I didn’t know what to say, so I simply nodded.
He sat back and gave me a thoughtful look. “My wife thinks you’re good for us. Not just Birdy, I mean.”
My eyebrows shot up.
“Till now, all the non-military people who’ve joined the family have been women. Don’t get me wrong, I love them, but they don’t have your… aggressive personality.”
“I don’t mean to be aggressive.”
“You can’t help it,” he said. “You’re just like your father, I suspect.” He paused for a moment and debated something. “I had a friend pull his personnel file. Interesting reading. I thought his name sounded familiar. I actually met him once, so to speak. We were in the same battle. Very different circumstances, but I’m proud to say that I fought alongside him. He saved a lot of men’s lives that day.”
Harold stared into the past for a moment, while I burned with questions. Then he inhaled a deep breath and the moment passed, gone forever.
“Birdy’ll bring Rich around,” he said quietly. “Or my wife will. Probably both, if I know them. But… maybe give him some space when he comes back. He knows how Birdy feels, but he isn’t ready for her to grow up yet.”
I nodded.
“Good man,” Harold said. “I thought you’d see it my way.” He rolled his eyes when I grinned. “You and your strange sense of humor. What’d I do this time?”
“Nothing, really. It’s just… Christy’s so much like you that I can’t help but smile—”
“When I do the same things?” he finished.
“Yeah. Sorry.”
“As long as you don’t expect me to sneak into your room in the middle of the night.”
My lungs stopped working.
“Birdy knows the rules,” he said with a piercing look. “So do you. Send her back to her own room next time. And don’t even bother with an excuse. ‘We were only talking’ might’ve worked once, but not the second time. We’re both men. The least you can do is not lie to my face.”
“No, sir.”
“And I trust we won’t need to have this conversation again?”
“Not if I can help it.”
“Good. See that we don’t.”
* * *
Brooke emerged from the kitchen and caught my eye. She gestured for me to join her, so I gathered my plate and glass. Harold looked up and nodded. It wasn’t quite a dismissal, but close enough. I followed Brooke into the kitchen and set my dishes in the sink.
Anne didn’t comment on my half-eaten omelet. “I’m sorry about Richard,” she said instead. “He’s—”
“Birdy’s big brother. I get it. We’ll find a way to live with each other. In the meantime, thank you for breakfast. Can I help with anything for lunch?”
“No, but thank you. I have the potatoes boiling now, and the ham’s in the oven. You and Brooke can relax on the porch. I’m going to have a cup of tea with Harold.” She smiled absently and headed through the door to the dining room and her husband.
“Are you okay?” Brooke asked as we went out to the porch.
“Yeah. Rich is just…”
“A bully.”
“He isn’t so bad.” I trailed off and decided to keep my thoughts to myself. Rich was angry at the world, at his brother’s death, at his sister’s growing independence, and probably a dozen other things besides. He didn’t know how to deal with it, so he took it out on the people who annoyed him. I understood that more than I wanted to admit.
“You’re a better person than I am,” Brooke said. She sat on the wicker couch and stared straight ahead.
I settled beside her and was a little surprised when she reached for my hand. It was a friendly gesture more than flirting, and she seemed relieved when I didn’t pull away.
“Chris told me what she said to you,” she said after a moment. “If anything happens to her.”
I nodded.
“Nothing’s going to happen, but still… it’s a nice gesture.”
“What do you think?” I asked.
She shrugged. “I don’t know you that well. Although… that isn’t actually true. I’ve been hearing about you for… what? Two years now? Two and a half. So maybe I know you better than I think.”
I nodded again, which made her smile.
“I like that you know how to be quiet. Chris talks all the time sometimes. Drives me nuts. She does it when she’s nervous. Or excited. But you know that.” She looked at me for confirmation, so I nodded. “I’ve always been the quiet one,” she finished.
“Still waters run deep.”
She shrugged and then glanced down at our hands. “Thanks,” she said. “For this. For yesterday. For Chris. For everything.”
I squeezed her hand instead of answering aloud.
“I… um… want to ask you something before she gets back. I want you to spend the night. Chris too. Duh.” She shot me a quick sideways glance. “I talked to her about it this morning. It was her idea, actually. She’s pretty clever when she puts her mind to it. Anyway, I figured out the rest, but I want to run it past you first.”
“Okay.”
She outlined her plan, and I nodded through most of it.
“That should work,” I said at last.
“I thought so, but…” She looked at me sideways again. “You’re really good at this.”
“It isn’t my first diversion and cover story,” I said.
“Yeah. Chris’s told me a few things about you, about your past. So I kinda figured…” She gathered her courage and squeezed my hand for reassurance. “There’s one more thing,” she ventured, “that Chris doesn’t know about.”
“Oh?”
“I… um… want to try something. I hope you’re okay with it. I know you’re really open-minded about sex stuff, but I’ll completely understand if you don’t want to.”
“Try me,” I said.
“You know the plug you bought me?”
“Yes.”
“Well… I’m wearing it.”
My eyebrows did a backflip. “You want to try anal sex?”
“Damn,” she said under her breath. “I didn’t expect you to just come right out and say it. How’d you know? What I wanted? Never mind. Dumb question. I’m just nervous.” She shot me a hopeful glance. “So… you want to do it?”
“Hold on a second,” I said, calm and deliberate. Then I used my free hand to adjust my slacks and relieve the pressure on my sudden erection. “There, much better. Is that enough of an answer?”
She grinned. “Have you done it before?”
“Yeah.”
“I kinda thought so. Not with Chris—she’d’ve told me—but you just seem like you’ve tried everything.”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
She relaxed with a laugh. “Chris is so damn lucky. Sometimes I envy her.”
“Thanks. But I’m the lucky one.”
“Yeah. Me too.”
* * *
Christy and Rich returned through the back yard and surprised Brooke and me on the porch. We weren’t doing anything we shouldn’t have been, but we still yanked our hands apart and stood.
“Give us a minute,” Rich said to Christy. “You too, Brooke, if you don’t mind.”
Christy smiled an assurance, and the girls went inside. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but Rich still managed to surprise me.
“I was out of line at breakfast,” he said. “I owe you an apology.”
“It’s okay. You love your sister.”
“I do. Very much. And if anything happens to her—” He clenched his jaw and inhaled sharply. At first I thought he was angry at me, but then I realized he was thinking about his brother.
“I understand,” I said into the silence.
“No, you don’t. And I hope you never do.”
Anything I said would’ve seemed like empty words, so I kept my mouth shut.
“Danny said you’re a cool one.” He chuckled darkly. “Stupid comedian was right for a change.”
“If it makes you feel any better,” I said, “you and I want the same thing.”