He looked at Brody and Leland for help, acting as if he was being put on the spot in front of an audience. “Let’s let Rock do it, since this is his place.” Leland’s eyes went wide, but he nodded curtly.
Everyone bowed, and he said the meal’s prayer. After a round of ‘Amens’, dishes were handed around and conversations started. The light mood made for a great atmosphere. Each of them seemed to be excited over their own ideas for the ranch, and plans were exchanged and discussed. The whole scene seemed like an episode of The Brady Bunch, only with more dysfunction. Somehow, each of their uniqueness interwove with everyone, creating a tight knit family.
After the platters had been all but licked clean, Alex rose and started carrying stuff to the kitchen, helping with the cleanup. Elizabeth had volunteered to serve the cobbler and ice cream to everyone, making them each snicker at how cute she was. They all inhaled the homemade desert, leaving only two tiny slivers for her and Alex to share. Thankfully, Alaina had assumed such would be the case and had baked a second and kept it hidden. Her and Alex were perched on a bar stool at the counter when Leland walked in and caught them. “Hey! Where did you get all of that? We had rations that were a whole two bites!”
“Oh, bologna. I know how Elizabeth dishes sweets. I made sure there was plenty to go around, and that you big ol’ brutes wouldn’t save us any. So, I made a separate one.” She grinned, watching his chin drop in mock disbelief and him pout.
“She gave more to Brody than me…and Dom got twice as much as both of us! Lizzy is playing favorites. It’s just not fair!”
“Well, my only advice is to butter her up before tomorrow’s dessert…that way you get more than the others,” Alaina stated in a motherly tone.
“That is not fair. Blackmail. Pure blackmail.” He laughed and kissed her cheek, propping up beside her with his elbow resting on the counter. “I am not interrupting anything, am I?”
“We were having girl talk until you so rudely interrupted with your whines…” Alex chimed in.
“Girl talk? With who? Is Alaina talking to herself, because there is no way you can even pretend to talk like a girl, Vice.” His eyes danced with mischief.
Alex turned to Alaina and rolled her eyes. “Excuse me for a moment, I need to go show Rock how lady-like I really am.” In less than five seconds, she had flipped upside down like a graceful panther and snaked her legs around his neck, turning a full 180 to cut off his airflow. He tried to break free but every time he moved, she tightened them up. After his face started turning a bright shade of red, he tapped her leg in surrender and she released him, flipping back to land on her feet.
Leland choked a few times, laughing. “Alex, with moves like that you can be anything you want. A girl, a gold fish, hell, even a jaguar as graceful as you are when you are flipping and turning. On that note, ladies, I think I need to go get a dose of testosterone to heal the pride you just caused to deflate a little.”
“That’s right, go on. Next time I won’t be so gentle with you, Rock.” Her mocking made Alaina burst out in laughter.
Alaina walked into the living room and found everyone gathered around with a drink in one hand shooting the breeze. Jeremy was in the middle of a recap on their drunk night and the room went quiet. “How serious were you all?”
“About what, Dom?” Nick asked.
“Going to other countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, and Africa to serve some justice?” Lines in his face appeared, showing the seriousness in his question. Everyone looked at each other, and grinned.
“Dead serious,” Wesley answered for all of them.
“Is that from everyone or just you, Romeo?”
“It is from all of us,” Drake answered.
“I am in.” Alex squared her shoulders and stepped forward.
“Count me and Rock in. Something needs to liven up this civilian life.” Brody stepped over by Alaina and kissed her temple. Whispering where only she could hear, he said, “Not that you don’t make things fun, baby. Don’t take it the wrong way. We are just not cut out for this. Nothing will change between you and us, okay?”
“One condition—we need to find out who the hell the guy was we were ordered to release and take him out first. I want him first on our hit list,” Drake stated.
“I agree. He has to be one of the leaders, or knows something that we weren’t supposed to stumble upon. It is going to be rough without knowing his name, but with Dom’s mad skills, I am sure we can track Ali Baba down.” Brody’s knuckles turned white around his glass. Letting that bad man go obviously had been hard on them all.
“Ali Baba? I thought you didn’t know his name,” Alaina asked, confused. Everyone snickered, realizing the term didn’t make sense to someone who wasn’t used to the slang.
“Ali Baba is kind of a generic name used to label any Iraqi, Afghani, or person from that area. It goes hand in hand with Haji.” Joker, formerly known as Dracula, grinned.
“Okay, million dollar question…literally. Where are we getting the funds to cover everything we are going to need? I know we all have savings, but I don’t think with all of it together it would be enough to cover the flights and all of the weapons. Some of that shit is in the millions.” Romeo glanced around the room at everyone, hoping someone had a solution.
“I have a few connections that owe me. We can get most of the stuff we need on loan, the rest will be little stuff that I can take care of. I have a savings account that has been set up since I was little, courtesy of my rich grandmother and grandfather, as they insisted on being called. I saw them twice a year, and to compensate on their lack of interest in an ‘un-proper little girl’, money was shoved into an account,” Alex piped up, dumbfounding the group.
“Well, that is good news. Anyone have transportation connections?” Leland asked.
“My father. He can get a Chinook and a few ground vehicles. Let me worry about all of that.” Zane leaned against the wall with his arms folded across his chest. He and his father were close. Family was important to the big brute. It helped that his father was just as passionate about anything military as he was, and would more than likely want a bigger part than just piloting the group. He had to laugh to himself…if the man had his way he would be fighting alongside the team despite the fact he was in his late fifties.
Alaina felt the stomach bile rise in her throat. They wanted to go back? And possibly die? Why? How did it not change anything, they were leaving her… Just like Brian had done. She had always felt for the military wives, unable to understand how they did it. A life of worry and heartache, being apart from your husband for years up on end…
Rationality sank in and she put the best poker face she could muster on, knowing that holding them back was wrong too. This was a part of who they are, and if she fought it, they would resent her. What the hell, they had only known her for a short time anyway. It wasn’t like there was a ring on her finger. They had made no commitments, except that she had a place to live and could work on the ranch. If they weren’t going to do ranching, what was she going to do? That part she couldn’t keep hush-hush about.
“So, you all aren’t going to get the farm up and running? Do I need to start looking for work in town?” She fought to keep her voice from shaking and keep it nonchalant, but Alex caught on. Instead of making a scene or giving her insecurity away, she simply winked and mouthed the words, ‘don’t worry’.
“We are going to get this place up and running. Only, not as originally planned. I propose we still follow through getting about a hundred head and enough horses to fill the front pastures. The back, we can make a training camp and headquarters. No one can get back there unannounced and without a quad or a horse. Alaina, don’t ever think that again, got it? You and I are going to have a discussion later. But for now, what do you all think?” Leland announced.
The room was in agreement, throwing ideas around for the new base camp. Alaina was so inverted she barely heard the conversation, nodding politely and agreeing from time to time to
keep everyone from seeing straight through her. This was not what she had expected, and needed to come up with a plan B soon. Her plans usually sucked, given she was busting her ass with two jobs and sinking faster than the Titanic when these two showed up. For the sake of her heart and Lizzy’s, she needed to buck up and figure it the fuck out, and fast. She quietly moved out of the room and found Lizzy watching television. After a good night kiss, she sent her off to bed and went to the kitchen for something to drink, and peace and quiet. Alaina poured a glass of iced tea and sat down, rolling over every extravagant and wild idea her brain threw at her. Nothing seemed to be a solution. If she could still remain living here, or renting one of the little cabins cheap enough, there might be a chance she could find a job in town that they could survive off. That would be something she would have to ask later, and continue making her plans in the meantime.
The scraping of the barstool legs against the tile floor made her jump. Alex sat down and reached out to touch her arm in a very unlike Alex gesture. “Alaina, don’t worry. This has nothing to do with you. The Army is what we do…it is who we are. We aren’t made to do any other kind of work but blowing shit up, saving people, and kicking ass. Protection and justice are what we eat, breathe, and sleep.”
“Oh, I know. Hell, they just met me. I didn’t expect more. It is really no biggie. I just have to figure out what Lizzy and I are going to do, that’s all.” She swirled the ice around in her glass, glazing over to avoid the bubbling emotions that threatened to emerge.
“Alaina, look at me. It is not what you think. I know Rock and Maverick better than I know myself sometimes. It is a job, nothing more.”
Alaina’s eyebrows rose in a sarcastic ‘yeah’ with the roll of her eyes, and she went back to fidgeting with her glass.
“Hey, you still don’t get it. Some people go off to work at an office every day, and go away on business meetings from time to time. Some strap on combat boots and go to work every day, and go on missions from time to time. It isn’t really that different. You are going to be taken care of no matter what, got it? You don’t have just Maverick and Rock. You have all of us.”
When Alaina looked up, she could see the sincerity in Alex’s features. At least she had a friend…and by the way the group had been with Elizabeth, she doubted that they would ever let her go hungry or without. Think positive. We are here now, and safe. I am not working twenty-two hours a day, and I have spent more time with Lizzy in the past week than I have gotten to in over six months. She is happy, healthy, and having fun.
“Thank you, Alex. Maybe you are right. It is hard to trust anyone for me. I just don’t want to be back where I was or worse…Lizzy deserves so much better.”
“It is hard for all of us to trust, Alaina. That is why we are so tight. The people you see in this room are close because we trust each other with our lives. We have to. Every one of us would take a bullet for another. You and Lizzy are a part of that now.”
“If you say so. Thank you, Alex…for everything.” She leaned over and hugged her, smiling when Alex didn’t seem so robotic and weirded by it.
“Of course. I gotta say, I would slaughter a hundred more people just so we could be friends…you don’t know how long it has been since I have had someone to hang out with that didn’t have a pair of testicles.” She snickered.
“Well, rest assured, no ball sack here.” Both girls giggled and stood to join the others. When they reached the main living room, the boys were all lounging around on the furniture discussing everything that needed to be done to meet their goals. When the subject of cows and horses arose, all of them were at a loss. Leland and Brody had been raised on ranches, but neither of them had been in the business enough to know what the best route to take was. During the group’s discussion, the sound of someone clearing their throat hushed them all.
Standing in the doorway was Mr. Reynolds. He was straightened and standing tall, showing off the over six-foot frame she hadn’t noticed before. His face was cold as stone, but he had a look of determination in his eyes that couldn’t be missed. She glanced at Leland who sat with the same blank, unreadable magnetism. “I think I can lead you boys in the right direction with the cattle and the horses. I've been a rancher all my life, and know a thing or two about the business. The rest you all can worry about.” His voice was firm and confident. Leland stood and walked over closer to him in what looked like a head on confrontation. Brody straightened up, sitting ready to pounce if needed. A quick glance around and the same posture was in all of them.
Anger and confusion clouded Leland’s thoughts. How dare the bastard offer to help with farming when he was the one who sold every last fucking animal on the place? Their family home was going to shit! The man had just stood by and let it happen. He fisted his hands at his side and bowed up. In a low voice, he spoke to Michael. “You may know a thing or two, but you also sold every last animal on this damn ranch. Everything is going to shit, thanks to you. I sent enough money to take care of you.”
“Yeah, I did. What’s the point in having a working ranch when I am the only one here? You left after your momma died, and there was no one but me. What the hell was the point of having all that shit?”
“You knew I would be coming back. I don’t think this is a conversation we need to have right here and now.” Leland’s rage showed in the shadowing of his eyes. This was going to hell fast, and Alaina didn’t know what to do. She stepped in their direction, only to be stopped by Brody. When the heck did he get up? He gently touched her arm, leading her back out of the way.
Once he had her perched on his knee on the couch, he whispered, “They need to do this. This is decades of hurt coming to the surface. Let them hash it out.” She didn’t know what to say, except to nod in understanding.
Michael’s voice made her jump. “I didn’t think you ever would.”
“You thought or hoped, dad?”
“Leland, I know I have been a mean son of a bitch for a long time, but don’t ever doubt that I didn’t care.”
“Do you? Did you? Fuck, all you did was make mom’s life hell! All I remember was her crying and keeping me from crossing paths with you so you wouldn’t go off on me!”
“I know.” Michael’s eyes dropped to the floor in the first show of feeling she had seen. “After David… after what happened, things were never the same.”
If Leland didn’t know better, he would swear his ol’ man had actual tears in his eyes. What the hell is he talking about? “David? Who the fuck is that?”
After a long silence, Michael looked back up to meet his eyes. “David was your older brother. He died before you were born.”
“What? Are you shitting me? Mom never said anything about this before.” Leland felt like he had just been punched in the gut with an iron fist. How could he not know after all of these years?
“Your momma fell into a deep depression after he was born. One night she had him in the tub and walked out, forgetting to get him. He was barely one. I came in from working the ranch all day and found him in the tub. He had been in there for over five hours, and she had no clue.” A single tear trailed down his cheek, giving Leland the first glimpse of an actual human being under the bastard crust he had known all his life. “The doctors gave her medication, and she got better. At the time, she didn’t react at all. It was like she didn’t care. My heart was ripped out. A few years later, I still hadn’t forgiven her. I knew it wasn’t her fault, that she was sick. But, for some reason I couldn’t get my heart to believe that. She got pregnant with you three and a half years later.”
Leland just stared. There was nothing he could do or say as he tried to absorb his father’s words. The only thing that he could form into a complete sentence and verbalize, he blurted out, “So why the fuck were you such a dick to me?”
Michael stood frozen silent for a long time. In barely a mumble, he answered, “Because I didn’t want to lose you too. If I kept my distance, I wouldn’t get my heart ripped out again.”
/> In all of his thirty years, Leland had never seen or heard his father talk with anything besides hate and anger. He had sworn the man didn’t have a heart. Now, as irrational as his reasons were, he was beginning to understand. He himself had feelings and thoughts that were totally bat shit crazy from being a soldier. The question still remained, stuck in his mind. Now what? He had no words. Instead, he nodded at Michael and walked off. The slamming of the screen door echoed through the house as he stormed out into the night to get away.
****
Brody could see how hard it had been for the old man to open up and confess, and he knew that something had to be done. It was like when one of them was bottled tight and needed to vent. They had all been taught and programmed to not feel or show emotions, much less talk about them. If you were screwed up, you kept it to yourself. There was no room in the Army for feelings or emotion. Together, the group had seen the need to unravel some of the webs of shit to keep from diving off the deep end. On a rare occasion, one of the team members would have a breakdown, and they all were learning how to be supportive and help. Most of the time it wasn’t so much about what they said, but what they didn’t. Michael had been raised similar. His father had been a true cowboy, herding cattle from one end of the U.S. to the other in some of the biggest cattle drives in history. The man was tough as nails. Brody’s father had grown up with Michael, and had said in all his years of knowing the family, he had never seen Michael’s dad hug him—not once.
Brody walked over to Michael and smiled. “Let’s go get a Brandy. I have a bottle stashed in the kitchen, and word is there is a blackberry cobbler hidden somewhere.” He sauntered toward the kitchen with Michael behind him.
Chapter Eleven
The next few months passed by with little resolution for Leland and his father, and even less for Alaina. The more they accomplished in gathering intelligence and supplies, the more alienated she felt. The group was great at including her, and even kept Elizabeth so busy with the animals that she never stopped.
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