by Susan Stoker
“Don’t let Slate sneak a cookie,” Midas warned as Lexie headed for the grill with Elodie.
“Cookies?” Mustang asked. “What kind?”
“Pumpkin spice,” Lexie told him.
“I think you should let me take those for you. I’ll just put them on the table with the other food,” Mustang said slyly.
“Don’t do it,” Midas told her. “He’s worse than Aleck when it comes to dessert.”
Elodie laughed. “I swear, you guys act like you’ve never eaten before. I seem to remember there being a plate of chocolate-dipped raspberries twenty minutes ago, and now it’s completely empty. You didn’t even save any for poor Lexie.”
Mustang went over to his wife and pulled her into his embrace. “You can’t blame us. You’re just too good of a cook,” he said.
“Flatterer,” Elodie complained half-heartedly.
Midas caught Lexie’s eye and smiled at her. She didn’t seem uneasy, and he’d suspected she’d get along with everyone just fine. That was just her way. She accepted people exactly as they were.
Elodie pulled out of her husband’s embrace and hooked her arm with Lexie’s. “Come on, we’ll guard your cookies from the hungry jackals and make sure Slate isn’t messing up the burgers at the same time.”
Aleck appeared at Midas’s side, and he pulled his gaze from Lexie long enough to look over at his friend. “What?” he asked when Aleck didn’t say anything.
“Nothing. I like her.”
It wasn’t as if Midas needed his friends’ approval, but it sure meant a hell of a lot that he had it. “Thanks. Me too.”
“Yeah, that’s obvious. But…” His voice trailed off.
“What?” Midas asked again.
“It’s just been…fast,” Aleck finished with a shrug.
“It has. But we’re not getting married tomorrow,” Midas told him. “I like her. A lot. We’re still getting to know each other. But I’ll tell you this, she’s unlike anyone I’ve ever dated before. Just wait, someday you’re gonna meet a woman who completely knocks you off your feet, and I’m gonna remind you of this conversation and your skepticism.”
Aleck shrugged. “Just because you and Mustang have found great women, doesn’t mean the rest of us will.”
“True, but sometimes when we least expect it, the exact right person falls out of the sky and into your lap.”
Aleck burst into laughter. “A take on the song ‘It’s Raining Men’, huh?”
“I wasn’t being literal, asshole,” Midas said, slugging his friend on the shoulder.
“Seriously, happy for you, man,” Aleck continued. “I just don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I appreciate it. I have no idea where things will end up with Lexie and me, but I have a good feeling about it. Besides, if things go sideways, I know you’ll have my back.”
“Fuck yeah, I will,” Aleck said.
“Come on, those burgers have to be done. I’m starved.”
Midas headed for the grill with Aleck, observing as Pid laughed at something Lexie said. He wasn’t surprised in the least that she fit in so well. He imagined that she could be plunked down in the middle of a primitive cannibalistic tribe smack dab in the Amazon rainforest and within an hour, she’d be best friends with the chief’s wife and children and welcomed with open arms. A little dramatic, maybe…but no less true.
Lexie felt like pinching herself. It was two hours after she’d arrived, and she’d had the most delicious hamburger she’d ever eaten, everyone had raved over her cookies and devoured them, and they were now in the freaking penthouse apartment at the condo complex, watching an afternoon storm roll in from the ocean.
Aleck’s penthouse was everything she imagined it would be and more. It was classy and expensive looking, but also somehow comfortable. Maybe it was the pillows and blankets strewn across the furniture. Or the books sitting haphazardly on the bookshelves. Or the dirty dishes in the sink in the kitchen. It looked lived in. Not like a showplace where you were afraid to touch anything.
She was currently sitting on the balcony with Elodie. The guys were doing something inside, Lexie had no idea what, and she was happy for the chance to talk to Elodie one on one. She guessed that maybe Mustang and Midas had urged the others to give them some space, and she was grateful.
“This is so amazing,” Lexie said.
“Isn’t it? The first time I came up here, I had major balcony envy,” Elodie said without a trace of jealousy.
“I think this balcony alone is bigger than my studio apartment,” Lexie agreed. “And when I open my curtains, I get an up close and personal view of the old guy in the building next to mine, who likes to walk around in his underwear.”
“Seriously?”
“Unfortunately.”
Elodie giggled. “Holy shit! The same thing happened to me before I moved in with Scott. But at least Midas has a good view.”
“I wouldn’t know,” Lexie said.
Elodie looked over at her in surprise. “Really?”
“Really. I mean, I haven’t even been here a week yet.”
“I knew that, but you and Midas just seem so…close. I just assumed you’d been over to his place.”
Lexie knew she was blushing, but she wasn’t sure why. “We’re still getting to know each other.”
“You guys went to high school together, right?” Elodie asked.
“Well, sort of. I moved to Portland my senior year. We were in a few classes together, but didn’t really know each other.”
“That’s not the impression I got from Scott.”
“I mean, we knew each other, but we didn’t hang out or anything. He was the swim captain, state champion, and was popular with the girls. I was…me. We did get put together for a project once though.”
“And?”
“And what?” Lexie asked.
“Did you fall madly in love with him and have been mourning his absence ever since?” Elodie asked with a gleam in her eye.
Lexie could only laugh. “No. I mean, I might have thought about him here and there, but he was pretty much just a good memory. But don’t tell him I said that, it might hurt his fragile ego.”
Elodie chuckled. “Yeah, none of the guys are hurting when it comes to self-esteem, are they?” she asked.
“No. But then again, they’re all good-looking, honorable, and freaking Navy SEALs.”
“True.”
“But seriously, it sucked always being the new kid in school. I never really had any close friends because by the time I got there, they’d already formed their cliques. I was always an outsider, which wasn’t so bad once I got used to it. Midas was super popular, and everyone knew he was joining the Navy when he graduated. I’m lucky to have even graduated at all,” Lexie said.
“Really? Why? Or…was that rude? Sorry. I’m not very good at this girl-talk thing,” Elodie said, seeming a little self-conscious.
“No, it’s not rude at all. I brought it up. And I’m loving getting to know you. Most of the time when I get a new assignment in a new city, I’m on my own. It was nice to be invited today. Anyway, I have dyslexia, and it was undiagnosed when I was in school.”
“What? Why? That makes no sense,” Elodie said, obviously irritated on her behalf.
It felt good to have someone else on her side. “Like I said, we moved around a lot, and I guess I just slipped through the cracks. It didn’t help that my dad always told me I was just stupid. I think some of that seeped into my psyche and I believed him.”
“What a jerk,” Elodie exclaimed.
“Yeah, he definitely wasn’t going to win dad of the year,” Lexie said. “But he did the best he could.”
“He still around?” Elodie asked.
“No. He died a few years ago.”
“Hmmmm.”
Lexie couldn’t help but snort a laugh.
“What?” Elodie asked.
“Your reaction was much more…subdued than Midas’s.”
“I can imagine,”
Elodie said. “He’s a lot like Scott. Protective and with a nasty temper when it comes to people messing with me.”
“You guys haven’t been together all that long, right?” Lexie asked, hoping she wasn’t being too nosey.
“Not really. But because of everything that happened, we clicked really quickly. I guess danger has a way of doing that.”
“Yeah,” Lexie agreed.
Elodie smiled at her. “That’s right, you would know all about that, huh? Are you really okay after what happened to you? I read some news articles about what happened, and it sounds awful. I mean, it wasn’t exactly a walk in the park to be on a ship that was taken over by pirates, but everything was over really fast compared to your ordeal.”
“It wasn’t fun,” Lexie said. “But mostly it was boring.”
“Boring?” Elodie echoed in surprise.
“Yeah, besides the actual kidnapping part. That was scary as hell, I can admit. But once we got into the desert, we pretty much just sat around, being ignored most of the time. And after Dagmar had the stroke, we did even less. Before that, we tried to at least walk around and get some exercise…watched at all times, of course. But afterward, I sat with him in the shade and tried to keep his spirits up.
“The worst part was not knowing what was coming. We could’ve been there for months to come, or negotiations might’ve wrapped up and we could’ve been released. I didn’t honestly think anyone would come in like Midas and his team did, though. That was completely unexpected.”
“So, the kidnappers just ignored you?”
“Well, not exactly. They liked to taunt us and tell us that no one was going to pay the ransom and we’d end up dead…things like that.”
“Wow, I’m sorry. That sounds horrible.”
Lexie shrugged. She’d worked really hard over the last month to put the ordeal behind her. She didn’t mind talking about it with Elodie because she was honestly trying to understand, not pump her for juicy info she could put in a news article to get more clicks.
“Can I ask something without sounding like I’m judging?” Elodie asked.
“Of course.”
“So, after you were rescued, you guys all went back to the town you were taken from, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Why? I mean, that makes no sense. Why didn’t you get the hell out of the country and go straight to the US ship?”
Lexie sighed. “Of course, hindsight being what it is, we should’ve. But Dagmar’s brother has a lot of power in Denmark, and he pulled some strings and probably threw a bunch of money around, and he flew Dagmar’s personal physician to Galkayo. The Danish special forces were pretty much ordered to bring him to town to be looked over before being transported to the ship.”
“Oh.”
Yeah. It sucked that Dagmar had survived three months in the desert, and a stroke, only to die because of an ambush at the hospital when sympathizers—and maybe even some of the kidnappers who hadn’t been in the desert when the camp was raided—had tried to retrieve him so they could get the ransom money. “I’ve been emailing back and forth with Magnus, and he feels horrible about what happened.”
“You have?” Midas asked from behind them.
Lexie turned around and saw Midas, Mustang, and Aleck standing at the door to the balcony. She hadn’t even heard it open. “Yeah.”
“I didn’t know that,” Midas returned as he came toward her. “Scoot forward,” he said, and without thought, Lexie did just that.
He sat behind her on the lounge chair, then pulled her back against him, so she was essentially using him as a backrest. He handed her a cup of coffee, and with one look, she could tell he’d made it just how she liked it. With a ton of sugar and milk and a dash of actual coffee.
Relaxing against him, Lexie continued, “I sent him a note right after I got to Germany, as well as the day after Dagmar’s funeral. I wanted him to know how sorry I was about what happened. It took him a while, but I finally did hear back. He’s hurting, and desperate for any scrap of information he can get about his brother’s last moments and about our time in the desert.”
“Hmmm.”
“What does that mean?” Lexie asked, craning her neck to look at the man behind her.
“Easy, Lex. Nothing. It’s just interesting, that’s all.”
“Do you guys believe in the twin connection thing?” Elodie asked Mustang and Aleck. Her husband had lifted her and plopped her on his lap in her chair, and Aleck was in a third chair, leaning back against the wall as he stared out at the ocean and the quickly passing rain storm.
“I’m not a twin, but if someone said they could feel what their brother or sister felt, I’d have to believe them,” Mustang said.
“Same,” Aleck agreed. “Although it would be weird. I mean, can you imagine being Magnus and feeling his brother have a stroke, or his fear when he was kidnapped, or when his heart finally gave out in the hospital from stress?”
“I think that’s why Magnus wants to talk to me,” Lexie said. “He wants to understand what happened.”
“I have to say it,” Midas added quietly. “If he hadn’t insisted on us stopping in Galkayo, Dagmar may not have died.”
Silence met his statement.
Lexie couldn’t argue or disagree, because he was probably right. “It still sucks,” she said after a minute. “It’s not fair to judge on what we should or shouldn’t have done after we know the ending. I mean, we could go back and say that we shouldn’t have walked out of the Food For All building at the exact time we did. If we’d only stayed an extra ten minutes, maybe we wouldn’t have been taken.”
“Not true,” Slate said, joining them on the balcony. Jag and Pid were at his heels, as well. “I think they’d targeted Dagmar for sure. He was a bigwig in the organization. And having a woman always helps the cause. Makes people more desperate to rescue her.”
“Seriously? That’s stupid,” Lexie fumed.
“Stupid or not, it’s a fact,” Jag said with a shrug, leaning against the wall next to Aleck. “If they’d been able to nab a kid, it would’ve been even better.”
Lexie sighed. “Why are people so cruel? I just don’t get it.”
Midas stroked her arm as she took a sip of her coffee. “Good versus evil,” he said softly. “It’s the way of the world.”
“Well, it sucks,” Lexie said with a pout.
“Agreed. But you’re doing your part to help those less fortunate,” Pid said. “How’s that going?”
It was the right thing to ask. Lexie loved talking about the men, women, and children she worked with. “It’s interesting how every city I’ve worked in has different needs. I mean, hunger and needing shelter is always a constant, but here in Hawaii, there are fewer entire families that are homeless, and more mentally ill men and women than I’ve seen in other places.”
“Yeah, it’s a problem,” Aleck agreed.
“You’re being careful though, right?” Midas asked.
“Of course. And they’re not as scary as you think,” Lexie told him.
“Um…okay, if you say so,” Midas replied, obviously not believing her in the least.
“They aren’t,” she insisted.
“Holy crap, look!” Elodie cut in, the awe easy to hear in her voice.
Looking to where she was pointing, Lexie gasped. There were two perfect rainbows arching over the ocean right in front of them. “Oh my God, it’s beautiful,” she whispered.
“Eh. Wait two minutes and the tourists will be back on the beach, screaming their fool heads off and ruining it,” Aleck said cynically.
“Seriously?” Lexie said.
“Yup.”
“No, I mean, you’re seriously going to sit there and not admit those rainbows are freaking amazing?” Lexie asked.
“Yup,” Aleck said with a smile.
“You’re spoiled,” Elodie declared.
“Totally,” Lexie agreed.
“Hate to not be on my bro’s side, but they’re kind of righ
t,” Slate said with a smirk.
“Maybe we should switch apartments,” Lexie mused. “Let him look at my naked neighbor for a while, that should make him appreciate this amazing view more.”
“Is she female and naked?” Aleck asked. “I might take you up on that, if she is.”
“No. Think Homer Simpson in his underwear, scratching his butt, then picking up whatever he’s eating for dinner.”
“Ewwwww,” Elodie drawled.
“Disgusting,” Pid agreed.
“Yup.” Lexie laughed.
“Oh, wow, look how stupendous those rainbows are,” Aleck drawled.
Everyone laughed.
Lexie felt Midas rest his chin on her shoulder, and she glanced over at him. “Comfy?” she asked.
“Extremely,” he agreed.
So was she. Sitting back and giving him more of her weight, it was still hard for Lexie to believe she was in Hawaii, in a penthouse, on a huge balcony with an amazing view, oohing and ahhing over a double rainbow with people who were quickly becoming special to her. How was this her life? Sometimes it was hard to even remember the long days and nights in the desert.
“Happy?” Midas asked as the others started a conversation about what they wanted to do next weekend. He’d already told her the team did their best to hang out together at least once a week outside of work. It kept their relationships solid, and based on more than just military shit.
“So much, it’s kind of scary,” Lexie told him honestly.
“You want to come over to my place tomorrow?” he asked. “I could take you down to Waikiki so you can check it out.”
“I’d love to.”
“I’m picking you up, though,” he said sternly.
Lexie laughed. “Okay.”
“Lex?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For being here. I know you had your choice of assignments, and it means the world that you chose Hawaii.”