Page 4 of Tactical Revival

“Jaxson, he’s our dad.”

“I have a Father,” I tell him. “And He will never leave me. I don’t need Bradley Payne.”

“You’ve got to let the past go, or it’s going to drag you down,” he argues.

“I’m not being dragged down by it,” I tell him truthfully. “I just don’t have the same interest to share a meal with the man who bailed on us.” My phone beeps, so I glance at the screen and note Lance’s name flashing. “I have to go. Work is calling.”

“We’re not done with this.”

“We are. Love you, Ty, tell Sherry I said hi.” Without waiting for a response, I swap lines. “What’s up?” I ask, phone still on speaker so I can pull on my boots.

“How soon can you get into the office?”

“I’m just getting dressed now, so fifteen minutes? Why?”

He sighs into the phone, which tells me whatever news he has is not good. “We’ve got a missing person,” Lance says. “And Sheriff Vick is requesting our help.”

CHAPTER 2

Margot

“You are more than welcome, Mrs. Fry.” I smile despite being alone in my office, so happy that I could accommodate a date change for her and her husband’s sixtieth wedding anniversary trip.

Sixty years.

What is that like? I couldn’t make it thirteen.

“You are a darling, Margot. We’re looking forward to seeing you again. It’s been far too long!”

“It really has. Two years, right?”

“Oh my! It’s been that long, hasn’t it?” They’d had to cancel their annual trip last year because of their great grandson being born. But she’d made sure to call and tell me that the little boy and his mother were doing great, and I’d even sent a bouquet of flowers to the new mother.

And this time they have to move their trip out because her husband came down with something.

Chad never understood my desire to connect with those who stay here. My need to make them feel cared for. He saw people as dollar signs, while I see them as family. Close friends. People who trust me to make their trips special and stress-free.

Even as I’d given him credit for supporting my dream of opening this place, I knew he only quit his job because he’d hated it and thought this place was going to be an instant moneymaker. When it hadn’t been, and we’d started struggling, he’d gotten angry and resentful.

Perhaps that’s part of what tore my family apart.

“I can’t wait to show you pictures of little Bobbie! He has gotten so big!” she exclaims, pulling me out of the darkness of my thoughts.

“I’m looking forward to it. I’ll see you next month, Mrs. Fry. I hope Mr. Fry starts feeling better soon. Let me know if there’s anything I can do between now and then.”

“Thank you, dear. We will see you and your sweet boy next month. Goodbye!” She ends the call cheerfully, and I set the receiver down, then lean back in my chair and close my eyes.

Sweet boy. Matty hasn’t behaved like a sweet boy since Chad left. He just keeps getting more and more volatile. Honestly, the closest I’ve seen him to his true personality is when he jumped to action, saving Jaxson’s life.

He’d applied pressure to the gunshot wound the former detective sustained, then called 9-1-1 before calling me. I’d arrived right as Jaxson and Silas Williamson, a former Navy SEAL they’d brought in to find my brother when he’d been missing, were brought out on stretchers.

Seeing Jaxson Payne looking so weak was far more difficult than I could have anticipated. While I don’t know the former Marine well, he’s a powerful force to be reckoned with. Anyone who spends more than ten seconds in a room with him can sense it.

My thoughts drift back to the beach this morning. To seeing him standing in the sand, barefoot, muscles slick with sweat, the light breeze toying with his dark hair. Attraction swirls in my gut, but I shove it back down.

He’s one of my brother’s best friends and one of his business partners.

And I have a thirteen-year-old son to worry about. The last thing I need is a romance that will likely fizzle and burn out, just like the marriage that was supposed to last me a lifetime did.

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