by Alie Garnett
“Does it happen often?” She took Tim’s hand and kissed the back of it, just like she always did.
“Every few days,” he admitted, nodding.
“Umm, Elissa came to town and is staying with me, but really, I have no room.”
He looked around the house. “We have no room either.”
“I was thinking that it would just be me. Just for a few days. I don’t know her plans yet. She’s being transferred here, so she has a job but no place to live. And she brought her son.”
“Why the big move?”
“Her husband was cheating, and she needed to get away.”
“I see. You can stay until Friday, which is when we’re moving into the house. Then you can stay at our home—your home.”
“We’ll see what happens. He has gotten so big.”
“It happens when you miss weeks of his life,” he said as she got up to put the baby in his bed. Tim had passed out.
“I know, I needed time.” She sighed. Dylan laid him in the middle of the crib and ran her hands over his entire body. He didn’t know what she was looking for, but apparently, she needed to do it.
“Did you get enough of us? Or will you be leaving again now?” Holden furrowed his brows in a mixture of frustration and sadness. He needed to know. If this was temporary, he needed to know that now and not get used to her being there.
“I realized that no matter how far or fast I run, my heart will remain here.” She turned back toward him, and he led her out of the room.
“Tim will always be home for you. Nothing you do can make him not a part of your life,” Holden said, grabbing her around the waist. He pulled her to him, and she went willingly, snaking her arms around him as well.
“Not just Tim. You, Holden. You are so deep in my heart, and I can’t seem to get you out. Somewhere along the way, you romanced me into loving you.” Her voice cracked with emotion, and she buried her face in his chest.
“What about Chase?” Holden’s heart skipped a beat. He needed to hear the words, even if she still loved his brother more.
“He will always be my first love, but you are something entirely different. I love you, Holden.”
Grabbing her ass, he pulled her into his arms as her legs wrapped around his. He had been dying to kiss her since she had first walked back into the house. Breathless, she asked, “Is that good or bad?”
“Good, Dylan. So very good.”
Chapter 31
For the first time since she started working at the VA, she was nearly late for work. Not only had she slept late and not wanted to get out of bed, but just holding Tim had taken more time than she had allotted.
She called Elissa on her way to work, not even stopping at the apartment as she had planned. Elissa and her son Ryan were going to spend the day at the apartment, maybe head out and get to know the city if they wanted to.
By five p.m., she had sent along an invitation for supper with Holden and Tim to Elissa. From the text she received back, it was making the woman’s day to see the baby.
After a long, boring day, she headed out of the hospital. Today she would go home to Holden and Tim. No more hiding from the fact that she belonged there, no more pushing away everyone who happened to get close. She had to accept people into her life; she needed people in her life.
Starting with one person–the one who had missed her when she had convinced herself that nobody had. Maybe if she had read the first letter that came, her life would have been different.
Getting out of the car, she walked into the real estate office for the second time, only this time she hoped her mother would be there. And possibly her sister.
“Can I help you, officer?” the same brunette as before asked.
“Is Janet in?” She pulled off her hat, once again forgetting she wore it. For the first time, wished she wasn’t in her fatigues.
“Sorry, she has gone home for the evening. Can I leave her a message?”
“Just tell her I stopped by,” she said, regretting not calling.
“Who is ‘I’?” The brunette grinned at her question.
“Dylan. Jessica Dylan.” She stumbled over her own name. Did her mom even know her as Dylan? Did she remember that was the name she went by now? Should she just say Jessica?
“Jessica Dylan?”
“Dylan Marquez,” she answered more comfortably. No matter what happened with her mother, she was no longer Jessica, and would never be again. She had been Dylan for too long now.
“Does she have your number?” the woman asked politely.
Rambling off the number, she gave the woman a small smile and headed for the door.
“Do you have a message for her?” the woman called after her.
“Just tell her I trust her,” Dylan said and walked out of the office. The woman had no idea what the message meant and maybe she wouldn’t even give it to her boss. It didn’t matter; Dylan was willing to trust someone again.
The drive home was short, and by the time she got there, Elissa was hugging on Tim and talking a mile a minute with Holden. Ryan even seemed happy as he ran around the front yard with a toy airplane.
They saw her and immediately headed her way, welcoming her into the group as if she belonged—because she did.
Saturday started early, but thankfully, it started with Dylan in his arms. She even complained about him getting out of bed until he returned with Tim for breakfast. To his surprise, she had started feeding the baby anywhere in the house, no longer needing a certain chair for it. Dylan soon became consumed in loving on their son, making Holden chuckle as he got up and headed for the shower.
Once he got out, she had already changed the baby into his moving clothes, which consisted of the tiniest jeans Holden had ever seen, and a white T-shirt, all bought by Elissa the previous day. To his surprise, the two had went shopping after work, leaving him with both boys. It had been an adventure in parenting for him.
By the time they had come home, they had bag after bag of stuff for the new house and Tim. Holden couldn’t help but feel that she was getting ready to actually have a home. About damn time, Dyl.
Holden grinned at Tim, who was reaching out to him and drooling all over the place. Holden took over the baby so that Dylan could shower, but only after he kissed her and told her he wished they could shower together.
She giggled when his kiss lingered, then let out a full-on laugh as he swatted her on the ass on his way out of the bedroom with Tim.
When Dylan finally emerged in leggings and an Army T-shirt, most of the house was empty. It was odd that the entire house fit in the back of four pickup trucks. In fact, the fourth wasn’t even full.
His parents had been the first to volunteer to help with the move. They had also been the ones who said they didn’t need to hire anyone to do it.
Next had been Jake and Mara, who had even offered some furniture that they were not using anymore. Which was a good thing because the new house was twice the size of the old house and neither of Holden or Dylan had much.
Roark and Karin had come to help as well. Roark hadn’t been impressed with the fact that she’d been Chase’s wife. Some old prejudices would linger until he actually met her, but Dylan was able to win people over quickly and wasn’t worried.
“Dylan, this is Roark and Karin. They have two girls, Sophie and Katie,” he had introduced them.
“We’ve met,” Roark stated coldly.
Dylan tried to hide a smile. “I suppose we did, but we didn’t spend enough time getting to know each other.” Dylan feigned wistfulness as she filled a box with stuff from the kitchen drawers.
“So, you moved from one brother to another?” Roark commented.
“Yup, all in the short span of fifteen years. Crazy how my evil plan worked out so well.” She closed the box and gave her best evil laugh, causing Roark to crack a smile.
“Well, I like someone who’s in for the long game,” he admitted, taking the box from the counter.
“That’s me. Sorr
y I fell for two of the Marquez brothers. Next time I’ll try to find someone else, but there are just so many of you!” She grabbed another box to fill and gave a dramatic shrug, causing Roark to bark out a laugh. Maybe they’d be friends after all.
“You’ll have to settle for Lane; I’m happily taken. So, where’re all your stuff?” he asked as she filled the new box.
Roark had helped move Holden in and knew what he had, and even he must have noticed that there wasn’t much new stuff in the place. There definitely wasn’t anything that had a “woman’s touch” to it.
“I can fit everything I own in my duffle. It’s already packed.” She emptied another drawer as she said it.
“Oh, thank God. I did not what to spend my entire day doing this.” Roark laughed and took the boxes out to the waiting pickup.
Across town, the caravan pulled up to 506 Elmwood Drive, and everyone got out to take a tour of the house before the moving began. Everyone loved the open spaces and the large backyard.
“I don’t think we have enough stuff to fill this place.” Holden wrapped his arms around Dylan as his brother, father, and Jake argued about the size of a swing set that would fit in the backyard.
“I don’t know if we will ever have that much stuff. Maybe we should’ve gotten something smaller.” Dylan settled her arms over his and leaned back into him.
“After everyone leaves, would you rather go furniture shopping or have sex in every room in the house?” he whispered in her ear, loving how her breath hitched at the words.
“Sex, for sure,” she chuckled as she turned in his arms. “Furniture can wait.”
“Love you, Dylan.”
She kissed his neck. “Not as much as I love you, Captain.”
Suddenly, he wished that everyone would just leave so that the two of them could start christening the rooms, one at a time. At this point, he didn’t even care if they went slow or fast, as long it was with her.
“Alright you two, break it up,” Jake said, coming in from the backyard. Mara then came into the room holding Tim, and above them, they could hear the five other kids running around the top floor.
“Never,” he growled and swung Dylan into his arms. Her laughter filled the room.
“You’re crazy, Captain.” Dylan beamed. Today she was using the name not to put distance between them as she always had, but because she loved her nickname for him.
“Only because you’re gorgeous, Major.” He nuzzled her neck.
“Wait! She outranks you?” his brother asked in amazement.
Holden smiled. “Well, yeah, she’s been in longer,” he reminded the group. It had never mattered that she had a higher rank than him. She was a doctor, after all.
“Time to get stuff moved in so we can get out of here and leave the two lovebirds alone,” Donna said off-handedly, not caring about ranks at all.
“Mom’s right.” Holden sighed, not wanting to let go of Dylan. Not ever.
“Ladies, let’s stay inside while the guys bring in the heavy stuff!” Mara called out above the crowd.
“Agreed,” Elissa stated, “bring the table first!”
Mara and Elissa had become fast friends the moment they met, acting as if they’d known each other forever and not just a few days. It was Mara who had suggested that Elissa rent Holden’s little house, also offering to help scrounge up furniture for her and Ryan. In fact, when they were done here, they were heading out to get a pickup full of stuff for Elissa’s new place.
The guys reluctantly trudged out of the house to carry in all the stuff that Holden and Dylan had accumulated over the last few months. Dylan had so little that she was probably going to bring it in herself.
An hour later, the entire house was a mess of boxes and furniture, but nearly everything was inside. Dylan tossed another empty box in the general direction of the back door. She wasn’t used to the clutter and disorganization and needed to clean up ASAP.
A couple of feet away, Mara and Elissa were talking about all the disgusting things little boys do. Dylan was trying not to pay attention but couldn’t tune them out either, and every once in a while, they made sure she was listening by teasing her about Tim, saying that he’d do it all too one day.
“Can we talk about something other than bodily functions?” she demanded, causing them both to laugh at her. Dylan just squinted at them.
“Nope, it’s the number one topic of discussion at my house,” Mara replied.
“Anything else?” Dylan opened another box, which was full of Tim’s clothes.
Closing it again, she took it from the kitchen and to the entry where she ran into Glenn, who was holding a large bouquet of flowers.
“Nice flowers, Glenn, are they for Donna?” she asked with a grin. He didn’t seem like the flowers type of guy.
“Nope, they’re from Holden.” He shifted them her way.
Setting the box on the floor, she gladly took them from him. There were so many flowers in it, she couldn’t name half of them. She took them into the kitchen and finally got the women to stop talking about their little boys and where they had been caught peeing.
Placing it on the table with a flourish, she took out the card and read it:
I’m never going to stop romancing you--Holden.
“Pretty! What does it say?” Mara asked, looking over her shoulder.
“Nothing you need to see,” she replied with a wink. Though the card wasn’t anything big, it was huge deal to her. “But I think I’m gonna go look for Holden and say thank you.”
As Dylan practically skipped out of the room, Elissa said something that made Mara laugh, and Dylan was sure it was about her. Well, 90% sure.
Upstairs, she looked in their almost-empty room. Their bed was set up, but it had no sheets or blankets on it yet. Next, she went into Tim’s room—it, too, was empty of people, but his room was entirely done and ready for him. Donna had taken charge of him today so that she and Holden could concentrate on moving.
A quick check of the other bedrooms had her finding all the kids in one of the closets. They had managed to lock themselves inside and were happy to be free again. Laughing at them as they ran off, she headed down the stairs. The house was getting in shape, though Holden was right—they didn’t have enough stuff to make it look lived in. They would make it a home together, though, so she didn’t worry.
She eventually found people outside, but still no Holden. Apparently, he had gone to get lunch with his brother, leaving Jake alone to haul stuff in. “They’re on ‘break,’” Jake told her, adding a sarcastic eye roll for good measure.
Since she couldn’t thank him properly yet, she went to her car to get her stuff. It seemed odd that she had insisted on moving her own stuff herself, but it felt right. She needed to be the one carrying her lone bag into her new home, a home with Holden and their son in it.
Shouldering her duffle bag and picking up her box, she headed inside, picking up her latest card from Holden along the way and tucking it into the box. It was another new keepsake for her, and one day, they wouldn’t all fit in the box anymore.
She tossed the duffle and box on the bed, then started emptying her duffle into the dresser. She still had only a couple of things to wear but was adding to them as she needed. Yesterday she had worn her Grand Canyon T-shirt, and Holden had teased her about it a little, saying that he didn’t recognize her in “civs,” which is what they called regular clothing.
“Thanks again for the picture,” Glenn said softly. She looked up and saw him leaning in the doorway, watching her.
“What picture?” she asked. She hadn’t given him anything today.
“The one of you and Chase. He looked happy in it.”
Dylan smiled. “He was, I think.”
“Was it taken before or after you got married?” he asked.
“Two years before. We didn’t have any pictures taken at the wedding or after it. It was a rush job in the end. Marquez kept insisting, and I finally gave in.”
“He was pe
rsistent. All our boys are, if you hadn’t noticed.” He chuckled.
“I noticed.”
“I was hard on Chase, I know that. Looking back on it now, I see how it destroyed our relationship. I always blamed you for that, but it was me. I pushed the Navy thing on him when he didn’t want it. Hell, even Roark hated the Navy. Maybe if he’d gone Army, he would have been happier too.”
“Marquez felt like he never met your expectations, even when he did everything you asked of him,” she said, saddened a little by the memory. “Maybe if he had gotten older, you could’ve straightened it out.” She placed all her pants in the same drawer she had taken them from yesterday; they still didn’t fill it very much.
“I’d like to think so. He was cocky and so confident in himself all the time. I hated that about him. Somehow, I felt I needed him not to be that way. It was dangerous.”
“It made him Marquez.” The man she had loved had been so sure of himself, and it was what had first drawn her to him. It was also the reason it took so long for her to believe he wanted her, because he could have anyone. “When he died, I felt I failed him.”
“You didn’t fail him. He died doing what he loved. I, myself, have had to come to grips with that. I took his death hard, harder than I should have, and it took years to come back from it.”
“How many?” He looked back up at her, eyes curious.
“Fifteen, but it wasn’t until I met Holden that I was able to really let go of Chase. Maybe I needed another Marquez to get me to live again.” Dropping the T-shirts in the drawer, she wondered how long she would have lasted if Holden hadn’t showed up. What would she have done if she’d been sent home and not been carrying Tim?
“I raised some pretty great boys.”
“I know, I can’t stop falling for them. Though to tell you the truth, I did fight it pretty hard most of the time.”
He laughed and gave a genuine smile, the first she’d seen from him. “You deserve them both. If only I could go back and be a better man when you were with Chase.”