Page 39 of Tony

His father huffed as he brought his recliner back to a sitting position. “Son, you let her walk away becauseyou’rethe one who doesn’t think he deserves a second chance at love.” At this, Tony’s gaze jumped to his dad’s, but before he could say anything, his dad continued on his roll.

“You felt so goddamn responsible for Marla and Sofia's death, when in truth there was nothing you could have done to prevent it.” Seeing that Tony was about to speak, he threw his hand up. “And don’t give me that cockamamie excuse of ‘if I wasn’t overseas bullshit’. The plain fact of the matter is that they were at the wrong place at the wrong time. Ain’t no one to blame anymore than I can blame someone for the cancer that took your mama. And the idea that we can only love once in our lives? Where the hell did you get that?”

Tony knew better than to interrupt his father and if he was truthful with himself, he craved the words his father was giving him.

The older man leaned forward, his warm gaze holding his son’s. “You and I loved good women. I got to have mine a helluva lot longer than yours. And I got to see my child become an adult. You got gypped out of both of those things. But son, that don’t mean your life is over. You can love again and that don’t take one goddamn thing away from what you and Marla had. You’re a good man with a lot of love to give, if you’ll just allow yourself to give it. It also means that you know a good thing when you find it.”

The corners of Tony’s mouth turned up slightly at the vehemence of his dad’s words.Iknow a good thing when I find it. I sure as hell do. And Sherrie is it.

Nodding slowly, he added, “I needed to hear that, Dad. I knew it deep down inside, but I needed to hear it.”

His father leaned his recliner back and settled in facing the game on the muted TV once again. “So, when am I going to meet her?” he said with a smile.

“Soon I hope, dad. But first I gotta win her back.” With that Tony stood and leaned over to embrace his father before letting himself out of the house. Feeling lighter than he had in years, he knew what he needed to do. Driving home he began to plan out his attack. Sherrie just became his new mission.

* * *

Gabe, Vinny, and Jobe met Tony at a small Mexican restaurant near their apartment complexes. Tony had sent out a meeting notice and the brothers-in-arms jumped to meet, no questions asked.

The three looked at their former commander and saw the familiar steely look of determination in his eyes.

“Captain, what’s up?” Jobe asked.

Tony looked around at his friends, feeling uncomfortable. “Need some advice.” He glanced at Vinny and joked, “Although I’ve got no idea why in the hell I had you come.”

Leaning back, Vinny looked at him in surprise.

Jobe, laughing, just said, “Then it’s gotta be advice about a woman.”

Throwing his hand across his heart, Vinny declared, “Hell, Captain. I’m the man you want if you need advice on women. I got more experience than all of y’all put together.”

Gabe rolled his eyes, saying, “Uh huh. And that’s just why he doesn’t need your advice. You can’t keep one around long enough to know what the hell advice to give.”

“I’ll have you know, women leave my bed plenty satisfied. Haven’t heard any complaints yet, bro,” Vinny added.

Tony began to doubt his sanity in talking to his closest friends.Hell, I should have kept this to myself.

Jobe, seeing Tony’s reticence, spoke up. “You know we’re here for you, right Tony?”

The twins sobered at seeing the look on his face. “Is it Sherrie?” Gabe asked.

“Yeah. We finally hooked up at the cabin and I thought things were progressing. Then I started getting in my head, thinking about Marla and just when I knew it was okay to move on with my life, I said her name in my sleep and Sherrie heard.”

“And she got pissed?” Vinny surmised.

“No, not at all,” Tony admitted to the others, seeing the surprise on their faces. “She just interpreted it as my trying to replace Marla with her. So, she walked away and like a dumb fuck, I let her. I need to get her back but have no idea how to do this.”

The three friends silently watched Tony struggle with his emotions. They had watched their leader bury his grief in missions and getting the job done. And they had watched their friend shut out life. Now with the possibility that he was ready to move on with life, they were ready to do anything to help.

Tony rubbed his hand over his face, sighing loudly. “I married my college sweetheart right after graduation and with basic training, Officer Candidate School, and then Special Forces training, we weren’t together all that much. We were young, in love, and willing to put up with the long-distance marriage just to be married. And when she got pregnant, hell I thought I’d won the lottery.”

His eyes stared off into the distance and his friends would not have interrupted him for anything. Tony talking about his feelings…they would protect them with their lives.

“The truth is that I don’t know much about dating. Or women. Or how to fix things when they get fucked up. But Sherrie is worth me knowing what the hell I’m doing.” His gazed leveled at them as he vowed, “She’s worth it and by God, I’m going to get a second chance at living.”

“Thank God,” Gabe stated emphatically.

Vinny just leaned back, a shit-eating grin on his face. He did not see himself ever settling on one woman, but if that was what his Captain wanted then he would see it done.

---