Forever Mine: Callaghan Brothers, Book 9(4)
She wiped at her tear-streaked face with dirty hands. “Down by the pumpkin patch. I was picking out my pumpkin and it was too big for me to carry and I asked him to help me and he didn’t answer,” she sobbed. “So I went over and tried to wake him up but he just won’t!”
Jake handed Riley to Taryn. “Okay, sweetheart, you did fine. Stay with Mom while we see what’s going on with Grandpa.”
Game forgotten, Kieran and Shane were already sprinting down the hill, followed closely by the others. Jake shot Taryn a somber, knowing look, slipping into commander mode. “Keep the kids here until we know what’s going on. Nicki, ready the Hummer. Maggie, run inside and get Mick’s emergency kit.”
They nodded, their expressions worried, then took off without hesitation.
“Daddy, is Grandpa going to be all right?”
Jake loved his daughter, but he wouldn’t lie to her. Until he knew the situation, he wasn’t going to make any promises he couldn’t keep. He kissed her on the forehead. Then he took off too.
He knew it was bad when he spotted his brothers around the base of the old tree, a semi-circular wall of large men obstructing the view from above. His worst fears were realized when he reached the bottom and saw his father prone. The eldest, Kane, was straddling him, doing chest compressions while Michael searched for a pulse. Ian met his eyes and shook his head slightly.
“Nicki’s got transport,” he said even as he heard the powerful engine of the H2 roaring to life. “Status,” he barked.
“Probable heart attack,” Michael bit out.
“Is he...”
“His heart’s not beating.”
“Come on, old man,” Kane grunted out with each push. “You will come back to us.”
––––––––
June 1968
Pine Ridge
“You will come back to us.” Jack’s mother kissed him on the cheek, her words brimming with a confidence he didn’t feel.
“I know,” he lied. His mother gave him a smile, one that said she knew he was full of shite, but one that also told him she believed with all of her heart that he would return alive and in one piece. It helped. A little.
She moved away with her head held high, back toward a gathering of other neighborhood moms. They all shared the same stoic, determined look as they replaced near-empty pitchers of iced tea and lemonade on the picnic tables, along with plates of homemade cookies and brownies.
The truth was, he was scared. Scared and excited and proud and determined. Each of the emotions warred for dominance in his eighteen year old mind. In a few days he would be heading out with a half dozen other local boys. The massive block party was the town’s way of giving its native sons a proper send-off. A few, like him, were headed into the Navy. Others had chosen the Army, Air Force, or Marines.
Jack had chosen the Navy with dreams of becoming a SEAL. The relatively new special operations force was trained to operate in all environments –—SEa, Air, and Land –—and only selected the best of the best. Jack was determined to be one of them.
With furtive looks to where his mother was talking with several others, no doubt rallying around each other in support, his father handed him a beer and patted him on the back, pride shining from his clear, blue Irish eyes.
“Don’t tell your mother.”
Jack grinned and accepted the cold bottle. His father was a bear of a man, scared of nothing, except possibly a severe tongue-lashing from his wee wife. Liam Callaghan claimed his bonnie bride before emigrating to the United States years earlier, but was still every bit in love with her as he was the day they first met. Even now the man’s eyes softened as his gaze found her.
Many people scoffed at the notion of love at first sight, but Liam had sworn the phenomenon was every bit as real as they earth upon which they tread. The best thing that could happen to an Irishman, he’d told his son, was to find his croie, his heart—– the one woman divinely fashioned by God to be the other half of a man’s soul. Young Jack had grown up on stories of such things, and hoped to find his own someday. But first he had to make it through the next six years.
“Good lad. If you’re old enough to fight for your country, you’re old enough to share a cold one with your Da.”
Jack turned slightly, away from his mother’s direct line of sight, and took a long drink. Less than a week earlier, he’d been proudly accepting his high-school diploma in his cap and gown. Soon he’d be heading out as a member of the United States Armed Services. It still hadn’t quite sunken in. All his life, he’d looked up to the men who were willing to sacrifice their lives for the sake of God and country, and now some of the younger boys were looking up at him the same way.
He didn’t feel like he a hero, though. He felt like a teenager in way over his head. He wondered if the others felt the same way. If they did, they wouldn’t admit it. Neither would he.
Every now and then someone would catch his eye and nod. Jack took it for what it was—– a show of approval and respect. He’d grown up here, had known most of these people since he was a kid.
But not her. Jack was certain he’d never met her before. Once again, his eyes were drawn to the pretty little thing with black hair, alabaster skin, and flashing green eyes. As if sensing his gaze, she turned and locked eyes with him. And in that moment, his heart stopped entirely.