Chapter 24 Lainey #2
Remington yanks me to my feet and kisses me, and I feel like I might float away if he doesn’t keep his arms around me.
Grabbing my wrist, he takes the fingers I just came all over and he sucks them into his mouth, eyes closed with appreciation at the taste of what is on his tongue.
“Holy shit. That was . . .” I trail off, not able to unscramble my brain enough to give him my thoughts.
“Whoever told you that you weren’t good at that, Lainey, can get fucked. You are perfect in every possible way.” Then he kisses me again with a tenderness that mends a part of me that I thought would be broken forever.
“Don’t you two look all cute and couple-y,” Kendra says as we walk into the Sugar Cube ten minutes late. We are meeting her and Sutton for brunch. It’s the weekend, Remington had today off, Sutton has the store covered, and we made this plan to get together last week.
Neither of us actually wanted to get out of my bed this morning and get ready to leave, but we managed to compromise. That resulted in more experiences I can’t wait to try again. I look over at the man that makes my heart pound, remembering why we almost canceled this brunch all together.
Sutton rushes in the door and comes to a halt at our table. Her growing baby bump is looking adorable in a pink wrap dress. Her flowing blonde hair looks perfectly imperfect and her brown eyes shine with happiness. “Sorry I’m late,” she says slightly out of breath.
“We just got here, too,” Remington tells her, pulling Sutton into a hug and kissing her cheek.
“What’s got you all extra happy this morning?” Kendra asks her.
“I talked to Deck!” Sutton exclaims, her enthusiasm pouring over us, and we all shout out cheers of excitement.
“What did he have to say? Is he headed back?” Remington asks, taking my hand, lacing our fingers together.
Sutton gulps the water that was waiting for her on the table.
“He told me that the mission they just finished was a success, which is all he can say. You know how that goes. All the top-secret stuff we don’t get to know anything about.
But I am so happy it’s over and he could finally call me.
He said they have to wrap up a few things, but they should get to come back stateside in the next few weeks. ” She rubs her belly and sighs.
“You don’t get to know a date?” I ask. I can’t even imagine never knowing where my husband was or what was going on the way Sutton and other military spouses and families do.
There is so much sacrifice and stress. I know it will be good for Sutton and the baby to have Derek back home, for however long he gets to stay.
“No,” Sutton explains. “We never get any concrete dates. That’s too dangerous for many reasons.
Usually it is just a vague window of time.
A lot of the days, Deck just shows back up.
Walks in the door and surprises the hell out of me.
It’s different with his SEAL team though—it isn’t like normal, planned deployments.
They get called out at any time for any amount of time, until the mission is complete, and they let them come back. ”
“Wow,” Kendra and I both say.
“My sister is the strongest woman I know.” Remington looks at Sutton proudly. “Military life is not easy, especially on the ones that are left behind.”
Sutton gives him a knowing look. “A life of service is never easy, no matter what path you take. But this was what Derek was meant to do, and I know that he is making a difference in the world by doing it. Me and this baby, we are proud of him.” She rubs her belly again.
Conversation turns lighter as we eat our meal, and it’s a wonderful way to spend our day. Kendra is making us all laugh about a story of her misthrowing some pottery clay in her studio and the mess she made last week when we are interrupted by a voice I wish I never heard again.
“Remmmmmmy,” Cora’s nasty voice purrs.
His body stiffens at the sound, and we all turn to see the unwelcome guest approaching our table. I immediately glance over at Sutton, and she looks like she is about to simultaneously puke up her meal and use her butter knife to stab Cora.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Sutton stands, shoving her chair back with a squeak.
“Hello to you too, old bestie,” Cora says, flipping her dark hair over her bloodred dress.
It is one size too small and more worn than the outfit she had on at Remington’s house.
She has on the same accessories, but her shoes are black, spiked heels with scuff marks today.
“I am here getting a coffee, saw my man, and came over to say hello.”
I swear Sutton’s eyes are going to pop out of her head. I want to crawl over Remington to get to Cora for calling him “her man” and scoop her eyes out with my spoon because absolutely fucking not. Kendra has gone quiet, which if you know her is scary and dangerous.
Remington stands, putting a protective arm out toward Sutton and motions for her to back down. Cora takes this opportunity to give Sutton a long, unimpressed once-over.
“I know it’s been a few years, Sutton, but you really have let yourself go,” she mock whispers behind her hand. “I can give you some really good low-carb recipes to get back on track if you want.” Cora directs her eyes to the table of food we just had, nose scrunched.
“Oh no she fucking didn’t,” Kendra yelps, tossing her napkin down.
“Don’t,” Remington says, his tone deathly calm.
“Remmy, I think it’s time we go someplace quiet.
” She glances over his shoulder at the rest of us, giving me a nasty look.
“Alone. So we can discuss our situation. We have a lot of planning to do.” She looks back to him with an unnatural smile, showing too many teeth, red lipstick smudged on her front tooth.
“Cora, I have nothing to discuss with you now or ever.” Her face turns sour, smile evaporating into a scowl. “And most importantly, I am not your man.” Remington steps back and loops his arm possessively around my waist.
My whole body hums, this move by him screaming mine more than me scooping Cora’s eyeballs out with a spoon would.
“I will get my lawyer involved if I need to,” Cora seethes.
Remington barks out a laugh. “You are off your goddamn rocker if you think some playground pact between children holds any kind of weight in the eyes of the law. Leave me the fuck alone, Cora. This is the last time I’m gonna warn you nicely.”
He throws down more than enough money to cover our whole bill, plus a generous tip.
Kendra loops her arm through Sutton’s and they walk away.
Remington leads me from the table and Cora yells after us, “It was always supposed to be you and me, Rem. This whole town knows it. You are the only one that needs reminding.”
Ignoring her, we walk into the sunshine, and I have a sick feeling that my dream of never seeing her again won’t come true. Someone like that doesn’t let go of things, even things that clearly don’t belong to them anymore.