I grinned wickedly.
“Jackie is a sweet baby bird, Cora,” I teased. “You should treat that baby like the angel that she is.”
Cora and I lasted all of three seconds before we both started laughing.
Jackie was the polar opposite of me and Mackie.
Brash, loud, unforgiving and a goddamn lunatic.
I loved the little lunatic, too.
My father deserved it, though.
He’d had good children up until Jackie was born.
Then everything went to hell.
“Here Mackie is,” Cora said.
“Hello?” Mackie said.
“Hey, baby,” I said, loving how Mackie sounded over the phone. Like a cute little cherub child.
“Frank!” she cried. “What’s up, buddy?”
I loved my little sister.
Even more, I loved her enthusiasm for life.
“I heard something about you today from Dad,” I said, sounding just as amused now as I was earlier when Dad had texted me. “He told me you sleep next to a bag of Doritos every night.”
There was a long pause, then Mackie said, “So?”
I snorted. “Why do you sleep next to them every night?”
She sighed.
“Like I explained to your father,” the little smart-aleck said. “Seeing the Doritos when I first wake up in the morning makes me happy. Is it so bad that I want to wake up with a smile on my face?”
I burst out laughing.
How could I not?
It was even funnier coming from Mackie’s mouth than it had been coming from Dad’s explanation earlier.
“I love it,” I said.
There was a long silence and then Mackie hesitantly said, “Frankie?”
I sobered instantly.
“Yeah, baby?” I whispered, knowing where this was going.
“Are you happy today?” she asked.
Mackie, God bless her little sweet soul, didn’t like when I was sad. And I also didn’t like lying to her. She didn’t want me to lie, either.
So, I told her truth, no matter what, because Mackie was one of my closest confidants.
“I’m… okay,” I admitted.
Okay was exactly how I was.
I wasn’t happy.
I wasn’t anything.
I was numb.
“Is that better than sad?” she whispered.
I didn’t know.
Probably not.
At least if I was sad, I’d be feeling some emotion.
But I wasn’t sad anymore.
At least, I didn’t allow myself to feel that unless I was at home, and wasn’t leaving the house for three days.
Because if I allowed those emotions to surface, then I would start crying.
And I wouldn’t stop.
“Time to go, Mackie,” Cora said, breaking into our conversation. “We need to be at gymnastics. Give the phone to Daddy.”
Only, before I could talk to my father, or Mackie could pass the phone over, Tornado Jackie woke up.
“Sorry, Frankie,” Cora apologized. “I’ll get him to call you back, okay?”
With a promise of answering the call, I hung up, then got ready for work.
Hoping that today wouldn’t be as bad as yesterday.Chapter 3I thought she liked coffee. Turns out she just likes creamer.
-Riel’s secret thoughts
Malachi
“I saw you on a plane not too long ago,” Jonah said, eyeing me. “Did you escort a fallen soldier home?”
I remembered the incident he was speaking of.
“I was on the plane, yes.” I nodded. “But I didn’t escort him home. I just happened to be on the same flight.”
Jonah nodded. “That was bad.”
I agreed; it was.
“I think he came from Germany where I was, though,” I admitted. “I’d heard of a soldier being sent home to his wife in Texas.”
“I did a little research after I got out and helped the widow,” Jonah said. “Was a twenty-three-year-old Marine. He was in a helicopter accident. Shot down by a missile.” Jonah scratched his head. “He had three kids. A five-year-old, an almost two-year-old, and one on the way.”
My stomach knotted.
“Even worse,” I muttered. “At least I didn’t have anybody here.”
“You had your parents,” Jonah corrected me.
I shrugged. “I did. But… from what I’ve been told, we were never close. I moved out of the house at seventeen. Got them to sign me up with the military. The day that I shipped off to bootcamp, they moved to Florida. Didn’t even come to my graduation.”
Jonah grunted. “Sounds like your parents are douches.” He paused. “What did they do when they heard that you were alive?”
I rubbed my face, right underneath my eyes.
“Nothing,” I admitted. “They called my mom, but they were away on an Alaskan cruise. Luca’s parents were the ones to pick me up from the airport.”
Jonah stared at me as if he couldn’t believe what had just come out of my mouth.
“You’re joking,” he said finally.
I shook my head. “Nope.”
“Shitty,” he said. “Do you know how they were…”
The light turned green, and Jonah cut off his question mid-sentence.
Taking my feet off the ground one at a time, I accelerated through the green light and headed back with him to the station.
Only, when we got to the station, it was a fucking madhouse.
There were reporters, protesters, and even police officers filling up the usually calm and quiet lot.
Luckily, we were able to park around the back where the officers parked instead of the front lot where visitors parked.