Page 94 of Philly
Philly glanced at Rian. He didn’t care who Ben brought in so long as HICC approved and Rian felt comfortable.
Rian flashed him a wry smile. “Her name is CJ. She’s tough as nails and putting up with Joe’s incessant flirting. It’s all good.”
A moment of silence fell over the group—well, as silent as an airport ever got—then Philly smiled. “I guess this is it, then,” he said.
“For now. I have a feeling we’re going to see a fair bit of each other over the next few years,” Rian said.
“And I want us to bring Emma out to Mystery Lake next summer,” Laura said. Rian’s grip on her hand jerked and he lifted them, dropping a kiss on Laura’s. No doubt, the thought of being able to plan a trip with his wife and daughter a little overwhelming, in the good way.
“We’d love to have you,” Callie said.
Another beat of silence stretched between them as an odd sort of reluctance hovered in the air. As if they were all about to jump out of a plane and needed a moment before the free fall.
Then the spell broke, and Laura stepped forward to hug Callie. More hugs ensued all around. Ben stood to the side, his expression and body as still as a statue.
Once the goodbyes and promises to keep in touch were done, he and Callie watched Ben usher them back through the lobby.
When the door closed behind the four of them, he turned to Callie and let out a long exhale. “Okay, can we plan our honeymoon now?”
49
Philly stretched his legs and crossed his ankles, the soles of his boots warming in the glow of the fire. He and Callie had returned from their honeymoon the day before, and they were both back to work. Or he would be in a few hours when he took a shift at Rita’s. They’d managed to fit a ten-day trip to Fiji in, filling the time with food, drink, diving, swimming, and, well, all the things couples do on honeymoons. He was still finding sand in places where nothing other than him or Callie had any right to be. It had been worth it, though.
“You look as if you got lucky,” Marley said, walking into the room with Scipio, Hawkeye, and Dulcie.
“Every day,” Philly said, grinning. Although he didn’t mean it in the same way Marley meant. Although,thatinterpretation was fairly true, too.
“It’s a waste of breath to ask if you had a good trip, but did you?” Dulcie asked as the four took seats around the fire.
Philly inclined his head. “We did. Aside from the obvious, it was good to have the time together. To justbetogether.”
His brothers nodded in understanding.
“You’re on at Rita’s tonight, right?” Hawkeye asked. Philly nodded. Christmas was two weeks away, and school breaks were starting. Being twenty-one and older only, Rita’s wasn’t a family place. But lots of those families that came for the holiday had been coming for years, and as the kids came of age, Rita’s was the one place in town they could go that they hadn’t been allowed to when younger. The place where they could be a part of theadultcrowd and play at being grown-up. As a result, the bar tended to fill with twentysomethings most nights this time of year. Which, from a purely financial perspective, was good for the club as their usual clientele—motorcyclists—were few and far between in the winter months. It didn’t hurt that with the rare exception, the young adults were pretty good kids who only wanted to explore the still-novel experience of having a beer or two with their friends.
They all craned their heads when the door opened, and Monk walked in. Philly almost turned back to watch the flames but hesitated.
“Monk?” he asked. His brother looked, not quite lost, but preoccupied.
Monk paused as the door swung shut behind him. He stared at the floor, then his gaze jerked up to the group sitting by the fire.
“My father died a week ago,” he said.
Philly straightened; so did the others. Monk’s father had been a nasty piece of work. Philly might have grown up as his dad’s punching bag, but he’dneverdone the kind of things Monk’s father had.
“How’d you find out?” Hawkeye asked.
He hesitated again, then shook his head and joined them by the fire. “A friend from back then pulled some army strings to find me.”
Philly didn’t miss the way Monk hesitated on the wordfriend.
“Some friend of a friend knew a guy I worked with on a couple of ops. He forwarded her email to me. Wasn’t sure if it was legit, but figured if it was, I’d want to know.”
Philly wasn’t so sure Monkdidwant to know.
“What can we do?” Marley asked.
Several seconds passed before Monk spoke again. “Nothing.” Another several seconds. “There’s a service in a few days.”
