The Strength of the Pack (Suncoast Society #30)(26)

She smiled. “Nappies?”

“I can’t help it. I ‘go Brit’ from time to time, as Cherise calls it.” He tried to find a way to not kill the mood of their date and yet not shy away from her question.

“So I went to the air show with them,” he said. “A family of four went to the air show that morning, and a family of two left that night. But at least we still had a family. The accident killed twelve people total, including two other families with kids, and severely injured fifteen others. An old fighter coming in for a landing blew a tire and took out a fuel truck parked where it shouldn’t have been, and everyone standing around it.”

“That’s horrible,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry.”

He didn’t need to describe the horror to Eva, weigh her down with his memories.

Of dropping his cup after his shock broke when Cherise screamed for their parents and ran toward the conflagration while nearly everyone else was running away from it except trained first-responder personnel…

Of trying to catch up with her and wondering when she’d gotten so damned fast when he was the one who usually ran every morning—except that morning…

Of the feel of the heat, so much more intense than the Florida summer sun beating down on them, washing toward them like a toxic ocean and carrying the smell of fuel and barbecued flesh…

Of making it to Cherise in time to scoop her up and carry her away despite her struggles, clapping a hand over her eyes as he spotted a charred figure crawling out of the flames and having no clue if it was one of their parents…

Of feeling guilty for running away…

Of being herded to a waiting area with others who were missing family members or friends, and finally getting confirmation a couple of hours later when the flames were out and they were able to find the dog tags still around their necks despite their civilian clothes having been burned from them—along with their flesh…

Of the voice of the chaplain who tried to talk to him when all he could do was sit there, stunned, holding Cherise as she sobbed against his shoulder and screamed for their parents…

Of having an MP leading a locksmith through the parking area later to open the car for them and cut him a set of keys for it, because all he had were the house keys with him, and the car keys had been in Ken’s pocket since he drove…

Of wishing he hadn’t spent a good chunk of the drive there trying to snooze in the backseat…

Of wishing he’d spent that time talking to them, memorizing every line in their faces and not realizing that it’d be him driving a sedated Cherise home that evening, the doctor at the base clinic finally giving her a shot to calm her down, which ended up knocking her out…

Of getting home and seeing his mom’s purse still sitting behind the front passenger seat, where she’d left it after fishing her wallet out and tucking it into her back pocket, not wanting to carry it around all day…

He shrugged. “It was an accident,” he said. “I could have blamed god or the pilot or the fuel truck driver who’d stopped in the wrong damned spot to take a moment to watch the landing, or any number of things. Just like I could have thanked the portable toilet people for sticking them where they did and forcing us to walk all the way over there, or the frozen lemonade stand for being where it was and distracting Cherise and saving our lives. None of it would matter or change the outcome. It happened, and we had to deal with it.

“I had to finish growing up a lot faster than I realized I’d have to, and so did Cherise, in some ways. At least she still had me and could hold onto some of her childhood. I decided that day that it had to be the worst day of my life, and to keep every other day in perspective by contrast. That’s how I got through it, and how I’ve tried to live the rest of my life.”

He gave her hands a gentle squeeze. “So what happened between you and your parents?” There had been some references to an incident at the hospital, following Leo’s accident, but she hadn’t gone into details.

Her smile looked almost sick, and he suspected that was triggered by her memories and not by his story.

“My father’s an *,” she finally said. “And I’d rather enjoy this evening with you than relive any of that.”

“Fair enough.” He had to sit back as the waitress brought their salads. “I’d rather enjoy this evening with you, too,” he said, her smile looking a little healthier now. “Beautiful company and good food makes for a very nice evening, indeed.”

Her smile widened a little more. “What are you guys doing for Christmas?”

“Me and Cherise and her boyfriend will probably have lunch at the house. Why?”

“Why don’t the three of you come over to our place? It was just going to be us. The four of us, I mean. Jesse and Leo are going to attempt to deep-fry a turkey for the first time in the backyard, and…” She stopped. “Sorry.”

It took everything he had not to start laughing at how adorably horrified she looked. He had immediately followed her train of thought, only he hadn’t derailed the way she had, and he wouldn’t deny the sadist in him enjoyed her discomfort just a tiny bit.

That she was so concerned about his feelings touched him deeply. “I think that’s a great idea,” he said. “I’ll make sure Cherise and Wade are all right with it.”