Page 59 of The Only Reason (The Trident Trilogy 2)

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Virginia Beach, Virginia

August 6, 2011

Chase knocked on Millie’s door gently. She had been staying in their guest room since Mack died. Mack asked him to get Millie away from his mom if anything happened to him. That’s what Chase did. He delivered the news about Mack’s death to Camille and Millie, and told Camille he was taking Millie. Camille put up a fight, but Chase ignored her. He helped Millie pack a bag and just left with her. She was living with his family now, and that’s how Chase intended to keep it.

There was no answer, so he knocked again. “Millie. Hey. Today’s your dad’s funeral, honey. I really think you should come,” he said gently as he opened the door a crack.

“I don’t want to see anyone.” He could barely hear her, but at least she was talking. She hadn’t said two words in the week she’d been with them.

He opened the door a little farther. “There’s not going to be a lot of people there. Just me and Mar. And a few guys who worked with your dad. Less than ten. I really think you should be there to put his ashes in the ocean. He would have wanted that.”

Chase turned on the light. He couldn’t see her under the mound of blankets. He walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. He slowly pulled the blankets back. Her face was covered by a mess of blonde hair. He brushed some of it away, so he could see her eyes. They were red and swollen.

“Sweetie, will you please do this for me?” he said gently. He knew she would regret not saying goodbye to Mack.

She nodded slightly. “Okay.”

“Do you want Mar to help you get dressed?”

She nodded again.

Chase pulled the blankets back under her chin. “She’ll be up in a second.”

Millie sat up after he left. She barely had the energy to do that, much less actually leave the house. She hadn’t left the bed except to go to the bathroom for almost a week. Mariel came in every once in a while to deliver food that Millie barely ate. And Chase came to sit with her after she had nightmares every night. She hadn’t had any human contact besides that. And now they were expecting her to talk to people at her dad’s funeral. She had almost decided to change her mind about going when Mariel bounded into the room.

“Good morning, sweetie!” Mariel smiled at her enthusiastically. “I’m so glad you’re going to come with us today. It’s going to be a beautiful day on the water. Some sunshine will do you good.”

Mille felt exhausted just listening to her, but she tried to smile. Mariel had been so nice to her since she arrived.

“It’s really hot today,” Mariel said as she sorted through Millie’s clothes. She had gone down to the Outer Banks yesterday and gotten more of Millie’s things. Millie could imagine that Camille and Mariel had fought, but she didn’t have the energy to ask about it. Mariel held up a pair of khaki shorts. “Maybe you can just wear shorts.”

“No, I want to wear a dress,” Millie said, pointing at the closet. “Dad really liked that pink one. He always said I looked pretty when I wore it.”

Millie’s eyes started to fill with tears as she slumped back down in the bed.

Mariel took the dress out of the closet and laid it on the bed. “It’s beautiful, honey. That’s perfect. Do you want me to help you get dressed?”

Millie looked up at her as the tears started to fall. “I don’t think I can do it myself.”

Mariel smoothed Millie’s hair out and kissed her forehead. “Then we’ll do it together. All day. It’s me and you. We’ll do everything together. Okay?”

Millie nodded as she wiped her tears away. “Okay.”

Millie sat silently in the back seat of the car as Chase drove toward the marina. Chase told her that Mack wanted his ashes dumped at sea. She had to take his word for it. She had never talked to her dad about anything like that. When they pulled up to the marina, Chase opened her door and put his arm firmly around her shoulders as they walked to the boat slip. When they got there, she saw a handful of guys that looked like Chase and her dad. She figured they were all SEALs.

As they helped her onto the boat, they all introduced themselves and told her how they knew her dad. She tried to smile and nod, but she wasn’t hearing anything they said. She finally made it to the bow of the boat and sat down. She felt Mariel sit down behind her and put her arms around her. They sat silently until the boat anchored a few miles off shore.

“Millie, sweetie, it’s time to put your dad’s ashes to rest now,” Chase whispered softly into her ear. “Do you want me to do it?”

She shook her head and stood up slowly. She took the urn Chase was holding. He took the top off. She kneeled on the bench and turned the urn upside down. The ashes fell quickly into the water—some of them blowing away in the gentle wind. She watched them. All she wanted to do is dive in with them. Chase grabbed the urn out of her hand and caught her as she started to fall forward. He hugged her tightly to his chest as she sobbed. Everything was silent around them. No one was making a sound. Millie looked up as she noticed some movement at the rear of the boat. All the guys were throwing something into the ocean.

“They’re throwing their tridents in after him,” Chase whispered to her. “It’s what we get when we become SEALs. When one of us dies, we give them our tridents as a sign of respect. Your dad was the best guy—really the absolute best among us. Always remember that.”

Millie put her head back on Chase’s chest as he squeezed her tighter. They sat that way all the way back to the marina.

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