Page 80 of Worth the Vow

“You’re correct. I have so much leave saved up, I’m pretty much done. Plus I technically signed on two months before my eighteenth birthday, but no one knew,” he says sheepishly.

“Wow. And the police officer thing? You’ve never mentioned that before.”

He shrugs. “I figure it’s the closest I can get to doing what I did overseas. And you know it would kill me to have any kind of desk job,” he says with an exaggerated shrug.

“Don’t you have to go through some kind of police academy?”

“Technically, yes, but they’re kind of fudging some of the paperwork on that because of my military experience.”

“When do you start?”

“Day the kids go back to school. They’re letting me work days, thankfully, since they know my situation, but I’m sure I’ll need some help here or there with the kids.”

“Of course, man. We’ll help out whenever we can. Are you … happy about all of this? It’s hard to tell with you sometimes,” I confess.

Alex smiles briefly, but it never makes it to his eyes. “Yeah. I don’t want to deploy anymore. It was harder and harder to leave the kids. I just never thought this was how life would be for me, Dom. I miss my wife. I’d give anything to have her with me today.”

“I know,” I say quietly, turning as I hear Kate approach.

“Hey. Everything okay?” she asks.

“Yep. Just chatting with Alex about his job,” I tell her hastily, and I hear Alex exhale behind me. Alex never talks about his wife around other people. The fact that he’s spoken about her twice in the last few weeks speaks volumes to how much he’s struggling.

“Let’s discuss what’s going on with you guys and figure out a plan before everyone else gets here. I assume the whole family is bound to show up any second,” Alex says, effectively shutting down any further discussion about him.

Kate’s hand finds mine, our fingers weaving together seamlessly, and it gives me a moment of tranquility. Looking down, I find her beautiful eyes staring back up at me, an emotion covering her face that I can only think of describing in one way: love.

Kate

When a person begins to weigh the pros and cons of murder, it’s clearly been a trying time. Well, maybe not full murder. I’d definitely be up for maiming my husband’s ex-wife a little, but I really don’t want to go to jail. Not only does it set a poor example for Dominic’s kids, but orange just isn’t my color. Or is it black and white stripes? Either way, I prefer my current wardrobe.

Finding out Savannah attempted to seduce my husband was one thing. Finding out she drugged him to get pregnant with their third child was outrageous. But her admitting some drug lord wants Sienna as payment for Savannah’s debt?

Honestly, I think a jury would exonerate me for whatever crimes I committed against Savannah. But since I really don’t want to find out if conjugal visits are a real thing, and I certainly can’t trust my dear buddy Google not to rat me out to the Feds, I’ll continue to find my peace and pray that karma sorts Savannah out so I don’t have to.

Just thinking about conjugal visits means my social media feeds will probably be all about incarceration, dating a felon, and how to smuggle shit into a jail. Courtesy of my dad, I unfortunately know a little about that last one, since he had the nerve to send me a letter a few days after our visit and demand I help him out.

I’ve since blocked all numbers from the jail, and I refuse to answer any calls with the same area code. Christopher Turner is dead to me.

Two weeks after Savannah admitted why she was really in town, Dominic’s parents invite the entire family over to their home for dinner. We still don’t know much about Leo’s situation, just that he’s in a hospital in Germany, and he’ll update us more when he knows what will happen.

“Dad? When will Uncle Leo come to visit?” Carter asks. I turn to Dominic, wanting to know the answer. I’ve only met Leo a couple of times. He doesn’t come home much these days. Dominic told me Leo used to come home fairly often, but over the past six or seven years, he’s barely been back. Dominic isn’t even sure where Leo is stationed these days.

“I’m not sure, bud. Hopefully soon,” Dominic murmurs. We haven’t told the kids that Leo was injured. Since we barely know anything, it’s better not to tell them when we don’t have any details. Carter will want to know everything, and the girls are emotionally scarred enough because of their mother. We want to give them as much peace as we can.

Savannah was questioned and released, and we haven’t seen or heard from her since. She denied drugging Dominic all those years ago, and the police reluctantly told us there wasn’t a case to hold her. Other than telling us the name of the man she is expected to pay, we don’t know much else. We’re being extra vigilant in our daily activities, especially with the kids, and we added a very intricate security system to the house as a precaution.

“I miss Uncle Leo,” Carter comments, his eyes downcast as he plays with a fidget spinner. I introduced Carter to fidget toys this summer, and he’s definitely enjoyed them. They give him the tactile input he’s been seeking.

“Me too,” Sienna says, and I look back to find Aspen nodding in agreement.

“I’m sure Uncle Leo misses all of you,” I say as Dominic reaches over to cover my hand with his. “He’s doing super important work overseas, isn’t he? Making sure lots of kids around the world can grow up just like you.”

“I don’t understand why some kids don’t get to grow up like us,” Aspen pouts. “If they did, Uncle Leo could come home.”

“I know. But there are countries that don’t believe in freedom like we have. That’s why Uncle Leo tries to help as much as he can. He doesn’t want any kids to suffer,” I explain.

Pulling up to Dominic’s parents’ house, we realize we’re the last to arrive, and we have to park down the street. When six out of seven kids are in town, there are too many cars for a driveway. As I help Dominic get the desserts Sofia requested we bring out of the car, I miss Carter darting into the street right as a car speeds down the street.

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