Page 137 of Caged

I smiled and dropped my eyes for the briefest second, letting him win.

When I looked back up, his grin turned to a full-blown smile. Which promptly turned into a scowl when Jack gave me a fresh beer.

“Thanks, Jack.” I said cheerfully, my eyes locked on Jay’s. When he didn’t thank Jack for replacing the beer I’d stolen, I added, “Jay thanks you, too.”

“Do I?”

“You do.”

We never broke eye contact.

“Thank you, Jack, for giving my girlfriend a beer when she’s on prescription pain killers.”

“She’s a big girl. She can make her own choices,” Jack said. “Even if they aren’t always smart.”

“Pot,” Jamie coughed.

“What was that big brother?”

“I seem to recall you making the same not-smart choice when you were on pain meds.” Jamie made air quotes around the words, not smart.

“Shut up,” Jack said instead of denying it.

“You work with this?” my father asked, his disbelief laced with humor.

“Every single day,” John answered. He raised his beer and said, “To family.” Our battle of the wills finished, we turned to John as everyone raised their glasses and repeated, “To family.”

We dug in.

Seeing my father relaxed and getting along with John and Mary made my heart happy. When I was growing up, it was just the two of us; the only big family dinners we had were with fellow officers and their families.

None were as big, or as lively, as the Sheppard clan.Theirs was a family that lived and loved big, loud, and fierce.

They bickered and teased one another, but if you threatened one of them you faced all of them. Including those in their extended family.This is what family should be. What I’d always wanted growing up. Not that I blamed my father, he did the best he could as a single dad in the Marines.

Over come with emotion, I tried to hide it.

But Jay noticed. Leaning over, he whispered, “You okay?”

This man!He challenged me and drove me crazy, but the instant he sensed I felt uncomfortable he turned caring and sweet. And I loved him for it.

“I’m good.” I smiled to back up my words. “I’m just not used to,” I looked around the table, “all this.”

He snickered, nodding his head once. “They can be a bit much.”

“In a good way,” I added. Just because I wasn’t used to it didn’t mean I didn’t like it. And maybe, just maybe, someday I’d feel comfortable enough to participate in the crazy. But not today.

Things quieted down as we ate.

“This salad is amazing,” I said after taking a bite. The fresh tomato, cucumber, and avocado, worked perfectly with the bacon and blue cheese. “Maybe some day you can show me how to make it.”

“I’d like that,” Emily said with a shy smile. Jamie’s was big enough for me to see in my peripheral vision when I asked for an extra helping.

Everything tasted so good, I had to force myself to stop eating so I didn’t make myself sick. My ribs were healing nicely, but vomiting would definitely set me back.

“That was amazing,” My father said, leaning back and patting his stomach.

“I hope you saved room for dessert,” Emily said.

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