Reece strode for ZQ’s office. He needed to check the location of the Austin Zoo and talk to the commander about using some tracking devices on Piper. He needed to know his little girl was safe on her field trip. He rapped on the door.
“Come.”
ZQ had his booted feet crossed on top of his massive desk, the landline phone to his ear. One eye sported a shiner and was partially swollen shut. His lower lip was split. There was a bruised knot on his jaw. Hell, no wonder Junebug was a “mite pissed” about her son’s face.
“I think you’ve made a wise decision, MoJo. You come to the ranch. I’ll arrange for a high-tech hearing aid for that bad ear. You’ll be set for the team. Welcome aboard, son.” ZQ swiveled his feet to the floor and hung up the phone. “Got the last man for the team. Let’s drink to celebrate. Want a little hair of the dog or a soda?”
“A soda in a tall glass with a shot of Jack in it. Plenty of ice.” He shouldn’t start drinking so soon, but he was pissed over Gina’s shutting him out. “So MoJo is on board?”
“Fuckin’ A!” The Old Man smiled. “Maximo lost part of his hearing in that little mission to Myanmar no one will ever know about. He’s been concerned about that, but I’ve got him lined up with a new type of hearing aid. He’ll be fine.” ZQ strode to the bar. “Convincing him to move to the Hill Country away from his endless supply of women was a bigger obstacle. I suspect he’ll eventually settle in Austin or Fredericksburg. Maybe even Bandera. So long as it’s within an hour of here. That’s all I ask.”
“MoJo always did like the women.”
The Old Man laughed. “Yeah, and the women always loved that good-lookin’, shit-talkin’ bastard.” He returned with their drinks and folded his tall frame onto one of the sofas. “Remember those three scantily clad women in the Bent Trident Bar back in Coronado who got in a bitch fight over him?”
Reece nodded and rolled his shoulders. “I remember his sorry ass dragging onto base the next morning, late for roll call, eyes sunk back in his head. Fucker claimed he’d ended up in a motel with all three of them. Shit-ass bragged about every detail of their hot foursome.”
“Yeah, he gave as much to every woman who caught his eye as he did to whatever mission we were on, which is why once a woman got a taste of him they couldn’t let go. He was a helluva SEAL. I’m glad he’ll be on the team.” He raised his squat glass in salute and then took a sip. “What did you want to talk about, Steelhead?”
“You got those maps you showed me the other day? How far away is the Austin Zoo?”
“Grab the red file on the desk. It’s in there. I take it you’re still working for me?”
Reece stood with his hand stilled over the folder. “If you’ll accept my apology for taking a few cheap shots last night. I’ve never beat up on a friend before. I must have been shit-faced. I’m sorry as hell, brother.”
“I pushed you. On purpose. I’ve been accused of doing that from time to time. I knew you needed to lash out at someone and I’m big enough to take it. Hell, don’t give it another thought.” He sipped his drink. “God, I feel good MoJo is joining us. My elite team is complete. I’ve got the best of the best.” He shot Reece a glance as he sat, holding the folder. “Unless you decide to do what Gina wants.”
Reece stared him in the eye. “I’m a warrior, SEAL trained and ingrained, just like you. That doesn’t mean I don’t love her more than anything, because…I do. I’m not ready to give up on us yet. I’ll do my best to bring her around to my way of thinking.” He took another gulp of his drink. “God help me, I love that woman and little girl so much it fucking hurts.”
“That much was evident last night.”
“Gina’s overreacting to the way her Marine father treated the family in deference to the Corps. Hell, there’s a way a man can be loyal to his team and yet loving to his family. It’s called balance. I can reach that goal. But you need to know what happened to me this morning.” He gulped his drink for some liquid courage. “You might not want me after hearing this.”
ZQ lifted the squat glass to his lips. “I doubt that. Tell me, brother.”
Reece filled him in on the spider incident, which meant he also had to tell him about the older snake visions and the nightmares.
“Holy hell, Steelhead, you are one strong son of a bitch. I admire the hell out of you. Damn, I hate spiders. I’d have shit myself. Not you, though. You went back in there and finished your shower with those imaginary things crawling all over you. I’d still be curled into a ball.”
Reece laughed and shook his head. This hardcore bastard was trying to build him back up. He’d watched him do it with other SEALs who were having a hard time. “No you wouldn’t.”
ZQ drained his whiskey. “Steelhead, I’m proud of you. Now, open that map and I’ll show you where the zoo is. Why do you want to know?”
“Piper’s class is going there on a field trip all day on Tuesday. Gina had planned on going along as one of the chaperones, but Piper’s tight-assed teacher got all miffed over my spending the night at Gina and Piper’s house. She told Gina she wasn’t morally good enough to be one of the room mothers.”
ZQ’s eyes narrowed. “Are you shittin’ me? Holly Evans has her damn nerve. She needs to retire. She has no fucking right to judge Gina.” ZQ rose and stalked to the bar for a refill. “I serve on the school board. I’m liable to fire her ass.”
“I agree. That whole business really hurt Blondie. I’d feel better if I could take a couple tracking devices you’ve got in the bunker and put them in Piper’s clothing.”
“Take whatever you need. Just make note of it on the clipboard I showed you so I know to order in more.” ZQ checked his watch. “Scratch and Erin ought to be rolling in here in a few hours. I’m cooking steaks on the grill tonight. Are you joining us?”
Hell, he had nothing better to do. He could wait around, hoping Gina would call and ask him to come to the house, but he had a feeling that wasn’t happening anytime soon. A couple of days apart to cool off and think things through wouldn’t hurt either of them—not when the rest of their lives hung in the balance.
“Sure. Sounds great. I’ll go grab the tracking equipment, make a few adjustments, and help you get things set up. I do need to drive into town to talk to Dust.”
“Do that first, then report back to set things up for supper. I’ve got JJ and Ashley here to help. We’ll be fine.”
Reece’s hand was almost on the doorknob when ZQ spoke again. “Steelhead. I meant what I said. You are one strong son of a bitch and I’m damned proud of you.”
Fighting with Piper over leaving Miss Morgan in the car nearly had Gina worn to an emotional frazzle. Just because Reece had given the stuffed animal to Piper, she had formed a fast and deep attachment to it. The jerk probably bought it for her just for that reason. Gina stopped, groaned, and accepted she’d gone off the deep end on this whole Reece business. Her thinking processes had slipped into the batshit crazy realm. Slipped? Hell, her mind had stormed into crazy and announced it was here for the beer.
Of course, crying herself to sleep last night and waking up to a champagne hangover hadn’t helped Gina’s mood any. Nor had Reece’s phone call when he’d finally decided to return hers. Imagine the nerve of him posting pictures of her baby girl online without asking first!
She held Piper’s hand as they walked through the crowded mall. At least he’d lived up to his assurance that he’d take the photos down from Pinterest. She’d checked after Piper delivered his message. She should have known he’d honor his promise. He was that kind of man—true to his word.
They stepped into a brightly lit department store and strode toward the little girls’ section. An hour later, they walked out with bags of clothes. Red denim capris for Piper along with a red polo shirt with black kittens on the collar. There were also several short sets for hot weather that would soon be upon them and a new swimsuit. Gina had splurged and bought two tops for herself.
“What will it be? Ice cream or those big soft pretzels you like? We’ve shopped up an appetite.”
Instead of answering, Piper stopped in front of a shoe store. Her gaze had landed on a pair of red sneakers with black shoestrings. She couldn’t fault her. The child’s love of shoes came honestly. Gina all but drooled over a pair of cream cowgirl boots with yellow roses and gold leaves. “Okay, young lady, one pair for each of us.”
They walked out later, each carrying two shoe boxes. Piper hugged red sneakers and purple sandals. Gina had added the boots and a pair of black-checked stilettos with black patent bows to her armful of bags.
“I’m not walking any farther in this mall. My wallet can’t take it. Let’s go to the car and stop somewhere on the way home for supper.”
“Can I call my daddy and tell him what all I got?”
How was she to break the news to her? She was having trouble accepting it herself. “Sure, baby. I’ll hand you the phone in the car.” Piper’s smile was almost blinding, warming her all over.
Inside Gina was frozen. She was losing the man she loved with her demands. What made matters worse, she couldn’t seem to help herself. Maybe they could have talked things through this morning, but she’d freaked when she saw what Reece had on “Browning’s Blondes.” She should have known by the name when he’d originally mentioned it to her and questioned him about it. But she was too charmed by him to think and react like a mother.
Last night when he’d so proudly told her about his new job—the one she couldn’t talk about—she’d reacted irrationally. She could see that now. But last night past hurts from her father blinded her to any rational thoughts.
Once Piper was through talking to Reece, Gina connected her cellphone to her Bluetooth system so she could talk while she drove. She dialed a number. “Kelcee, do you have five minutes to calm me down?”
“Don’t tell me you’re having pre-wedding jitters already!” Her friend chuckled.
Aware that her daughter would be all ears, she phrased her comments carefully. “There might not be one.”
There was a pause. “Oh, girlfriend, you’ve got to be kidding. I see how you two look at each other. There’s some serious love there. What’s going on?”
“The job.” She glanced in her rearview mirror. Piper was kissing Miss Morgan, fiddling with her long stuffed ears. “How do you handle Dustin’s? The one you can’t talk about.”
“Ah…I see. Hold on a sec. Let me check on where the guys are. Reece is here. Okay, I see them. They’re outside, sitting on one of the benches. They’re making hand gestures and talking, probably about the same thing we are. How do I handle this secret ops business?”
“Exactly.”
“So far his time away from me has been typical day job stuff. Two or three times a week they run through drills, scenarios, and spend time on the shooting range. When I was held hostage Dustin saved me, you know that. He did it as part of the team. It was a horrible experience, but I knew if he could reach me he’d rescue me. I know my husband. I know how important our marriage, our life together is to him. Because of that I have all the trust in the world he won’t do anything stupid to put himself in danger.”
Okay. That made sense. “Do…do you ever feel like you play second fiddle to his service to the team or the country?”
“No. Never. I run a bookstore that takes up time beyond the hours listed on the door. There’s accounting, ordering, advertising. Dustin gets that. Many jobs creep into our private lives. It’s no fun. Not for the jobholder, nor his or her spouse. In a strong relationship, it’s a compromise. If I can’t accept my husband’s job doing what he’s been trained for and loves, that makes me kind of clingy, and I’ll be damned if I’ll turn into one of those needy women.”
Well, didn’t she feel like the whiny, self-centered bitch? “You don’t worry about his getting hurt? Both Dustin and Reece have lost so much already in their service to the country. I feel like they’ve done their duty. What is it about them that makes them want…need to charge headlong into danger?”
“What if he was a fireman or policeman? The danger rate there is high. Heck, teaching school in today’s world is dangerous. As a SEAL, he’s been highly trained to complete a mission and come out alive. I have to trust him as much as I love him. I know this is all new to you, Gina. I understand you’re scared and hesitant. That’s normal. But think about how Reece must feel. How would you react if he put you in the same position regarding Piper? What if every time you went to her or held her or helped her with something, he complained that you loved your child more than him?”
A lightning bolt of ice struck her system. “I’d drop him in a heartbeat. I can love them both equally, but differently. But no one comes before my baby.”
“And in his heart and mind no one will come before you. See? I knew you’d get it. You’re going to be okay. I just know it.”
“I sure hope so. I don’t want to lose him. Thanks, friend. You’ve given me a lot to think through. Love ya, girl.” Was this how Gina’s mother reconciled herself to her father’s obsessive devotion to the Corps? Had she gone through similar doubts and fears?