Page 61 of SEAL's Angel
Rafe sighed. “I don’t know. We wanted to stay with him, but they’re shipping us home today. He hasn’t regained consciousness yet.”
Dawn refused to burst into tears in the middle of her office. Sheer force of will was all that kept it from happening. “Let me know as soon as you know something. Promise me, Rafe. Don’t hold shit back because you think it’s best.”
“I promise. I didn’t do it with Bob. Why would I start now?”
“I don’t know, but I don’t want you getting any wild ideas, either. I’ll kill you myself if you try it.” Dawn meant every word she’d said.
“You wouldn’t have to. Meghan would do it for you,” Rafe answered.
“I knew I liked that woman. I have to quit my job now. Call me when you land.”
“Geesh, you’ve gotten bossy in your old age, brat,” Rafe said.
“You don’t want to know, trust me. Safe travels. I’ll talk to you soon.” Dawn hung up. She looked at her desk and at the framed photos of her children.
She didn’t need the job. She’d only taken it to have normalcy in their lives and to help the kids with college. None of that mattered now. Jake had taught her how to live again, and she wasn’t giving up on him.
* * *
Three days later, Dawn parked her new Ford Edge in the parking lot of Rafe’s townhouse. They’d made it to Norfolk after two twelve-hour days on the road, only stopping to eat, for potty breaks, and to get some sleep. Even though the drive had been long, the weather held, and Cindy and Chase had kept her sane.
It was hard to wrap her head around how much had happened in the last few days. As soon as she’d hung up with Rafe, she’d packed up her office and went to see her boss, Roger Bailey, to give him her resignation. At first, he didn’t want to accept it, but when she explained that she needed to go to Virginia and didn’t know when she’d be back, he reluctantly agreed.
After leaving the office, she’d made mental lists on the way home—phone calls she’d need to make, what to pack, have her mail forwarded, and her house watched. Even if Jake wouldn’t be home for a few days, it would take that long to get there. They’d eat dinner, then pack everything they wanted to bring. She figured she’d load up the car in the morning.
Her car was old and small. Spending two or three days cooped up in it would be a nightmare. When she stopped at a traffic light, she looked over and saw the Ford dealer and figured it was fate. Two hours later, she was the proud owner of the navy-blue Edge, and it even had most of the bells and whistles. The kids would love it.
Then she headed home and transferred her mental list to paper. Throughout the afternoon, she checked things off the list, and by the time the kids got home with Janey, it was almost complete.
Cindy had burst into tears as Dawn explained about Jake. Then she’d told them they were going to stay with Uncle Rafe for a while so they could visit Jake. Then when she’d explained they’d do their school work on the computer, they’d been excited.
“Are we coming back here, Mom?” Chase had asked.
He’d surprised Dawn with the question. But she shouldn’t have been. He had an analytical mind, just like his father, and he’d connected the dots right away.
“I’m not sure, buddy. Are you thinking about Joey?”
“Kinda. But we can always do FaceTime or something, right?”
“Yup, you sure can. I talked to his mom today to let her know, and they are going to watch over our house while we’re gone.”
It should have terrified Dawn to uproot her little family, but it hadn’t. In her heart, she knew it was the right thing for all of them. Not that she knew yet if it would be a permanent move. Jake had told her he wanted her in his life and even invited them to stay with him, but visiting was a lot different from moving in. Besides, she didn’t even know how badly injured he was.
And now, they’d finally gotten to Norfolk. Last time she’d checked in with Rafe, he’d said they should admit Jake into Walter Reed Hospital this week.
“We’re here,” Dawn announced.
Cindy looked up from her tablet and reached over to poke Chase since he had headphones on. “Chase, we’re finally here. Yay, Mommy. We did it.”
Dawn smiled into the rearview mirror. “Yes, we did. Thank you for being good.”
“It’s okay, Mom. We want to see Jake, too. He helped me. We need to help him.”
Tears clouded her eyes, but she blinked them away. How did she get so lucky? Her children were truly amazing little people.
“Okay, let’s go find Uncle Rafe and Aunt Meghan. Grab the stuff you have in the backseat with you. We’ll get the rest of it after we say hi.”
“Okay, Mom,” Chase answered.
