Page 69 of Home Coming

Yeah, right.That’swhat he wanted to do. Just sayhias a friend.

He’d managed to keep his mind off Bailey during the actual mission. Hostage rescue was so damn tricky he couldn’t split his attention for anything or anyone. But in the off hours. When he was alone in his rack.

That was harder. Then his mind strayed to her. To worry about what she was doing and if she was safe doing it. And to other things—like the memory of the feel of her laying on top of him that first day when she’d tripped on his bag and crashed into him in nothing but a towel.

The memory made him smile. He missed the days of waking up and having her wander into the kitchen in her pajamas. Of watching her sip her tea while he gulped down his coffee.

Memories of that short time they’d been home together were too much of a reminder of what he was missing being single. Not to mention being away from his family.

The team was one kind of family. But it couldn’t completely replace his actual one. He even missed his annoying little sister. And his mother’s incessant calls. And his dad’s annoying habits.

And the problem was, as long as he was an active duty SEAL stationed out of Coronado, there was nothing he could do to resolve this. It was career or family. Trying to satisfy both meant he wasn’t doing either justice.

Rich popped his head inside the tent. “I’m done in there if you needed to get back on the computer. You looked like you were in the middle of something.”

“Thanks. I forgot to email my mom. It was her birthday last week.”

“Oh, man. Of all the things to forget. I’d be in deep shit if I forgot that. Get in there, man, before someone else hops on that computer.”

“Yeah. You’re right.”

While his existential crisis wasn’t going to be resolved here and now, he could at least take care of emailing his parents.

But he couldn’t mention his plans to try to get home for Christmas. There were too many variables. Would the team be back in time? Could he get another leave approved? Even if both of those things panned out, another worldwide crisis could prevent his leaving.

To avoid disappointing his mother a second time in as many months, his visit for Christmas would have to be a surprise.

As he made his way back to the MWR tent, plans of another surprise visit had him remembering what had happened the last time he tried to surprise his parents and ended up with the surprise being on him.

The wordshere we go againcrossed his brain and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.

CHAPTERTWENTY-EIGHT

One direct red eye flight from San Diego to Syracuse had Quinn pulling onto his parents’ street in time for a late breakfast with his family.

He was dreaming about fresh eggs and bacon from the farm market when the car parked along the curb of the house and the van parked across the street caught his attention.

That was before he spotted the cameras, and the photographers behind them running toward his car.

He didn’t like anything aimed at him. Not guns and, though arguably less deadly, not cameras either.

Anger had him clenching his jaw. How dare they be here. His parents were inside.

Bailey wasn’t even here yet the photographers remained camped out anyway.

He’d checked. She’d had a concert in Philadelphia this week and tonight was the big finale of the tour at Madison Square Garden. Not that he was stalking her— Okay, maybe he was.

He swung the vehicle into the driveway, not taking too much care or worry about how close he came to the photographer standing there.

“Quinn, are you and Bailey still together?”

“Quinn! Where have you been?”

“Why aren’t you with her on the tour? Are you broken up?”

Sunglasses on against the glare of the December sun, he grabbed his bag from the backseat and locked the car. Head down, he strode toward the house ignoring the shouted questions.

The front door opened and a flurry of camera shutters accompanied his mother and father’s greeting.

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