“What flowers?” Miranda asked Susan.
Jeremy heard her question. “Hope has to wait til after dinner for her present. You get mine now.” He ran past them and leaped down the steps into the yard toward a ring of redwood chairs surrounding a firepit.
“Mrs. Bell! Where are the flowers for Mira?”
Miranda could hear Leslie’s laugh float toward them. By the time they got to where Jeremy was, he was practically jumping up and down with excitement. He was standing in front of one of the chairs and as Miranda got closer, he jumped to the side and then she froze.
“Ta-da!” Jeremy shouted.
She stared at the bouquet of flowers.
“Do you like them Mira? I picked them out. You’re pretty like the sun. So I got you yellow flowers.” Miranda had to look closer to realize they were large Gerber Daisies and not sunflowers. But even that didn’t dispel the feeling of dread.
“Miranda, are you okay?” Susan looked from her to the flowers and back again. Then she laughed. “I steered him away from the sunflowers because I know those are special to you.” She laughed and nudged her with her elbow.
“Yeah. Special.” Miranda said sickly. Thank God it was dusk so Susan couldn’t get a good look at her expression.
“Mira? Aren’t you happy?”
Oh Bloody Hell.
Miranda crouched down. “Jeremy, this is a wonderful present! I love my flowers!”
His grin was huge.
“You’re going to like my present, too,” Hope said from behind her. “It’s a s’prise,” she said again.
“You two are so special, I’m going to love both of your presents as much as the whole wide world,” Miranda threw out her arms out wide.
Hope giggled and Jeremy’s grin just got bigger.
“Hey, I think I see some of the kids getting in the bouncy house,” Susan said. Both of her kids’ heads spun to take a look across the lawn.
“Can we go?” Jeremy begged.
“Yep. Just be sure to come out when your Dad tells you to. Got it?”
“We promise,” Hope said as she grabbed her brother’s hand and started to drag him across the grass.
“God I love your kids,” Leslie said as she got up and moved the flowers off the chair. “Your son Jeremy is going to be a heartbreaker.”
“He is growing up so fast. He wants to be Mike when he grows up.”
“That’s a pretty good aspiration if you ask me,” Betty said.
“You two are a sight for sore eyes.” Miranda said as she sank down in the now empty chair.
“I think she’s talking about the sangria,” Leslie said as she lifted the pitcher. She picked up an empty glass, poured a hefty amount and handed it to Miranda.
Miranda took a small sip. She needed it after the flower incident. She needed to keep herself together. She really couldn’t take much more.
She took a deep breath, and then smiled. Okay, enough wallowing, she was here with dear friends, she was going to enjoy herself.
“I was waiting for you to get here,” Betty beamed. “I wanted to show you something.”
Miranda looked at the middle-aged woman. She’d retired from Amtrak soon after the wreck. She’d been smart enough to get some counselling for her PTSD after the accident. No moss grew under that stone.
“Does that something have anything to do with those gorgeous diamonds you’ve been trying to hide?” Leslie asked as she crossed her legs.
“Dammit, nothing gets by you,” Betty grumbled. Then she gave a delighted laugh and thrust her hand out. “Look at this. Jared gave it to me. When we got married thirty-five years ago, he could only afford a wedding band. I was stunned when he bought me this eternity ring.” She looked at it lovingly. Miranda couldn’t be happier for the woman, then she started to laugh again. “Of course he bought it from a diamond store called Jared.”
“If there was a diamond store called Mike’s, you can be damn sure my husband would have bought my ring there. Instead I just get subs from Mike’s Sandwich Shop. He loves bringing home the bag with the Mike’s logo.”
Leslie gave Miranda a sisterly smile. Apparently she knew that neither Griff nor her husband were bringing home bags with their names on them. But…
“I will say, considering the bags Griff brings home, you’d think my name was Victoria,” Miranda whispered to Leslie.
“I heard that,” Susan called out. She motioned toward her breasts, “you need to have two kids, then you’ll start getting bags from Fredericks of Hollywood.”
Miranda let out a loud laugh, and for the first time that night, she thought she might get through the event without throwing up.
“I think we’re missing out on all the fun,” Griff said as he came up behind their hostess. Leslie twisted in her chair to see who was talking. “Susan was doing some interesting pantomime. Mike and I wanted to see what was going on.
Susan turned bright red.
Miranda looked over at Mike. It was fifty-fifty whether he would tease his wife or cover for her.
“Susan, care to share with the class?” Leslie asked.
“Yeah, Susan, we saw some funny hand signals going on when we were walking up. This should be fun,” Mike teased his wife.
“I was explaining how puffed up your chest got when I told you I would marry you.”
Miranda loved how quick-witted her friend was. Her ability to think on her feet made her an outstanding assistant.
Mike reached out and grabbed Susan’s hand and brought it to his lips. “You’re right about that. I still don’t think that’s what you were talking about,” his voice trailed off.
Susan gave him a smile that was the picture of innocence. “Can’t prove it.”
Watching the love between Mike and Susan made Miranda think of another man who was missing. “Did you hear from Josiah?” Miranda asked Leslie.
“Captain Hale said he couldn’t make it,” Leslie sighed. “But, Billy Anderson is here,” she smiled brightly. “I can’t believe how much he has grown up.”
“Where is he?” Mike asked.
“He’s in the game room. Drake’s showing him how to shoot pool,” she laughed.
“That should be interesting, I think I’ll go check it out.” Mike nodded and smiled before he headed toward the house.
“Tell the boys that the buffet will be ready in a half hour, will you?” she asked.
Mike gave her a wave over his head. “I’m on it.”
Betty called Griff over to show off her ring, and Leslie took the opportunity to lean. “You didn’t answer your phone tonight,” she admonished Miranda.
“What?”
“I tried to call and warn you. I wanted to keep things low-key. I noticed things got kind of dicey for you last year, so I wanted to tone it down this year. No speeches, just a little get-together, but we have a problem.” Leslie’s eyes darted over to Susan, then she lowered her voice even more.
“Susan had Mason’s wife make a cake and Hope wrote a story that she wants to read to people.”
“Hope?” Miranda said with dismay. “But she’s only five.”
“I’m pretty sure Jeremy helped. They worked on it at school.”
Miranda’s heart sank. What had that special little girl come up with? She set her glass down and pushed up from her chair.
“Where are you going?” Griff asked.
“I think I’m going to go in and check on the guys. Maybe Billy can show me his new moves.”
Her husband nodded.
Miranda couldn’t eat much at dinner, her stomach was too fluttery. But the little she had eaten sat like a lump. Please God, say she’d make it through this last little bit.
There were too many people to contain inside the house, but Leslie had cleverly arranged things so that the living room and deck were one great big space with the French doors flung open. It really was an extraordinary home. She’d even arranged for a mini stage that Hope and Jeremy could make themselves comfortable on. It was elevated enough so that e
ven if the children sat down on the two chairs provided, everyone could see them easily.
Where was Griffin?
“Randa! Daddy, come here.” Hope shouted. Her little voice reverberated around the room. Shit, Leslie even had the little girl mic’d. Miranda stood frozen. She felt beads of sweat pop on her forehead as she plastered a fake smile on her face. The only good thing was that she had used the world’s best deodorant and her dress was dark, otherwise everybody would know she was a nervous, sweaty mess.
“I’ve got you,” Griff whispered softly against her temple as his arm slid around her waist. “It’s going to be okay.”
With him beside her, it would be somewhat better, but it would take a hell of a lot for it to hit the ‘okay’ level.
“Let’s do this.” She looked up at him. She saw his frown when he saw her pseudo-smile.
“Randa. Hurry.”
She took a step forward, but Griff stilled her progress. “One last thing.” He cupped her cheek, and feathered his thumb over her bottom lip. Then her man with the chocolate eyes bent down and touched his lips against hers. His kiss was reverent, a solemn moment between the two of them. Miranda trembled, his tender caress gave her courage.
“I’ve got this,” she said. She started to believe it.
“Jeremy, them’s kissin’,” Hope whispered. But her whisper was heard all the way out to the people at the back of the deck, and Miranda closed her eyes and groaned at the laughter.
“Your subjects await, M’Lady,” Griff grinned down at her. He gently nudged her forward and people parted as they made their way to the front of the great room.
“You two stand next to Mom and Dad,” Hope pointed. It was cute seeing the miniature Susan with her long brown curls and pink velvet dress, directing traffic. Jeremy just watched on, his look both indulgent and long-suffering. He was a good big brother. He always had been.
Miranda leaned into Griff’s powerful frame and smiled up at the children. Hope was clutching one of those huge pieces of lined paper from grade school in one hand, and waving at her with her other.
Miranda waved back.
“I wrote a story. Jeremy helped me.” Hope’s lisp was adorable, but Miranda wondered how much of the story she was really going to be able to read, since she was only five.
“Jeremy. Hold the story, so I can read.” The little girl thrust the stapled papers at her brother’s chest and he rolled his eyes in exasperation. He held up the paper at Hope’s eye level, and the smart boy managed to position it so that his sister’s smile was facing the audience.
Hope cleared her throat, and peered around the room.
“I named this story, Heroes.” She grinned and pointed at Miranda. “She’s a hero.” Then her arm swung and she pointed to Mike Thompson. “So’s my new Daddy. He’s a hero, too. There’s more. But them two’s the biggest. I’m goin’ to ‘splain.”
Miranda saw the pride shining off the little girl, and it was so contrary to what she was feeling. She wanted a big hole to appear under her and swallow her up. She peeked over at Mike to see if he was as embarrassed as she was, but he was beaming up at his two stepchildren. His delight in them was palpable.
“A long, long time ago, Mommy took me and Jeremy on a train ride. It was a long, long ride.”
“That part’s not in the story,” Jeremy whispered.
“But it was a long ride.” Hope said as she pulled down on her pink dress. Then she bent down and adjusted the heel of her black patent Mary Jane shoe, which caused her dress to ride up again. She carefully pulled down her dress, then pushed the curls away from her face with both hands.
“Where was I?” she asked her brother.
“You said it was a long ride,” he pointed to a point on the paper. “You need to start here. It says—”
“I know. I mem-rized.” She turned and faced everyone again and waved. “Jeremy helped. He wrote down the words, and I practiced them. Okay.” She thrust out her little hands and bent her knees. “It gets scary now.” She wasn’t looking at her brother or the paper anymore.
Miranda was getting caught up in the little girl’s performance.
“The train crashed. It made a big noise and everything turned black. Nobody could see.” She bent down even lower, her eyes wide. She flattened her hands and aimed them at the floor. “Jeremy got losted from Mommy, and Mommy got hurt. Jeremy was scared because he couldn’t find her.”
The paper in Jeremy’s hand trembled. Miranda looked at the boy and saw that his face was pale. She remembered that terrifying moment when she woke up to darkness, when it was just her and Jeremy trapped under the train seat.
“But Mommy found my brother, but her leg got broke.” Hope pointed down to her mother’s leg. “I member her in a cast. I made a flower on it.”
She stopped. You could have heard a pin drop in the room. Not a single ice cube clinking could be heard.
“Jeremy?” Hope turned to her brother.
He took a moment to respond. “Huh?”
“What’s the next words?”
Jeremy carefully turned the page of the stapled papers. He pressed the corner tight.
“It says you disappeared, Hope.”
Hope whirled around and faced the group of fascinated listeners. “I got losted. Nobody could find me. Mommy was hurted and couldn’t get off the train and we needed the Marines like my Daddy.”
“What about the Navy?” someone called out from the back.
“No,” she shook her head emphatically, making her curls swing around her face. “Just Marines like my Daddy,” Hope said firmly.
Loud laughter sounded throughout the room.
Hope looked around in surprise. She looked down at her parents for reassurance, and when she saw Mike give her a thumbs-up, she started to laugh, too. When the chuckling finally subsided, the same voice that had called out about the Navy shouted out for Hope to continue. Miranda was pretty sure it was Wyatt Leeds, a member of Griff’s SEAL team.
“My mom ‘splained that the train was tipped over. It took lots of strong mens to pull it up. But I was losted. I was probably looking for my family, so I crawled outside. Everyone was looking for me.”
She turned to Jeremy. “Was I crying or was I brave like you?”
Jeremy was clearly dazed by the question. Miranda looked over at Susan, and she saw her friend had a similar look as her son. Hope’s childlike account of the terror was too much for both of them. Miranda remembered the exact moment she’d spotted Hope’s tiny form outside the train. Joy and panic had poured through her at that moment, a similar torrent of emotion that was flooding through her right now.
Mike maneuvered Susan next to Miranda. “Stay close,” he whispered to them both. Then he bounded up onto the stage and pulled his two children close to his chest, his head bending down low.
“Dad, I don’t know if I was brave,” Jeremy’s forlorn whispered words echoed across the room through his mic.
“You are the strongest little man I know.” Mike’s voice didn’t need a microphone.
Jeremy’s big eyes stared up at the man he clearly adored. A look of profound understanding passed between them, and the boy smiled.
Hope wiggled in her father’s hold. “I needs to tell the rest of the story.”
Mike grinned. He raised one of his knees so that his little girl could hop on, and she settled herself, then she turned to her brother and thrust out her hand. “Jeremy, give me the paper.”
Hope twisted around and looked at her audience. “The train was broke. My daddy and bunches of you tied rope around it to try to pull it so it wouldn’t fall over and splash into the water.”
Jeremy leaned across Mike’s lap. “Tell about Billy.”
Hope grinned. “Billy was a hero too, even though he was just a kid. He helped save people when he was a surfer. He called for help.”
Miranda remembered her feeling of relief when she’d seen Billy’s bright gold hair on the train.
“But the bestest heroes were my da
d and Randa. Dad got my mom off the train and married her.”
Laughter roared throughout the crowd, carrying Miranda along with them.
“Why are they laughing?” Hope asked Mike.
“You made it sound like I married your mom that day. I would have too.” Mike kissed the top of Hope’s head.
Hope frowned, and wagged her finger at her audience. “They had a wedding later. I was a flower girl.” She turned over the paper that she plainly wasn’t reading from and cleared her throat.
“Daddy saved Mommy. Then somebody had to save me, cause I was outside the train. I was going to fall a long, long way down into the water.” With every word, Hope’s voice got softer and softer. “Mommy said that Randa saved me.”
Miranda started as Susan grabbed her arm. Miranda leaned into Griff and pulled Susan close, knowing her friend needed comfort as much as she did to get through Hope’s story.
“Then what?” Hope asked her brother.
“They got rope,” he whispered.
Miranda could feel the bite of the nylon leash digging into her ankle.
Hope’s face broke into a grin. “Oh yeah! Randa used a rope to come get me.” She threw out her hands, hitting Mike in the face with one. “It was great! There was a helicopter and everything.”
Then her little face fell. “But then everyone had to go to the hospital.”
“Not me,” Jeremy said. “I just visited.”
“Randa had to stay the longest. But Uncle Griff stayed a long time with Randa. He married her too, but I wasn’t a flower girl cause I was a baby.”
Hope held up the now-crumpled paper. “And everyone lived happily ever after.”
A thunder of applause shook the room.
Susan let go of her arm, and clasped Miranda’s shoulders so that she was looking up into Miranda’s face. “I will never, ever forget what you did for my baby. Never.” Tears were streaming down her friend’s face.
Miranda’s stomach hollowed out and she panicked. “You would have done the same thing for Livvie,” she protested.
“Listen to me, Miranda. For once, fucking listen to me.” Susan’s fingers dug grooves into her shoulders. “You. Are. A. Hero. You’re my hero. My children’s hero. I love you.”
Her Honorable Hero (Black Dawn Book 7) Page 2