Judith walked outside to the beer fridge on the back porch and spotted the men sitting on the swing, each smoking a cigar and having a beer. “You’re corrupting our son with those cancer sticks.” She shot daggers at her husband.
“Oh, Judith, it’s just a cigar.” Wayne brushed her off.
“If I ever catch either one of you smoking a cigarette again…” She waved a finger in their direction before opening the fridge.
“We know… we know.” Wayne puffed on the cigar and blew a ring of smoke into the air, chuckling.
That damn man had smoked for years when the kids were growing up—until Scott was a teenager—and Scott had picked it up for a short while on his first deployment. Judith had been beside herself that her son smoked after watching what his father went through to quit.
“Tori would kill me if I started smoking again.” Scott took a long puff on the cigar. “She’s the reason I quit.”
“I knew I liked that girl.” Judith grabbed two beers and walked toward the back door with them resting in her arms. “You didn’t upset that sweet girl, did you?” She narrowed her green eyes at Scott. “Because she seems to have been through quite enough…”
Scott sighed and scratched his forehead. “Mom—” he tried to cut her off, but she wasn’t finished scolding him yet.
“Because you can’t bring her here and have us fall in love with her just to make her one of your flings.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Mom.” Scott lifted his arms in protest, adding a cocky grin. That damn smirk of his was identical to his father’s and always got him out of trouble.
“Yeah, don’t think we don’t know about all your flings.” His mother puckered her lips. “I get on Facebook and Instagram and see all these ladies coming after you. It’s downright shameful. We raised you to be a good, Christian boy.”
“Stop being so damn nosy, woman,” Wayne chimed in. “Leave the man alone or I’ll shut off the internet.” He chuckled along with Scott. “It’s not like you and I waited till we got married.”
Judith’s jaw dropped. He did not just say that. “Wayne!”
Her husband let out a devilish laugh. “It was the sixties after all. Your mom and her cute little go-go boots and short skirt with that long, red hair.…” Wayne wiggled his eyebrows. “What’s a man supposed to do?” He shrugged.
That man and his damn mouth.
Judith opened the door with a huff.
Scott giggled like a little boy.
“Mom?” Scott stopped her. She turned and gave him a sassy glare.
“Tori’s the one, ok?”
Judith smiled, pleased, and walked back in the house.
Scott took another puff on the cigar and stared up at the night sky as he exhaled.
“She’s the one, huh?” His dad asked.
“Yup.” Scott took a swig of his beer. “Always has been.”
“I told you so.” His dad chuckled.
“Eh?”
“Not long after your injury, when you came back here for Christmas and you were fooling around with Brandi. I knew Brandi wasn’t the one for you.”
Scott raised his brow. He hadn’t given Brandi Turner a second thought in a long time, at least until Becca mentioned her yesterday, and now his father. Brandi was his first. His high school sweetheart with her long, blonde hair, warm, brown eyes, and a sweet southern twang that could melt butter.
Scott thought back. He had left DC so disgusted with everything; his career, and mostly how he left things with Tori. He had come to Austin for the holidays hoping that would give him a sense of home, but it hadn’t. He’d stayed because DC wouldn’t be the same without Tori there. So he’d stuck around Austin, slept in his old room, and did piddly chores around the farm for his dad like he was back in high school or something. He’d felt like he was going to crawl out of his skin trying to figure out what to do with his life, then Brandi had showed up, and for the first time he’d felt a twinge of hope.
“I haven’t thought about Brandi in a very long time,” Scott said honestly.
His dad chuckled. “You know, I don’t like to say told ya so.”
Scott rolled his eyes. His dad had warned him not to fool around with Brandi. “Yeah, I should’ve listened to you on that one. Would’ve saved a lot of heartache.” Scott let out a breath.
“So, when are you going to ask Tori to marry you?”
“Soon.” Scott didn't want to waste any more time. They’d already wasted enough. He didn’t tell his dad that he’d already asked her, unofficially.
They sat there in silence for a few moments. That was the good thing about his dad, there was no need to fill the silence between the two of them. Wayne Harris wasn’t a man of many words, but when he did speak it was worth lending an ear.
“Marriage is hard under the best of circumstances. Mom and I have had some rough years. We had to hold tight to each other and fight to make it as long as we have.”
“I know.” Scott read into the meaning of his dad’s words. “Tori is challenging, she always has been, even before she lost her vision, and even more so now.”
Wayne huffed. “I never said I was talking about her.”
Scott glanced at his dad.
Wayne wrinkled his forehead and stared Scott straight in the eye. “You say that as if you’re perfect and she’s the one with crippling problems,” his dad said wisely. His dad knew everything that Scott had been through overseas and what he had dealt with after his own injury. “She still has a lot to learn about you, son, and living with her closely means that mess of shit you keep locked up in your closet will eventually come tumbling out. Pride can only hold that door shut for so long.”
Scott raised his brow in acknowledgement and drank deeply from his beer but didn’t say anything.
His dad chuckled. “She does seem like a spitfire.” He took a long pull from his beer.
Scott let out a belly laugh. “You have no idea, Dad. She picked a fight with a TSA agent last weekend at the airport.”
“She didn’t.” His dad shook his head and laughed.
“Which of course flagged us for the full VIP treatment.”
“Of course.”
Scott explained the rest of the story, including nearly breaking her nose trying to get off the flight.
“I noticed her eyes looked a little green underneath her makeup,” his dad said. “I thought she may have smacked into something. I didn’t mention it to avoid embarrassing the girl.”
“Oh, she smacked into something all right—my damn elbow.” Scott could laugh about it now. Scott shook his head. “She makes me crazy, Dad. She’s stubborn and independent and keeps my head spinning.” He glanced at his dad, the light from the pool bouncing off his father’s weathered skin. “She’s unpredictable, some days she’s a hurricane and other days she’s a light breeze. It’s a fight to love her, but it’s a love worth fighting for.”
His dad nodded in satisfaction then held out his beer. “To fierce women and us men who are crazy enough to love them.”
“Cheers.” They clanked beers.
“So how did meeting the parents go?” Presley grinned at Scott. “I didn’t get the chance to get the full scoop from you last night.”
“It was good,” Scott said as he filled his mug. “They love her.”
“Was she ok, after last night?”
Scott frowned. “Yeah, we worked it out. She’s been off this week. Family’s not her thing. This is just throwing her out of her element.”
“Meeting the parents.” Presley raised a brow and grinned. “The manwhore is settling down. I never thought I’d see the day.” She reached over him and grabbed a coffee cup from the cabinet.
“Oh, shut the fuck up.” Scott grinned. He pulled out his phone to see if he had any messages from Tori. She must not be up yet. When he’d left her she was sound asleep.
“Shhhh,” Presley said, “do you hear that?”
“Hear what?” Scott asked, although he wasn’t sur
e he wanted the answer.
“It’s the sound of hundreds of hearts shattering all over the world.” Presley chuckled.
“Hundreds? You‘re insane. I’m not that bad.” They loved to constantly tease him about his random hook ups. “Never broke any hearts,” Scott groaned.
Well, maybe one.
Brandi flashed through his head. He still had some lingering guilt over that one. Becca and his father mentioning her had brought it to the front of his mind.
“You’re right. Tinder sluts are never looking for anything other than a hook up.” Presley plucked his phone from his hand and began fishing. “Wow, you’ve actually deleted the app! This is serious!” Presley gave him a wink. “Aw, you’ve got Tori’s photo set as the home screen.” She grinned, eyeing the photo of Tori on the horse.
“If you’re done,” Scott growled. He snatched his phone from Presley.
“She’s hot, I’ll give you that. You know how to pick them. She’s hella fun too. I like her a lot.” Presley grinned a little too much. “She seemed to really like me too.” Presley nudged him in the side and gave him a wink.
“She’s mine. Back off, Shey.”
“So,” she breathed, “Speaking of manwhores, where’s Blaze?”
That was a damn good question. “He should’ve rolled in with you.” Scott raised his brow.
“When I left the bar last night and walked back to the hotel, he was still downing whiskey and scamming on girls,” Presley tattled on him. “When I knocked on his door this morning there was no answer. I assumed he went home with some skank and would take a cab here.” Presley shrugged.
Scott grabbed his phone and tried dialing Blaze, it went straight to voicemail.
You have to be fucking kidding me.
“You sure bringing him on was the right call?” She frowned.
“I’m sure there’s a logical explanation. We don’t need him till this afternoon anyway, until we head to the range; he knows that.” Scott’s plan was to divide the officers into smaller groups. He found that a more intimate setting was better suited for teaching. “I’m sure he’ll be here soon.”
If he’s not, I’m going to kill that fucker.
Tori’s phone vibrated across the nightstand.
Unknown number, unknown number, her VoiceOver repeated.
Shit! Had she overslept? Tori popped up. Wait, no, she wasn’t home and she didn’t have work. The fog lifted and the smell of freshly baked bread reminded her that she was at Scott’s parents’ house.
She reached over and grabbed her phone, double tapping to answer. “Hello?”
“Holy fuckin shit, Blondie. I was afraid you weren’t going to answer,” Blaze’s voice boomed through the line.
“Blaze? Aren’t you supposed to be with Scott? Is he ok?” Tori sat up and ran her fingers through her knotted hair.
“Harris is fine, but he’s gonna have my ass if I don’t get there soon. I need your help. I’m in a godforsaken diner in goddamned rural I-don’t-know-where and I need money, and a ride.”
“And yet you called the one person that can’t drive.” Tori burst out laughing. “What the hell happened to you anyway?”
“I got taken by a sweet, southern accent wearing daisy dukes,” Blaze groaned. “Bitch took my phone, wallet, and left me with the clothes on my back.”
Tori doubled over in laughter, clutching her belly. “You got robbed by a girl?” Tori was laughing so much tears streamed down her face. “You, a Navy Fucking Seal?”
“Yes, it’s so amusing,” Blaze growled. “We can have a nice big laugh about this later, but now I really fucking need your help. Thank God you slipped me that business card last week.”
“Wait, you mean to tell me you’re wearing the same shirt you had on last week? You haven’t washed the thing?” Tori had tucked her card into the pocket of his shirt just in case they got separated when they met in Miami the week prior.
“Really? Are we doing this now?” he huffed.
“Ok, ok.” Tori caught her breath. “Text me the address and I’ll bring you some cash. You owe me big time.”
“I think after shopping with you in Miami Beach this puts us at about even.”
Tori chuckled. Yeah, she’d dragged him in and out of shops all day long last week.
“All right, fine.” Tori chuckled. “But we need to have a serious conversation about the caliber of women that you’re choosing to sleep with.”
“She was worth it. That little thing rode me like a fucking bull.” He let out a dreamy sigh.
Tori huffed. “I’ll be there soon.” She hung up the phone, tossed on some clothes, pulled her hair back into a ponytail and threw on one of Scott’s baseball caps. There was no time for makeup to cover her black eyes so she opted for a pair of Aviators. She opened her Uber app, then cursed when she realized there was no Uber service in Austin. What the hell? She filed that away to ask Scott why later, then Googled a local cab company and made a call.
She flipped open her cane and went down the hall as quietly as she could, which wasn’t very. Her stealth skills were shit. Tori thought she’d almost made it as her hand reached for the handle on the door.
“Just where do you think you’re sneaking off to?” Judith’s voice rounded the corner.
Tori froze like a deer caught in the headlights. Never in her life had she been scolded by her own mother for sneaking out, much less someone else’s.
Is this what it felt like to be a teenager?
God if she knew. She practically never was one.
“I…uh…” Tori stammered before finding her words. “A friend of mine wants to meet me for breakfast. I have a cab coming.”
Judith huffed and Tori imagined that she was frowning with her hands on her hips. “You will do no such thing. You don’t need to be taking a cab by yourself!”
Tori opened her mouth to speak but Judith continued ranting.
“Why doesn’t your friend come and pick you up?” Judith asked suspiciously. “I mean they have to know that you can’t drive. I can’t believe they would make you take a cab—”
“Well, they aren’t from around here…” that wasn’t a lie. Tori really did feel like a sixteen-year-old at the moment.
“What if the driver is some kind of sick man that would try to take advantage of a pretty little thing like you?”
“Judith—”
“No, I won’t have it. I’ll drive you.” Tori heard Judith rustle for her keys.
There was no way out of this. “Ok, I suppose, but you can just drop me off. I’ll make sure to have them ride in the cab with me back here, that way you don’t have to make two trips.”
Yeah. That should work.
“We’ll see.” Judith obviously wouldn't commit to that. They walked to the car in silence.
“Who are you meeting so early anyway?” Judith asked her as she buckled in. “Who do you know that’s in town that doesn’t live around here?”
Good lord, the woman was full of questions. Scott probably never got away with anything as a teenager.
The odds of Judith knowing Blaze were slim to none. It was highly unlikely the two had ever crossed paths. Tori gulped. “Just a friend from Florida. We happen to be in town at the same time.” Again, not a lie.
They sat there in silence for a few moments.
Maybe I should tell her what’s going on. Yeah, that was a brilliant idea. Tell the woman that wanted you to sleep in separate bedrooms that you’re going to rescue her son’s best friend after he got robbed by a woman that chances were fifty-fifty was a hooker.
“Well?” Judith said.
“Well what?”
“Where are we going, dear?”
“Oh!” Tori snapped out of it and pulled out her phone. She clicked on the text that had the address. The VoiceOver blared it out and went to her map to navigate.
“Well, look at that!” Judith exclaimed. “Fascinating how easily you use a phone. I had no idea that it had all that talking stuff.”
“
Yeah, it’s pretty simple with the VoiceOver.” That reminded her. “I guess I should cancel my ride.” Tori frowned, called the cab company and cancelled her ride. “Why don’t you all have Uber anyway?
“Oh, it was big news. Uber wouldn’t adhere to our background check requests, so the voters gave them the boot. You know, it’s been in the news that several women have been assaulted by drivers?” Tori could practically hear Judith shudder at that thought. “You really shouldn’t be taking those, Victoria.”
“Judith, it’s fine.” Tori couldn’t hide the exasperation in her tone. “I take rides in DC all the time. I’m very capable.”
Judith’s hand reached over and squeezed her leg. “Oh, honey! I didn’t mean it like that. I know you’re quite capable. I just care about you. Lord, I bet people question you all the time. That must feel awful…” Judith sounded so upset with herself. “I should know better. When you need help you’re smart and bold enough to ask. I just…” she let out a heavy breath, “I just wanted to mother you a bit.”
Tori put her hand on top of Judith’s and squeezed it. There were about a thousand emotions that filled her with that statement, but they all clogged in her throat. Finally, Tori croaked out a meager, “Thank you.”
“Oh, and I’m sorry I keep touching you; Scott warned me about that.”
“Oh, did he now?” Tori’s voice went up an octave.
“Yes, he told me I can’t touch you without warning, that it startles you. I can’t help it. I’m a touchy-feely person.”
“It’s fine, Judith.” Tori gritted her teeth, seething inside. She couldn’t believe that Scott said that to his mother. “You just be you, please. Mother me all you want.” God knew she could use some mothering.
They were quiet for some time until Judith spoke again. “Getting the call about Scott, that he’d been injured… that’s a mamma’s worst nightmare. It was touch-and-go for some time with him before we knew he’d pull through. It was terrifying to see him unconscious on that ventilator. Then he got the infection and we had to make such a quick decision to take his leg.”
Tori wasn’t sure why Judith was telling her all this, but she listened.
Smoke and Mirrors: (Fire and Fury Book Two) Page 12