“Hank?” It came out more like a question.
“Parker, you going to let me in?”
“Holy shit…yeah – get in here!”
Parker couldn’t believe that Hank Peterson was standing in his house. They’d been close when he was in the Marines, but after his parents died and he left the service, they lost touch. And now, he stood in his kitchen.
“Hank, I am surprised you’re here. Don’t get me wrong I am glad to see you – but how the hell did you end up at my front door?”
Hank slumped into a kitchen chair, rubbing his face with the palm of his hand, “It took some digging to see where you landed after everything that happened. Once I found out, I figured I’d come here. I’m out.”
“What do you mean you’re out?”
“The Marines. I’m done and need somewhere to land like you. Thought maybe till I figure it out, you’d let me stay here.”
“Of course, you can stay here. But I thought you were going to retire from the core. What changed?”
“I fucked up.”
Parker sat across from Hank, finally seeing the worn, tired look in his eyes. His friend looked like hell. “What do you mean you fucked up? Come on dude, you were the best Marine I ever worked with – hell, you were the best of the best.”
Hank sighed, “I fell in love with the wrong woman.”
“A woman? I don’t understand.”
“Turns out the woman I thought was the ‘one’”, Hank emphasized one with finger quotes, “was married to a two-star general who was deployed in Afghanistan. When he came back and found out, she tried to say I’d forced her into the relationship. Fortunately, there were plenty of people who knew I hadn’t. But you know how it works. I was the low man on the totem pole – so I was offered an honorable discharge, which I took. My almost 20-year career flushed in a twelve-hour span. Now – here I am.”
“Damn – and the woman?”
“Still married to the general. Is it too early to drink?”
“Nah – it’s never too early for a beer under these circumstances. Besides,” he stood and looked at the clock, “it’s almost eleven. Close enough to lunch.” Parker pulled two beers from the fridge and handed one to Hank. “So, what do you think you’ll do now?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I can get on with the fire department. All those years as an Air Rescue and Fire Fighter should lend me to getting on easy. Know anyone at the fire department, put in a word for me?”
“Yeah, I can ask my Chief. You’ll like it here if you really decide to stay.”
“What about you?”
“I work for Lauderdale County Sheriff’s office and some odd jobs on the side.”
“Like building shit?”
“Yeah,” Parker chuckled, “You’re welcome to come help and I’ll split the money until you get on your feet. Honestly though, I’ve only been working on one house – forever. Isabelle Greyson paid me a pretty nice sum to get her house in shape.”
“I’d like to meet a woman willing to pay you a hefty sum to do anything.” Hank laughed.
“I wish you could have met her. She helped me acclimate here after everything that happened.” Parker zoned out, memories of the woman he’d grown to think of as family.
“Damn – sorry brother. You still working on her house?”
“Yeah – she left it to her granddaughter.”
“Oh, I see.”
“What do you see?” Parker looked up at his friend, realizing he’d glanced down at the table when he mentioned Delilah.
“You got a thing for this girl, don’t you?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Usually is. My friend.” Hank stood, tossing his empty bottle into the trash.
“You want to head over to the house with me? I need to finish fixing the deck. You’ll make it go quicker.”
“Well, let’s get to it.”
Parker slapped Hank on the back, “It’s good to have you here.” Deep down he was relieved to have something to take his mind off Delilah. Hank was a perfect distraction.
Chapter 18
Delilah woke to banging – a lot of banging. Rolling out of bed, she was shocked to see it was after noon. “Shit.” She forgot about her hand, smacking the bright pink cast against her forehead as she attempted to run her fingers through her hair. She pushed to her feet and headed to the bathroom.
Delilah was disgusted with her reflection. Her brown hair was looking sad and her eyes had lost some of their glow. Turning on the water, she took a quick shower. The banging seemed to be double – making her head pound even under the spray of the water. Turning off the water, Delilah hopped out and toweled off. She was going to kill Parker. Her head was not in the mood for all the noise. Pulling on a pair of jeans and a fitted t-shirt, she pulled her hair into a ponytail and stormed down stairs.
“PARKER!” Delilah yelled as she pushed through the back door, unaware that the decking had been ripped up in a few places, her foot hit a hole throwing her forward.
“Whoa there,” strong arms wrapped around her, tugging her to a stand, “you alright, Darlin?”
“Who in the fuck are you?” Delilah spewed as she dusted herself off, “And why in the hell is there a giant hole in the deck?”
“I’m Hank. You must be Delilah.”
“Where is Parker?”
“He just left to go pick up some decking nails. As you so gracefully saw, we are replacing some bad wood.”
“Ugh… Whatever. Tell Parker I want to talk to him when he gets back.” Delilah was mumbling her fury as she stepped over the gaping hole. “I’ll be at the barn.”
“Delilah,” Hank called out after her, “You need to quit playing my friend.”
“Who. In. The. Hell. Do. You. Think. You. Are?” She spun piercing him with a glare fit to kill a man.
“Whoa, hold up hot pants. I’m just saying Parker has lost enough in his life. He doesn’t need some chick playing around with his heart – it’s been through enough.”
“First of all, I am not playing your friend. And second,” She calmed herself, “what do you mean he’s been through enough? How would you even know that?”
“Parker and I were in the Marines together. I watched when his whole world crumbled, right along with his desire to serve his country.”
“I don’t even know what that means. But Parker is a big boy – I think he can handle himself.” Delilah turned, heading for the barn.
“Yeah – except I am pretty sure my friend loves you. And if you don’t feel the same, you should steer clear.”
She stuck her hand up, giving him a one finger salute, as she disappeared around the barn. How dare Hank, whoever the hell he was, tell her what to do. She wasn’t intentionally leading Parker on. Hell, she was scared to death about how she felt. But space and time is what she needed to get those feelings worked out in her head.
Walking towards Ed’s stall, she heart stopped beating and the air left her lungs. There, laying on the ground was her beloved horse. She dropped to her knees, not realizing she’d screamed.