Page 77 of Coming Home

I was surprised to hear that. To the best of my knowledge he’d not been back home before his return the week of Thanksgiving.

“He always video calls in for Christmas morning,” Don said.

“Oh, I didn’t know that.”

“It’s tradition, so no matter where life takes the two of you, we will always celebrate the holiday together” he said.

I smiled. “I like that.” I turned to Will and Troy. “So, no shaking the presents then.”

They both grinned. “Yeah, sure,” they said together.

I apologized for having to cut the visit with the Shays short, but I also had a family dinner to attend.

Everyone was already there when I arrived, and the house smelled wonderfully of Peyton’s cooking. I walked in and smiled. My mother had tears in her eyes, and I realized they already knew.

Ben

Chapter 24

I woke up early, truly excited for the day. I had tried to take on the world alone and shelter Shelby from my pain, but as she came in like a tornado just a few days ago and tore down all the barriers I’d put up between work and my personal life, I quickly realized that she would always take away that darkness I was facing if I just let her in.

Once Crawley was finally stable, his recovery came quickly. Bulldog too, who admitted to complaining just enough to keep him there until he knew Crawley was okay. I wasn’t at all surprised about it. Jake had stayed by my side through it all. I had to admit, the kid had definitely grown on me.

They were all home for the holidays now on personal leave, but I knew that with the new year would come a new team, stronger and better than the last, because at the end of the day, no matter what, the Ghosts would live on, even without me.

I knew Shelby was showing up at the hospital, but I hadn’t expected her to come having already walked away from her home. She had made all the arrangements, cleared our passage into Westin, and even had a house lined up for us.

When I had asked her if she was certain about leaving her home she’d laughed in my face.

“I’m not leaving my home, Ben. I’m finally coming home, because where you are, that’s home to me,” she had said.

I smiled at the memory and rolled over to try to get out of bed, which caused a wave that instantly woke Shelby up laughing.

“Maybe an air mattress wasn’t my most brilliant idea,” she admitted in a deep, husky morning voice that I loved.

We had spent Christmas Eve day traveling to our next adventure in life and settling into a small house in San Marco. It felt a little strange to be in Westin territory, but not as bad as I had predicted, at least not yet.

Shelby had made me stop by a store at the final city before making our way up the mountain to our new home. She had purchased only a handful of things: an air mattress to sleep on; a coffee pot and coffee fixings; two mugs; a cookie sheet; a pack of cinnamon rolls; and, a small Christmas tree that came with decorations.

Aside from our suitcases, they were our only possessions. The house felt huge, though I was confident my mate would soon fill each room to perfection. I liked that it gave her something to do in the days ahead because my first assignment with Bravo company of Westin Force was coming up fast. I was scheduled to meet the team officially on New Year’s Eve.

I managed to get up and headed for the bathroom. After doing my business and cleaning up a little, I walked out to the smell of freshly brewing coffee and found Shelby in the kitchen humming Christmas carols as she worked on laying out the cinnamon rolls.

I wrapped my arms around her waist and kissed the mark on her neck. She sighed.

“I’m just about done here, but it’s probably too early to video message the boys. So what do you want to do in the meantime?” she asked as she wiggled her sexy behind against me.

I could think of a million ways we still needed to christen every room in the house, but there would be plenty of time for that. Looking at the time, I knew without a doubt she was wrong. I was surprised the boys hadn’t already called us.

“You’re a tease, and I promise you they are up and waiting for us.”

“You think?”

“I know. The sun’s up, so they’ve been up for a while already,” I said with a chuckle.

Shelby scrunched up her nose and turned in my arms to face me. “I’ve spent two weeks with them, and they never wake up before the sun,” she insisted.

“For school. This is different, it’s Christmas.” I leaned down and kissed her, holding her tightly to me. “Merry Christmas, Shelby.”

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