Page 107 of Better Late Than Never

Because the thought of introducing my kids to Alex made me nervous… but it also gave me a thrill I couldn’t quite explain.

I chewed the inside of my cheek. “Uh. I mean, when I say we have to keep it on the downlow?—”

“Dad.” Quinn rolled his eyes like he had so many times as a teenager. “Think about it—who are we gonna tell?”

“Okay, it’s not like you’re going to go tell my command,” I said. “But this is the kind of thing that can get back to people. If it slips out on social media, or if someone mentions it to someone who knew one of us at a previous command—it can get messy. Really, really messy.”

All three of them nodded solemnly.

“We won’t say anything,” Landon said. “Not even to Mom.”

“Definitely not,” Quinn confirmed.

Savannah nodded again.

“All right. I appreciate that.” I pushed out a breath. “To answer your question, yes, I met him a couple of months ago. We’re not serious or anything, but…” I half-shrugged as renewed heat rose in my face, and I couldn’t help smiling.

“Do we get a name?” Landon pressed. “A picture?”

Quinn and Savannah leaned in, their faces echoing his question.

“I…” I chewed the inside of my cheek. “Well, his name is Alex.” I picked up my phone and gestured with it as if to indicate how useless it was. “I don’t have any photos of him, though.”

“None?” Savannah blinked. “Really?”

I swallowed. “We’re both a little paranoid about getting caught. So we haven’t…”

“Damn,” Landon said. “That sounds stressful. Being so secretive that you can’t even have a picture on your phone.”

“It is,” I admitted.

“Can we meet him, then?” Quinn asked. “As long as we don’t take pictures or say anything about it?”

“I’ll…” I rocked my head back and forth. Then I tapped my knuckle on the table. “I’ll talk to him. But don’t take it personally if he isn’t down to meet. We’re… just trying to be cautious.”

“Yeah, that’s cool,” Landon said.

Quinn nodded. “I get it. Let us know what he says, though.”

“I will.”

And what did it say that I hoped Alex said yes?

* * *

Tangier was, as I’d expected and Alex had said, amazing. Our guide took useverywhere. We visited Cape Spartel, a beautiful lighthouse perched on the westernmost point of the African continent. There was the Hercules Caves, which were supposedly where the god by the same name lived at one point. The mythology was cool, but I was more fascinated with the centuries-old scars in the limestone from the Romans carving out millstones.

There was a small park where we were given the opportunity to ride camels, which was more fun than I expected. We had to get on them while they were lying down, and Quinn nearly fell off while his camel was getting to its feet. Landon howled with laughter at his brother’s near disaster, only to go tumbling off while his own camel was lying down at the end of the ride.

“That’s what you get, asshole,” Quinn said as Landon dusted himself off.

Landon just rolled his eyes and gave his brother the finger.

Savannah and I both laughed. There was a time when Aimee or I would’ve scolded them for the language, but they were adults now, and the bickering was good-natured.

I had a small pang of sadness then, remembering the trips we’d taken as a family. The boys and I could still do things together now that they were adults, but it would never include their mother going forward.

Maybe it’ll include someone else someday.

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