by Rula Sinara
“Mama, please let it go. This thing between you two. It’s petty.”
“No, it’s not. You may not remember her attitude toward me when you were kids, but I do. I worked hard to pursue my education and career and just because I needed a babysitter and nanny to help out when I couldn’t be home, she had the audacity to criticize working mothers in front of me and the other parents during that school open house, just because I couldn’t volunteer the way she did. It spoke to her character, talking like that. Thinking she was a better parent. She’s judgmental. Anyway, I won’t get into it again. It’s just that something about the expression on her face brought it all back.”
Zuri still thought it was petty. She’d seen how they’d exchanged hugs at the funeral and the sympathy and gratitude had been genuine. If it hadn’t been for the mothers not getting along, both families would have probably hung out at school barbecues.
“You know, Mama, Mary went to law school and she has a sister who is a hugely successful lawyer and a working mother, from what I hear, as are two of her sons. It’s in the family. I’m sure if she had any issue with you having a full-time career versus her choice to only work part-time for a while, it had nothing to do with you personally. Mary had other things going on when we were in school. Marriage trouble, as you now know from the divorce. It wasn’t all about you. Trust me, just let it go.”
She’d gleaned enough from her conversations with Damon back then to put it all together. Mary had been juggling kids and volunteer work while suffering through a bad marriage—one that had impacted Damon, too. And Lucia had always fallen into easy guilt trips from her own mom for not being a full-time mother.
Zuri thought about her work at the lab and how her schedule had shifted to accommodate taking her nephew under her wing. She wasn’t his mother, but as his guardian and aunt, she’d pretty much taken on that role. Was she going to be just like her mom, working all the time? Or more like Damon’s or some cross in between? How would she figure it out and make it work? Would she and Damon end up arguing all the time, as his parents had? Or would they get along like hers, who were madly in love?
Stop right there. Who said anything about love? And don’t compare Damon and yourself to married couples. Get your head back on straight.
She was losing it. She really needed better sleep tonight. She and Damon were not a couple. Their situation was...complicated.
“I don’t know. Maybe. She did seem sincere at the funeral. I don’t know. I can’t think about it now because your father is calling me. I’m telling you, the man is getting a fever but he’s too stubborn to listen to me. Doctors really do make the worst patients. I have to go. But don’t forget your promise.”
“I won’t. Go take care of him and don’t catch whatever it is. Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
She stuffed her phone back into her pocket and held her hands up to the flickering flames to warm them.
At some point, she’d have to come clean. Right now, it was clear her mom had no idea Zuri was visiting Mary’s son. How would she react when she found out that she and Mary shared a grandson?
Talk about shattering a snow globe. Real life could be so impossible.
* * *
DAMON LEANED IN his chair and rubbed the back of his neck. God help him, he couldn’t think straight. He’d been sitting at his desk for a full hour and had barely gotten anything done. The office wasn’t big, but it overlooked the Atlantic. He didn’t care that the cottage needed a lot of work when he had bought it because it was beachfront and that was priceless to him. He’d watched plenty of hurricanes and tropical storms on their approach from here. Each time, the rough waters and dark skies served as a reminder that life could take on the worst maelstrom, but he always made it through. He’d watched every spectacular sunrise, too.
This room, converted into a private office space after he’d bought the run-down house, had been the one place where he could focus and zero in on the details of his work—work that not a lot of people knew about. Only his close buddies, Carlos, Gray and Jordan, and immediate family, who he’d told about two years prior, knew.
It was a matter of trust and knowing real friends from users. It was a matter of people respecting him for who he really was as a person and not some image they had of him. He’d had enough of false friends in high school and for some time after that, as well. Life-or-death situations during special ops had a way of showing a person what and who really mattered.
Zuri might have thought that he hadn’t matured or learned a thing or two since senior year in high school, but he had learned his life lessons—especially about people—hard and fast.
He picked up a pen and tapped it against the notepad lying on the extra wide table that served as a workstation. Two large computer screens faced him but nothing on them fully registered. Nothing but a blur of words.
His mind was elsewhere, on Zuri and Caden. On his life getting turned upside down. Damon had locked the room door easily enough when they had come over for dinner, but what if Caden actually stayed here? How would he know if the boy snooped around while Damon was on search and rescue duty? Messed with his stuff. Posted something online to show off to other kids?
One person was all it took to blow an alias. He knew this from his experience working with operatives as a SEAL. He’d seen it happen firsthand to Gray in this very town when his witness protection cover had been blown. Not that his situation was of the same caliber, but Damon had his reasons for keeping his life as private as possible.
For one thing, the whole keeping toxic relationships and false friends out of his life and not having anyone pretend to like him for his money. And secondly, because writing under a pseudonym kept anyone dangerous from making the connection between who he had been and the missions he’d been on in real life and the adventures Chase Falcon experienced in his books.
Sure, if an old enemy or enemy associate wanted to track him down or any of the members of his SEAL team, a pseudonym wouldn’t stop them, but other standard military precautions had been followed while he was serving and right now, lying low was just an extra barrier and smart move in his mind. He had been a part of several high-profile special ops missions. He was using that experience to bring Chase Falcon to life, but he also needed to be careful. The last thing he wanted was to endanger family or friends, and there were people in the world who would potentially seek revenge if they figured out who he really was and who he had been.
He also knew from Gray’s experience in witness protection that even with the utmost care to hide one’s identity, there was always a risk of getting discovered. Low tides uncovered the ocean’s secrets and letting one’s guard down could do the same. He didn’t even use author photos but did play to readers with caricatures of Chase. That seemed to satisfy them so far, although he knew that once the books hit the big screen, lying low might prove harder. What about Caden? Your son is apparently one of your fans. But doesn’t he deserve more than the rest?
He looked around the room. The only decor consisted of a wall with photos of his friends from the navy and his brothers. There was one of him and Lucas, when his brother had just started middle school. He stared at his brother’s face, seeing the resemblance between Lucas and Caden and himself. He needed to add a photo of his son on that wall.
Duck grumbled as she shifted on her extra-large dog pillow in the corner of the room. The wall to her right was decorated with a dried wad of slobber that had flown and stuck in place when she had shaken her head earlier. He needed to clean it up but didn’t have it in him right now. It wasn’t like anyone else would see it.
There was a reason he worked on updating the interior but not the exterior of his home. He didn’t want to stand out. He wanted the graying wood and unkempt appearance to convey someone penniless, uncaring and not worth the chase.
Chase. He’d chosen the character name because it literally meant “the
hunt” and to him that embodied what it meant to be out on a mission looking for the bad guys—something he understood firsthand—as well as what social networking could be like. Dating. People always wanted to know what you did for a living and how much you had in the bank. Sure, the information wasn’t typically asked for up front, but it was always on a checklist. No matter what most people claimed, people drew conclusions and stereotyped a person based on their job and how much money they made, just like they did based on race, gender and any other minority group. He’d seen it all over the world. And being Black, he’d experienced it in micro and macro ways. It had taught him how precious good friends were. It had taught the rebel teenager he’d been to value family...the people you surrounded yourself with who always have your back. Teach your son. Guide him.
His cell rang and he checked the ID. Carlos.
“Hey, what’s up?” Damon asked, turning his chair away from the computer.
“Nothing. Just checking on you. Jordan said you seemed tense at the bookstore. Woman problems?” Carlos asked.
“What? Nah,” Damon scoffed. Carlos chuckled. “He was messing with me back there. I’m good. I’m just on a deadline.”
“Well, if you say so. Maybe we can grab a beer. I’m dropping off some stuff for the toy drive when my shift ends. Faye went out of her way shopping for it.”
Carlos had someone in his life now. His place was no longer a bachelor pad. Faye had put her touch on it. She’d softened the sheriff up somewhat as well. Damon’s bros were all pairing up and starting families. Except for him. At least not in the traditional sense.
“Sounds good. Later, man.”
“Later.”
He scooted his chair back and went to sit cross-legged on the floor next to Duck.
“It’ll be fine. Right, girl?”
He wasn’t sure but Duck’s tongue lolled. She didn’t seem concerned. He looked around. The comforts and upgrades he’d done to the interior had always been for him and his dog. No one else.
Except that now, Zuri and Caden had entered his life. They’d seen his place, but not this room. They didn’t know about his pseudonym and he wasn’t ready to tell them. Here he was bitter at Zuri for keeping secrets from him, yet he had stood right there in front of Castaway Books and didn’t come out with the truth.
How was he supposed to tell her he was D. L. Dylan, the author of the Chase Falcon series when she was standing there thinking his books were inappropriate and a bad influence on Caden? His own son, who they were already at odds about. A kid who obviously didn’t like Damon Woods but apparently loved D. L. Dylan and Chase Falcon.
Granted, the boy hardly knew his father and needed time, but Damon didn’t want the kid deciding to like him just because he’d written the books. He didn’t want Zuri forgiving or trusting him because he was a famous author. He wanted her to really understand and value who simple Damon Woods was.
He pinched the bridge of his nose, then rubbed his eyes. He wasn’t getting any work done. If he didn’t get his act together soon, he’d be hearing about it from his agent. As if her ears were burning, a message popped up on his phone from The General. It was his nickname for Scarlett because she kept him on schedule and helped maintain that identity bubble around him. She, of course, had no clue he’d listed her in his contacts as such. She’d be pissed at him if she did.
He ignored the email. He didn’t feel like dealing with her or anyone else right now. All that mattered and all he could think about was what to do about being a father and how to keep his son—and Zuri—from finding out too much too soon. He needed to know that he would matter to them even if he lost everything and had nothing to offer. That his role in his child’s life wouldn’t be limited to a financial one without being given a chance to be a real dad. And for some reason, Zuri’s forgiveness mattered to him more than anything.
CHAPTER SEVEN
ZURI PUT ON a light jacket and started lacing her sneakers. The morning sun was a bit warmer today than it had been yesterday. There were fewer clouds in the sky. Caden and Sara were already outside, but instead of following them, Damon leaned against the wall in the front corridor and waited as Zuri got ready.
“Don’t you have to work? You’ve probably already missed more time than you’d planned on, with our showing up in town. I’m sure we can find a tour guide for sightseeing on Roanoke Island. Melanie has brochures right here,” Zuri said.
The Outer Banks had one main highway that ran from the north end of the barrier reef to the southern end with only a couple of ways to exit onto the mainland. The different islands making up the two hundred miles of reef were joined by bridges. Turtleback Beach was on Hatteras Island, farther south and less populated. It was where that movie she’d seen, Nights in Rodanthe, was set. Other than famous lighthouses that ran all along the Outer Banks, many of the tourist attractions were farther north on Roanoke Island, such as the Wright Brothers museum in Kill Devil Hills or the Elizabethan gardens and the North Carolina Aquarium in Manteo. When she and Caden came down, the trip had consisted of flying to Norfolk, taking a shuttle to the Outer Banks and then hiring an Uber to get down to Hatteras Island.
In retrospect, she probably should have rented a car in lieu of using the private taxi service, but she hadn’t planned on venturing far from town. Once she saw all the brochures Melanie had on hand, she realized seeing some of the sights would not only be good for Caden, it would be educational. Plus, it would keep him from getting bored. He tended to get more depressed when he wasn’t doing things.
“I’m good,” Damon said. He seemed extra relaxed today. Was he up to something? “I want to spend more time with my son. I made arrangements with everyone at the station. They’ve got things covered. And Faye—she’s the sheriff’s fiancée and Clara’s twin I told you about—is going to take care of Duck for me. She owns a dog service place in Turtleback—grooming, training, walks and all. So, I’m all yours for the day.”
Zuri tried not to read into that. He wanted to spend time with Caden. Not her. She finished with her shoes and slung her small purse across her chest.
“All right, then. Where to?”
He held the door open for her and she hurried past him, knowing she liked the scent of his aftershave way too much, and stumbled on a pair of pink galoshes that Sara must have forgotten by the door. Damon reacted in a flash, grabbing her arm and putting his other hand on her back until she regained her footing.
“Thanks,” she said, acting like she wouldn’t have actually fallen and wasn’t really a klutz, but she knew her face probably looked like she’d tried applying blush in the dark. She didn’t look at him. He let go and she headed down the wooden steps that led to the driveway.
The ride to Manteo was just over thirty minutes, most of it along the long stretch of Highway 12 with the ocean or marsh lands to either side of them. She focused on the stunning views while Caden and Sara told jokes and riddles in the back seat. Some were so funny in a slightly geeky, smart humor sort of way that she and Damon fell into a pattern of chuckling and grinning at each other, and it didn’t occur to her that neither of them had snapped at the other or frowned or looked stressed until he mentioned that they were five minutes away from the aquarium.
“Have you been to any aquariums, Caden?” Damon asked, turning into the parking area.
“Nope. I did go to a zoo once for a school field trip, but that’s it. I didn’t really like it. Some of the exhibits were nice, but some didn’t look natural. I’m not sure about aquariums either. I mean, shouldn’t all those animals be free?”
“I hear ya. Living in captivity is inhumane. I’m absolutely against the old-style zoos where animals are trafficked just so people can gawk at them. It’s awful. However, most modern zoos take part in breeding programs and animal studies geared toward trying to save species from extinction, whether they’ve been endangered because of disease, habitat loss or poaching,” Damon
said.
“You mean they’re not there for just looking at? They’re in aquariums and zoos so people can try and learn about them and help them?” Sara asked.
“Exactly. I mean, bad ‘zoos’ still exists around the world—too many of them—but the well-known, legitimate zoos aren’t like that anymore.”
“Caden does really well in science,” Zuri said.
“Me, too. I think I want to be a vet like Dr. Zale,” Sara said, unbuckling as Damon turned off the engine.
“I can tell you like science from those jokes, Caden. Best ones I’ve heard in a long time,” Damon said. She caught him glancing in the rearview mirror to check the boy’s reaction. Zuri looked over her shoulder but she couldn’t read the expression on her nephew’s face.
“I thought they were hilarious. I’m going to use them when I go back to school. Yours were way funnier than mine,” Sara said. Now that made the corner of Caden’s mouth quirk up.
“Yeah?”
“Definitely.”
Zuri’s door flew open, catching her by surprise. She hadn’t even realized he’d parked. Damon smiled.
“All set?” he asked.
She climbed out and adjusted her jacket as the kids joined them and Damon locked the doors. The pavilion-style entrance to the aquarium was lovely. The grounds included metal sculptures of fish and a sea turtle. There were models of sharks and even a T-Rex. Caden used to love dinosaurs and asked to have his picture taken. Zuri used her cell phone to get a photo of him and Sara standing in front of it.
Inside was amazing. There was a huge glass wall as part of an enclosure that housed every fish imaginable, including smaller sharks.
“Do we have to stick with you guys?” Caden asked.
“Nope. As long as you follow the rules and check back with us every twenty minutes,” Damon said.