Gah.
Liberty was right. Luke had done all of the heavy lifting in our relationship. He’d spent a lot of effort breaking through my barriers and every obstacle I’d put in his way, he’d found a way to smash those, too.
“And before you go thinking you need to find the right time to tell him, it’s always the right time to share your feelings with the people you care about,” Liberty finished.
And she was right about that, too, and it was high time I started doing just that.
“It means a lot to me, you taking the time to talk to me. I know I apologized—”
“Yep, you did, and saying you’re sorry a second time means you didn’t believe me the first time I told you I understood. So, let’s leave that in the past, and let’s get to the part where you promise to tell me and the girls all about how the Love Reveal goes.”
“What does that mean?”
I asked the question even though I was fairly certain by the way Liberty was wiggling her eyebrows that I didn’t want to know.
“You’ll see.”
“You know you say that a lot. Which reminds me, you still haven’t told me your plans after the Army.”
“Right. Who am I, if not a soldier?” Liberty shrugged. “I’m me.”
“What?”
“I’m me. Just me.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means you showed me the other day that being a soldier doesn’t define who I am. It never did. Somewhere along the way, I forgot what “be all you can be” really meant. I was so busy proving to myself all the things I could do while in uniform I lost sight of something. Being all I can be to the people who love me. Being all I can be to a friend who is struggling. I don’t need a uniform to do that. And saying that doesn’t mean I’m not proud of my service or what I’ve accomplished. It simply means when the time comes for me to leave the Army I now know I won’t lose what’s really important.”
I didn’t think I actually showed Liberty anything but I wasn’t going to quibble.
“I promise to call you and tell you about the Love Reveal if you promise to rally the girls and get them all to my house for…”
Shit, for what? What did a group of women do when they got together at each other’s houses? Did women do that, get together at each other’s houses?
Damn.
My gaze went over her shoulder and I felt my face heat.
“Sunny?”
“Huh?”
“Girl, stop. You look like you’re ready to bolt, which is hilarious considering twenty minutes you were blowing shit up. You don’t need an excuse or an occasion to call your girls over. You call, we come. Easy. You call and tell us you have snacks and wine, we come faster. You call and tell us you need us, we’re there warp-speed. All you have to do is call. Unfortunately for you, you’ve come into the family at a time where you’re gonna have to put up with a whole lotta talk about babies and weddings and I don’t foresee that ending soon. Mercy and Laney are going to pop their kids out, then it will be Hadley and Addy’s turn and right after them Quinn will be knocked up. Which is gonna be killer to watch Uncle Jasper have a freak-out with all of his kids back-to-back pregnant.”
From what little I knew of Jasper Walker, Liberty wasn’t wrong. The guy seemed rather protective over his children.
But I was stuck back on ‘all you have to do is call.’
That easy?
I just had to call.
“And you and Drake? Are you planning on having kids right away?”
“Yes.”
Well, alrighty then, that was firm.
Then Liberty did something strange, she busted out laughing. I watched her do this for a long time. And when she finally got control she smiled.
“You’re fun,” she declared.
Fun?
“Are you okay? Did the shockwave rattle your brain? Did you drink something when I wasn’t looking? Because I think you’re a little crazy and it’s scaring me.”
“Sober as a church mouse. Or is it sober as a nun?” Liberty waved her hand and smiled. “However the saying goes. I’ve never had a friend who’s never had girlfriends before. Sometimes you look surprised. Other times you look stunned. We’re friends, Sunny. And friends talk to their friends. Yes, I want to start making a family with Drake as soon as we can. Drake feels the same way. And I’ll tell you something we haven’t shared with the rest yet. Quinn’s gonna likely be pissed but it’s her fault for wanting to get married on Laney’s due date like a crazy person so she can’t be all that mad. Drake and I set a date. It’s gonna be a surprise. We’re gonna send out a text and give everyone one hour to show up.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yep. No stress. No planning. Just family.”
“And one hour to get there.”
“And one hour to get there,” she confirmed. “On that note, I gotta run.”
We said our goodbyes, which included Liberty reminding me not to forget to call her, then I drove home.
I spent the rest of the day cleaning my house thinking it was going to be great having friends. When I was done cleaning I spent the rest of the afternoon thinking I was all kinds of stupid for pushing anyone who tried to be my friend away.
“What’s this?” Luke asked.
It was much later. Luke was home from work and I was at the stove pulling dinner out of the oven.
I glanced over my shoulder and nearly dropped the baked ziti.
Shit.
Goddamn.
I forgot to put the letter away.
But I didn’t get to explain.
“Who the fuck is Clive Hutchinson?” Luke growled.
My stomach hollowed and the vibe of the room shifted to unhappy.
I didn’t think any man would like to find a letter calling the woman he cared about a piece of shit. But a man like Luke, like my brothers, like the men I worked with, would like it less so. And I knew I was right because Luke looked like he was getting ready to blow.
Further, I didn’t think Luke would ever understand those letters.
“Penelope’s father.”
“Come again?”
“Penelope Hutchinson. The hostage—”
“Babe, I know who she is. What I’m asking is why in the actual fuck is her father sending you a fucked-up letter.”
Luke jerked the paper in his hand and it was confirmed he’d never get why a grieving father, who blamed me, would send me letters.
“Because he needs to vent. He’s in pain. I understand what that feels like. And if it makes him feel even a sliver better to send me letters—”
“Did you say letters?” Luke cut in. “This isn’t the first?”
A dangerous current ricocheted around the room, bounced off the walls until the air was electrified with Luke’s anger.
“Please stop cutting me off and let me finish. Clive is understandably upset. His daughter was murdered in front of him. His wife passed away years ago. Penelope was his only child. The man has nothing. He’s lashing out. I get why he blames me. I understand the anger he feels. He’ll burn out but in the meantime, I owe it to him, so I listen to what he feels he needs to get off his chest.”
Luke might not have verbally interrupted me but that didn’t mean he quelled the ferocity rolling off of him. If anything, it had magnified. His scowl had deepened, his posture went from alert to stiff, and his stare had gone from watchful to seriously pissed.