Brianna's Navy SEAL (15 page)

"So, what's wrong, then?” Elyse asked, cutting the angels with quick, sure strokes. Brie transferred them as she went.

"A lot of little things. They'll probably sound stupid."

"I doubt that. Just rattle them off. Then we'll prioritize."

A mirthless laugh burst from her. “Yeah, rattle them off. Okay.” She took a deep breath. “I overdosed on adventure and Cable is made for it, Darcy wants him and Ken wants me and I thought we could handle that but last summer is repeating itself. Ken tried to torch Cable's truck and Darcy tried to both seduce and trick him all on the same night. Neither of them is willing to give up. I don't know why, but it doesn't matter, it can only end badly. Oh, and there's a guy Cable put in jail years ago who's out and looking for him.” She glanced at her mother's hand, stalled in midair. A higher glance showed both a mouth open in shock and compassion in her eyes.

"Shall I get a pad and pen?” Brie asked. “You know, to prioritize?"

Elyse closed her mouth with a snap. “Not at all. It's not that complicated."

"No?” Brie thought she was joking, but after her mother slid the second tray into the oven and set the second timer, she settled herself at the table with all the demeanor of a teacher about to discuss a learning difficulty with a parent.

"First, you have to tell me about last summer."

"Yeah, right.” Brianna poured them both glasses of iced tea before sitting at the table. “Kira's already talked to you about it, I'm sure."

"Well, she doesn't know what happened any more than I do, but if you want, we'll skip the explanation and go for the absolution.” She thanked Brie for the tea and took a sip. “It wasn't your fault. Not then, and not now. People are responsible for their own actions and reactions. No matter what it was that happened,” she added when Brianna opened her mouth.

The pan they'd just put into the oven popped, the sound totally unlike the thump of the harpoon gun, but evoking the memory nonetheless. Sick to her stomach, Brie pushed her glass away.

"It's one thing to know that, Mom, and another to feel it."

"I know.” She patted her daughter's hand, then gripped her fingers when Brie reached for them. “But you have to work at feeling it, because it's the truth. And if you can't feel the truth, none of the rest of it can be any easier."

Brianna sighed. There was no point discussing that any more. It was something she had to fix for herself. But the Darcy/Ken problem was more external. She told her mother what had been happening, and Elyse surprised her with the depth of her hatred.

"That woman has caused enough problems for this family. And this town."

"She helped raise record-setting contributions for the charity this year,” Brianna felt compelled to remind her.

"A cover.” Her mother waved her hand in dismissal. “We all know that.” She peered at Brianna. “Cable does know that, doesn't he?"

"Sure, but he thinks the fact that he doesn't want her is enough. He doesn't understand her."

"Well, maybe after last night he will.” She drained her tea and stood to shut off the beeping timer and remove the cookies. “I'm more concerned about the criminal. You said there's been a threat?"

Brianna hesitated. “We don't know if it was a threat. Cable got something in the mail from him. Ken stole it when he broke in and destroyed stuff.” She shrugged. “I'm not that concerned about Carothers. It's been a while since he sent the letter."

Her mother blew out a breath and started transferring the cookies to a cooling rack with sharp movements. “Then I don't get it. You of all people should know that relationships aren't all honey and roses."

Brie knew she was referring to her reaction at the turmoil in her parents’ marriage a few years ago. She'd been very shaken up, but that was because it was her parents, and they'd been so different from what she knew. She'd matured since then.

"It's not a lesson I need taught to me again, Mother. I don't expect it to be all honey and roses.” She rose and retrieved a festive plastic-wrap-lined tin and started putting cookies from the first batch into it. “But how likely is a relationship to last with all those strikes against it?"

The back door opened and Joey raced in, followed by Kira and Jake. Their cheeks were rosy and their hats and shoulders dusted with snow. Since it was sunny outside, Brie knew they'd indulged in a bit of a snowball fight.

Elyse finished giving Joey a growling hug and set him back on his feet. He dashed off to find Grandpa, and Grandma shot Brianna a glittering smile.

"Ironic timing, huh?” She moved in to hug her oldest daughter and son-in-law.

Brianna shook her head. It wasn't a subtle message. Yes, her sister had had bigger obstacles to overcome. And she had. So maybe Brianna needed to suck it up and have a little faith.

After all, wasn't this the time of year for it?

An hour later the house was full of seasonal joy. Brianna's father and Cable sat on the floor with Joey near the Christmas tree, playing a card game. Parker ignored his expensive suit pants and shirt and lay on his stomach next to them. Kira and Sophie squabbled over the placement of the ornaments, never mind that they'd been up for weeks. Brie sat next to the couch where Jake's parents, Luke and Fran, cuddled.

"I think my favorite part of Christmas is the smells,” Fran mused, leaning forward to pick up her eggnog. “The cookies and turkey, mixed with the fir tree and the snow."

Joey bounced onto the couch between them as she spoke. “You can't smell snow, Nana Fran,” he scoffed.

"Certainly you can.” She let him sip her eggnog. “It's not spiked,” she assured Kira.

"G'Luke, c'mon! We're gonna build a snowman!"

Brie looked up. The men were collecting coats and gloves. Jake was laying his son's snow suit out on the floor for him to climb into. Cable crossed the room and leaned down to kiss her.

"Mind?"

"Of course not.” She smiled up at him and pressed his cheek with her palm. “Do you?"

He raised one eyebrow. “I'm a kindergarten teacher. Besides, if we go out, you five will have to take care of the food.” He glided back before she could land her fist on him.

"It's okay,” Fran murmured next to her ear. “If we set the food out, they'll have to clean up."

Brie nodded and laughed, and subsided back into her seat. A moment later, the room settled into calm and quiet. A collective sigh made them all laugh.

"Much better.” Elyse sat next to her best friend and eyed her girls. “Okay, kids. Dish."

"Dish what?” Sophie studied her fingernails and looked completely bored. “You already know everything."

But Brie knew her sister well. She knew the true ennui she'd suffered in her old job, the put-on boredom around her family, and the happiness she felt now, being Parker's wife. It only took a moment more, and she knew.

"Holy shit, Soph, you're pregnant!"

The discussion Elyse and Fran had just started on whether the women's club should start a crochet group stopped abruptly. All eyes swung to Sophie.

"Of course I'm not.” She didn't look at any of them. Her right hand shook, though, when she held it out, fingertips up, as if admiring her manicure.

"She's right.” Kira pressed the back of her hand to her sister's cheek. “You've got the glow."

"That's annoyance."

The room filled with noise once more as four women tried to get Sophie to admit it, and she protested more and more vehemently.

"Dammit, all right!” Now she did look annoyed. “I'm pregnant."

Elyse frowned. “You don't look happy about it, dear."

She shot to her feet. “I'm frickin’ ecstatic, Mother, but Parker and I were going to announce it at dinner. You've ruined it, with all your pushiness and know-it-all attitudes."

Stricken, Brie stood, too, and tried to hug her. “I'm so sorry I guessed, Soph. I didn't mean to ruin it."

Sophie pushed her away. “It's okay. I'm the one who couldn't hide it.” She shook her head. “I'm going to the bathroom. Don't tell Parker if he comes in."

"Don't tell Parker what?"

Everyone gasped and whirled toward the kitchen doorway. Cable stood there, holding a carrot.

"What? Why are you all staring at me like that?"

"Nothing. Gotta check the turkey."

"I'll help. Nice carrot."

"I have to go to the bathroom."

"Whoops! Out of eggnog! Excuse me!"

The room cleared in a flash, leaving Cable and Brianna alone.

"What the heck was that all about?"

"Nothing to do with us.” Brie put her arms around his waist and inhaled. Fran was right. Snow did smell good. Especially on a man who also smelled good. “How's the snowman coming along?"

"It's the funniest thing you've ever seen. Why don't you grab the camera and come out?"

"Sure.” Maybe she could get out of setting the table
and
cleaning up by playing both sides.

"I'll see you out there.” He dropped a kiss on her nose and headed back out the kitchen door. Brianna got her ski jacket out of the closet and collected the camcorder from the sideboard before slipping out the front.

The snowman
was
one of the funniest things she'd ever seen. The bottom was roughly oval, with a huge bulge on the back side that made him look like the big-assed landlady from Joey's favorite animated movie. The middle section was smaller than the top section. They'd tried to pack snow between the three pieces to hold them together, but the result was a zigzagging tower that looked like nothing recognizable.

She clicked the camcorder on and caught Joey jumping up and down, reaching with the carrot toward what Brianna assumed was supposed to be the face. Two stones—how'd they find stones under a foot of snow?—were probably supposed to be eyes, but they were positioned more about mid-forehead and upper left cheek. A bent twig must be the mouth. That was the only thing that looked normal.

As she filmed, Cable lifted Joey to his hip and held the back of the snowman's head against the boy's energetic stabs with the carrot. Finally, Jake dug a little hole in the center and Joey stuffed the end of the vegetable into it, then cheered. Parker beamed at them while Duncan and Luke stood to the side, ignoring the efforts of their sons and grandson and talking earnestly about something Brie figured would bore the hell out of everyone else.

Joey squirmed. Cable let him down and he dashed across the yard to where Cody, Kira's dog, lay on the snow, far from the chaos but still near her people. Brianna followed him with the camera and filmed a minute of him trying to coax the old dog into playing fetch with snowballs, then panned back to the masterpiece.

She caught her breath. Jake, Parker, and Cable stood in front of the snowman in a half-circle, all smiling. Hot damn, they looked good. Pride and gratitude swelled her throat.

There couldn't be three more different men on the outside. Jake wore jeans and a hand-knitted sweater under a battered fleece-lined corduroy jacket. He rocked back on his cowboy boots with his hands stuffed into his jacket pockets.

Next to him, Parker looked like a model on a
GQ
shoot. His dress pants and pea coat sported not a flake of snow. His hair was still perfectly combed, and lambskin gloves warmed his hands. A cashmere scarf casually looped around his neck completed the image.

Cable towered over both of them, his haircut and his leather jacket screaming “don't mess with me.” But all three of them had identical contented smiles that lit up their faces.

"We could make a fortune with that calendar.” Sophie quietly came out onto the porch next to her. “Did we collect some good samples, or what?"

Kira closed the door behind her and stood on Brie's left. She shut off the camera so there wouldn't be a record of their ongoing admiration. The guys’ heads were big enough.

"We did,” Kira agreed. “All three of us.” Her voice held just the hint of a question when she looked at her youngest sister.

For the first time, Brianna felt sure.

"All three of us,” she agreed.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the captain has just turned on the fasten seatbelt sign."

The flight attendant's voice droned on, and Brie stretched and yawned. When she put her right arm down, Cable absently threaded his fingers through hers, shifting the book he was reading so he could hold it open with his right hand.

"Good nap?” he asked.

"Mmmm.” Brie looked out the window. He was clearly engrossed in the Civil War novel. She'd been having trouble sleeping since Christmas, and the whine of the engines had lulled her. But neither one mattered. They were at that comfortable stage where they could be together without having to focus everything on each other.

A few minutes later the engine noise changed, the cabin shifted, and Brianna's ears popped. She watched avidly as the ground eased nearer. She loved takeoffs and landings. Even losing the craving for adventure hadn't cured her of this minor rush.

She felt Cable smiling at her and turned her head. Their eyes met, and the look in his made her heart bounce. They leaned together for a kiss, then settled back in their seats again.

"I hate to sound cliché, but...” Brianna trailed off, realizing it was more than that. She didn't want to
be
cliché, either. She was so nervous about meeting Cable's sister that her hand started shaking if she thought too hard about it.

"But what?” Cable prompted, finally closing his book and giving her all his attention. “What's wrong?"

"Nothing.” She looked out the window again.

After a moment, Cable said, “I think I'm supposed to say she's going to love you, right?"

"If we're going to uphold the integrity of the cliché, of course."

"Well, I can't."

Brie's mouth dropped open. “You can't?"

"I have no idea how she'll feel about you. Or how you'll feel about her.” He released her hand and leaned over to tuck his book into his carryon, shoved under the seat in front of him. “You might hate each other."

Brianna immediately relaxed. His honesty freed her. She didn't have to ask if that would be okay. It would. It wouldn't matter, because he could love them both without them having to love each other.