Page 115 of What I Should Have Known

“Every call sign comes with a story, no matter how lame or cool it is.”

“And your story is…?” Hank leaned forward and intertwined his fingers then rested his chin on his hands.

“I may or may not have set literal shit from a port-a-potty on fire during my first mission. It was an accident, all right.” I cocked a brow at Kat. “Anyway, my commander at the time, Griffin, went to ask what was burning, but halfway through, instead of finishing with the ‘ing’ said ‘eeee, this stanks’ and plugged his nose. Smoosh ‘burn’ and ‘eee’ together and you get Bernie. And it’s stuck with me ever since. It also fits as ‘Bernie the blaster’ because I’m in charge of blowing stuff up.”

A massive grin followed by a bellow erupted from Hank, and then he whipped his gaze back to me and wagged a finger in my direction. “This isn’t my full approval, just the opportunity to earn it.”

“That’s all I ask,” I replied with a nod.

“Hank Fisher, I should beat your ass!” Kat’s mother suddenly blurted out.

Laughter boomed around the dinner table as she began chewing him out for the secret, for his behavior toward me, and everything else that I didn’t understand seeing as I wasn’t privy to years of their marriage.

Kat’s fingers found mine in my lap, and she placed her hand in mine. “Thank you for not being scared off,” she whispered in my ear.

I tipped my head toward her and raised a brow. “Kat, I get shot at and have been less than a second away from being blown up. If I can’t handle a little tough confrontation, then I don’t deserve you or the approval from your dad.”

“Yeah, but this was a little over the top, and you know it.”

“My entire reputation is over the top because I let it be that way, what’s new?”

“You’re not upset?”

“Other than the fact that he asked me how many people I’d fucked in front of the entire family, no,” I replied.

She pecked my cheek with a quick kiss. “That’s what you’re upset about?”

“I do have boundaries, Kit Kat, however small and gray they seem,” I replied with a wink.

She giggled and placed her lips in front ofmy ear again.

“Mom! Kat’s kissing Bernie!” Beau suddenly shouted, and every pair of eyes snapped to us.

Chapter 1

FORD

Everything and nothing was the same.

Fifteen years wasn’t an insignificant amount of time to be away, I knew that, but I’d thought more would’ve changed. The trees were only maybe a smidge taller, denser. But the groan of bark, the ripple of the swamp behind the house all sounded the same. In front of me, the door to my childhood home was exactly how I remembered it.

With white paint peeling from the corners and the brass knob dull and smudged, I stared at the final obstacle in my path. Fear hadn’t driven me to leave, but it certainly had kept me away. Fear for what they would think if I ever returned. Fear for how betrayed my mother must have felt, and likely still felt. Fear.

An emotion I’d become so intimately in tune with recently.

But when Mawmaw called… I knew it was time.

Shrugging my rucksack tighter up my shoulder, I couldn’t find the strength to take a step forward. The wooden planks beneath my feetseemed to be coated in glue. I wasn’t sure whether to knock or just go on inside, but the silence outside of the breeze was deafening.

The bellow of an alligator sent a shiver down my spine. Such a familiar sound I’d long since forgotten, reminding me of just how much time had passed since I’d slept with the bayou beneath my window.

“You lookin’ for the Thibodeauxs?” An oddly familiar voice with a thick Cajun accent pierced my stupor.

Glancing to my right, I gave the neighbor approaching me a small smile. I knew her. She’d been my babysitter. Thinning gray hair had replaced the once stark, black strands. Her skin had become weathered, but the kindness in her eyes had yet to fade.

“Yes, ma’am,” I replied politely, keeping the accent in my words absent. She clearly didn’t recognize me.

“Oh, you missed them. They’ve all gone to town to prep the restaurant for the music festival tomorrow.” Her smile widened as her flip-flops slapped against the porch steps.

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