When I got back outside it was to hear Brielle yell, “That’s my helmet!”
Oh, boy.
***
Later that night, I called Phoebe to finish telling her about my day.
“So what happened after I left?” she whispered excitedly.
I sat down on the couch and then crossed my feet underneath me one by one before telling her.
“Brielle came,” I paused. “And get this. She’s not Bayou’s biological sister. She’s a friend of the family’s daughter. When the dad died, Bayou’s mom and dad adopted her. Hoax said that she has schizophrenia, as well as obsessive tendencies and that obsessiveness extends to Hoax and Bayou.”
“So she’s adopted?” Phoebe asked. “That’s good news. I always thought it was weird that she was always watching Bayou in that way.”
I frowned. “You act like you know Bayou. Why do I not know him? I mean, other than the obvious of when he yelled at me.”
“He was always standing in the shadows,” she explained. “I think you were too busy trying to do the same to notice someone in the shadows with you.”
That was true. I wasn’t the best at crowds and never had been. I was a very social person other than that, but crowds seemed to mess with my mind.
“Huh,” I said. “Did you know Hoax?”
She grunted out a sound. “No. I think my mind was a little preoccupied with Bayou to ever notice anyone else.”
“You sound like you like him,” I told her honestly. “Do you have a crush?”
She paused. “Maybe…I’ve never stopped thinking about him.”
An idea started to form in my mind. “I have the best idea ever!”
She hung up on me before I could tell her.
Chapter 7
Have you ever met someone and imagine holding their head under water? Oh, yeah, me neither.
-Hoax to Pru
Hoax
I showed up at her work with a bag of takeout, waiting patiently for her to get off work.
While I was waiting, I flexed and stretched my hand and thought about the doctor appointment I had next week with the Army doc in Fort Hood to ascertain my readiness to return to work.
I’d pass it. There was no doubt about that.
What scared me, though, was that I wanted more time.
I didn’t want to leave now that I’d just found Pru. We may not have gotten that far into our relationship—hell, if we could even call it a relationship at this point—but I knew what I wanted. And that was her.
I wanted her bad enough to think about quitting my passion for the first time in years.
I’d always wanted to be career Army. I wanted to get to the top and stay at the top. I wanted to be that man that all the new little recruits saw, and their eyes widened into terrified little saucers.
But, then I’d found Delta, and I’d realized that there was more in the world than just respect.
“You can’t park there,” I heard said, pulling me out of my thoughts.
I turned my head up and outward to see a security guard standing there that looked older than dirt.
It was laughable, really, that anyone would think that this man could protect the doctors and nurses inside. I mean, in his prime he might very well have been a badass, but now? He was old and didn’t even carry a gun. Having a will of steel didn’t stop bullets from flying.
“I’m waiting for my girl, Pru, to get off work. She should be here any minute,” I told him, hoping he’d let it go.
The old man smiled so wide that I saw his false teeth start to slide out before he caught them.
“You’re Pru’s man?” he practically cheered, sounding overly happy. “I’ve heard a lot about you!”
“You have?” Was that hope in my voice?
He nodded and showed me his arm, lifting up his baggy white sleeve to reveal a tattoo that looked like it’d been there since the beginning of time.
“Army Airborne. 1962,” he said proudly. “I was in for eight years before a bad jump hurt my spine. She told me a lot about your accident. I’m glad that you’re okay.” He looked at me a little more sharply now. “She also mentioned you were leaving soon.”
My belly clenched for a few seconds before releasing. “Soon, yes. They want me back next week.”
I had nine days.
Nine.
That wasn’t enough time.
He nodded once. “She told me you were going back soon. You’ll be okay. She seems like she’s really happy that you’re well enough to go back. I’d make sure to give her some extra attention before you go. My girl Greta always cried when I left. Hell, she cried when I got back. I’m not sure she ever stopped in between.”
The thought of his ‘girl’ crying for months at a time made my lips twitch. It was possible, of course, but likely she had courage enough to stop and get on with her life while he was away.
Most Army wives did. They were a different breed.
Luckily, I wouldn’t be leaving a wife and child behind like some of my friends did each time we were sent out.
Yet, my brain replied silkily.
Talking had us both turning toward the entrance, and I grinned when I saw Conleigh making her way out. She was speaking with Pru’s sister, Phoebe, and gesturing wildly with her hands.
They both saw me at the same time and grinned like loons.
“Well hello there, Hoax,” Phoebe drawled. “What brings you here?”
I patted my saddlebags. “Brought your sister some dinner, and I’m hoping she’ll invite me to her place.”
“Oh, I’m sure she will,” Conleigh replied, looking amused. “She’s been…”
“Obsessed I think is the word you’re looking for, Conleigh,” Phoebe supplied helpfully. “Obsessed, and not able to talk about anything else but you.”
That made me insanely happy.
“And where is Pru?” I flipped my gaze up to look behind them.
Both of them grimaced as one.
“She’s with Kelley Lowe,” Phoebe muttered. “There was an incident today that she needed to discuss with a supervisor. Unfortunately, the only person available was him. We were going to wait out here for her to make sure that he didn’t keep her too long, but since you’re here…”
“Since I’m here, you can leave,” I added. “What’s wrong with this Kelley guy?”
I was fairly sure Phoebe’s lip couldn’t curl any farther in disgust if she tried.
“Kelley’s on the board of directors. He’s also the one above this one’s mom.” Conleigh gestured to Phoebe with her hand. “He also fancies himself…”
“God,” the security guard, whose name I hadn’t caught yet, replied.
I looked over at him in surprise.
“He’s a dick,” he continued.
Conleigh snorted. “That’s an understatement. He’s awful, and to make matters worse, he has the hots for both Pru and her mother.”
That set my blood on fire.
“Really?” I asked. “And does your dad know about this guy?”
Phoebe nodded. “Hates his guts, but since he’s my mom’s boss and the man that controls whether Mom has a good day at work or not, he’s nice. Even though he’d rather skin him with a pair of pliers—those are my dad’s words, not mine.”
I liked that she had to clarify that.
“She coming out here or am I going to have to go in there?” I wondered.
“You can go in there,” the security guard added. “I’ll take you to his office. You can hurry him along.”
I looked at Conleigh, who nodded in agreement. “He’ll try to keep her there for an hour. That’s why we weren’t going to leave, so she’d have a reason to blame her need to go on.”
I stood up off my bike and said, “Lead the way.”
I didn’t like that she was having to talk to some man that she didn’t like, nor was she particularly comfortable being around.
“Have a good night, ladies,” I rumbled as I passed.
“You, too!” they both chirped.
The security guard walked surprisingly fast for his old age, and I found myself in a long hallway just off the side of the ER. “First one on your left.”
Oh, boy.
***
Later that night, I called Phoebe to finish telling her about my day.
“So what happened after I left?” she whispered excitedly.
I sat down on the couch and then crossed my feet underneath me one by one before telling her.
“Brielle came,” I paused. “And get this. She’s not Bayou’s biological sister. She’s a friend of the family’s daughter. When the dad died, Bayou’s mom and dad adopted her. Hoax said that she has schizophrenia, as well as obsessive tendencies and that obsessiveness extends to Hoax and Bayou.”
“So she’s adopted?” Phoebe asked. “That’s good news. I always thought it was weird that she was always watching Bayou in that way.”
I frowned. “You act like you know Bayou. Why do I not know him? I mean, other than the obvious of when he yelled at me.”
“He was always standing in the shadows,” she explained. “I think you were too busy trying to do the same to notice someone in the shadows with you.”
That was true. I wasn’t the best at crowds and never had been. I was a very social person other than that, but crowds seemed to mess with my mind.
“Huh,” I said. “Did you know Hoax?”
She grunted out a sound. “No. I think my mind was a little preoccupied with Bayou to ever notice anyone else.”
“You sound like you like him,” I told her honestly. “Do you have a crush?”
She paused. “Maybe…I’ve never stopped thinking about him.”
An idea started to form in my mind. “I have the best idea ever!”
She hung up on me before I could tell her.
Chapter 7
Have you ever met someone and imagine holding their head under water? Oh, yeah, me neither.
-Hoax to Pru
Hoax
I showed up at her work with a bag of takeout, waiting patiently for her to get off work.
While I was waiting, I flexed and stretched my hand and thought about the doctor appointment I had next week with the Army doc in Fort Hood to ascertain my readiness to return to work.
I’d pass it. There was no doubt about that.
What scared me, though, was that I wanted more time.
I didn’t want to leave now that I’d just found Pru. We may not have gotten that far into our relationship—hell, if we could even call it a relationship at this point—but I knew what I wanted. And that was her.
I wanted her bad enough to think about quitting my passion for the first time in years.
I’d always wanted to be career Army. I wanted to get to the top and stay at the top. I wanted to be that man that all the new little recruits saw, and their eyes widened into terrified little saucers.
But, then I’d found Delta, and I’d realized that there was more in the world than just respect.
“You can’t park there,” I heard said, pulling me out of my thoughts.
I turned my head up and outward to see a security guard standing there that looked older than dirt.
It was laughable, really, that anyone would think that this man could protect the doctors and nurses inside. I mean, in his prime he might very well have been a badass, but now? He was old and didn’t even carry a gun. Having a will of steel didn’t stop bullets from flying.
“I’m waiting for my girl, Pru, to get off work. She should be here any minute,” I told him, hoping he’d let it go.
The old man smiled so wide that I saw his false teeth start to slide out before he caught them.
“You’re Pru’s man?” he practically cheered, sounding overly happy. “I’ve heard a lot about you!”
“You have?” Was that hope in my voice?
He nodded and showed me his arm, lifting up his baggy white sleeve to reveal a tattoo that looked like it’d been there since the beginning of time.
“Army Airborne. 1962,” he said proudly. “I was in for eight years before a bad jump hurt my spine. She told me a lot about your accident. I’m glad that you’re okay.” He looked at me a little more sharply now. “She also mentioned you were leaving soon.”
My belly clenched for a few seconds before releasing. “Soon, yes. They want me back next week.”
I had nine days.
Nine.
That wasn’t enough time.
He nodded once. “She told me you were going back soon. You’ll be okay. She seems like she’s really happy that you’re well enough to go back. I’d make sure to give her some extra attention before you go. My girl Greta always cried when I left. Hell, she cried when I got back. I’m not sure she ever stopped in between.”
The thought of his ‘girl’ crying for months at a time made my lips twitch. It was possible, of course, but likely she had courage enough to stop and get on with her life while he was away.
Most Army wives did. They were a different breed.
Luckily, I wouldn’t be leaving a wife and child behind like some of my friends did each time we were sent out.
Yet, my brain replied silkily.
Talking had us both turning toward the entrance, and I grinned when I saw Conleigh making her way out. She was speaking with Pru’s sister, Phoebe, and gesturing wildly with her hands.
They both saw me at the same time and grinned like loons.
“Well hello there, Hoax,” Phoebe drawled. “What brings you here?”
I patted my saddlebags. “Brought your sister some dinner, and I’m hoping she’ll invite me to her place.”
“Oh, I’m sure she will,” Conleigh replied, looking amused. “She’s been…”
“Obsessed I think is the word you’re looking for, Conleigh,” Phoebe supplied helpfully. “Obsessed, and not able to talk about anything else but you.”
That made me insanely happy.
“And where is Pru?” I flipped my gaze up to look behind them.
Both of them grimaced as one.
“She’s with Kelley Lowe,” Phoebe muttered. “There was an incident today that she needed to discuss with a supervisor. Unfortunately, the only person available was him. We were going to wait out here for her to make sure that he didn’t keep her too long, but since you’re here…”
“Since I’m here, you can leave,” I added. “What’s wrong with this Kelley guy?”
I was fairly sure Phoebe’s lip couldn’t curl any farther in disgust if she tried.
“Kelley’s on the board of directors. He’s also the one above this one’s mom.” Conleigh gestured to Phoebe with her hand. “He also fancies himself…”
“God,” the security guard, whose name I hadn’t caught yet, replied.
I looked over at him in surprise.
“He’s a dick,” he continued.
Conleigh snorted. “That’s an understatement. He’s awful, and to make matters worse, he has the hots for both Pru and her mother.”
That set my blood on fire.
“Really?” I asked. “And does your dad know about this guy?”
Phoebe nodded. “Hates his guts, but since he’s my mom’s boss and the man that controls whether Mom has a good day at work or not, he’s nice. Even though he’d rather skin him with a pair of pliers—those are my dad’s words, not mine.”
I liked that she had to clarify that.
“She coming out here or am I going to have to go in there?” I wondered.
“You can go in there,” the security guard added. “I’ll take you to his office. You can hurry him along.”
I looked at Conleigh, who nodded in agreement. “He’ll try to keep her there for an hour. That’s why we weren’t going to leave, so she’d have a reason to blame her need to go on.”
I stood up off my bike and said, “Lead the way.”
I didn’t like that she was having to talk to some man that she didn’t like, nor was she particularly comfortable being around.
“Have a good night, ladies,” I rumbled as I passed.
“You, too!” they both chirped.
The security guard walked surprisingly fast for his old age, and I found myself in a long hallway just off the side of the ER. “First one on your left.”
