Page 10 of Rough Ride

Then, she decided to get things in order. She had a lot to figure out before she could come back to the island.

* * *

The next morning, Eli knew who was behind him without turning. It was an ability that had served him well in the military.

“You want to make sure nothing happens to her,” he said to Ham.

“Yes. You know that family.”

He turned to face Ham as he sipped his first coffee of the day. He should have known Ham would be up. The time difference aside, he was a Navy man. Some habits were hard to break.

“I’ll do everything in my power to keep her safe.”

Ham glanced behind him. “She’s getting ready because we have something to do before we head back. She’d have my head if she knew I said something to you. I’m assuming that Joe wouldn’t have set this up if he thought you couldn’t do it, but I wanted to make sure. She’s all I have in this life, all I have of her mother.”

Eli nodded as he heard footsteps approaching. He was surprised to see Crysta wearing a red Hawaiian print dress and apparently ready to tackle the day. She was wearing her hair down, the way he liked it. The soft curls draped over her shoulders and half way down her back. She wore very little makeup, but she had the most amazing skin, so she really didn’t need makeup to begin with. Her blue eyes sparkled with determination. He had no idea what she was about, but Eli definitely liked the benefit of seeing her happy.

“Did you want to eat here or on the way?” she asked her father.

“Let’s eat something here. My stomach is still on DC time.”

She nodded. “Have you eaten, Eli?”

He hadn’t, but he couldn’t answer her right away. He took a swallow of coffee and shook his head.

“I’m going to scramble up some eggs if you’re interested.”

He nodded. Her father grabbed a cup and poured his coffee. “I’m going to go out for my walk.”

She gave him an absent-minded kiss on the cheek, then grabbed one of the skillets from the rack and started to gather ingredients. When they were alone she said, “So, I hear my father thinks I can’t take care of myself.”

He chuckled. “He thinks you have no idea.”

She shot him one of her 1,000-watt smiles. “Of course, he does. I let him think he’s doing all this behind my back. I know how to handle my daddy.”

She started to crack eggs.

“Tell me just how bad that family is.”

“Probably not as bad as your father thinks, but Joe’s brother and his son can be a pain in the ass.”

She nodded as she opened the fridge again and started searching for something. “I just know that Dad always was afraid to have me back here. Something happened all those years ago. Something bad enough to keep me away.

“Away from Joe.”

She shook her head. “You know, when that went on he was still serving. He had little to do with the family at that point, and Dad didn’t meet him until Mom’s funeral. It took him a few years to trust Joe, so I know that it must have been super bad.”

“What is it that you and your dad are doing today?” he asked. He knew it was rude, but he couldn’t help wondering what they had planned.

She hesitated enough to irritate him. “We brought my mother’s ashes. She wanted them returned to Hawai’i.”

She pronounced the name of the island properly, so he knew that she had at least been raised to do that.

“Oh.” He knew from Joe that her mother had died when Crysta was very young. “So, you waited all this time?”

She sighed. “Our trip last year was postponed because of Dad’s illness.”

“Did you have a place in mind?”

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