Page 27 of A Beta Protects

“I couldn’t help but notice you said was,” Chloe says softly, her expression sympathetic.

I nod, looking down as I run the tip of a nail along the table's edge. “He died. Dom was there, and I think my brother asked him to keep an eye on me since it was only me and my brother. Dom got an honorable discharge from the Marines because he saved a lot of his platoon, and every year, he would send me a postcard.”

When no one speaks, I lift my head to find Nick has paused chopping potatoes to stare at me. Chloe is equally stunned.

“He was a hero?” Nick breathes.

“Uh, yeah. Didn’t he say?” I bounce my gaze between them.

“No, he didn’t,” Chloe admits. “But, wait, I don’t understand the postcard thing.”

“Dom sends me one on the anniversary of Aaron’s death. He must have moved around a bit after the Marines because they came from a bunch of different places: Boston, Indiana, New York, and then here. Wylder.”

Nick nods firmly. “Yeah, that sounds about right. He was in all those places. But why?”

I blink at him. “Why what?”

“Why the postcard?”

“Because he wanted me to see pretty sights around the country?” That’s what I always thought. Sometimes I thought it was so he wouldn’t have to think of what to write in a letter. A postcard meant he wouldn’t have to fill a sheet of paper.

Nick gives me a thoughtful look that makes me wonder if maybe I’m wrong on both counts. He lowers his head and resumes chopping potatoes, which he dumps in a large white bowl that he pulls from a kitchen cupboard. “He’s a good guy, you know?”

“Who?” As if I don’t know who he’s talking about.

“Dom. Quiet, but there’s no one else I would want fighting my corner,” Nick explains. “I have a feeling your brother wouldn’t have had to ask Dom to keep an eye on you. It’s something Dom would just do himself. And I think there’s more to the postcards than you think.”

Since I arrived, I’ve started to wonder that myself.

“Me too. If you wanted to stick around beyond his party, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind,” Chloe adds.

“What makes you think I would stay?” I tuck my naked ring finger under the table. It’s a reminder of a very messy situation I have yet to resolve, and I need to. Soon.

“No reason.” Chloe pushes herself to her feet and wanders over to Nick. “But if you did, no one would have a problem with it.”

“Because you’re Dom’s family?” I ask.

Nick’s expression is thoughtful. None of them look like Dom. They all look unrelated to each other. “I guess you could say we were. Just… chosen family.”

I like the sound of that.

“Want a hand washing the chips?” Chloe asks.

“Sure.” Nick passes the bowl to her, and she takes it over to the sink.

I get up, wanting to be useful. “Can I help?”

Nick gives me a long look. “You ever toasted bread?”

“Only every morning since I was a kid,” I say.

It was the first thing I learned how to do to help my parents. Dad, who owned the electrical and DIY store in town, would move the toaster to the dining table and pass me the bread to toast.

Mom was a stay at home wife, but she helped out so much in town that she was just as busy as Dad, if not more so. They died coming home from a date at the local restaurant, missing a patch of black ice and spinning off to hit a tree.

I was thirteen. Aaron was a junior in high school. Both are lives changed so completely that day, I struggle to believe it was my life and not some other lucky girl.

He grins. “Then have it. I’ll get started on the toppings for the dirty fries and do the bacon.”

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