Page 73 of The Biggest Sacrifice

He’s in love with her.

And if I didn’t pull my head out of my ass when I did, I would have missed it.

“William, behave.”

“Come on, Ma, I can’t believe you of all people, don’t see it.”

We’ve finished dinner, and now we’re outside on the patio. The fire pit is lit, the night sky is turning every shade of orange, red and pink as the sun sets on a day that didn’t turn out so terrible for me after all.

Farrah is sitting on my lap and she absentmindedly draws circles on my thigh, turning me on and calming me all at once. I sink into the chair, letting her love wash over me.

Who would have ever thought I’d be where I am right now? I left Christmas, searching for myself and hoping to find faith in something greater. Then, I found myself in the middle of something that completely changed my life. I never thought I’d get over JT’s death. I never thought I’d be able to let myself be happy again, but fate has a way of turning it all around when you least expect it.

“You know when we all get together like this, it’s because someone has some kind of announcement to make.”

Farrah glances at me and squeezes my thigh.

“I actually have something to say.” Adjusting myself slightly, but holding tight to Farrah, I see Billy sit forward on his chair. “And before you ask, no, Farrah isn’t pregnant.”

Groans go up all around, but Mom jumps in. “Oh, that’s a shame. I was hoping someone would be pregnant with Chelsea again!” Laughs and hoots and hollers go up. “You know you can’t keep anything from me!” Mom continues laughing and gets up to give Chelsea a hug.

“We were going to tell you this week. We were waiting for our next sonogram.”

Mom waves Adam off. “You don’t have to explain anything to me. You keep all the secrets you want.” She winks at him, gives Chelsea another hug and returns to the seat next to my dad.

Once everyone settles down, Chief Hunter speaks up. “Son, you wanted to say something?”

Our eyes lock and it’s like he already knows what I’m going to say. He knows I’ve been through it, just like he has, so he can read me well.

Clearing my throat, I begin. “I need everyone to listen because I can only say this once. I’m not sure how to explain it, so I’m just going to say it.” Clearing my throat yet again, I see Cash get up and move around to sit in the chair next to me.

“Cash and I have a person in common. His cousin and I served together years ago.” I keep my eyes focused on the fire in front of me, remembering the night Cash and I finished JT’s favorite whiskey together. A laugh bubbles out and I hear Cash chuckle beside me. He must be thinking the same thing.

“JT was a wild one. He’d have given you a run for your money, Bill.” Bill returns my smile, the family remaining quiet. “We found each other, well, he found me and forced me to be his friend, on the second day of bootcamp.”

“Sounds like JT.”

Nodding at Cash, “You know whatever he wanted, he got, with or without a rock.” We chuckle at the line JT loved to throw around and Farrah sinks down into my lap, snuggling in closer. I sober and continue. “While we served together, we were inseparable. He made sure that we stuck together, always having each other’s backs.”

“He knew all about you guys. He loved hearing the crazy stories about my alpha asshole brother, and about Jackson and his wild times in the NFL.”

“Seven years ago, today, actually, we were on a mission together. I had been put in charge of a team during that deployment and JT was my right-hand guy. We were just told we’d be leaving early, and he pestered me constantly about coming home with me to meet the famous Casanova family.” Grinning, I blink back tears. “I promised him I’d let him stay one night here for free, but any extra nights I was charging him rent.” Feeling the tears leak out, I wipe them away. “Jackson, I wasn’t going to let him get a free ride to meet the Romeo QB of Christmas.” We all laugh and I hear sniffles and coughs.

They know what I’m going to say before I say it. And isn’t that what a family who loves does? Doesn’t love already know the worst part of you yet sits and waits patiently for you, anyway?

“I don’t need to tell you what happened, but we both lost a good man that night.” A sob escapes me and Cash comes out of his chair and kneels down next to me, wrapping his arms around me, pulling our heads in close together. He murmurs to me and our shoulders shake together.

A moment goes by and we gather ourselves. Well, try to anyway. I try to continue and can’t, any further words getting physically stuck in my throat. Farrah keeps hold of my hand and wipes my tears from my face, kissing each one.

“JT told me about Tom, but he called him TC and I never put it together. He never gave specifics, but just always raved about his friend from service, his leader, his mentor. He gushed about what a great guy he was, so obviously when I came here and met Tom I never thought this is the great guy he was talking about!” That brings a laugh and an enlightenment to the mood. “I mean, I’m pretty good at putting two and two together, but Tom, you’re an asshole!”

“Hey! Easy on my twin! If he’s an asshole, so am I!”

“Bill, I already told you, you’re out and I’m in.” Bill flips him the finger, and the tension is eased a bit.

“For whatever reason,” I exaggeratedly say and roll my eyes, “JT thinks we need each other, and he brought Cash to us.”

“Maybe we’re here to give Chief Hunter a hard time. You know, I can’t let him think he’s the top dog around here for long.”

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