Epilogue
Bryson
Twenty-five years later
“Fireman-“
“Uh-uh,” I clear my throat.
“Firefighters,” the chief says as his eyes find me in the crowd, “of the graduating class of 2043…”
I squeeze my wife’s hand and we look at each other.
Suddenly I feel Bryce’s hand take my other hand and in no more than a few seconds our entire family is holding hands in the stands as we support our Delilah today as she graduates from the Santa Barbara Fire Academy and officially becomes a firefighter.
It’s a big moment for everyone, especially Delilah, but even more so for me if you can believe it.
I served alongside her father and was there when he gave his life so that a child could live. And in doing so his own child became my child.
I know he’s up there today looking down on us, proud as heck that his little girl has followed in his footsteps and is living her own dream, which just so happened to be the one that was shared by the two of us.
I’m long since retired but I feel a special pride knowing my daughter will carry on the Blaze tradition of serving the community. And Bryce, our oldest son, will likely be on this same podium next year following in his older sister, and my, footsteps.
They’re the newest “heroes” of our family.
But there is only one true hero and that’s the woman who’s by my side, which is exactly where she’s been ever since she flew out to California twenty-five years ago.
Without her heroism, and it truly was that, that led her to take such a big chance I’d just be some grumpy old man living at home listening to the Dodgers baseball games on the radio most evenings. Not exactly living the dream, is it?
But thanks to her I am living the dream. And it’s a dream I didn’t even really know existed, at least in this form.
I’m a happy person in general, but I never knew how happy I really could be. You think everything is fine when you don’t know what you’re missing out on, but once you see “the other side,” well there’s no going back. The only time our family goes back is to tease one another for outfits we may have worn in pictures, or silly things we did on family vacations, at school…actually we tease each other a lot. And it’s a good thing. We keep each other grounded and down to earth, even though my head is still in the clouds.
But today there’s not a cloud in the sky. It couldn’t be more perfect. And after the ceremony our entire family will go for a surf and then we’ll head to Delilah’s favorite Italian restaurant for dinner, where I’ve made a secret reservation.
And it may not seem like a big deal, and may go unnoticed, but tonight Delilah will get the spot at the head of the table. It’s a spot I’ve always taken. I am the man of the house after all and it’s my job to watch over my family and lead our kids into the future.
But I’m now fifty-six years old and the future is here. Our kids don’t need anymore “leadership training.” In many ways my job is done. Now I’m better off to support them in whatever they do and only provide guidance when they ask. It’s time for me to watch them lead their own lives, and I know soon enough they’ll be the heads of their own families.
Aubrey and I can hardly wait.
That’s one of the benefits of having such busy, driven kids. They have so much that they want to do, and having a family is part of that. But there are only so many hours in the day so that means ol’ grandma and grandpa will be called upon to help.
And I’ll get to take part in those first steps, that first ride on a bicycle down the street without training wheels, and catching their first fish. Jeez, I’m turning into a big ol’ softie in my old age. A big ol’ guy like me is now nothing more than a gentle giant, a big ol’ teddy bear.
And a big ol’ teddy bear that my wife loves to hug all night as we lie together in bed, our two hearts beating as one.
Life has blessed me with a lot of things, but none more important than her. And she’s the gift that just keeps on giving. Love, support, encouragement…and most importantly our children.
She’s the hero. She’s the leader. And she loves me so much that she let’s me feel like I’m in charge, but I know the truth.
Without her our family wouldn’t function. With her we’re a smooth running well-oiled machine.
And the only thing that matters to me is family, and there is no family without her.
Which means there is no life without her.
But I’ve got her. She’s mine and only mine.
And tonight after dinner when the kids are in bed I’ve got a surprise for her. The kids are old enough to take care of themselves these days…at least for the couple months that we need.
That should be enough to explore the French countryside and the vineyards of Tuscany, don’t you think? Soak in the warm sun while we take dips in the Mediterranean and feed each other just like the two lovers that came together twenty-five years and got this big ol’ family started.
I can’t wait for our first date in Europe. We’ve had a lot of first together and there’s more to come.
She’s an incredible woman and even to this day I’m still learning more and more about her. She’s intricate. She’s beautiful. And she’s perfect.
And most importantly?
She’s mine and only mine.
Forever.
53) SOLDIER’S SECRET BABY
SOLDIER’S SECRET BABY
Soldiers on base are given a 96-hour pass to enjoy a 4th of July holiday vacation. I’m in dire need of some friends, fireworks, and home cooked food so I head to the small town where I grew up for a few days of fun with my best friend who’s also my childhood neighbor.
It’s the first time we’ve seen each other since his wife’s pregnancy and it makes me feel like an older man, but this older man sees a different kind of fireworks this 4th of July when I see that my best friend’s sister isn’t exactly my best friend’s little sister anymore.
She’s got me seeing stars and ready to explode when we skip the fireworks display after sparks fly between us leading to some neighborly behavior that involves a lot more than borrowing a cup of sugar.
But when my short vacation ends I have to leave my small town and my 4th of July romance behind…but I can’t. I won’t.
* * *
My brother’s best friend is a smoking hot soldier and a real man as only older men seem to be these days. It’s my first time seeing him in ages, and he doesn’t know it but I’ve been saving a very special kind of first time just for him.
But after our little California romance I find out I’m pregnant and alone in this small town and can’t decide if this was just a fling and my brother’s best friend doesn’t need to know about the my soon to be secret baby, or if this California romance is more than just a holiday romance. Maybe, just maybe, if he knows about his own little soldier who’s on the way he’ll want to make me his…forever.
And just how long can I keep this secret baby a secret in our small town? And if my brother finds out his best friend got his little sister pregnant there are going to be a whole other kind of fireworks between these big, burly older men.
*Soldier’s Secret Baby is an insta-everything standalone romance with an HEA, no cheating, and no cliffhanger.
Chapter One
Sean
“This is your room,” Vince says as he pushes open the door to the spare bedroom.
There. She. Is.
Her eyes meet mine as she straightens the pillow on the guest bed. Her body freezes.
“Are you going to say hi, sis?” Vince asks.
“Hey Sean,” she says.
There’s an exit sign seven miles to the south of here which is Baker, California, where I’m from that literally reads Zzyzx Rd. If I open my mouth now that’s about how I’d sound and about as much sense at any attempt to speak would make.
I tilt my chin up and to the side before bringing it back to its resting position.
What’s wrong
with me? That’s a greeting you give to one of your buddies in high school when you’re trying to act all tough.
And I am trying to act all tough right now because I don’t want her to know the effect she’s having on me.
When the Presidio of Monterey Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center where I’m stationed gave everyone on base a ninety-six hour pass last night to enjoy the 4th of July I had two options.
Make the short drive to San Francisco and watch the world-class fireworks over the golden gate bridge in one of the best cities on earth.
Or the other that makes no sense. Drive all night to the small town where I’m from. The small town that sits in the middle of the California desert. The one which’s only claim to fame is “The World’s Tallest Thermometer” here in Baker, which recorded the hottest temperature ever recorded on earth. Apparently it hit 134 degrees here nearby in Death Valley in the summer of 1913.
And now, over a hundred years later, it feels just as hot…or is it just me?
And it has nothing to do with the temperature in the room and everything to do with my rapidly rising body temperature…because of her.
Of course I chose the second option. I tell myself I need some time with my friends, some home cooked meals, and the chance to let off some steam knowing we can shoot off fireworks anywhere we want in the desert without anybody batting an eye.
But deep down inside myself I know the truth is I want to get an eyeful of her.
I haven’t seen Victoria, Vince’s little sister, in four years. I was twenty-six then and she was sixteen. She was a really cute kid, but kind of awkward and definitely not filled out.
So much for girls developing before boys. Victoria was no doubt a late bloomer, and did she ever bloom like a flower in the desert. Good lord!
She’s got curves in all the right places and it’s taking everything in me not to look in all the wrong ones. If either one of them catch me trying to look down that top of hers that’s unbuttoned just a little too far, or checking out that behind of hers which is sticking out at a oh so incredible angle as she’s bent over the bed the offer to stay at their house would be rescinded just as quickly as it was extended.
I’ve got a house next door. It’s the one I grew up in and has been in my family for years, just as their house has. But both my parents and theirs have moved on to the greener pastures of Florida, leaving their respective houses to their children. But apparently I’m not keeping up my end of the “this house is yours now just take care of it” bargain. I guess when you get deployed overseas and forget to pay the water bill, electric bill and who knows what other bills they shut off your service. Who knew?
Luckily out here in the middle of nowhere being a neighbor means something to people.
We don’t even have a proper grocery store in town and it’s over an hour drive over the state line and into Vegas. And good luck getting a hotel room there on the 4th of July on short notice.
But Vegas isn’t where I want to be. I want to be right here, as close to her as possible.
I don’t know why but I’ve just had this burning itch to see how she’s turned out…how she’d developed into a woman.
She was always a fun tag-along for us when we were younger, but I could just see that this cute kid would one day turn into an attractive young lady.
But I was wrong. She wasn’t just attractive. She is absolutely stunning.
And more importantly, now I had to find out if she was single.
There aren’t exactly a lot of options in this one stoplight town, especially for a girl who’s filled out the way she did. Sure, there will be plenty of suitors, but I don’t want to believe any of the guys out here in the desert would be the kind that would float her boat.
My eyes quickly glance down at her left hand.
No ring.
They dart back up to her face but I know she caught me because she didn’t take her eyes off mine.
My peripheral vision catches her fingers wiggle a little. Is she letting me know that ring finger on her left hand is ready and waiting for the right guy?
I must be imagining things. It wouldn't be the first time someone saw a mirage in the middle of the desert.
But what’s no mirage is her. She’s a tall drink of water, minus the tall part, and do I ever want to drink her up to the last drop.
“You always were too cool for school,” Vince says as his hand comes down on my shoulder.
If only he knew the reason why I didn’t want to open my mouth. I don’t want to make a fool out of myself here in front of her and ruin my chances before I even get a actual chance.
“Sis, while you finish up we are going to head out back for a glass of lemonade before it gets too hot.”
She nods.
I feel Vince guide me back towards the door.
My body turns, but it’s like it’s on a swivel, my head stays fixed on her and her eyes stay fixed on mine.
We step through the door, but I’m still looking back at her.
“Don’t worry, man. The bed will be big enough for you,” Vince says.
He’s clueless.
I’m way too big for that bed, but the size of that bed is the last thing on my mind.
My only thought is how I’m going to get his sister in it with me without him finding out.
And after I do how I’m going to make her mine. Forever.
Chapter Two
Victoria
The second the boys clear the door I fall face first onto the bed.
“Oh. My. God.”
How handsome did Sean look in his Army uniform?
It’s like he knew I’ve been thinking about him. How else could you explain him just showing up out of the blue like he did.
And I know he’s got way better options for the 4th of July than shooting off bottle rockets in the middle of the desert with us. Why in the world would he leave the beauty and sophistication of Northern California to come hang out in the California desert which is practically overrun with tweakers these days? I always considered Breaking Bad more of a documentary of lost souls in the American West than anything else.
But the only tweaking going on right now is in me. My heart is racing and my hands are shaking, and I’ve never even touched a drug in my entire life.
It’s just that Sean has this effect on me.
I remember all those times when we were kids, or at least I was a kid and him and Vince were a bit older, but still. I was always trying to tag along just to be in Sean’s presence. He was my first crush and to this day the only guy I’ve ever had dreams about. The only guy I could ever really see myself with.
He is so perfect. Tall. Muscular. Handsome. Well mannered. Successful. A Hero. A Protector.
What else could I want?
And the cherry on top was that he was already my brother’s best friend. It seemed so perfect to me.
But the older I got the more I doubted my brother would see things the same way.
But with Sean stationed halfway around the world neither my brother, nor I, saw him much if at all these days.
But I hadn’t forgotten about him. Not one second.
I felt like I was already a military wife. I know it sounds delusional, but there I was at The Mad Greek serving up milkshakes to travelers going from Vegas to Southern California. The Mad Greek is a well-known stop to refuel, use the restroom, and get some aircon going to and coming from Vegas.
And just like all those Greek myths I’d read over the years I felt like I was Penelope waiting for Odysseus to return home.
And now he was here, but for how long?
I mean he was wearing his uniform so it’s not like his military service is finished.
But he still has the house next to ours. He’s never sold it. And I’m just hoping one day he comes back to live there and more importantly that I join him.
I’m not greedy. I don’t even care that we live in the sweltering heat in the middle of nowhere. As long as he’s here it’s all I’
ll ever need. Just him.
People from these parts are built to survive this kind of weather. It’s why he was so successful in the Middle East. I heard he won a lot of medals for his bravery, courage, and honor. It doesn’t surprise me at all.
I remember the way he always treated everyone with so much respect here in our small town. How he’d drive to Vegas in high school when one of the older ladies in town would run out of something she needed. I can’t count how many times he spent over three hours, plus the gas going to and from Vegas just to bring something back somebody needed in town. And he never told some of those little old ladies that gas prices weren’t thirty cents a gallon anymore.
He’d just shrug off the thought of them paying him when they’d offer him a handful of change. He didn’t do it for the money. He did it for the community.
And it made complete sense when he joined the military. He was a man who protected and served his community, and now he did the same but on a much bigger scale. He was out on the front lines for his country, and I was so proud to know him.
But knowing him just wasn’t enough anymore. It hadn’t been for a few years.
With each passing year I felt my crush grow deeper and deeper until it wasn’t a crush anymore. I hate to use the word obsession, but it’s the most accurate word I can think of.
And all those times he would send my brother a postcard. And he’d always mention to say hello to me somewhere in the last line or two. I always wondered if he was just being nice, or he saved it to the end to not arouse suspicion.
Maybe he was starting to feel the same way about me as I felt about him.
The thought was ludicrous. That’s what I told myself.
But I don’t believe that anymore.
Not after the way he just looked at me. The heat in those eyes. The way he couldn’t take them off me even as he left the room.
A Man Who Knows What He Wants Box Set 5 Page 11