Momma chuckled under her breath. “You remember Clive?” She didn’t wait for Hudson to answer before she continued. “Your dad used to say the same thing to him the couple times he came back home with your daddy.” A wistful smile swept over her face as she shook her head.
The truth was…no. Hudson didn’t remember. He didn’t remember a whole hell of a lot about his father. At only ten, Hudson hadn’t built up a lifetime of memories with his dad before he’d passed away. Not like his momma had. And Lilah had even fewer than he did.
Hudson cleared his throat. “Were Rory and Nash gettin’ started on the renovation at The Sweet Spot today?”
“I believe Lilah said they were headin’ over there this afternoon to finalize the design.”
“All right.” Hudson lifted his gaze toward Caleb. “I’m gonna run over there after I grab a shower. You wanna tag along?”
Caleb nodded as he chewed before swallowing half his cup of orange juice in one go and lifting the glass in Hudson’s direction. “I’m just along for the ride.”
It was the same thing he’d said to Hudson hundreds of times before. Every time they took their Black Hawk up, whether in friendly or enemy territory. Hudson had flown with a handful of copilots over his years, but he’d never bonded with one as much as he had Caleb. In the four years they’d served together in the same unit, they’d become as close as brothers. Which was why thesirbullshit made him uncomfortable as fuck, even if it was protocol.
Hudson held out his hand for a fist bump, then dove into his breakfast. Around a too-big bite, he said, “Y’all haven’t needed to put down a deposit or anything for the work bein’ done, have you?”
His momma raised her eyebrows as she spared him a glance. “I’m not sure why that’s any of your concern.”
“Momma.” Stubborn as a mule, that woman. Goddamn, he was sick of having this same fight with her over and over again. Without a home of his own to worry about, he had so much damn money, he didn’t know what to do with it. His monthly bills consisted of internet fees and whatever he deemed worthy of entertainment, which meant he’d been socking away the majority of his paychecks for a decade. Which also meant whatever renovations his momma and sister wanted, they were getting, and he was footing the bill for all of it. Period.
“Hudson,” she said back in the same exasperated tone. “Don’t think you can come home and start bossin’ us around like you did after your daddy passed. The army might’ve made you a captain, but around here, you’re still the little boy who used to run around wearing nothin’ but underwear, a cowboy hat, and a pair of cowboy boots.”
Caleb’s lips twitched at that, but he didn’t comment.
“Thanks for that, Momma,” Hudson said dryly.
“Anytime.” She smiled before pointing the spatula at him. “But I meant what I said over the phone. You can’t come in and highjack our routine when you’re only home for a few weeks. Not when it’ll be just me and Lilah again after you go on back to the base.”
Her words didn’t carry any malice, but he still felt a pang in his chest over the thought of leaving. He’d been feeling it more and more lately—something calling him home. He’d thought it was just him tiring of deployment like usual. Except this was different somehow. He wasn’t itching for just American soil. He was itching forHavenbrook. And because of that, he’d used the renovation as an excuse to break his own rule—that he wouldn’t come back home until he could come back home toher.Kenna. Childhood best friend, first everything, and the only girl he’d ever loved.
That had all been good in theory, but when the timing had aligned that he’d be on leave when the renovations started, he couldn’t dismiss the opportunity. After all this time, he wanted to see if what he and Kenna shared was real or if he’d built it up in his mind over the years to this unattainable connection. Because God knew he’d never felt anything like it since he’d been away from her. Not even a whisper of it.
And now, more than ever, he needed to see her. Felt it like an actual tug under his skin.
After two more helpings, he stood from the table, rinsed his plate at the sink, and put it in the dishwasher like he was taught—his momma had enough to do without cleaning up after his ass, too. As he closed the appliance door, he felt her eyes on him and glanced over to find her staring, eyebrows raised.
“Ma’am?” he asked.
She rolled her eyes and tossed a towel over her shoulder before shooing him out of the kitchen. “Don’tma’amme. Standin’ here, actin’ like you’re not crawlin’ outta your skin to go see a certain someone.”
Caleb’s low laugh rumbled out of him so quietly, it might’ve been missed by anyone else. In answer to the look Hudson shot him, he shrugged. “She’s not wrong. You’ve talked about thatcertain someoneso much, I can tell you her blood type.”
So, he’d talked about her to his copilot and best friend. Sue him. And yeah, he wanted to see her. Was desperate for it, even. But he had no idea how he’d be received. He was a few months early for the pact they’d made all those years ago when he’d enlisted—a promise that he’d be back for her on his twenty-ninth birthday—and he hadn’t exactly warned her he’d be coming now.
In fact, he’d dropped that bomb on his momma only days before in hopes it’d help staunch some of the gossip of his return. It’d been years since he and Kenna had talked in more than sparse text messages or handwritten notes in sporadic packages sent back and forth between them.
All he knew was that he had only three weeks in town, and he didn’t plan on wasting a single day away from her.
Mac had no idea how she made it through lunch—and actually ate anything—without bailing. Or puking. Though, to be fair, maybe she didn’t eat a single bite and/or puked up her lunch, because she didn’t remember a damn thing after Rory had dropped her bomb.
Hudson fucking Miller. Here. In Havenbrook. Six months ahead of schedule.
On the one hand, she was desperate to see him. Wanted to knock on every door in town just to find out where he was. Wanted to feel his arms around her, breathe in his Hudson scent, and listen to her name roll from his tongue in the deep timbre of his voice.
On the other hand, she wanted to run away as far and as fast as she possibly could. She’d thought she still had time before he came home, before their pact was in full effect. Time to do something other than sling drinks at the local watering hole. Time to rack up a couple accomplishments—or, hell, evenone. Time to get her shit together.
But Mac wasn’t like her sisters. She didn’t make things happen like Rory. She didn’t work her ass off for them like Will, mostly because she didn’t knowwhatshe wanted. And, as much as she wished it were true, she didn’t not give a fuck like her younger sister, Natalie.
So, ofcourse,Hudson would come home without notice. And, of course, he’d do so months ahead of the planned date she’d been simultaneously not watching and obsessing over for the past several years. And, of course, on the day he decided to show up, she’d be wearing a long-sleeved threadbare T-shirt with an owl screen print, its huge eyes placed directly over her boobs, and her holiest jeans that’d give anyone who cared to look a glimpse of her hot pink underwear. Of fucking course.
