Page 13 of Stay with Me
“Just now. Luny has something out front that he can’t get into the house,” Aunt Debbie told him.
Another kiss to his aunt’s cheek and Drew was jogging across the yard, up the stairs, and into the house. He strode through the house and out the front door. He was so focused he didn’t realize everyone was following him. The loud “Surprise!” from them shocked him.
“What?” Drew exclaimed as he stopped dead at the edge of the driveway. His uncle was leaning against a midnight blue Jeep Wrangler, four-door. It was slightly lifted; the hard top was glinting in the late afternoon sun.
“I couldn’t be there for your pinning,” Cam’s voice came out of nowhere. Drew turned and saw Uncle Liam holding a baby with one hand and his phone, screen out, in the other. “Tried to get another coach to cover infield for me for the West Coast stretch but he had a death in the family. Tris sent me pictures before he got on the plane to go back. Do you like it?”
“Uh, it’s a nice Jeep. Why would you buy it here? Wouldn’t it make sense to buy it in Maryland? Now it’s going to have all these extra miles on it when your mom and dad drive it home,” Drew said as he walked closer to Uncle Liam, who handed him the phone. Drew tapped the screen and the camera faced him as he met Cam’s gaze over FaceTime.
“Drew? It’s yours. Graduation gift from me and Tristan. That beater you’ve been driving for six years is not going to get you to Missouri. Now, climb in and take my oldest niece for a spin in your new car,” Cam instructed.
“Cam, you can’t buy me a car! I’ll be fine in the Honda until I’m settled at my first post,” Drew argued. There was no way he deserved a new Jeep for doing something everyone else had already done. He was the irritating little brother. The one who wasn’t going to live up to the family’s reputation. The one who screwed up every time he thought about something. “It’s tooexpensive. How about a gift certificate for dinner somewhere instead?”
“Nope. After all my years in the major leagues, which if you didn’t know, good players — and I was a good player— make a lot of money. I never got to spoil any of the family. Mom and Dad didn’t let me pay off their house. Cal and Maddy won’t let me buy them a house. All anyone will let me do with my money is create college funds for my nieces and nephews. Tristan doesn’t let me spoil him, either. Said officers make good money so he doesn’t need or want mine. Now I know you’re an officer, too, but, you’re just starting in the ranks. If you don’t like the color or want—”
“No! It’s perfect. Just what I would’ve picked out if I bought my dream car,” Drew cut Cam off. How the hell he was going to earn this gift, he didn’t know.
“Good. Now, I know that Dad had a good time driving it over, so grab Amy’s booster seat and take her for a cruise with the top off,” Cam told him. “Love you all! Time for warm-ups.” Before any of them could even say goodbye, the screen was blank.
“Damn, that kid is going to kill us all,” Uncle Mooney said as he wrapped his arm around Drew’s shoulders and held out his other hand with the keys to the Jeep in his palm. “Let Cam spoil you. Lord knows he’s tried to buy things for his mother and I. He spoils Amy rotten, much to Cal and Maddy’s despair. That boy’s heart is so huge it needs an outlet. You’re on the road to big things and he wants to help you out.”
“I think you might be right, Uncle Mooney. He sure got me today.” Drew dropped his head against his uncle and grasped the key in his hand tightly.
Chapter Seven
Brody sat at the conference table for Alpha Company and tried not to fidget. After he’d taken his NCLEX in Greenville, he’d hit the road. His plan had been to just drive each day until he was too tired and find a hotel on the side of the highway or stop when something caught his eye. He had ten days to make the drive from North Carolina to Texas. After driving along I-40 —yes, he was taking the scenic northern route to Texas— his car had veered off the exit that would take him back to Morganton. Why he decided he needed to stop, Brody wasn’t sure. But soon enough he found himself pulling up in front of his last foster home. It looked a bit different. There were toys spread over the front yard and there was a hanging basket on the front porch. That was strange since his foster mom had been allergic to flowers and he’d been their last foster kid, so the toys made no sense.
Brody pulled to the curb and shifted into park. He sat there long enough that it was getting steamy inside his car. Taking a deep breath, he pushed open the door and walked up the pathway. He pushed the doorbell and waited. It wasn’t a long wait before a young woman, who couldn’t have been more than three years older than Brody, opened the door.
“Can I help you?” The look on her face said that she was a bit suspicious of a strange man at the door.
“Yes, I’m Brody. I was hoping to see Erin or Jerry. It’s been a while since I heard from them,” Brody told the woman while trying not to look into the house.
“Erin and Jerry? The Holdens? They don’t live here anymore. We bought the house from them in February. Not sure where they moved,” she said bluntly.
Brody was stunned. His foster parents had up and moved? No wonder they hadn’t answered his calls or texts. Seemed his belief that this had been his forever family had been way off. Taking a step back, he tried to cover up the hurt he was feeling.
“I’m sorry to interrupt your afternoon,” he threw out as he hot-footed it back to his car.
After the debacle of trying to connect with his former foster family, Brody had given up on any tourist stops and had driven through. He’d gotten in a few days ago and was in a temporary off-post, long-term hotel until he could find a place to rent. Since he was going to be stationed at Brooke after finishing BOLC he wasn’t authorized on-post housing while attending the course. He wasn’t sure where he was going to look but he was hoping that maybe the platoon advisor would have some recommendations. He knew that Sergeant Major Mike — that’s what he’d saved Command Sergeant Major Mullvaney as in his contacts — had told him to reach out when he got to San Antonio. Brody truly believed that he was just being nice to his nephew’s classmate. Of course, he suspected when Nova found out he was here and hadn’t reached out, he’d be in for it. He’d only met her for a few hours but she seemed to have latched onto him.
At least he looked the part of an Army officer. Brody couldn’t say that of many in the room with him. Didn’t they read the student handbook? There were a few others in uniform, but they were definitely in the minority, even though one was missing every patch and his name tape. A few were in scrubs — okay, made a little sense since they were all nurses— but a scrub top with kittens all over it? Must want to work in peds. A few were in shorts and T-shirts— wouldn’t have been bad if it was the PT uniform. And there were two in business suits — WTF? He hada feeling that he was going to be saying prayers of thanks for Master Sergeant Coffey and the rest of the cadre daily.
“Attention!” a man called out as he came into the room, followed by another man. Brody fell back on his ROTC training and was on his feet at attention without giving it a thought. Others? Oh yeah, please Lord above let them break this class into groups and that he wasn’t included in the one with the girl in the kitten scrubs.
“As you were,” the man commanded. Brody sat back down and watched as the remainder of the students followed his lead. “My name is Captain Hernandez. I am the company commander for Alpha Company, Eighty-seventh Medical Battalion, Thirty-second Medical Brigade, Joint Base San Antonio. I hope you all remembered the stack of paperwork that you will need to in-process for BOLC.” Motioning to the man to his right, he said, “This is First Sergeant Salvatore. If you cannot find your platoon advisor, Top is your next stop. Now, let’s get started.”
§ § § §
Drew dragged his ass into his room, barely getting the door shut before he dropped into his desk chair, throwing his backpack onto the bed. He was thanking the stars above that he hadn’t slacked off with PT and land nav his senior year. Otherwise, the instructors would be handing him his ass more than they already were. He’d known that the seventeen-week officer basic for military police program wasn’t going to be a walk in the park but… shit, who knew it was going to be so physical?
At least next week should be a bit easier on him. Time on the range. He knew that he was a good shot. Tristan put him through his paces when he’d been home last year before deploying.Having a brother who had been on the West Point Sig team came in handy.
Drew felt more than heard his phone chime with an incoming text. Before he could grab it to respond, it went off two more times. Hmmm, group thread. Pulling himself over to his backpack, he dug through the pockets until he found his phone.
Maddy: Latest pic of the triplets *picture below*
Noah: What are you feeding them? We just visited there last week and they weren’t that big
