Page 3 of Unmasking Secrets
CHAPTER TWO
ARCHIE
This was going to be a quick visit. I wasn’t even going to bother coming home, but it is my parent’s anniversary. It isn’t something I can pass up. I’ve put off coming home since I left the military, always coming up with excuses. The thought of just coming home and starting over here, it doesn’t feel like something I’m capable of.
I’ve seen and experienced things nobody will understand. Everything has changed. It’s not like I have a girl to come home to either. I tried that once—major fail. Not that I can blame my ex, I’d naturally compared her to the one that got away. Maybe it was my curse, something I always did. Nobody would ever compare toher.
That ship sailed before I could ever admit my feelings to her, I missed my chance. I know it was for the best. I didn’t have anything to offer her at the time. She was always too good for me and my demons.
After the military, I considered joining the club, like several members of my family. It’s what everyone assumed I would do.That was the plan until everything happened. I couldn’t go back to the way things were. None of my plans worked out. I needed—craved—something different.
The MC is still waiting for me to patch in. I could hear the hurt in my dad’s voice last month when we were on the phone when I told him I wasn’t joining. For a while, I coasted. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. Thankfully, a few of the guys I served with reached out with an offer I couldn’t refuse.
They started a security agency. It was enough to help pass the time and give me something to do. I feel comfortable around them; we’ve been in the deep together.
Coming back here makes me feel a little adrift again. I have nothing to ground me. I plan to stay for one hour, two tops. Then I can say my goodbyes and tell them I have a job to get back to. I don’t want to lie, but I don’t want to stay too long.
The Grimaldis capture my attention first. Any chance for me to hear how she is doing. I know I shouldn’t care. Fuck, it’s not like I’ve seen or spoken to her since she got married. I like to torture myself. Like the fucking idiot I am.
The smile on Carol Grimaldi’s face as she looks past me makes me pause. I swallow back the nerves and turn around.
Would she be here? It’s been years since we’ve seen each other. Neither one of us coming home for long or at the same time.
I struggle to catch my breath as I turn. Is it who I think it is? Who I want it to be?
My eyes find hers—instantly. Heat floods through my body as I release the tension I’ve been holding onto.
It’s her. She’s really here.
My heart feels like it’s going to pound out of my chest at the sight of her. She’s just as beautiful as ever. Fuck, even more so.
I’m moving towards her without a thought, as if my feet can move on their own. It’s been too long, and it takes more effort not to run to her.
Our eyes stay locked as we move closer.
Tabitha’s hair is different. It isn’t dark brown like when we were younger. She’s lightened it, but it looks perfect on her. Her hair is pulled back in a claw clip, the same kind she loved to wear all the time in high school. She even kept one clipped to the visor in my car. A few strands of hair frame her heart-shaped face. Her nose crinkles as we step closer. With every step, her smile grows right along with mine.
Few words are spoken, and then I can’t hold back any longer; I pull her in for a hug. Part of me thought she was a figment of my imagination. I have to touch her and know she’s really here. Then, I don’t want to let go. I can’t. It feels good to hold her after all this time. Even if she isn’t mine.
No, I lost the opportunity when I chose not to say something. It is probably my only regret in life. I should’ve made a move. I know my life would be different—better—if she were in it.
Fuck!
I should probably ask her how her husband is, but I don’t care.
“I didn’t know you were back in town.”
“I didn’t know you were either.” She smiles up at me. “It’s been too long since I’ve been back. I leave in the morning. What about you? How are you?”
“Same.” I laugh.
Tabitha is right; this feels awkward, but only because it’s been so long. Too long. She was once the girl who was always around. We were always together and knew everything about each other. Well—mostly.
“I’m alright.” I nod. “Finding ways to pass the time and figure out what I want to do now that I’m done.” My voice breaks off.
“Your dad said you were done, but didn’t want to join the club.” She chews on her bottom lip for a second, then lets it slip loose. “I’m kind of glad. I always worried you would get hurt somehow.”
She cares? “I mean, no more danger than the military.”
