We fell silent again, not sure what else to say to her. She wasn’t my friend. I had no shared memories to offer up in the moment.
“Where are Eddie’s folks?” Ian finally asked. I’d watched him scan the room.
She scoffed. “Oh, Ian, come on. You know they never thought I was good enough for their son. They buried him in the family plot and took the flag right outta my arms—did you see her do that at the grave?”
He nodded.
She leaned into him, against his chest. “That’s the last I’ll see them, just you watch.”
“No,” he said because it was expected.
She held up her hand with the diamond engagement ring and matching band. “If she comes for this ring he gave me—just ’cause it’s been in their family for however long—I tell you what, she can kiss my ass.”
He squeezed her tight, and after she gave him a gentle pat, she left us to visit the next group of people.
“Doyle.”
It was his former CO, the same man who’d made sure we came to the house, Major Delaney, and he gestured for Ian to follow him outside.
I moved to go with them, but Delaney shook his head.
“Then no one else goes out there with you guys either,” I insisted.
“And why’s that?” He dared me to speak, clipping the words.
“His safety would be in question,” I retorted.
“Is that right? What precisely do you think I’m going to do to him?”
“I dunno, could be anything,” I shot back. “But at least I know you can’t leave him anywhere again.”
Ian lifted his hand to quiet me as Delaney, fuming, threw open the door as well as the screen and pounded down the steps that led to the yard. Ian shot me a look—which I gave him right back—and then went after him, closing the door behind him.
“Don’t worry about your boyfriend,” Odell called over to me from where he was on the couch. “The major won’t touch his faggoty ass.”
“We saw you two duck out of sight at the cemetery,” Bates said, adding his two cents. “That’s disgusting, and if I’d known Doyle was like that, I wouldn’t’ve ever gone back for him.”
“Is that right?”
“Yeah, that’s right,” Bates jeered, standing up. “Better dead than gay.”
I lunged toward them but Becker caught me, holding tight as Ryan walked over to the men seated on the huge sectional.
“Ya best quit runnin’ your mouths there, boys, or I’ll take you in for threatening the life of a federal officer.”
Bates scoffed up at Ryan, who was looming over him. “Go to—”
“We can hold you for seventy-two hours just for the threat alone.”
“I’m a soldier, you prick.”
“Me too,” Ryan assured him. “But we’re not talking about soldiering. We’re talking about right here, right now. And right now… you keep jawin’, and you’re going downtown.”
All eyes were on him.
“So,” he said with a sigh, the epitome of boredom. “What’s it gonna be?”
None of them said a word. Apparently federal marshals trumped Rangers when said Rangers were not on active duty. They all got up to leave, and they gave Ryan a wide berth.
Becker let me go with a straightening of my coat and a pat on the back, and I went to the window to look out at Ian and his old CO.
“Excuse me.”
Turning, I found Danita Stanley in front of me. Up close she was flawless, perfect, like a 1940s Hollywood starlet standing luminous in a spotlight. I got why Ian had done it, why he’d reached for her. If girls did it for me, I would have too. “Yes?”
She cleared her throat. “Did I hear Odell say…” She trailed off because it hadn’t been a nice word the asshole had used and she must not have wanted to repeat it. “Is Ian gay?”
“Ian’s bi,” I corrected, giving her a look. “Obviously.”
“No, we— He must’ve told you about us because you’re his… his… you’re with him.”
“I am.”
“So you know that we didn’t.…”
“Didn’t what?”
She exhaled sharply. “When we, that time, it was—”
“Actually I really don’t need to know any of this. It’s none of my business.”
She was quiet, thinking. “Yes, you’re right. It’s not, except that you should know that Ian was the only one who saw me.”
I waited for her to say more, but she couldn’t, as evidenced by her reddening eyes and trembling chin. I took her hand and I saw her relax, sort of cave in, before she gave me a trace of a smile.
“My husband,” she began. “He was into being a soldier, and he left me alone even when he was home, and Ian…. Well, he saw me.”
I nodded.
“He would talk to me and flirt, of course, but they all did with all of us—all the wives. It’s fun and friendly and sweet in a way, so that we all know we’re loved by the group, a family, and it was great. But I was so lonely. And when Jace came home, he still wanted to be with those guys, going out, raising hell, drinking. Most of them have families, so they couldn’t, but a few of them did, and then he had friends who weren’t those guys, too, and… then there was Ian.”