Page 27 of Redemption

Clay gestures to the house. “Well, I’m assuming you’d eventually want to get your own place, right? I love Mom and Dad, but I can’t imagine still having to live with them.” He shudders in mock disgust.

“Oh, please.” I roll my eyes. “You live on the same property, and the way I hear it, you’re over here mooching food several times a week.”

He laughs. “Yeah... but it’s nice having my own place to entertain my lady friends. My many, many, lady friends.”

“Well... entertaining anyone is low on my list of priorities right now.” I shake my head. “Very, very low.”

Clay rubs the back of his neck. “Regardless, if you’re thinking about getting your own place eventually, you’d need a job, right?”

“I suppose,” I agree. “But Clayton, I’ve only been back a few days. I have a lot of stuff to figure out right now.”

“Let me take one thing off your plate then. When you’re ready—and I don’t care how long that takes—I could use a little help around the bar. I know it’s not the most glamourous job, but—”

I reach up on my toes to pull him into a hug, mindful of my sore shoulder. “Thank you, Clay.”

After he gets over the surprise, he hugs me back. “You’re welcome, kid.”

I scoff. “I’m hardly a kid.”

He pulls back and musses my hair. “You’ll always be my kid sister, no matter how old you get.” His blue eyes watch me carefully. “What are you going to do about your husband, Pres?”

“I don’t know,” I admit. “I’m honestly shocked he hasn’t tried contacting me yet. It’s not like him to just accept defeat. He’s not dumb; he has to know where I am.”

Clay scowls. “Well, he doesn’t really have a fuckin’ choice but to accept defeat in this case. If he comes sniffing around here, Pres, I can’t promise you I won’t do something about it. I’d say the same applies to Dad.”

I draw circles in the gravel with my toe. “I kno—”

The roar of a truck engine cuts off my words. A few seconds later, that old Ford comes rolling down the drive. I use my brother as a shield as I watch it drive away toward the road. I release a deep breath the moment it’s out of sight.

“Yeah, so...” I jerk my head toward the house, feeling like a complete fool for hiding behind Clay. “I guess I’ll see you later then.”

I start walking back toward the porch when Clayton’s words stop me right in my tracks. “He never gave up on you, Pres.”

“What?” I blink rapidly, positive I heard him wrong.

Clay inclines his head in the direction the truck just went. “Beck. He’d kill me for saying this, but he never gave up on you. Whether he wants to admit it or not, he never stopped loving you.”

“I don’t...” I shake my head. “I mean... that’s impossible. Isn’t he married?”

My brother’s laughter is so loud, it echoes through the wind. “He’d never let anyone get close enough for that to happen. I think he’s been holding out hope you’d come back someday.”

I slump down on the top step. “I don’t know what to say to that, Clayton. It doesn’t matter if he still has feelings for me—which I highly doubt, by the way. I’m not the same girl he fell in love with. I’ve been through so much... it’s changed me.”

“You’re the same where it counts.” He shakes his head. “But just so you know, he’s not exactly the same guy either. He’s been through some really messed up stuff. Things that stick with you for a lifetime.”

I tilt my head to the side. “His dad dying?”

“That was just the icing on the shitastic cake. He was gone for over six years, Pres. A lot happened during that time.”

“In the military?”

Clayton nods.

“But... I thought the Navy was one of the safest branches of the military.”

He scoffs. “Not when you’re a SEAL.”

My eyes widen. “He was a SEAL?!”

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