Chapter 5
Oz was hot, tired, and irritated after the training session he and his team had participated in that day.
Yet nothing could dampen his excitement when he thought about heading home.
It was an odd feeling. In the past, he never looked forward to the end of the day and going back to his empty apartment.
He liked training. He liked crawling around in the dirt and baking in the Texas sun.
But now he had Logan to look forward to seeing.
His nephew had only been living with him for a week and a half, but Oz’s life had completely changed in that time.
He loved hearing how his days at school went.
He was still settling in, and Oz knew the kids at school hadn’t been completely welcoming to Logan, but the boy was working on it, and Oz couldn’t have been more pleased when Logan had started a conversation about the best way to make friends.
They weren’t exactly chummy yet, but Oz took pleasure in the fact that Logan was at least talking to him now.
Then there was Riley.
When he’d asked his neighbor if she wouldn’t mind looking after Logan in the afternoons until he got home from work, he’d done so out of necessity, but also because he was truly interested in getting to know her.
She and Logan seemed to be growing closer by the day. He might have been irritated that they’d bonded so easily, while he and his nephew were still somewhat tiptoeing around each other, getting used to their new normal, but Riley was so outgoing and friendly, he couldn’t get upset.
Oz had been able to convince her to stay and have dinner with them each night, though inevitably, she’d go back to her own place right after they ate.
She’d told him that she wanted him to have one-on-one time with Logan.
He supposed she was right, and he wanted that time with his nephew…
but he found himself disappointed to see her go each evening.
Riley Rogers was funny, compassionate, pretty, interesting, and Oz wanted to spend more time with her.
A lot of things about being a single father were a surprise to him, but one of the most frustrating was how hard it was to cultivate a new relationship.
He couldn’t leave Logan by himself, and the kid was pretty much always around, so the opportunities to let Riley know he was already interested in more than a neighborly relationship were slim.
But this weekend, Grover was having a get-together at his house. He’d just bought an old farmhouse on a bit of land. He needed help cleaning up the property and tearing down an old barn, and the team never passed up any opportunity to get together outside of work.
“So, ten o’clock tomorrow?” Lefty asked Grover. They were all standing in the parking lot chatting before they headed home.
“Yeah. But really, any time works. I’ll probably get up early and start, but you guys can come over whenever,” Grover said. “Devyn is spending the night with me and she’s going to make sure we’re fed.”
Lucky seemed to perk up at that. “I can get there as early as you need me,” he said.
Doc chuckled. “Out of the goodness of your heart, right? The fact that Grover’s sister will be there has no bearing on what time you show up to help.”
Everyone chuckled. It was no secret that Lucky was interested in Devyn, but, so far, she was doing her best to keep him at arm’s length.
“For the record, and as I’ve told you before, I’m perfectly all right with you going out with my sister,” Grover said.
“The thing about Devyn is that when she’s scared, she goes overboard trying to pretend everything’s all right.
She’s always been that way. And ever since she’s moved to Texas, she’s done nothing but pretend. ”
“What’s she scared of?” Lucky asked.
“I have no clue,” Grover said on a sigh, running a hand through his hair.
“I trust you with my life, so I certainly trust you with my sister’s.
As far as I’m concerned, you have my heartfelt support if you wanted to try to convince her to go out with you.
All I ask is that you have a care…and let me know if you find out anything worrisome. ”
“I can do that,” Lucky told his friend solemnly. “But, you have to remember that Devyn isn’t five years old anymore. She might be your little sister, but she’s also a grown woman.”
“I know. But I can’t help but remember the sick little girl when I look at her.
We thought we’d lose her to the leukemia, and it’s hard to shake that feeling, even years later.
And that’s part of the reason I haven’t demanded she tell me what the hell is going on,” Grover said.
“I haven’t wanted to say or do anything that will make her decide not to confide in her older brother.
Anyway, what about the rest of you? Any idea when you might come over? ”
“Gillian and I will probably be there closer to eleven. It’s the weekend, and I don’t get too many mornings where I can lie in bed being lazy with my wife,” Trigger said with a grin.
“Kinley and I’ll be there around ten,” Lefty said.
“Same for me and Aspen,” Brain added.
“I can get there around eight or nine,” Doc volunteered.
“You gonna bring your pretty neighbor?” Trigger asked Oz.
He nodded. “I’ll try.” Oz had told his friends all about Riley and how helpful she’d been.
“So her hanging around has been working out?” Lefty asked.
“Extremely much so,” Oz told his friends.
Even he was surprised at how well things were going.
One night he’d been agonizing over who to put down as the secondary emergency contact for Logan’s school, and she’d volunteered.
She’d reasoned that since she was home most of the day, she could easily get to Logan’s school quickly if she was needed.
“Gillian’s looking forward to meeting her,” Trigger said.
“I think she’s eager to meet Gillian and the others too,” Oz said. “Although she’s nervous about coming face-to-face with you guys.”
“You told her what you do?” Lefty asked.
“No. But I think Logan might’ve said something. Remember when I told him at the office that we were special forces? I think he passed that along. She’s made a few comments about my teammates that make me think she realizes we aren’t regular Army,” Oz said.
“Are you worried about that?” Doc asked.
“Not in the least,” Oz said honestly. “The woman is looking after my nephew. I trust her. I just haven’t had time to sit down and talk to her without Logan being there.”
“You found out any more information about where all his stuff is?” Trigger asked.
Oz shook his head. “No. I called CPS, and they said they’d get back to me. It makes no sense that they’d take a kid out of his own house with only a garbage bag of belongings.”
“You want me to make some inquiries?” Grover asked.
“Thanks, but no. Logan’s okay for now. I mean, I wish I could get him some mementoes of his mom and shit, but he’s not hurting for clothes or toys or anything. I’m just irritated at the secrecy.”
“When kids are involved, there’s always secrecy,” Lucky said. “I mean, I don’t know firsthand, but the government is generally pretty close-mouthed when it comes to anything with kids.”
“Yeah. Anyway, Logan’s good. I think he’ll enjoy getting out and getting some fresh air tomorrow. I do worry about him being around all the equipment and stuff though,” Oz said.
“Don’t worry. We’ll watch out for him. He’ll be fine,” Grover assured him.
“Any word about Somalia?” Oz asked Trigger.
He’d been worrying about the increasing tension over there.
It was part of the reason they’d been training so hard lately.
He usually loved going on missions, but the potential timing for this one wasn’t great.
He wanted more time to bond with Logan, to reassure him that he was safe and, even if Oz was deployed, he would still be taken care of and wouldn’t return to the system.
“Nothing new since this morning,” Trigger said. “We’re still on standby. You know I’ll let you know as soon as I find something out.”
Oz nodded. He didn’t want to think about leaving…
even as he felt guilty that a tiny part of him was kind of looking forward to it.
Being a single dad was hard, and heading out on a mission would give him a break.
Which was why he felt guilty. It had only been a week and a half and he was already looking for a reprieve.
It was so confusing, being responsible for another human being.
He wanted to see Logan, liked having him in his life, but not having time to himself was taking a bit of getting used to.
Glancing at his watch, Oz saw that it was already five-thirty. He’d sent Riley a text letting her know he might be a little later getting home today, and she’d been okay with hanging out with Logan until he got back.
“See you tomorrow,” he called out as he headed for his white Ford Expedition. It didn’t take long to navigate the roads to his apartment complex. The good thing about living in Killeen was that there wasn’t as much traffic as in Austin or the bigger cities.
Jogging up the stairs to his floor, Oz looked forward to finding out if Logan was having a good Friday.
What he’d learned at school…and particularly, if he’d made any friends yet.
The latter worried Oz. He wanted his nephew to look forward to going to school, not to dread it because of a lack of friends.
He couldn’t stop thinking about Riley either.
At least part of his impatience to get home had to do with her.
He knew she was great with kids, was a hell of a cook, and was a very hard worker.
But he wanted to find out other, more personal stuff.
Was she a dog or cat person? Did she like to do outdoorsy stuff or was she content to hang inside?
Did she like surprises, did she go all out in decorating for the holidays, was she a bed hog?
Things he typically found out from dating a woman.