Chapter 8
Doc stared through the window at his backyard and barely registered the rabbits hopping around.
He’d bought the house when he’d first moved to Killeen.
It was in an older, racially diverse neighborhood, and he loved it.
But it needed a lot of work. Work he was doing himself.
It kept his mind occupied when he wasn’t on a mission and helped keep his demons at bay.
For the most part, Doc didn’t have flashbacks or PTSD from the missions he’d participated in. But for the last week, he couldn’t get what had happened in South Korea out of his mind.
He hated that he’d hurt Ember, but more than that, if they’d been two minutes earlier or later, the outcome of the JRA attack could’ve turned out so differently. Ember could’ve been killed.
It was a vision of her lying in the middle of the street, bleeding and dying, that haunted him.
He’d talked to her every day in the week since he’d arrived home.
But it wasn’t the same as being able to see her.
For one, he had a feeling she was keeping a lot of what was happening back home from him.
Rationally, he understood why. They’d only known each other a few days, even if they’d gotten very close in that small timeframe.
But even with FaceTiming, he couldn’t read her expressions as well as he had in person. She said things were going well, but he could hear an undercurrent of…something in her tone. He wanted to be there for her, to support her, to encourage her.
She told him that she’d changed all her site passwords, and predictably, her parents and social media managers weren’t happy. She’d hinted that other big changes were coming, and while Doc was thrilled she was taking control of her life, he still worried about her.
He wanted to fly out to California, but things were pretty busy here. Riley’d had her baby. A perfect, chubby little girl they’d named Amalia. Logan and Bria were over-the-moon excited about their new baby sister, and Oz was as proud as he could be—and relieved that everyone was healthy.
Then there was Grover. After receiving the long-lost letter from Sierra…he wasn’t doing well. The team had a meeting just today to try to figure out what the hell their next steps were.
In the middle of his musings, Doc’s phone rang. He pulled it out and smiled when he saw it was Ember.
“Hey, Em.”
“Hi.”
Doc could tell immediately that she sounded off. He turned away from the view and headed for his couch. He wanted to be able to concentrate one hundred percent on Ember. “What’s wrong?”
She chuckled. “Why do you automatically think that something’s wrong when I call? Can’t I call just to say hi?”
“Of course you can, and I welcome being able to talk to you as much as possible. But I know you. I can tell that something’s up.”
She sighed. “How is it that I’ve known you for such a short period of time and you know me better than the people I’ve been around my entire life?”
Doc didn’t have an answer for that. At least not one that would sound rational. “Talk to me, Em.”
“Today was…hard.”
“Wait, where are you now?” Doc asked.
“In a hotel. I needed a break from my family and…from everything.”
Doc’s worry increased. “What can I do to help?” he asked.
“This. Talk to me. Listen.”
“Of course. You were going to have a heart-to-heart with your parents today. I take it that didn’t go well?”
“Honestly, it went much like I’d expected.
They aren’t happy that I’m done with competing.
They told me that I was throwing away over a decade worth of hard work.
That not medaling at the Olympics was a result of me being stubborn and stupid and wanting to stay in the village instead of with them in a hotel.
They basically accused me of being selfish and acting like a kid.
They wanted me to give it another four years.
To atone for my ‘failure,’ as they called it.
I refused. They yelled. My mom cried. My dad put on his disappointed face…
“But it was when I told them I was also done with Ember Maxwell, the social media influencer, that they really lost their minds.”
“They’re losing control of you, and they don’t like that,” Doc said.
“Yeah, but I think they’re also worried too. They made me a lot of money. Money they put in accounts in my name. Yes, they’re on the accounts too, but the money is mine—and they know it. I could really screw them, and I think they’re scared of losing that income stream.”
Doc nodded. He could understand that. “Did you tell them that you’d never leave them penniless?”
When Ember didn’t immediately respond, Doc frowned. “Em?”
“Yeah, I’m here. How do you know I won’t?”
“Leave with all the money? Because you’re too kind to do something like that.
Yes, your parents have pushed you hard. They’ve browbeat you and made you do things you didn’t want to do.
But you love them. I can tell. And you’ve said time and time again that you appreciated their pushing, even if you haven’t liked every decision they’ve made on your behalf.
You could no more leave your parents destitute than you could walk by someone hurting and not try to do something about it. ”
“See?” she whispered. “You know me better than my own parents! They truly thought I was going to leave them without a dime. It was crazy. I told them that I’d never do that.
That they’d be taken care of for the rest of their lives, even if I disabled all my accounts and disappeared off the face of the Earth. ”
“Is that what you’re planning on doing?” Doc couldn’t help but ask. “Disabling your accounts.”
“No. I thought about it. I thought about what a relief it would be, but then I decided that would be stupid. I have this huge platform, one my parents built from scratch. Twenty-five million people see what I post. It would be irresponsible to throw that away when I can use it for good. Instead of posting pictures of myself, I can try to bring social injustices to light. I want to make a difference in the world, Craig, and I think I can use my platform to do that.”
“I think so too,” Doc agreed. “You can do any damn thing you put your mind to. I know it. You’re an amazing woman.”
“Thanks,” Ember said softly. “I also had a long talk with Alexis, Harris, Betty, and Samer. They’re the people who’ve been managing my social media accounts.
They were all pretty shocked when I’d changed my passwords and essentially locked them out.
Alexis especially. He actually lost his shit, telling me I didn’t know what I was doing and that I’d ruin years of his hard work. ”
“What are you going to do with them?” Doc asked.
“Probably give them a few months’ severance pay and see if my parents can find them other jobs.”
“How’d they take that?”
Ember sighed. “They weren’t thrilled. I think working for me was a pretty easy job, all things considered. Alexis stormed out of the room, Harris and Betty called me a few choice names under their breath, but still left with a little less anger than Alexis.”
“And Samer? He was one of the ones at the Olympics, right?”
“Yeah. He actually wished me well. Said that if anyone can do good things with their social media, it was me. He also told me if I had any questions, I shouldn’t hesitate to contact him, which I appreciated.”
“That sounds promising. Are the others going to cause problems for you?”
“I hope not,” Ember said emphatically. “But we’ll see. Anyway, after I talked to my parents and my social media team, I went to the gym to meet with my coaches and the men and women I’ve trained with for years. I apologized for my performance at the Olympics and—”
“That’s bullshit,” Doc told her. “You shouldn’t apologize for doing the best you could.”
“You didn’t let me finish,” Ember said with a small laugh. “They pretty much all said the same thing. I explained that I had dislocated my shoulder, but didn’t tell them the specifics. They were supportive, but I have a feeling behind my back, they’ll be bitching about me leaving.”
“Why?”
“Well…me being there brings attention to the sport and to the center. And money in the form of endorsements. My parents paid my coaches a pretty penny to make me the best, and now that I’m quitting, they won’t get that money anymore.
It all comes down to the almighty dollar,” Ember said with a sigh.
“I’m sorry it’s been a rough day for you,” Doc said.
“Thanks. But you know what?”
“What?”
“I feel pretty good about everything.”
“I’m glad.”
“It’s kind of scary to change everything I’ve done over the last decade, but I’m excited about it too.”
“That’s great to hear. I have no doubt you’ll kick ass in whatever you decide to do.”
She chuckled. “Thanks. So…how are things there?”
It was Doc’s turn to sigh. “I told you about the woman Grover met in Afghanistan, right?”
“Yeah. Sierra.”
“That’s her. Well, Grover brought in the letter he’d received from her. It wasn’t good, Em.”
“Why? What’d she say?”
“It was postmarked almost a year ago. In it, she told Grover how much she was looking forward to getting to know him; that if it was all right with him, she’d like to exchange letters instead of emails.
She liked the old-fashioned aspect. She knew it would make their correspondence slower, but she hoped it would make what they talked about more meaningful. ”
“She’s not wrong,” Ember said. “I think the art of writing letters has mostly been lost. One of my favorite things to do is read old letters from wartime. They’re poignant and touching and not as…superficial? I don’t know if that’s the word I’m looking for.”
“I know what you mean, and I agree.”
“So…what? Grover’s upset that he could have been writing her all this time but hasn’t, thinking she wasn’t interested?” Ember asked.