Chapter 18
SOFIA
Lincoln was being uncharacteristically quiet today. In fact, the last time I’d heard anything from him had been over twenty-four hours ago.
We’d gone for another long walk on the beach after midnight and had only ended up crawling into bed at some godforsaken hour of the morning. As had become usual, he’d dropped me off near my dad’s house and had texted when he’d gotten home.
After that, I hadn’t heard a word. I’d briefly wondered if he was hitting the brakes because of how much time we’d spent together after the failed attempt at attending a beach party but had decided it wasn’t that.
Lincoln was the one who had initiated contact first after that, and after I’d reciprocated, we had fallen into an easy rhythm. I wanted to believe that we knew each other well enough by now that if he had decided to slam on the brakes, he’d have told me.
The only thing that made sense was that he’d gotten caught up in something else, which I was totally fine with. One of my main goals this summer had been to spend some time with my father after his retirement, and I hadn’t done nearly enough of that so far.
It wasn’t only because I’d been spending so much time with Lincoln and Haley. Dad had also been busy, retirement or no. There had been a lot he’d had to wrap up on the base. Apparently, the handover after having been the head instructor at BUD/S for so many years was no picnic, either.
In addition to all that, his fellow retirees were trying to get him into golf. He’d always detested the sport, but it seemed to be growing on him now.
Today was the first time we were both at home, both seemingly without any plans. Dad read the paper in the kitchen but looked up when I walked in.
“I thought you’d be gone by now,” he commented, sipping from his khaki-colored mug. His dark brows knitted together. “Don’t tell me Haley has finally remembered she has a business to run and can’t spend all the time gallivanting with you.”
I pressed a kiss to his temple before going to fix myself a cup of coffee. “You know, if I wasn’t used to your extremely unfunny sense of humor, my feelings might have been hurt right now.”
He guffawed, dropping his gaze back to the article he’d been reading as I moved away. “Good thing you know not to be offended by my hilarity.”
“Your hilarity,” I placed emphasis on the word as I spooned sugar into my mug, “is very well known around these parts. Talk of the town really.”
“Shows you how much people really have to talk about these days,” he remarked, then flicked a curious glance in my direction. “On a serious note, what are you doing today? Do you finally have time to get some studying done?”
“I don’t have anything to study, Dad. It’s summer, remember?” I filled my cup to the brim and let out a soft moan when the bitter aroma hit my nostrils.
Dad frowned at me, setting the paper down on the table and crossing an ankle over his knee. “Couldn’t you be getting ahead of the work for next semester?”
“That’s not really how it works.” I blew on the surface of the drink, sighing as I wrapped my fingers around the mug. “What are your plans for today?”
A slight smile quirked the corners of his lips, which gave me the answer before he did. “I’ve got some work to do on the boat.”
“Want some help?” I offered. “You always used to let me help when I was growing up. It feels like it’s been forever since we last worked on it together.”
My father’s hazel eyes flashed with surprise, but his expression remained stoic. “Sure. Are you sure there’s nothing else you’d rather be doing, though?”
“No.” I grinned at him. “Is that your way of saying please don’t help me?”
His stubbled jaw tightened, but he shook his head. “No. Just don’t touch anything I don’t tell you to touch. As you’ve just pointed out, it’s been years since you’ve worked out there with me. I wouldn’t want either of you getting hurt.”
“By either of us, you mean me and the boat, right?” I joked. When he scowled at me, I held my hands up. “Kidding. I know she has a name, and I know she’s your second baby. I promise I won’t touch anything I’m not specifically instructed to touch.”
“Good.” He gave me a satisfied nod. “Let’s get started then, kiddo. My errands later aren’t going to run themselves.”
I groaned but hung onto my coffee as I followed him outside. While he got started, I sat in the Captain’s chair and finished my morning brew.
Dad didn’t say much as he unrolled his toolkit and crouched down to get to work. He was wearing a sleeveless white vest and cut-off cargo shorts.
If I’d seen him from the back and hadn’t noticed the silver shine in his hair, I’d have mistaken him for a much younger man. Dad was still as intimidating and industrious as ever. He kept himself in shape, his mind sharp, and his morals and body strong.
While he’d never been a sensitive man or father, he sure had taught me how to be strong, too. Maybe not physically, but mentally and emotionally for sure.
Watching him now, it was difficult for me to reconcile Lincoln’s view of him with my own. There were many points we agreed on, such as him being bullheaded. Lincoln, however, seemed to believe Dad was borderline evil while I knew that despite his tough exterior, he had a heart of gold.
Thinking back to what Linc had told me during our most recent walk on the beach, though, I had to wonder if that heart of gold thing only applied where I was involved. I’d known, of course, that Dad and Lincoln had issues.
What had been news to me was that Dad had been the one to suspend Lincoln shortly before we’d met and that he’d vowed he’d stop him from “killing more soldiers once he was gone.” From Lincoln’s point of view, it was wholly unfair because he’d never gotten a soldier killed.
If what he had told me was true, and I had no reason to believe it wasn’t, hostages’ lives had been saved as a result of the actions Lincoln had taken but had later led to his suspension. It made little sense to me, but I’d never really understood Navy politics.
More than once since Linc had confided in me, I’d thought about asking Dad for his side of the story. Lincoln seemed like a really good guy to me, and my inner peacemaker was screaming at me to do something about what had to be a miscommunication between the two.
I didn’t ask Dad, though. If I did, I’d have to tell him how I’d even found out about Lincoln’s suspension, and I didn’t want to have to do that.
He hadn’t told me any of the details that were classified or anything like that.
I’d simply asked him to give me an honest answer about why he disliked my father so much, which he’d dodged.
When I’d followed it up with a question I’d honestly thought was innocent about when he’d be going away again, he’d admitted that it wouldn’t be anytime soon.
I knew he had been suspended, but he had given me brief, very vague details about why. In fact, those were the only details I had.
“Want to come hold this for me?” Dad asked, motioning to a wrench lying on the polished wood beside him.
I nodded and set my empty cup aside before hopping off my chair. My fingers had barely grazed the cool metal of the tool when Dad cursed.
As he stood up and slid his phone out of his pocket, I realized the cursing had been because of a call interrupting his work. I smiled as I watched him answer, but the smile melted away the more I saw tension building on his features.
Every passing second that the person on the other end of the line spoke was stressing Dad out more and more. Blood drained from his cheeks, the skin around his eyes tightened, and for just a minute, I could’ve sworn I saw actual fear on his face.
“When?” he barked, then kept quiet as he listened as the person replied. “What the fuck were they thinking?”
His head dropped so low his chin touched his chest, and he squeezed his eyes shut. His free hand came up to rub his head. Over and over again, he shoved his fingers through his hair in agitation.
“I didn’t expect it,” he said finally, tone clipped. “Yes, we’ll have to. I’ll be right there.”
Instead of just hanging up the call, he tossed his phone clear off the damn boat. It clattered on bits of dirt between the grass on our lawn, but at least it didn’t look like it had broken.
“I have to go to the base,” Dad said without looking at me. His voice was tighter than I’d heard it in a long time, and he planted his palm on the side of the boat and jumped off before I could question him.
Following as soon as I could, I felt his fear simmering in my own chest. That was the only thing that could be making him react this way.
“You’re retired, Daddy. Why don’t you come sit down in the kitchen?
I’ll make you another cup of coffee, and we can talk about it.
If you tell me who to contact, I’ll even give them a call on your behalf to update you. ”
“I don’t need to be updated, Sofia,” he snapped as he banged his shoulder against our front door to open it. “I need to get to the base to deal with this myself.”
“But you’re retired,” I argued, exasperation creeping into my tone. “Whatever it is, just slow down and think about that for a minute. You can’t go storming off to the base every time something happens anymore.”
“When something goes wrong and SEALs get hurt, you can bet your bottom dollar that I’ll be there every goddamn time.” The door slammed behind us, but Dad still didn’t look back.
He ran up the stairs and into his room. Less than a minute later, he was fully dressed and marching into the garage.
As soon as I heard his car squealing out of the driveway, I yanked my phone out of my pocket. My heart was thundering in my chest, the icy tentacles of fear wrapping around my organs.
Logically, I knew neither Lincoln nor his best friend could have been among the SEALs who had been hurt. They were on suspension, so they were safe. There was no way they could have been involved in the incident.
I knew how close all these guys were, though. They might have their spats, disagreements, and whatever all else, but above all, they were brothers. If one got hurt, they all hurt.
For some reason, I wanted to be there for Lincoln while he was hurting. I’d never really understood that concept before, but I did now.
I needed to check on him, to hear his voice and reassure him. Then I had to figure out how the hell to be there for an alpha male who would refuse to show weakness in front of anyone, myself included.
But first, I needed him to answer his phone. When it rang out for the third time in a row, those tentacles sliced into me. No answer in a time like this was not a good sign.