The Soldier (Alpha Cove #1)

Prologue

Chad Young stood leaning against the side of the house where he’d grown up, amazed and awed at how many people had come for his father’s celebration of life today.

It seemed as if the entire town of Rockville was there.

Sam, the butcher; Mrs. Lakeworth, his fourth-grade teacher; lobstermen who’d taken the day off from fishing to attend; and of course all their nearest neighbors were there, as were his mom and dad’s best friends.

Hell, he even thought he’d seen some of the selectmen, representing Rockville’s form of government.

Pretty much the entire town had shown up to pay their respects to his father and to let his mother know they were there for her. There were lots of reasons Chad had left Maine years ago to join the Army, but this sense of community was one thing he’d definitely missed.

“How’re you holding up?”

Turning toward his older brother, Lincoln, Chad shrugged. “Not good.”

“Yeah,” Lincoln agreed as he took a swig of water from the bottle he was holding.

“How’s Mom doing?” Chad asked.

“’Bout as expected.”

Chad sighed. Evelyn Young was doing her best to play hostess.

She was putting on a brave face, but losing her husband of fifty years was hitting her harder than she was letting on.

As good as it was to see his brothers—his two younger siblings were milling around the yard, greeting people and keeping an eye on their mom at the same time—Chad hated that their little family reunion was because of their dad dying.

“Did you get a chance to talk to the doctor who treated Dad in the emergency room?” Chad asked.

“Yeah. Said he didn’t suffer. That he’d definitely had a stroke when Mom called nine-one-one. There was nothing they could do when he had that second stroke after arriving at the ER.”

Chad stared out at all the people in the yard and blinked back tears.

It was impossible to think of his dad as anything other than larger than life.

At six foot five, he’d been an imposing figure.

But he was also a gentle giant. Memories of his booming laugh echoed in Chad’s head.

It was devastating to know he’d never hear it again.

Austin Young had been the best father growing up. Patient yet stern. He insisted his four boys study hard, but he also made sure to teach them the importance of having fun as well. Balance. His dad had been all about balance.

Chad and his brothers had a great childhood.

They tinkered on every engine under the sun—motorcycles, ATVs, snowmobiles, cars, trucks, lawn mowers.

There wasn’t an engine his dad couldn’t fix, and he’d taught all his sons everything he knew.

They’d camped, boated, hiked ... spent as much time as possible outside.

But it wasn’t all fun and games. Both his parents worked their butts off to provide for their family.

They’d bought a chunk of land when they were newlyweds, naming it Lobster Cove.

It was right on the water, fairly large, at five acres.

And over the years, they’d built businesses on the property, starting with boat storage facilities for the winter.

Then Dad began contracting for the county, plowing roads, as well as helping friends and neighbors clear their drives.

The auto shop was the biggest moneymaker for his parents, however, and his dad, even at seventy-three, had worked in the shop until the day he’d died.

Their last business venture was building and renting two guesthouses on the property. They weren’t large—one was a two-bedroom cabin, and the other a one-bedroom—but they were fully booked every summer from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Most years beyond that as well.

His mom had taken responsibility for that particular business. She cleaned the houses, managed reservations, greeted guests, and helped new visitors figure out what to do in the area, and she made complimentary baked goods for each arrival.

Thinking about what would happen to Lobster Cove now that their dad wasn’t around made Chad’s stomach clench. His dad had run the auto shop and the boat storage businesses ... and he had a feeling his mom would be significantly impacted by the loss of the income if they both went under.

His younger brothers approached with slight frowns on their faces.

Ten years separated the oldest from youngest, but many people often thought they were all much closer in age.

They looked similar, and all of them had decided to go into the military after graduating from high school, which meant they were comparably fit and muscular as well.

But they’d all taken separate paths, joining different branches of the military.

It was an ongoing good-natured rivalry within the family.

At the moment, Chad didn’t feel like ribbing Zach about the Army-Navy football game, or making jokes about whose branch of the military was better. It was all he could do to keep his composure when everywhere he looked around the property, he saw echoes of his dad.

“Dad loved Lobster Cove so much,” Zach started without preamble after joining his brothers.

“Yeah,” Lincoln agreed. “He did.”

“I heard Victor asking Mom what she was going to do with the property, now that Dad’s gone.”

“Are you serious?” Lincoln hissed. “At Dad’s memorial? What an ass!”

Chad agreed. It was no secret that their neighbor had always had his eye on the Youngs’ land. He’d been trying to get their dad to sell part of it to him for years. And apparently he thought it was appropriate to approach their mother about selling when she was at her most vulnerable.

“What are we going to do?” Knox asked.

“About what?” Lincoln asked.

“About Lobster Cove. Mom can’t run everything on her own. She doesn’t know anything about the auto shop, and we all know that if she ever got behind the wheel of a plow, nothing good would happen.”

Everyone chuckled. Their mom was notorious for being a terrible driver.

She’d been in more car accidents in her lifetime than was normal for any one person, and their dad had refused to ever let her operate the plow for fear she’d take out one of the houses.

It was another running family joke that seemed more sad than funny, now that Austin Young was gone.

“Otis is staying on, right?” Zach asked.

Otis was their dad’s longtime best friend.

About five years younger, he did the accounting and payroll for the various businesses their parents owned.

He also managed their personal investments and did their taxes each year.

He was invaluable to Lobster Cove, and their mom would need his help, now more than ever.

“Yes. I talked to him earlier, and he reassured me that he wasn’t going anywhere,” Lincoln said.

“That’s a relief. And Barry and Walt?” Knox asked. The two mechanics who worked with their dad would be key to keeping the auto shop running.

“They’re staying too. At least for now,” Lincoln said.

Chad’s mind spun. Everywhere he looked around the property, he saw things that needed to be done.

It was mid-April, and winter was finally waning.

There were the normal maintenance items—the yard needed tending, the dock needed to be put back in, the kayaks taken out of storage for the summer guests to use at their leisure, and owners would be wanting the boats that had been stored over the winter.

But more than that ... the longer he looked, the more Chad realized many things had been neglected.

One of the guesthouse porches was sagging. The roofs on both needed replacing. His mom had mentioned the oven in the one-bedroom wasn’t working right and the whole-house generators hadn’t worked for a while, probably because mice had gotten inside them again and chewed through wires.

Lobster Cove was looking ... tired.

He didn’t blame his parents; they were in their seventies, and it was a lot of work, keeping the businesses operating in the black. General maintenance clearly hadn’t been a priority.

Which made Chad wonder what his parents hadn’t been telling him and his brothers.

He felt guilty about not asking more questions, about not visiting more often. It was obvious his dad had been slowing down physically, and he hadn’t been able to do some of the repairs that needed to be done around the property. But such vital things as structural maintenance ...?

Now Chad wondered if the businesses weren’t doing as well as he’d thought and his parents didn’t have the money to pay for bigger expenses like new ovens or hiring contractors to repair the roofs.

Without thought, he blurted, “I’m moving to Rockville.”

As soon as the words left his lips, a huge weight seemed to lift from his shoulders.

“What?”

“You are?”

“Wow.”

He wasn’t surprised at his brothers’ reactions. It was an impulsive decision, after all, and he’d shocked even himself.

“Mom can’t run Lobster Cove by herself. She can’t live out here on her own.

And I don’t trust fucking Victor Rogers not to do something shady to get his hands on the property.

We all know how much this place is worth.

Mom and Dad bought it for a song, but waterfront property in this state has skyrocketed over the years.

Mom needs help. I can do what Dad did. Take over the auto shop, help with maintenance around this place.

Maybe even see about taking over Dad’s plowing contract with the city. ”

The more he talked about it, the better the decision felt.

“What about Carissa?” Lincoln asked.

Chad shrugged. “We broke up a couple of months ago. I’ve got nothing keeping me in Virginia. Mom needs me.” A thought struck him then, and he looked each of his brothers in the eye. “She needs us .”

He let those three words sink in for a minute.

“Can any of you tell me you’re really happy where you’re at? Professionally or personally?”