Out of Uniform (Wingmen Warriors 14)

Dee tucked her toes under the dash and soaked up the heater’s blast, anything to keep her occupied. She’d already packed her meager gear earlier and brought it with her to the police station so she could be mobile if they found Evan. Now Jacob insisted she wait here for him while he finished a couple of last-minute details.

Damn, she was restless. After waiting so long, a few more hours shouldn’t matter. But they did.

Her life had changed too much, too fast. She and Jacob had slept together, a new memory that needed to be analyzed, pondered, savored. Except fear for Evan left her nearly breathless.

As Jacob posted a Closed sign on the front entrance of the hotel, a room door swung wide. Emily stepped out, saw Jacob and stopped. He opened his mouth, and his sister shoved her hands deeper into her pockets. Emily’s shoulders rose as her eyes turned sulky. Jacob’s mouth closed. He nodded and turned away, disappearing inside.

Dee could hardly believe what she’d just seen. Emily couldn’t actually be angry with Jacob. Chase had been the one in the wrong.

Except logic didn’t always come into play with adolescent emotions.

Dee wanted to leap from the truck and shake Emily by her two layers of oversize sweaters. Instead Dee rolled down the window. The teacher in her wouldn’t let the teen skulk away. “Emily? Over here.”

Emily jerked and nearly slipped on a patch of ice, her heavy eye makeup smeared from tears. She glanced over her shoulder before turning back. Her feet skated along the ice as she warily approached.

The moody teen scratched her boot heel through the sludge, the baby monitor in hand as she hugged herself. “You doing okay?”

“Much better than last night.” Of course, that didn’t say much since she’d been mighty damn low.

“Good.” She kicked a chunk of ice. “I’m sorry about your kid.”

The ache with Evan’s name on it threatened to overwhelm her, but she wouldn’t let herself fall into a hole of forgetfulness again. She was stronger now. “Thank you, Emily. It’s a scary time for me.”

Emily swiped at the sludge with her boot again before backing away. “Guess I should go.”

Dee reached through the window to grab Emily’s elbow. Helping her would help Jacob, and he offered so few opportunities for anyone to give back to him. “No school today?”

Emily eased her arm free. “It’s Saturday.”

“Oh, right.” Her life was such a mess she couldn’t keep the days of the week straight. Some candidate for straightening out a sullen teen. “Where’s Chase?”

Emily studied a snowdrift. “Home, released to his parents who’ve locked him in his room for the rest of his life.”

So much for pointing out Chase’s brush with the police. Maybe a direct approach might be best. “I know it seems like your brother was rough on Chase last night, but Jacob would have been within his rights to do a lot worse.”

What a mixed blessing to have regained her memory at such a horrible cost to Jacob and his sister.

Emily twirled the nursery monitor by the flexible antennae. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“Just think about seeing it from your brother’s side. Jacob made the hard choice, even if it’s tough to admit it.” Dee gripped Emily’s arm before she could bolt away. “I do understand how much it hurts when the man you love lets you down.”

The teen blinked back tears and seemed ready to thaw…Then she backed away. “I gotta go help Grace pack Madison’s stuff.”

Part of Dee screamed Emily just needed time to reason through the crazy shift in their world. But she’d seen how a day of unresolved anger could stretch into years of alienation. Heaven knew she’d learned that lesson the hard way with her parents, a mistake she planned to fix as soon as she found Evan.

It was past time he met his grandparents. If only she hadn’t waited too long. The regret would be unbearable.

She stepped out of the truck and charged after Emily. “Your brother loves you. I’ve seen that. He wants to help you but doesn’t know how.”

Emily spun on her heels, anger as bright as her unshed tears. “Sure he loves me. He just doesn’t want a screw-up like me or Chase in his life. We’re not all perfect like him, you know. Wait till you mess up, then you’ll see. He’ll dump you just like he’s dumping me onto Grace.”

The barb hit home and stuck like a prickly bur. Kids didn’t fight fair. She should have remembered that from her teaching days.

Dee understood well enough how it felt to have a family member’s disapproval, but Jacob was different. “He’s not like your father.” Or mine. “He’s here for you.”

He’d said Emily wanted to stay in Rockfish, the reason he wasn’t taking her and the baby with him. Jacob took care of everyone.

But he never let anyone get too close to him.