1. Clint
ONE
CLINT
As the bus rolled down Main Street, I took in the multitude of red, white, and blue buntings decorating buildings and the dozens of Huckleberry Creek citizens lining the sidewalks, waving American flags and cheering as we went by, as if it were a parade instead of a commandeered school bus full of exhausted soldiers who’d been waiting too damned long to get home. Town looked more like the Fourth of July than the middle of autumn. I appreciated all the community support in welcoming our reserve unit back from deployment, but I couldn’t help but feel just a little bit dim. Not everybody had made it out of this tour unscathed.
Two blocks off of Main Street, the bus turned into the high school parking lot. It was just about the only place in town with enough space for all our loved ones to gather for our return. Restless, and more than ready to be on Alabama soil, I was up and out of my seat with my ruck the moment the bus door opened. We filed off, and I automatically scanned the gathered crowd, searching among the crying and hugging and kissing folks for my family.
But the first person I saw was Austen.
In form-fitting jeans and a purple top with flowy sleeves that laced up the V at the neck, she took my breath away. Her caramel brown hair was pulled up into one of those unaccountably sexy messy buns that made me think of lazy Saturday mornings in bed, and her big, Disney princess eyes were fixed on me. How the hell was she even more beautiful now than when I’d left?
Her smile flashed Cheshire-cat wide as she made a beeline for me. “You’re home!” She sprang at me.
I barely had a moment to react, dropping my bag and catching her as she wrapped me in a whole-body monkey hug. It was something she’d done since we were kids, but having her arms and legs wrapped around me now had a very different effect. She froze, my hands dangerously close to her ass as I supported her weight. For a moment, we simply stared at each other, nose to nose. It took every shred of self control I possessed not to close the fractional distance between us to kiss her. But no matter what I wanted, that wasn’t who we were to each other, and this greeting was just Austen being… Austen.
Abruptly, her cheeks flushed an adorable pink, and she dropped her legs, stepping out of my hold. I valiantly focused on willing away my erection as she tucked a lock of loose hair behind her ear and didn’t quite meet my eyes. “I’m so glad you’re home safe.”
“Me, too.” I bent to grab my ruck from where it had fallen, electing to hold it in my arms rather than tossing it over one shoulder, as Austen’s parents were right behind her, and I didn’t want them seeing the inconvenient state of my crotch either.
“Clint, honey, we’re so glad you’re home!” Patty MacAvoy looked like the librarian she’d always been, in neatly pressed slacks and a cardigan set in a sunshiny yellow. Reading glasses hung on a chain around her neck.
Because it was expected, I slid in for a side hug. “Thanks, Mrs. MacAvoy. And I appreciate all the socks. You kept me in good shape.”
She beamed. “I knew you couldn’t have enough!”
“Son, welcome home.” Austen’s dad extended one beefy hand.
I grasped it firmly, feeling the strength in his grip. “Appreciate it, sir. It’s good to be back.”
No sooner had I released his hand than I caught sight of my own family pushing through the crowd. Mom’s eyes were already brimming with tears, and Dad was beaming with pride. My brother, Luke, was grinning from ear to ear, while my sister, Paige, was practically bouncing with excitement. They descended upon me in a flurry of hugs and backslaps, their voices a jumble of welcome homes and missed yous.
As I was enveloped in my family’s embrace, the scent of Mom’s perfume and Dad’s aftershave mixing with the familiar smell of home, I heard Austen’s voice rise above the commotion. There was a note of concern in her tone as she asked, “Where’s Rhett?”
I froze as realization sank in. Because Austen was here. So were her parents. And while I was certainly glad to see them, and they were a part of my extended family, probably they wouldn’t have come out just for me.
Bracing myself to do the duty that should’ve been Rhett’s, I turned to face them. “Rhett’s not on the bus.”
“Oh, is he driving?” Mrs. MacAvoy asked.
Fuck.
“He didn’t tell you.” It wasn’t a question.
Austen’s pretty eyes looked worried now. “Tell us what?”
Silently, I cursed my best friend eight ways from Sunday. Why the hell hadn’t he let them know? It had been months.
“He was injured.” As everyone gasped, I rushed to add, “He’s gonna make a full recovery. But he’ll be getting home later.” I wasn’t sure how much later, because it had already been more than two months since our camp was ambushed and he’d been evacced with the other wounded. But if Rhett didn’t tell his family that he’d been injured and was recovering at Walter Reed, well, that wasn’t on me to divulge. Still, I was grateful I could tell them something.
As the MacAvoys reacted to the news, I spotted Pepper at the fringes of the crowd, clearly listening. Her brow was furrowed, a tiny pinch between her eyes. Had she come to see Rhett get home? Or was she here for someone else? Knowing her, she probably wouldn’t admit it even if Rhett was the reason she was here. Not after whatever happened between them.
“Well, despite my son’s incredible lack of communication, we’re still having a big welcome home cookout for all you boys tonight. You and your family are all welcome.”
Filing Pepper’s behavior away under the heading of Interesting , I pulled my attention back to Mrs. MacAvoy. “Of course, we’ll be there. Wouldn’t miss it.”
“What can we bring, Patty?” Mom asked.
Across the parking lot, I spotted Kellan, his arm around Tate as they spoke to his family. Well, they sure looked cozy. Maybe he’d gotten a head start on the pact with phone calls or letters after the ambush. Good for him.
Gabe was the last holdout. He hadn’t been willing to wait for the bus and had rented a car so he could drive back home last night. I could understand the pull of his own bed. I was sure as hell looking forward to mine. And a shower. And civilian clothes.
Luke clapped me on the shoulder. “Bet you’re ready to get home.”
“Brother, you ain’t wrong. But I have a stop to make first.”
“Where’s that?” Paige asked.
“Pie Hard. I want a whole huckleberry cobbler, just for me.” I hadn’t been kidding about that. I’d had dreams about that cobbler. If at least half of them had included Austen feeding it to me, well… I was only human.
“Already ahead of you, bro. Picked one up this morning and put it in the fridge in your apartment.”
I pulled my sister in for another tight hug. “You’re totally my favorite sibling.”
She squeezed me back. “Naturally.”
“Well, shall we get you on home?” Mom asked. “Or do you want to stop by your place first?”
I turned around to find the senior MacAvoys and Austen already gone. My sense of disappointment wasn’t rational. They hadn’t come for me, and I’d be seeing them again at the cookout tonight. More to the point, I’d be seeing Austen again. I had things to say to her. And I had to figure out exactly how I was going to keep the pact I’d made without blowing shit up with one of my best friends.
“My place first. I have a cobbler to fall face first into.”