And speaking of friendships, the other Delta Force team who’d come to help out that night had gone above and beyond in getting Grover’s house put back together. All the windows had been replaced in a single day, and while the scorch mark from the cars that Cory had blown up remained in the front yard, everything else was basically as it had been.
Tex had even gotten involved, arranging for a security gate to be put up at the end of Grover’s driveway. The militia members had simply driven right up to his house and broken in, waiting for him to get home. Grover hated the gate, and it was likely he would have it removed in the not-so-distant future, but for now, it kept the lookie-loos away.
Regardless, no one would be able to get onto Grover’s property without his knowledge again, not with the amount of security he now owned.
But Sierra didn’t mind. She couldn’t deny that all the gadgets and bells and whistles were intimidating, but it gave them back a sense of safety that Cory and his followers had almost destroyed.
The men who’d joined Cory in his insane plot were all still in jail, and would be for quite a while. They all claimed they had no idea Cory had planned a suicide mission. They truly thought they’d just shake things up, put on a show for the media, then get a slap on the wrist when everything was said and done.
Personally, Sierra thought they were all stupid as hell, but she supposed she’d made some dumb choices herself when she was their age. Not as dumb as joining an outlaw militia group, but still.
Things were just now getting back to some semblance of normal. As normal as they could be for two former POWs who’d been thrust into the spotlight. Sierra was taking each day as it came and trying not to get overwhelmed with the fact that once again, everyone wanted an interview. Ember was assisting a lot with that, using her knowledge and experience to help her navigate the tricky waters of the media.
Today, everyone had gathered at Grover’s place to celebrate life, friendship, and simply being alive. And by everyone, Sierra meant that literally. Grover’s team and their women, Ghost’s team and their families, her parents, Grover’s parents and siblings—minus Spencer, who was still in rehab for his gambling addiction. Even Commander Robinson was there, as was Aspen and Brain’s elderly neighbor, Winnie, and her granddaughter and her family.
Gillian had somehow arranged for everything on extremely short notice. She’d called in a lot of favors, but had blown off Sierra’s thanks, saying that she might as well use the connections she’d made for their own enjoyment.
There was food on every available surface, and while there weren’t enough chairs for everyone, no one seemed to care. Kids were running around everywhere and it was complete chaos…and Sierra couldn’t have been happier.
“This is insane,” Devyn said with a small laugh. “I mean, seriously, who are all these people?”
Even though Sierra had told Grover she was fine, he still came outside to see for himself. As he approached, he heard his sister’s question. “They’re my friends,” he said, putting his hand on Sierra’s shoulder.
“You have friends? No, that can’t be right. My brother’s a hermit,” Devyn joked.
Everyone laughed, and Sierra reached up and squeezed her man’s hand.
He leaned down to whisper in her ear. “I’m thinking we need to escape back to The Refuge. Get away from all these people.”
She chuckled and tilted her head to look up at him. “I’m definitely okay with that. But maybe not right this second. That would be rude.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Sierra saw Grover’s parents approach. Grover straightened and greeted them. Then she saw him smirk before he said, “So, Devyn…when are you and Lucky gonna get married?”
Sierra smothered a chuckle. Everyone knew she and Lucky were already married—everyone but her parents. They hadn’t really meant to keep it a secret from them, but it just kind of happened. Lucky wanted to get married so Devyn would have the benefits the Army could provide her as a military spouse, and Devyn had no problem with that, because she loved him so much. The issue was that her parents wanted a huge traditional ceremony back in Missouri. She hadn’t wanted to disappoint her parents by telling them she and Lucky had already done the deed, and they hadn’t had time to work out the details of a big wedding and reception.
“Oooh, yes. Let’s talk about that, shall we?” their mom said, clapping her hands together eagerly.
Devyn glared at her brother for a beat. “We will, Mom.”
“Promise?”
“Promise,” Devyn said with a sigh.
As soon as the older couple wandered off, Devyn threw a balled-up napkin at her brother. “That was mean, Fred.”
Grover chuckled. “I know, sorry. But I had to say something to get her to stop hovering over me and Sierra.”
“So you threw me under the wedding bus?” Devyn asked.
Grover shrugged. “It worked. Besides, the sooner you let Mom have her ceremony, the sooner she’ll get off your back about it.”
“Yeah, then she’ll be harping on me to have kids,” Devyn said with a sigh.
“Is that a bad thing?” Sierra asked.
Devyn blushed and shrugged. “Not really.”
“I’m gonna be the best uncle ever,” Grover said. “I’m gonna fill your kids with sugar, then send ’em home for you to deal with.”
Devyn sat back in her chair with a smirk. “You will too.”
“Yup.”
Sierra loved this. It was hard to believe not too long ago, her life was so different. So bleak. And now, here she was, surrounded by people who treated her as if they’d known her forever. Who genuinely cared about her well-being.
“Hey, Aspen!”
Everyone glanced up to see a teenager making her way toward them.
Sierra had met her earlier. Her name was Annie, and she was Emily and Fletch’s daughter. She had dirty-blonde hair and blue eyes, and the second she met Sierra, she’d declared her hair to be “rad” and said she was going to ask her mom if she could get hers cut the same way.
“Hi, Annie,” Aspen said, keeping her voice down so as not to wake the sleeping infant on her chest.
“Will you go over tourniquet wraps with me later?”
Without missing a beat, Aspen nodded. “Sure.”
“Great! Thanks!” Annie said happily, then skipped off.
“What was that about?” Sierra asked when the girl was out of earshot.
“Annie wants to be a combat medic when she grows up. She heard that’s what I did when I was in the Army, and now she wants to learn as much as she can about medical stuff. I think she wants to get her EMT license as soon as she’s old enough.”
“Wow, that’s ambitious,” Sierra said.
“Yep. And she’ll do it,” Aspen said with a small smile. “She’s one of those people who, once she decides what she wants, she goes after it.”
“Yeah,” Grover added. “She’s got a boyfriend who lives out in California who she met when she was like seven or eight. She says she’s gonna marry him one day. And while I’d probably lose it if my daughter told me that when she was so young, I think Fletch loves it because it means she’s not interested in dating anyone else.”