Her fingers trembled as she lifted her phone and sent a text to Art.
Elle: I’m sorry, my friend took my phone and sent that last message. They thought it was funny or something. How about Saturday for our first date?
CHAPTER 9
“Uncle Jace, can I ask you a question?”
He smiled down at his eight-year-old niece. He’d spent his Saturday night crashing Eastern, Sadie and Avery’s dinner at the local Italian restaurant, and he didn’t feel bad about it at all. Of course, he’d pushed for ice cream for dessert, and Avery had been in full support.
“Shoot.”
“Do you think you’ll have kids one day?”
Whatever he’d thought she’d ask, it wasn’t that. But then, maybe it should have been. She’d already asked if he planned to get married, how many girlfriends he’d had, and whether he had one right now.
“I don’t know, kid. Maybe, if the right woman should be so lucky.” He grinned at her, not missing the eye roll from Eastern.
A little girl with gray eyes and dark hair flashed in his mind.
He shook his head, needing to get that image out of his head because it would drive him crazy.
Avery nodded. “Good. Because I want cousins like my friend Quinn at school, but Daddy said I might be waiting a while.”
Jace shot a look at Eastern, who simply lifted a shoulder. He was holding Sadie’s hand and the two of them looked too damn cute. “I’m putting my money on Kay and Tilly being the first.”
Sadie shook her head. “No, I think Cody and Harper.”
Avery jumped up and down. “I know! They can have babies at the same time and grow up like sisters.”
“Or brothers,” Eastern cut in.
Avery wrinkled her nose. “I want girl cousins.”
They’d just reached the ice cream shop when Jace’s phone rang. His muscles tensed when he saw who it was. AJ, a member of his former team. For a moment, he just stared at the cell, memories he preferred to keep buried crawling to the surface. It was only Eastern grabbing his shoulder that pulled him out of it.
His brother frowned at him. “Hey. You coming in?”
He looked at the ice cream shop. “You go. I’ll take this call real quick.”
“I’ll choose Uncle Jace’s flavor,” Avery said, already tugging her father toward the door. “I’m good at choosing flavors.”
“Pick me a good one,” Jace called.
Avery’s grin widened, and Eastern gave him one last look before stepping into the shop with Sadie.
Jace took a breath before answering the call. “AJ, hey. How are you doing?”
“Good, brother. Just got home from a trip. I wanted to check in. None of us have heard from you for a while.”
Jace ran his fingers through his hair, knowing he should have reached out at least once by now, since leaving the Air Force. “Sorry. I’ve been busy getting settled back into my hometown.”
“So you’renotavoiding us because of what happened to Dean?”
Looked like Avery wasn’t the only straight shooter tonight.
A part of him wanted to lie. To tell AJ he was fine and that the mission was behind him. But he’d never lied to a teammate before and he didn’t plan to start now.
“I’m angry,” he said quietly.
