15. Michael
CHAPTER 15
“You’re sure about this, son?”
“I’m eighteen. I can make my own choices.” I sit across the desk from a man wearing an Army uniform. We’re surrounded by posters about how the Army wants me. How the military needs strong, capable soldiers.
I’m strong—right?
Capable.
“I’m not questioning that.” The name Caves adorns his uniform along with a rank I don’t know enough about to recognize. “But once you start the process, you have to see it through. And you look like you’re running from something.”
“Not running. I just need a chance. Time away from my town.”
“You could take a vacation.”
“I don’t want a vacation. I want to do this. I want to be something.”
The recruiter studies me, and I can see that he genuinely cares enough to make sure I understand just what it is I’m signing up for. “Do you know what job you might want to do?”
“Anything.”
“The first step is to take the ASVAB. Once we have your scores we can go from there.”
I think about Reyna. About how we went and took our SATs together. This is somewhere she won’t follow me. Do I really have the strength to leave her behind?
“You will never make anything of yourself if you marry that girl,” my father said. “You’ll end up right where I am. Broken and stuck in this town for the rest of your life.”
“Then tell me where to be and I’ll be there,” I tell him. “When can we go?”
My father wants me to go pro. He wants me to play ball for money. All I want is to marry Reyna. Start a family. Work in the shop and build a life here. But I’ll never be allowed to do that. My father will never grant us any peace, so my only option is to leave.
To show him that he doesn’t have control, and then maybe…maybe she can forgive me.
Someday.
But even as I listen to the recruiter detail the entrance process, I know that it’s unlikely she ever will.
“Give me something to do.” I plop down in the desk chair across from Lance. He glances over from his computer and arches a brow.
“Feeling a little pent-up?”
I pop a piece of gum into my mouth. “I need to do something. Anything. I can’t get my mind off of Reyna and what a massive mistake her going to Boston is.”
“We’re all going to Boston,” he replies. “And I’ve already started coordinating with her event security. They seem like a great team.”
“Good for them. It’s still a mistake.”
“Possibly, but it’s important to her. And you know how we handle things like this. Our client’s needs come first. She needs to go? We make it happen safely.”
I shake my head. “I’m going insane. I can’t do my job because she insists on Jaxson doing it, I can’t convince you all that we need to put our foot down and refuse.”
“If we do that, she fires us and goes anyway.”
“Carter won’t fire us, and he’s the one technically paying us.”
“Michael.”
I know I’m behaving like an angry teenager. That if it were any other client I wouldn’t be acting this way. But Reyna changes things. She always has. “Fine. But give me something to do. There has to be a client somewhere who needs something. A kitten stuck in a tree? I can handle it. Just give me something.”
He chuckles and pulls a neon yellow sticky note off of the bottom of his monitor, then offers it to me. “Mrs. Redding called and asked if we’d add an additional panel at the back door of her bakery so she’s not having to sprint across the store to turn it off. Think you can manage an install?”
“Done.” I snatch the sticky note from him and jump to my feet, more than ready for the distraction.
After grabbing an extra panel and a bag of tools, I head out to my truck and make the short drive toward the bakery. I put the truck into park and climb out, taking my bag and the panel with me.
The moment I step inside, Mrs. Redding glances up from the customer she’s helping. “Hey, Michael, you here to add the other panel?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Great. It’s just back here.”
The man at the counter turns and offers me a hesitant smile. “Michael,” he greets.
“Liam.” I start toward the back.
“Wait, can I ask you something?”
Taking a deep breath, I turn to face him. “What is it? I’m on a schedule.”
“You and I don’t know each other.”
“No, we don’t.”
“But I care about Reyna, and I sense you do, too. More than it just being your job, at least.”
“You can say that.”
“I asked around a bit. I know you two were an item back in school, and I just want to make sure we’re not going to have any problems between us since I’m courting her now.”
Courting her? Who talks like that? “Reyna is her own person,” I tell him. “She can be courted by whomever she wants.”
He visibly relaxes. “Good. Glad to hear it. Thanks.”
“Yeah. Is that all?”
“It is. See you around.”
“See you.” Jealousy has no business taking root in my heart, but there it is, thorny and infuriating as it spreads through me.
“You look like you’d rather break the panel,” Mrs. Redding jokes.
“I’m fine. Just show me where you want it.”
She points to the back door. “Right beside there.”
“Great.” I drop the bag of tools, then set the panel box down on top of a stainless-steel countertop.
“Michael.” She places her hand gently on my arm, and I turn. Her husband may be the pastor, but Kyra Redding is nearly as close to me as my own mother. They were best friends growing up, and not much has changed even though my mom rarely leaves the house. “Talk to me.”
“I’m working through it,” I tell her. “I just—I’ve realized that all this time I’ve been holding on to hope that Reyna might forgive me, and now I’m understanding that she probably won’t.”
“She’ll forgive you someday,” she says with a smile. “It just might not be in the way you’re hoping for, and you need to come to terms with that.”
Before I can change my mind, I lift my fist and knock on Reyna’s door.
Jaxson is parked just outside, and I’m willing to bet he’s counting on her slamming the door in my face. I know I am.
She pulls it open wearing leggings and a baggy shirt that falls down to her mid-thigh. Her red hair is wet and dangling over her shoulders. She’s breathtaking.
“What is it?”
“I wanted to say something.”
“You can come in.” She steps aside, but I remain where I am.
“I don’t need to come in, this won’t take long.”
“Okay.” She crosses her arms, and I run a hand through my hair.
“I’m a prideful man. It’s something I’ve always struggled with. And I realized today that I haven’t given you a straight apology. I’ve told you that it was a mistake, and I explained—poorly—why I left, but I want you to know, Reyna, I am truly sorry for what I did to you. I hurt you, beyond repair, and I see that now.”
Her eyes fill, but she doesn’t say anything.
“I’m going to talk to Lance. As soon as we catch whoever is after you, I’m going to make the move to Boston. Likely not permanently, since my sister needs me here, but I’ll be spending most of my time there, aiding our larger clients and running the field office we’ve been talking about for quite some time.”
“You don’t have to do that,” she says, uncrossing her arms. Her gaze widens.
“I do. Because you’re right. I shouldn’t have come back into your life the way I did. You deserve happiness. A family. A life. Even if it can’t be with me.”
“Thank you.”
“Anyway. I just wanted to tell you that. I’m here if you need me, Reyna.” I level my gaze on hers. “For forever and a day.”