Page 54 of Somewhere in the Sunset

“I’m home!” Peyton cheers, and I fly out of my chair and take my sister in my arms. I lift her off her feet and spin us around in a circle, her joyous laughter filling the bar. “Holy shit. You have no idea how glad I am to see you.” I set her back down on her feet, but I keep my hands on her, terrified that if I let go, she’ll disappear. “When the hell did you get back? You didn’t tell me you were taking leave!”

“I got back to base on Saturday, then flew in yesterday. I wanted it to be a surprise,” Peyton says, grinning. She looks so much like our mom. The dark eyebrows, the hollow cheekbones, the angular jaw. She’s glowing.

“Nearly gave me a heart attack when she knocked on my door last night,” Dad grumbles, but he’s beaming.

“I can’t believe you’re here right now,” I say, and I have to hug her again. “I’ve missed you so much. I’m so damn happy you made it home.”

Peyton punches my arm as she pulls away. “What? You didn’t think I would? Have a little faith in me, Weston. I take out bombs; they don’t take out me.”

“You know I don’t like those jokes, Peyton,” Dad says with a scolding glare, and Peyton apologizes with a quick kiss on his cheek. Although Dad is proud of us kids for pursuing such challenging, high-risk careers, he worries about each of us. Constantly. I know how relieved he must feel to have both Keaton and Peyton back on US soil at the same time. It’s been a while.

I pull over a chair for Peyton to join us and ask, “Where were you hiding?”

“In the restroom.” She flags down a waitress and orders herself a super-sized cocktail intended for sharing between two. “Don’t judge me. I deserve it.”

“You do,” Dad agrees, and the three of us exchange ecstatic smiles around the table. We can’t wrap our heads around the fact that we’re sitting here together. If only Keaton was here too, it would be perfect.

“So? How was it?” I urge, taking a sip of my beer and getting comfortable in my chair. Peyton has nearly twelve months’ worth of stories to share with us, and I imagine she has some pretty wild tales to tell. We’ll probably be here for hours.

“We’ll get to that.” Peyton hunches forward, crossing her arms on the table. The waitress returns and sets down a giant fishbowl of liquor. Peyton takes a sip through her straw, licks her lips, then sets her reproachful eyes back on me. “Dad says Charlotte dumped you because you treated her like shit.”

I fire Dad a look, and he sheepishly shrugs his shoulder. “I didn’t say it likethat.”

“Do I need to kick your ass, Weston?” Peyton asks, and I suck in a breath, bracing myself for an earful. I shouldn’t have expected anything less from my big sister. She always puts me in my place. “IlovedCharlotte and I’m a little bit heartbroken that she won’t ever be my sister-in-law now. What did you do to that poor girl? I better not have a fuckboy brother, I swear.”

“Peyton,” Dad says, but Peyton’s response is to simply chug her cocktail. God, I’ve missed her.

“I didn’t treat her like shit,” I say, “but I definitely didn’t treat herright.”

Peyton narrows her eyes fiercely at me, her jaw clenched as she shakes her head with dramatic flair. “I’m so pissed at you. Idiot. Are you okay, though?”

“I wasn’t at first. It was a hard lesson to learn, but I’m trying to be better,” I admit, staring down the rim of my beer bottle. Should I tell them about Gracie? Is it too soon? Maybe they’ll be happy for me. I glance up and nervously tell them, “I’ve met someone else.”

“Already?” Peyton gasps. She grinds her teeth even harder. “Did you even love Charlotte? How can you meet someone else this quickly? Charlotte’s side of the bed isn’t even cold yet.”

“Don’t be so hard on him,” Dad warns Peyton. It’s the first I’ve mentioned anything about Gracie around him too, so although he seems surprised by this news, he’s mostly curious. “What do you mean, you’ve met someone else?”

“I didn’twantto meet anyone else,” I say, but I’m perturbed by Peyton’s deadly glowering and my voice is shaky. “I wasn’t sure how I’deverwant to meet anyone else, but I went out with the guys one weekend and this girl sort of just .?.?. stumbled into the picture. She’s just come out of a long-term relationship too, so we’ve leaned on one another. That’s all it was at first, but now I think I really like her.”

“Wow. You’re blushing,” Peyton points out.

“I’m starting to think I liked it better when you were in Kuwait.”

“Nope, you’re glad I’m home, because you’re desperately in need of my female advice,” she says confidently, and finally eases off with the tough, stern act. She takes her fishbowl in her hands and sits back, hugging it to her chest while she drinks. “This new girl. Will I like her? I’m only here for three weeks before I need to head back to Fort Carson, so I’m going to need to meet her sooner rather than later. What does she do? What’s hername?”

“Gracie Taylor,” I say, clearing my throat. A month ago, I never thought I’d be telling Dad and Peyton about the girl from the club whose birthday celebrations I ruined. I’ve conveniently left that part out. “Just turned twenty-two. She’s taking a gap year before she goes back to school to get her teaching credentials.”

Dad’s brows shoot up and his tone becomes awfully soft. “She’s pursuing teaching?”

“Elementary school teaching,” I say, and I let the words hang in the air. Dad’s expression has saddened, while Peyton manages a smile. All three of us think of Mom.

“Okay, fine. She doesn’t sound that bad,” Peyton huffs. “But I’m really going to miss Charlotte. Don’t screw up again this time.”

Dad reaches over to clasp my arm. “You seem happier today than you did when you visited me a couple weeks ago. I hope this works out for you, and I’d like to eventually meet Gracie too, when you’re ready.”

“Thanks, Dad,” I say, and my sigh of relief is audible. Bill obviously hasn’t told him what happened at work last week, and I’m not going to bring it up. Dad seems happy for me. I don’t want to crush his spirits by telling him I hate life on the force, so I keep my mouth shut for now. I turn to Peyton and say, “Now tell me about the bombs.”

Dad tuts.

---