Jayson stopped his statement in its tracks when he saw the look in his friend’s eyes. He’d seen the child himself.
“H-how old?”
“She’s seven, I believe the Sunny chick said. The little girl has your eyes and hair. Everything else is all Lana. Even her attitude.” Peter chuckled as he took a sip of his beer.
“I never cheated on her. She never gave me a chance to prove where I was when Aleman accused me of knocking her up. The fact she didn’t trust me is what broke me the most.”
“Did they ever find out who the real daddy of that bitch’s baby was?”
Jayson stared into his beer for several minutes as he fought his emotions at the news he’d just learned. He had a kid…with Lana.
“Um, yeah. Turns out she was banging a guy in another battalion, along with two of his teammates. She saw me and that guy talking one day and set sights on me. When I ignored her and paid her no attention it made her more determined to nail me.”
“She ever get into trouble?” Peter pressed on as he took another sip of his beer.
“Yeah. She had violated the R.O. I had on her before Lana left me to tell Lana she was knocked up by me. When the X.O. found out, she was arrested, and court martialed. She was dishonorably discharged.”
“Did Lana ever try to reach out to you after she left?”
Jayson looked at his best friend for several seconds. “No. She never reached out and I didn’t change my number until I was forced to by the Army because Aleman kept calling me.”
“Damn, I’m sorry. What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know yet. I’m debating on waiting to see what Christy says then go from there.”
“She doesn’t know you’re back in town. She thinks you’re still in the Army. I didn’t tell her otherwise and neither did Nan.”
Jayson looked over at Peter to gauge what he was implying. Lana didn’t know he was back in Hellburn Falls.
Guess when he shows up out of the blue it will be a shock to her then. Serves her right he guessed.
Crystal Mackensie stood on the street corner giggling with her best friend. Her parents thought she was staying the night at Stacie’s house, while the Millers thought Stacie was staying at her house.
The truth was that the girls were meeting up with a college guy that Stacie had been talking to on the internet. Their parents were worried about stuff like that because of a couple of other girls that had gotten snatched after lying about their whereabouts to their parents.
Amateurs. She and Stacie were pros at this kind of thing.
“I’m so nervous,” Stacie Miller huffed as she looked around.
“Relax. I’m here. That’s what best friends are for.” Crystal patted her best friend’s arm as she too looked around at their surroundings.
Both girls watched as a van pulled up to the curb. When the side panel door opened, the girls waved at the guy whointroduced himself as Chad, Dave’s best friend, and gave them room to jump in.
CHAPTER
FIVE
Lana listened as Christy spoke about what her father’s last wishes were upon his death. Both women were at the funeral home her father had chosen to do said wishes.
While her father still wanted to be cremated, he’d added a memorial service to be done at least three days after the date of his death. Then he wanted his ashes to be buried at the same grave spot as his wife’s in Arlington National Cemetery.
Once they were done setting up the memorial, she now needed to call and make the final arrangements as requested. Looks like she was going to be longer than she’d anticipated.
“Would you like me to handle letting everyone know about the memorial service?”
“Um, yeah. That’s fine. I need to call Arlington to make the arrangements for his final resting spot. I also have to let my captain know my leave is going to be a little bit longer.”
“I’m here if you need anything. It’s good to see you, Lana. I’m sorry it’s under these circumstances.”
