I stepped out of the car, grabbed my cover, slipping it on my head before straightening my uniform. Thankfully, the uniform of the day was the Blue Dress D, khaki shirt, and navy pants with the blood stripe and not my cammies. I doubted this area saw much camouflage.
At the door, sounds of a gathering floated toward me from the rear of the house, and I sighed, turning to leave. Yeah, not happening. I knew the crowd invited to gatherings like this and I had no desire to rub elbows with the likes of them again. I spun around and headed for my car.
“Hayden? Is that you?”
Fuck!
My lungs expanded as I sucked in a deep breath before turning to greet whoever blocked my retreat. “Heidi, right?”
“Yeah! It’s great to see you, but…” Her brow furrowed as she glanced around. “Where’s Declan?”
I huffed a laugh and said, “I was hoping he’d be here.”
“But how did you get here before him?”
I wiped my hand over my cheek and mouth, then swiped my lips with my thumb. “I’m not following.”
“Declan, he went to the dock to meet the boat.”
Exasperation flooded my system, and I swallowed the scream of frustration that bubbled up within me. “How did he know?”
“Oh, look! There he is. I’ll leave y’all alone to reconnect without an audience. Everyone’s so excited to meet you.”
Meet me?
26
DECLAN
Irushed through the gates at the dock, worried I’d be late. I was fucking livid Hayden hadn’t told me when they were returning. I’d only learned about it because of a news story the night before. We’d been emailing back and forth regularly without any issues, so I didn’t know why he hadn’t said anything.
When I ranted last night, Walker reminded me I needed to at least join the social media group for his unit and the boat he was assigned to. I knew I did, but I felt weird doing it. It was stupid and illogical, but it felt like I’d be the token gay guy in a WAGs group. Statistics told me that was idiotic, but I couldn’t get my head out of my ass.
Now, I was kicking myself because I didn’t know all the details I needed to know until the last minute. A chopper lifted off from the deck of the ship just as I merged with the frenzied chaos of the crowd. There was a band playing, children screaming, crying, and laughing as adults were doing the same, and while I’d never experienced anxiety in my life, this was close to pushing me into a full-blown attack.
I waited and watched, but the tall, muscular man I married never walked off the ship. I pulled out my phone, dialing his number, but it rolled to voicemail immediately. Sighing, I glanced around, searching for him, but he’s not here.
I turn to walk away when someone taps my shoulder. A gunnery sergeant stands before me, and his face fades from anticipation to apology.
“Sorry, sir, you looked like someone I know.”
I laughed, trying to cover up my disappointment. “No worries.” Scanning the crowd again, I sighed and turned to walk away, but turned back. “You wouldn’t happen to know Sergeant Marin, would you? Hayden Marin?”
“Yes, sir.”
“You wouldn’t happen to know where he is, would you? Is he still onboard?” I asked, glancing up at the amphib docked in front of us.
“I do. Can I ask who you might be?”
Fuck. I didn’t know if he’d told anyone about me,us.
His face split into a grin as he snapped his fingers, then pointed at me. “You’re the care package guy.”
Heat fills my chest, neck, and cheeks at the label, but I ignore it, praying it will go away before anyone figures out it’s not the sun.
“He’s not here. The unit that deployed before the float flew back to Pendleton.”
“Dammit. Looks like I’ll head to Pendleton.”
