Chapter Eleven
Pope had faced enemy fire and more than one mission where the odds looked like a dare.
None of it prepared him for Summer’s parents pulling up to her house in an RV.
Nervous energy flooded the kitchen as she bustled around cleaning things that were already clean and glancing toward the front window every few seconds.
Ben had been vibrating since breakfast, backpack and little suitcase packed and his shoes on an hour early in anticipation of his spring break adventure. Every time he ran into the kitchen, Summer would smooth his hair and tell him his grandparents would be there soon.
As Ben whirled and raced back to the living room, Pope stepped closer to Summer. “Can you smooth out my hair too?”
That brought a twitch to her lips. She reached up and brushed the short strands, then giggled.
“I’m anxious for nothing. My parents are wonderful. You’ll see.”
Hearing that heaped a little more pressure on him, but he’d learned a lot in therapy and not much bothered him these days. But he wanted to make a good impression on Summer’s parents because…
Well, he cared about her a hell of a lot.
She leaned against the counter, looking more relaxed now.
“I have no experience meeting parents,” he admitted.
She turned her head to look at him. “None?”
“Unless you count senior prom.” He shook his head. “And I have no idea if they liked me. It was a blind date.”
Her lips curved in another beautiful smile. “How did that go?”
“Her father warned me not to sleep with her.”
She turned to face him. “Well, did you sleep with her?”
“Yeah.” He lifted a shoulder and let it drop. “But that’s not the point.”
Summer stared at him for one beat before laughter burst out of her, loosening the knot in his chest.
His story had the effect he’d been going for—making her smile and wiping the worry off her face before the RV rolled up and whatever this was between them got paraded in front of two people who loved her enough to see every crack.
Ben’s shriek from the living room jolted them both, and he came racing in at Mach Jesus speed. “They’re here!”
He rushed for the door, but Pope got to it first, scanning the sidewalk, lawn and street to make sure all was safe.
“Ben, slow down!” Summer called.
Ben shot past them and ran outside. “Grandma! Grandpa! Mom is dating!”
Summer made a sound like her soul had left her body.
Biting the inside of his cheek, Pope followed her to the porch to see Ben had already launched himself at an older man with suntanned skin and a gray beard. A woman with silver streaks in her light brown hair hugged Ben tight but her stare was fixed on Summer standing next to Pope.
“Well,” she said slowly, kissing Ben on the cheek, surprised gaze moving over Pope. “That’s new.”
Summer descended the few stairs to the sidewalk and met her parents. She cleared her throat. “Mom, Dad…this is Vander.”
Her father offered a hand. “Frank. This is Edie.”
Pope shook Edie’s hand first, then clasped Frank’s firmly. “Good to meet you, sir.”
“Sir.” Frank’s brows lifted with faint amusement. “Haven’t been called that since I got pulled over outside Cheyenne.”
Pope’s lips quirked at one corner. “I promise not to ask for your license and registration.”
Just your daughter’s hand.
The thought struck as fast as lightning and hot enough to make his ears sting.
Edie stepped in and hugged Summer, but her gaze kept darting to Pope like she was sorting him into categories and finding him difficult to place.
He bore the scrutiny in silence, letting Summer talk while Ben dragged his grandfather into the house to show off a picture he drew of the Black Heart Ranch after their day there.
Chaos took over as they sat down to eat the meal Summer had prepared, and Pope carried plates and passed drinks. When he saw they needed an extra fork for the meat platter, he fetched it before Summer had to ask.
The talk was easy and light between her and her parents, with Ben interjecting with chirpy excitement.
Pope was seated next to Edie, which was better than sitting across from her where she could study him. She reached for the salad bowl and her napkin slipped off the table.
He reached out and caught it before it hit the floor that Summer had scrubbed twice that morning.
He passed the napkin to her with a short nod. On his other side, Ben’s knife slipped on the plate with a grating noise.
“Here, buddy.” He placed a hand over Ben’s small one, guiding him through cutting his meat.
Conversation drifted from road trips to spring break routes. Ben asked if they would see any dinosaurs and Frank chuckled. “Only if we see fossils.” His gaze met Pope’s across the table.
Summer coughed, breaking the moment. Ben, oblivious to his mother’s nerves, chimed in with a question about whether fossils counted as dinosaurs.
“They count,” Summer said.
“I’m not so sure they do,” Frank agreed with Ben with the seriousness of a man who knew his grandson needed backup.
After they devoured the delicious meal, Summer got up to clear the table. He pushed back in preparation to help her, but Edie jumped up. “I’ve got this. You boys have a nice little chat.”
Ben ran off to his bedroom to get his dinosaur collection, leaving a short silence that wasn’t loaded, but it was filled with an energy Pope couldn’t identify.
Summer started filling the sink with soapy water to do the dishes, and Edie stepped up beside her. “So, you’re dating.”
Summer stilled for half a breath. “Mom.” She sent a sideways look at Pope.
“I never liked your ex. He never looked us in the eye. Shifty.” Then she turned the same assessing gaze on Pope. “You seem like you’re a good guy. But I get the feeling you don’t think you are.”
Summer’s head snapped up. “Mom!”
The words hit him harder than he expected. Not because she was wrong, but because she’d landed so close to the truth with barely any information about him.
Summer’s eyes were wide with horror, but he just stood up and walked over to her, picking up a dish towel so his hands had something to do.
Summer’s lips pursed with apology, but he touched her arm to soothe her. “No. Your mom’s right.”
Her mother studied him for a long moment. “We’d like to know more about you, Vander.”
He turned to include her father in the conversation. “I’m a veteran.”
“Let me guess.” Frank leaned back in his chair. “Navy?”
“Yes, sir.”
Summer walked to the table and snatched up the empty breadbasket. “My grandparents never took me on cool road trips,” she attempted to redirect the conversation.
Edie laughed. “I guess Ben’s grandparents are cooler than your grandparents.”
She looked at her father. “You never went hiking with me.”
“Of course not. We were too tired from working all the time to support you.”
Summer rolled her eyes, but affection cut through the pressure her parents’ questions had created.
Ben was back, lining up his dinosaurs on the table.
Summer and Edie shooed Pope back to the table, and he took a seat across from Frank again.
They slid into conversation more easily.
Frank asked about the ranch Ben had drawn a picture of, and Pope told him about the horses and Flint going to auction.
“You can’t sell Flint! You love Flint! I love Flint!” Ben cried out.
He reached out and ruffled Ben’s hair. “I just might change my mind and decide to keep the gelding myself.”
Pope glanced toward the window where the big rig sat parked at the curb. “Nice setup. I too have ridden around in a big tin can.”
Frank’s face lit up. “Oh, you’ve RV’d?”
“No. Naval submarine.”
Frank let out a bark of laughter. “That counts.”
Ben’s eyes went huge. “You lived under the ocean?”
“Not for fun.”
Frank appraised him. “Ever been in enemy territory?”
Pope took a drink of coffee before answering. “More times than I’d like to count.”
“Ever jump out of planes?”
“No,” Pope said, then paused as Summer’s gaze slid to him. “But I once parachuted into Baghdad. Can’t tell you the rest of the story. Classified.”
Ben nearly fell out of his chair. “That is the coolest thing I ever heard.”
Summer looked torn between amusement and horror when Frank slapped the table as if he’d just declared world peace. “I like him.”
Edie didn’t say it out loud, but the warmth in her eyes said she might too.
After the meal, Frank announced that Ben had to inspect the RV before their departure, and the boy dragged Pope outside with him.
When Ben’s hand had curled around his without hesitation, his throat tightened, and only clamped harder when he saw the way Summer’s face softened when she noticed it.
Frank proudly showed them storage compartments, the bunk area, the foldout table and the fridge already stocked with enough snacks to survive a minor apocalypse.
Edie stayed behind with Summer for a few minutes. Pope didn’t need to hear what they said—he already knew by how bright Summer’s eyes looked when they came outside.
Goodbyes took longer than expected. There were bags to load, last reminders about pajamas and toothbrushes, a hug from Summer that made Ben squirm and lean into it at the same time, and a firm handshake from Frank that turned into a clap on Pope’s shoulder.
Ben climbed into the RV, then popped back out for one more hug from Summer. Pope gave them space, but Ben turned toward him afterward, serious now beneath all that excitement.
“I’m not sad about leaving this time, Mom.”
Summer’s face changed.
Ben looked right at Pope. “Because I know Vander will be with you.”
The words settled over the little yard, unsure if he’d ever recover from hearing that.
Summer pressed a hand to Ben’s cheek, whispered something only he could hear, then kissed him hard before letting him go.
A minute later the RV pulled away with Ben waving wildly from the window, Frank honking twice in farewell.
Summer waved until they turned the corner.
Pope stood beside her, close enough to feel the tremor she tried to hide. He wanted to reach for her, but he waited until she leaned against him first.
When she did, he slid an arm around her shoulders and held on.
Ben trusted him to stay.
That should have terrified Pope.