Chapter 10 #2
“My memory might not ever come back. So were you going to pretend you’d just met Wendy somewhere and started dating her? Maybe you’d have a second marriage ceremony, Hollywood, just to keep up the pretense?”
No one said a word, although their eyes said plenty.
Truck knew he was being harsh and tried to rein in his emotions.
“You’ve hurt my feelings,” Truck admitted in a gentler voice.
“Hollywood, I hear congratulations are in order. I bet your baby girl is fucking beautiful. I’d like to meet her, if you think I can do that and not have my head explode.
” He turned to Fletch. “And I was serious when I asked how Emily was doing. Mary told me she’s having a hard pregnancy. ”
“She’s okay,” Fletch said softly. “She’s had some pain recently and we’re worried that the baby might come too early, so she’s basically on complete bed rest.”
“That sucks,” Truck told his friend. Then he turned to the others. “I’d like to meet Casey. I find it hilarious that you hate bugs as much as you do and ended up with an entomologist. I also want to meet Wendy and Harley.”
Beatle, Blade, and Coach all nodded. “We’d like that too,” Coach said for them all.
Then Truck turned to Ghost. “And I understand you had a one-night stand with Rayne, and then we ran into her in the middle of an op?”
“Mary sure was chatty,” Ghost grumbled, but relented and nodded. “Yeah. Rayne’s amazing.”
“That explains the new tattoo,” Truck said, glancing at Ghost’s leg.
Ghost nodded again.
Truck took a deep breath. “I get that this is awkward, and that you don’t want to do anything that will hurt me.
But, guys, I’m either going to regain my memory or I’m not.
The last thing I want is for you to live your lives disingenuously.
You’re the best friends I’ve ever had, and I want to get to know your women for the second time.
I want to hang out with all of you. I realize it’ll be awkward at first, but don’t block me from your lives. ”
They all nodded. “We won’t,” Hollywood said. “Kassie’s been bugging me. Wants to see you.”
“Emily too,” Fletch added. “Although you’ll have to come to our place, since she’s not allowed out of bed at the moment.”
“You buy that big house you had your eye on?” Truck asked.
Fletch winced. “Yeah. That’s how I actually met my Em,” he said. “But we’ve since moved.”
Truck raised an eyebrow.
“Long story, man. Really long story.”
Truck nodded and turned to the others. “I want to know how you all met your women. Mary told me some, but I need all the details. I still can’t believe you fuckers are all pussy whipped.”
“Like you should talk,” Coach groused, and Ghost smacked him on the back of the head.
Truck’s eyes narrowed. “Mary told me that we were together, but that it was complicated.”
“She’s right,” Ghost said. “Look, we’ll stop hiding our women from you, but you and Mary have to work out your relationship on your own.”
“So we are in a relationship?” Truck asked, wanting clarification.
“Yes,” Ghost told him.
And with that, Truck punched him in the jaw so quickly, he didn’t have a chance to defend himself.
Ghost landed on the ground with a grunt but was back on his feet immediately. “What the fuck?” he asked, holding his jaw.
“You knew I was in a relationship, and you let me go to that bar and let that woman hit on me,” he growled. “That’s not cool. Not cool at all. No wonder Mary was so upset.”
“You didn’t want anything to do with that other woman,” Ghost retorted, defending himself. “We weren’t going to let you go home with her, or anyone else.”
Beatle nodded. “We may not have told you about your relationship with Mary, but we aren’t assholes.”
“Are you attracted to Mary?” Beatle asked.
“Yes.” Truck didn’t have to think about his answer. It was immediate and earnest.
“Right…so you took one look at her and you were interested. That’s pretty amazing, considering you have no recollection of her.”
“What’s your point?” Truck asked.
“That’s exactly the way it happened the other first time you met her.”
Truck’s brows went up. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. And that’s all I’m going to say about it,” Beatle said. “But I thought you should know. It might make you feel less weird about knowing you already had a relationship with her, so you can get to know her now without worrying about what happened in the past.”
Truck had to admit he did feel better about his instant attraction to Mary, knowing it had happened the same way when he’d first met her. Almost as if he and Mary were meant to be. “Anything else you guys want to tell me?” Truck asked.
“Did Mary tell you about Fish?” Blade asked.
“Who?”
“Guess that answers that. He’s an unofficial member of our team.
Long story short is that he’s living out in Idaho with his wife, Bryn.
She’s incredibly smart and socially awkward.
We all love her. Whatever you do, do not get in a discussion with her about your amnesia.
She’ll talk your ear off and you won’t have the heart to stop her. ”
Everyone chuckled, and Truck felt himself smiling. Looking at each of his friends, he said, “I’m happy for all of you. We’ve seen our share of military relationships crash and burn and it’s awesome to see you all so happy.”
Ghost clapped Truck on the back and said, “Thanks. Now, can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“How do you really feel about Mary?”
Truck frowned. “Why?”
“Don’t get defensive,” Ghost said. “I’m just asking.”
“I like her. She’s refreshing. She’s not intimidated by me, and I like how she has no problem standing up to you assholes.”
Ghost grinned. “You’ve certainly got her pegged after such a short time.”
Truck shrugged. “She’s funny, interesting, and I can tell she’s a fighter.”
“Interesting. Why?” Fletch asked.
“Because she doesn’t back down from anyone or anything. We also talked a lot last night. She had a shit childhood, and it’s only made her stronger.”
“Yeah?” Hollywood asked.
“You don’t know?” Truck asked in surprise.
“She’s not very open,” Hollywood said. “Kassie doesn’t know a lot about her. Only pretty recent stuff.”
“Agreed,” Ghost said. “Rayne is her best friend, and even she doesn’t know a lot of details. She knows that her mom wasn’t the greatest and that she’s been on her own since she was eighteen.”
“That’s the understatement of the year,” Truck agreed. “We have that in common.”
“Come on, you guys, let’s continue on while we talk,” Beatle urged.
The six men continued their run and Truck said, “Mary mentioned that I hadn’t told her about my parents. That got me wondering if I’ve told you guys in the last three years, because I know I never said anything before that.”
“No. All we know is that they aren’t in your life,” Coach said. “I mean, we know they came to see you after you got hurt, but you made it clear when they left that talking about them was a no-go. We didn’t push.”
“Right. So you should know, I haven’t been purposely keeping them a secret from you. It’s just that I never think about them anymore, since they’re not part of my life.”
He took a glance at the others and saw they were paying attention even as they were running. So he continued, “I also have a sister.”
Ghost tripped over his feet and almost fell flat on his face. The others stared at Truck with their mouths open.
He held up a hand to forestall their questions.
“I know, I know. Mary’s reaction was much the same as yours.
Mercedes—Macie—is almost five years younger than me and I haven’t seen her since I left for boot camp.
We used to be close, but for some reason, she never tried to contact me after I joined the Army.
And yes, I wrote her, but she never wrote back. ”
“And you never went home?” Coach asked.
“No.” Then he proceeded to explain about growing up as the skinny, picked-on kid and how his parents didn’t seem to care. He told them about their visit when he was in the hospital after he’d been disfigured, and what they’d said. It wasn’t easy, but it felt good to open up to his friends.
He’d gotten a second chance at life. He was more than aware that he could’ve died instead of just losing three years. He wanted these men to understand he valued their friendship, and he couldn’t think of a better way to let them know than truly opening himself up to them.
By the time they got back to the parking lot, Truck’s head felt as if there were little sledgehammers inside it, but he still felt lighter somehow.
“If you ever want help in finding Macie, if nothing else but to clear the air, you know we’re more than willing to do what we can,” Ghost told him. “I’m sure the commander would have no problem using his connections to help find her as well.”
Truck didn’t immediately reject the offer. Ever since his talk with Mary, he’d been seriously thinking about calling their friend, Tex. The man could find anyone, no matter how deeply they’d hidden themselves. But maybe he’d start with the commander first. It was a good idea. “I’ll think about it.”
Ghost nodded then held out his hand to Truck and they shook. “Rayne was right,” Ghost said.
“How so?”
“We’ve been babying you too much. I’m sorry we kept shit from you. I’m still worried about your health, but we’ll try to chill, right guys?”
Everyone agreed.
“Want to come over and meet Kassie and my Kate?” Hollywood asked.
“Fuck yeah,” Truck told his friend.
“Great. I’ll make that happen.”
“Uh…you should know that there’s a group wedding in the works,” Beatle informed Truck. “My fiancée, Casey, is his sister.” He pointed to Blade.
“Holy shit,” Truck said, his eyes wide. “That’s awesome!”
Blade beamed. “I think so.”
“Congrats, Beatle,” Truck said, slapping the other man on the shoulder.
“Thanks. The double ceremony was the girls’ idea,” Beatle told him.
“When?” Truck asked.
“We’re not sure. They want to wait until Emily has her baby,” Blade said.
“Cool. I’ll have time to get to know them again,” Truck said.
“Yup.”