The Long Way Home (Corps Security #6)(66)

“Hey, girl!” I turn my head from looking at the beautiful lake footpath entrance and to see Emmy waving up at me from the porch. The other ladies sit around her by the firepit in cozy chairs. On our second night here, I discovered that Beck had built the chairs for Axel and Izzy’s twenty-year wedding anniversary.

Could this family be any more perfect?

I wave down at her and had just dropped my hand when Izzy walks up behind me. I had walked ahead of her after she let me in, her waving me on to stop in the restroom.

“Incredible, isn’t it?” she questions, looking around her backyard.

“I can see why you love it here.”

“It’s a lot of house without the kids home anymore, but I don’t think I could ever leave here. Not just because of all this.” She waves around her. “There have been so many moments lived within these walls and in this yard that I can still see them play through my mind as vividly as if I was watching them in person. These are the walls that watched me find my heart again, and again, and again. I thought they were done watching us experience miracles … until you walked in the door with our Coop, that is. Sway told me how important you were in him deciding to come home. I will never be able to thank you enough, Olivia. None of us will.”

“You guys really aren’t upset with him?”

She smiles softly, but with sadness pulling on her hard. “That day was one of the hardest moments in all of our lives, but it was also a defining moment that went well beyond our ability to understand at that time. So many moments in all of our lives were set into motion that day. I’m not sure some of them would have even happened had it not been for the way we dealt with the loss of Coop. Lives changed, all of ours and his. What good would it do any of us to be handed a literal God prayed for miracle and slap it in the face? Well … except Asher’s hot head really makes me sound like a hypocrite, doesn’t it?” She huffs a small laugh and frowns when her gaze moves to my bruise. “I still can’t believe you stepped in front of Coop to take that hit. Talk about irony.”

I frown. “What do you mean?”

She looks away from the yard and meets my gaze. Once again, I have to force myself not to think about how beautiful her pale-green eyes are.

“How much do you know about how he ‘died’?” She brings up her hands to air quote the last word.

Thinking back on it, I don’t know too many details, just that he had the opportunity and had to pull the trigger—literally. “I suppose just that he was shot in the belly the same day that he led you all to believe he had died.”

She nods, the sunlight dancing off her silver and auburn strands of hair.

“What are you guys talking about?” someone yells from below.

Izzy holds up a finger asking for a second, looking torn, glancing between them and me.

“Maybe this is a conversation we should have with the rest of the ladies?” I hedge, guessing that’s where she had been with her worry.

“Are you always this understanding?” she asks, smiling.

“Davey,” I respond softly, as if that was answer enough. “I had a conversation not too unlike this one with him when I was worried that you all would be angry with Zeke.”

“Zeke.” She giggles. “Still throws me for a loop when I hear you call him that. I love it, it’s just so … different. Anyway, I’m sorry for interrupting. Go on, please.”

“Don’t be.” I clear my throat before continuing. “When I first met him, he was Drew. The day he told me about his past, I knew that he would forever be Zeke to me. I don’t think he likes it from anyone else, though, which I don’t understand but secretly love that it’s just mine. He isn’t my Drew anymore, but he also isn’t Coop. Well, he isn’t Coop to me, that is.”

“What did Davey say?”

“To live life big, beautiful and do it right for those that don’t get that chance. Well, to sum it up, at least that’s the gist of it. I know what it’s like to lose someone, too. He put it in perspective for me when I was worried how you guys would handle the shock of his return. If I had a chance to have my person back, it wouldn’t matter to me how or why, just that I had them. There isn’t room for anger to live for long when love burns so bright.”

“You’re a wise woman.” She sniffles, wiping a tear from her porcelain cheek. “And so is Davey. I swear he is a healer for the soul.”

We both laugh softly and I stop with a gesture to the stairs. “Let’s finish our conversation with the others?”

I follow her, and we join the rest of the ladies. Everyone is here, except for Chelcie. Their daughters and daughters-in-law had joined us, and earlier, I met Dani, Lyn, Lila, Maddie, Ember, Stella, Nikki, and Megan. Sway had left earlier with Megan’s daughter, Molly. Nikki’s sister-in-law, Liberty, had joined us late. The various grandbabies running around the yard earlier had been music to my ears and made me long to have Riley here to meet them all. I had called earlier to check on her, and she sounded perfectly happy, making me miss her even more.

“So what was that all about?” Dee asks from her seat across from us, next to her daughter-in-law. Megan giggles at Dee’s matter-of-fact tone.

“Well,” Izzy starts. “I brought up her bruise and how I thought it was ironic how she got hurt protecting him. Standing in front of him to take the hit meant for him, to be exact.”