Page 81 of Somewhere You Belong

“Best date you’ve ever been on?”

She smirks over at me. “Well, with very little to compare it to, I’d say yes.”

I shrug. “Doesn’t matter how many others there were. This is the only one that matters, as far as I’m concerned.”

She turns to face me. “So cocky.”

I mimic her stance, leaning against the wooden railing. “No. Confident, Goose.”

“What was it like growing up here?” She rests her back against the railing this time, watching the people on the pier mill around us.

“Everything you would expect in a small town.”

“Well, that idea is foreign to me, so please, explain.”

Pinching her waist, she squeals and then glares at me. “Watch that sass.”

“You love it.”

Yeah, I kinda do.

“Well, I was born here, along with all four of my siblings. Dad served in the Marines until I was four, and we stayed here even after his honorable discharge. My parents lived in the same house my entire life, though Penn and I have done some updates to it in the past five years. Mom was a teacher at the elementary school for thirty years. She retired two years ago, but still likes to volunteer there every once in a while. Our life was always here, and I guess the four of us never saw a reason to leave.” I look out over the water.

“There’s a comfort in knowing you have somewhere in the world that grounds you, a place that’s familiar and feels like its own little world separate from everything else. I remember hearing about thingsthat would happen in big cities, crime or fights between people, and I’d think, those things would never happen in Carrington Cove. I had the kind of childhood you’d see in old movies. Hell, Penn and I would ride our bikes all over town when we were young and only had to come home when the streetlights came on. Everyone helps one another, and everyone knows you by name, which was both a blessing and a curse, especially when I was up to no good as a kid.”

“You? A troublemaker?” she teases.

“Only as a teen. My dad and I butted heads a lot, so I did some shit I’m not super proud of.”

“Like what?”

Sighing, I tilt my head at her. “Drink underage, sneak out to parties, and I stole my dad’s car once.”

“Yikes. Now I’m not so sure I should be hanging out with a guy like you.”

I pinch her waist again. “Hey, I cleaned my act up, and I have the Marines to thank for that.”

“Why did you join?” she asks, growing serious again. “I mean, I can’t imagine what a sacrifice that was, but I’m also curious why you made that decision.”

There’s an underlying tone to her voice that has me wondering if there’s another reason she’s asking. “Honestly, I think it went back to September eleventh. I was only twelve when it happened, but the tone of the world after that day is one I won’t soon forget, nor the way my father reacted. He’d been out of the service for years, but he was devastated, wanted to reenlist but my mother begged him not to.”

“Why not?” she asks, trepidation in her voice.

“Because his time overseas messed him up pretty bad. My siblings and I all knew it, but he and mom never talked about it. Hazel probably remembers that time less since she’s nine years younger than me,but it became a big issue between him and me the older that I got. I wanted to serve, and he didn’t support that idea.”

Willow stares down at her hands, fiddling with the hem of her dress. “I’m sorry.”

“It is what it is. However, you can probably gather that my dad didn’t want me to follow in his footsteps because of it, and I didn’t listen.” I understand his concern, but I still don’t understand why my father couldn’t be proud of his son wanting to serve his country like he did.

“He loved the Marines, though. I mean, I was there at the veterans’ dinner. I heard the way people spoke about him.”

Talking about my dad is the last thing I wanted to do on our date, but I also don’t want to shut down our conversation.

“Haven’t you ever heard someone talk about your parents, and you’ve thought, that’s not how they are when no one’s watching?”

Willow’s face falls and she grows silent.

Fuck. Did I say something wrong?

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