Chapter 17
17
Bernie had said there wasn’t time to dick around with Beau calling a different number. So I was just supposed to go up to Bernie’s house again, which frustrated me to no end. I didn’t want to leave Marlowe alone. I knew she’d be safe at the hotel under a different name. Yes, Jasper Creek talked, but people knew enough to keep their mouths shut when it was important. I just didn’t want to leave her while she was still worried about Chaos. And especially after we’d made love. I didn’t know where this was going between us, and what we had seemed more fragile than ever.
As for the ATV I’d been driving, Dave the guy who owned the hardware store had driven it back to Bernie’s place. As I made it up the rough road, my hands began to sweat.
What the hell?
It had been at least thirteen years since I had been this nervous. It had been my first mission, but as soon as I was in the thick of things, my training had kicked in and I did what I needed to do. But how in the hell do you train for meeting a twin brother that you never knew you had?
I pulled up next to Bernie’s A-frame and parked my truck. He was waiting for me on his deck. He was holding two beers. Okay, apparently Bernie thought the way to handle meeting your twin for the first time included alcohol before noon. I was up for it.
I climbed up the stairs.
“Where’s Mora?” I asked.
“She’s in town visiting with Trenda, Maddie and Evie.”
“Would Evie be the woman who owns part of Whispering Pines?” I grabbed the offered beer.
“Yep. She, Aiden, and their boys show up about twice a year, and she comes out a bit more.”
I considered making more conversation, but I couldn’t. “When is Beau supposed to call?”
“He’ll call between twelve-thirty and one.” He popped his phone off his belt and threw it at me and I caught it. Checking the time, I had twenty minutes to kill.
Might as well ask more about the town .
“How’d you end up here?”
Bernie settled into a chair. “I was working for a big corporation. When a relative of mine died and left me this land, I asked for my retirement package early and built this house. I was sick of the rat race, and sick of living on top of my neighbors.”
“Well, there’s no chance of that here.” He smiled and toasted me before he took his first sip of beer. “You seem pretty plugged in for someone who doesn’t live in town.”
“I go get my coffee from the Jolt and sit there for a while. Almost everyone goes in there in the mornings. Grab breakfast at Down Home and my groceries from Rogers. Do that about twice a week. Once a week I go to the retirement home to visit Luther and Violet Randolph. They lived up on the mountain most of their lives, but with Luther’s Alzheimer’s, they had to move to town.”
“I’ve missed the Jolt.”
“Java Jolt. It’s run by Ruby Garner. It’s a block off the town square. I didn’t think she’d be able to make a go of it, but that girl has grit. Her pastries outdo Pearl’s and Down Home’s, but don’t tell them I said so, otherwise I won’t be allowed back into their restaurants.”
I chuckled. Truth . “Besides Marlowe and me, what other news do you have to share?”
“Everybody is on the lookout for a big black truck. Nobody likes the idea of somebody trying to run our teacher off the road.”
That did my heart good to hear, and reassured me that no one was going to talk to a stranger looking for Marlowe. It didn’t ease my nervousness about talking to Beau. My twin . I glanced at the time. Five, maybe ten minutes, and the phone in my hand would ring, my brother on the other end.
“And everybody’s worried about Chloe Drake,” Bernie went on. “Oops, I mean Post. We haven’t seen hide nor hair of her since her last miscarriage. Her sisters go to her house, but she hasn’t gone over to theirs. Not even when Evie brings her boys to town. Of course, that might be rubbing salt into a wound.”
“Bernie, I think you’re oversharing now.”
He took a swallow of his beer. “You’re right, I might be. It’s just that the whole town is worried. Not just about her, we’re worried about her husband Zarek. He’s one of our fire fighters.”
I gave him a pointed glance.
“Got you. There’s a Town Hall meeting coming up and the agenda has some juicy items on it. We’re going to be discussing?—”
The phone rang.
Bernie jutted his chin at the phone. “Better answer it. That’s Beau’s ring tone. I’m going to go into the house.”
Bernie hightailed it inside while I let it ring one more time, palms clammy as I wiped them on my pants, then pressed answer on the FaceTime call.
“Hello.”
For a split second, I thought the phone’s camera was on the selfie setting. Looking at Beau was like looking into a mirror. Only I was looking at a really tired and pissed off version of myself.
“Bernie—” Beau started. Then he stopped, mouth open and eyes wide. “B-Brady?”
“Retired, Warrant Officer, Delta Force, Kai Davies, at your service.”
He quickly closed his mouth and squinted his eyes. “ Kai ? What the…? Who?” Beau took in a deep breath. “What the fuck, Brady? Where in the hell have you been?” Beau practically shouted. “You being gone killed our mother, do you know that?”
That was one hell of a hard blow.
“Beau, I didn’t know about you. Swear to God, I didn’t know about you.”
“You’re there. In Jasper Creek. You must have known something. Where were you all this time?”
“Alaska. Ronald said I was an only child born in Dillingham. According to him, my mother ran off when I was a baby because she was a hussy.”
Beau flinched at that like I’d just punched him.
“I didn’t know the truth.”
“Who the hell is Ronald?”
“Our father. He called himself Ronald.” I shook my head, frustrated. This wasn’t what I expected and it wasn’t going well. I tried again. “I found a photo of the two of us as little kids. It said Brady and Grady, Jasper Creek. Found it three years ago, but I was still active. After the injury and my retirement, decided to follow-up. Discover the truth. You’re Grady, and I guess that makes me Brady.”
Beau took a deep breath. “How’d you end up at Bernie’s?”
I found a picture of my father in an old newspaper photo, only he was Arthur.” I shook my head. “ Our father. Bernie had your number, so…” I shrugged. “You complete your mission, or is this just a break?”
He squinted at me again. “What mission?”
Of course he’d deny being on a mission.
“I’m Delta Force, remember?”
He nodded. “Mission completed.” He took a deep breath as he just stared at me. “Hmm. I guess when Bernie texted on WhatsApp that I should brace for this FaceTime call, he wasn’t kidding.”
“Guess not.”
“You said you retired. Medical discharge?”
I only nodded.
“What injury?”
“Shrapnel in the neck, above the Kevlar. Multiple surgeries. They didn’t think I would walk again. Proved them wrong, but the only job I’d get was pushing paper.”
Beau snorted. “Yeah, that wouldn’t be any good.”
“Got that right.”
“Was he violent?”
His abrupt subject change caught me off-guard and it took me a second to understand. “Dad?”
Beau nodded. I saw him swallow. Hard.
“Sometimes,” I admitted. “Can you tell me about Mom?”
I watched and heard Beau sigh. “It’s a long story.”
“When’s your next leave?”
“I’ve got plans.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, Little Grandma told me you were jumping off bases.”
Beau snorted. “I loved that old lady. Good to hear she’s still kicking.”
“So, you’re coming back? Checking things out?” I couldn’t keep the hope out of my voice, but fuck it, if he didn’t come here, I’d go to him.
But seriously, Brady. Kai .” He looked at me and clenched his jaw. Was he seeing me or the man who broke his mother’s heart? I couldn’t be sure. “Jasper Creek is not my favorite place.”
This time I sighed. “I hear you. Still, I would like to hear more about Mom.”
“I get it, brother.” He stared at me for a long time while I let the fact that he called me brother sink in. It felt good.
“I’ll see what I can do,” he finally answered.
“I’d appreciate it,” I said around the huge lump in my throat.
Beau lifted his chin. “In the meantime, I’d like to set up a call when I have more time. I’ve got to go in for a debrief.”
Didn’t that sound familiar?
He didn’t say anything more, just stared at me again. It was seriously like looking in a mirror. Then the left side of his mouth tilted up and a dimple popped. A dimple I didn’t have.
I remember that!
“Shit, Brady, I’m blown away, but so damned excited. I hope you know that.”
“Same.” I swallowed around an even bigger lump. Choking back tears.
“Retirement’s made you soft,” Beau chuckled.
I laughed. “Fuck you.”
“Right back at you.” He paused, flashed that dimple again, then said, “Bye, Brother.”
The screen went black.
Driving back from Bernie’s I was anxious to talk to someone about Beau. I would have thought it would’ve been Clay, but actually it was Marlowe. It made me stop and think about just how close we’d gotten in the last month.
Damn, how did that happen?
I just waved to Gretchen when I flew through reception at the Whispering Pines Inn. The elevator was taking too long, so I took the stairs. When I got inside the room, I wasn’t surprised to find Marlowe practically crawling out of her skin.
“Did you talk to him?”
“I did.”
“You don’t sound excited about it.”
“Let’s talk about it over dinner. The sign downstairs said the special was salmon.”
“Nothing personal, but I’m never all that impressed with an ocean fish in a land-locked state. Now if they had said trout or catfish…”
“So you’re basically a snob. Good to find this out early in the relationship.” I sat down on the couch beside her and pulled her carefully into my arms.
“You know I’m not fine china. I can handle it if you hold me closer.”
“Let’s save that for next week, shall we?”
Marlowe let out a long breath.
“What was that for?”
“I was afraid that after talking to Beau you might be thinking about leaving town.”
She had her face nestled in my neck so I couldn’t see her expression. I needed to, so I pushed her back and tilted her chin up.
“Sweetheart. I don’t plan to leave anytime soon.”
“That’s not what you’ve been saying. What’s more, you’re living in a hotel. Two signs that you’re not planning on staying.”
“Let me tell you about my conversation with Beau, hmm?”
She looked at me with those deep brown eyes and nodded.
“He kind of reminded me of me.”
She snorted. “He is your twin.”
“Smartass. Let me finish.”
“He’s in special operations, too.”
“I looked that up. That’s a lot more specialized than just being in the Army or Marines or Navy. You have to be a lot more trained, and you go into more hazardous situations. The death toll is higher too.”
“Not by much. Because we’re so well trained, we can take out the enemy and take care of ourselves.”
“Is that how you ended up in hospitals for almost a year?” Her voice was husky. It was obvious that she cared and was scared.
“First off, I’m not going back to the teams, so that’s something you don’t have to worry about, and second of all, my injury was the first major one that our team sustained in the six years since we’ve been together. Marlowe, you need to take my word, we’re good.”
Her fingers bit into my biceps as she tried to read the truth in my eyes. She finally nodded her head. “So do you think Beau is good, too?”
“I would bet my last dollar that he is.”
“Did you talk about it? What you did. The special operations stuff.”
“Honey, we don’t talk about that stuff. Our missions are secret. We don’t talk to anybody but our team members about what we do.” I paused . I might as well ask the question . “Is that something you could handle?”
She frowned. “Why not? If that’s the way it had to be, of course I could. It’s the same way as when I’m dealing with a troubled kid. If I have to take him or her to counseling, I wouldn’t tell you about it.”
I leaned in for a kiss. “You’re just about perfect, Ms. Jones.”
“Tell me what I need to do to get to a ten. I want a perfect score.”
“We’ll discuss that in the bedroom.”