was proud to serve, and now he was gone. That Chandler’s group would go this far was shocking, and in her gut, she was certain that’s who was responsible. “Did they order us back?”
“Olivia Michaels will be sworn in shortly, and Drew wants us there.”
“Come on then.” Berkley walked back to her family, where her father was finishing a call himself. Like Preston, Corbin was retired, but he still had connections, and it sounded like he was using them. “We’ve got to go back,” Berkley said as Mary Beth embraced Aidan.
“Sit tight,” Corbin said. “I’ve got a lift coming for you and a plane ready in Belle Chase. Some of the boys will follow you and fly it back.” Corbin walked to her and gave her a bear hug. “Be careful, and call once you get your orders. I know Olivia, and she’ll persist until she finds a way to punish whoever’s responsible. My gut says you and Aidan will be in the middle of whatever her plans are.”
“I will, I promise. Spend that time trying to convince the Sullivans to stay. We’re not officially family yet, but I think it’ll be easier for them with you guys close by.”
“Your mother’s the woman for that job,” Corbin said and squeezed her one more time, giving Maggie a chance to take his place.
“Don’t forget you own a phone and have a mother,” Maggie said, holding onto her as if it’d be a while before she did it again. “This is so unfair, but you go get those bastards. Keep yourself in one piece though, and take care of Aidan. We’re happy for you both, and so proud to welcome her to the family.”
“Thanks, and I’ll be in touch. I was telling Dad about the Sullivans,” Berkley said, watching Aidan with her own parents.
“Don’t worry about that. Mary Beth and I’ll spend our time shopping for real estate—they’re not going anywhere.” Maggie kissed her cheek and whispered how much she loved her in her ear, then pointed her toward the Sullivans. “Go make all the promises you intend to keep not only to their daughter’s happiness, but also in keeping you both safe.”
“Cletus,” Preston said as Mary Beth stood next to him. “You take care, and watch over my little girl.”
“You have my word, sir, and don’t make me worry about you two while we’re away. Stay put, and we’ll be in touch when we get a chance.” She took his hand and pulled him toward her. “I love you both, and I promise to take care of Aidan.” Mary Beth nodded and hugged her as well.
“Here,” Preston handed over the compass that resembled a pocket watch with Aidan’s picture in it. “You might need it to remind you of what’s waiting for you.”
“Thanks, and I’m planning to avoid any long hikes if I can help it.” She’d told him about what had happened in North Korea and how she and her partner Harvey Whittle had escaped. The compass had been a godsend as they slowly made their way along the countryside after they’d been shot down.
“My wife and daughter are expecting a wedding, so no sightseeing no matter what,” Preston said. “You’ll both be in our prayers.”
“Thank you, sir, and I’ll be waiting at the altar.”
“Are you ready?” Aidan asked as they spotted the helicopter in the distance.
“With you—always.”