Page 44 of Homecoming

The delicious food turned to sawdust in her mouth, and she felt tears sting her eyes as she stared at him incredulously. She glanced around the boisterous room, and couldn’t imagine any of these laughing men in that position. Then she looked more closely at Owen. “And were you one of those men?”

He blinked, and stared at her for a long moment, before eventually turning to look at his plate. His non-answer was answer enough. He’d been starved as well.

Grace felt sick. What the hell had these guys been through?

She felt grimy fingers touch her hand, and she looked at Fallon. The little girl gave her a toothy smile, and something inside her clicked. Angela was feeding Fallon something bright orange from a plate, and she had it all over her face. This was exactly the distraction she needed.

“Are you getting any of it in her mouth?” Grace asked, laughing. She would think about what he said later.

Angela grinned. “Hey, it’s hitting a moving target, I’ll have you know. She loves the guys, and she swings around to watch them or say hi to them all.”

Even as they watched, she reached her little hands out to a lean, spare man in black fatigues with a sidearm on. He had cold eyes and such a remote expression, it was chilling to see. For a minute, Grace didn’t think the man would respond, then the slightest of smiles tipped the corners of his mouth and he took her baby hands in his. Despite the mess, he gave her a kiss on her head, and he managed to avoid the orange.

“Grace, this is Shade,” Owen told her, nodding to the man. “He’s the Head of Security. If you can’t reach me, Shade will do in a pinch.”

“Noted,” she said, nodding to the man. She didn’t really want to offer her hand like Fallon had. She didn’t think she would get the same response.

As men passed by the table to get in line, Owen introduced her to them. She doubted she would remember a quarter of their names, but she would try. Her heart ached as she met more damaged, scarred men, some as bad or worse than Crash. Several had mobility issues. Grace knew she would remember some of them because of the way they looked, and that shamed her. She forced a friendly smile for every one of them and did her best to look beyond the exterior.

She gave up on eating, which was fine because she was so full. It seemed like their table was the one to be at, and the men lingered as they finished and went up for seconds, or even thirds. She noticed that so many of them stopped to interact with Fallon, though. The baby would talk gibberish to them, and she always reached out to touch them. Every single one. It was kind of a curious reaction for a baby, Grace thought, because she had no stranger fear. Aiden’s family had only been here this week, right?

“Does she go to everyone?”

The three of them, Aiden, Angela and Owen, shared a look. “Oh, she lets us know if she doesn’t like someone,” Angela said with a snort. But she stopped there, and Grace wondered if there wasn’t more to be said. That seemed like the lead-in to a story, but Angela reached abruptly for her glass to take a drink.

There was some kind of subtext going on that she didn’t understand, and it was getting a little irritating. Some of the men had said a few things that were curious, but Owen had changed the subject rather quickly. She felt like she was deliberately being kept in the dark. She understood privacy and all that, but this seemed different.

FIFTEEN

Owen was going to have to tell Grace something. She’d been a good sport about everything, rolling with the conversation even though she didn’t always understand. He could see the confusion in her eyes.

After dessert, most of the group migrated to the living room, where the big fire blazed in the hearth. They talked smack and played, and Grace could see how invested they were in each other. There were no cliques or awkward silences when someone joined them. They all seemed to get along. She even saw Cookie laughing with a couple of men near the bar. Owen had crossed the room to get her a drink, but he’d been pulled into some kind of debate.

There was one very odd situation where it looked like the men were talking, but their mouths weren’t moving. Their hands did, like they were speaking passionately about something, but there was no sound. They weren’t using ASL, she knew that, but she couldn’t for the life of her figure out what they were doing.

Angela sank down onto the couch beside her, drawing her attention. “Aiden took Fallon over to the cabin to bed. It’s been a long day for her.”

“Did she have fun unwrapping her presents?”

Angela rolled her eyes. “Making a mess, you mean? Yes, she did. In little tiny bits.”

Grace laughed. “Seems like most of the day at my parent’s house is cleaning up after the kids.”

Angela nodded, tipping her head back against the couch. “Obviously, she doesn’t understand Christmas, but she did understand it got her new toys.”

Grace snorted, but something sad rolled across Angela’s expression. Tears filled her eyes, making Grace reach out to touch her arm. “What’s wrong?”

Angela shook her head, swiping at her cheeks. “It’s just been a lot recently.”

“Well, yeah. A move is always hard, and I assume this is a new job. Those are big changes, and then Christmas on top of it. That would be a lot for anybody.”

Something in Angela’s eyes said it was something else, though. She shook her head, reaching for Grace’s hands. “There’s more to this group,” she said, nodding her head toward the men. “When Owen talks to you tonight, just keep in mind that they’re all just men, in a terrible situation.”

“Okay,” Grace agreed, now beyond curious.

Then Angela gave her a tight hug and left. Grace watched her go, wondering what the hell was going on.

Owen returned with her drink. “This is the only Moscato we have, but it’s not bad.”

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