CHAPTER ONE
Wilde
“Yes,sir. I’ll have the reports done for you by mid-week. I’m waiting on a few more audits.” I clicked over to a new screen on my computer, and my eyes scanned the words, the back of my eyelids burning.
I couldn’t wait to close them later.
“Perfect. Have a great weekend, Colonel Simmons. It’s going to be a snowy one.”
I chuckled. “Now General Manley, why did you have to remind of that?”
“Make sure you gas up that snowmobile!”
“Oh, I will. Otis is already barking at me to get out in the snow.”
“As Goldies do. Over and out.”
I hung up the phone on my desk and clicked out of the report screen. Grabbing my phone, I pulled up the weather app and sure enough, a major storm was developing, a few feet of snow possible. I swear, sometimes these storms come out of nowhere.Good thing I was always prepared come winter, something the military instilled in me from a young age.
After cleaning up my desk, I scrolled social media, killing the time until I could leave. I was looking forward to a quiet weekend of snow, my dog, Otis, and maybe some snowmobiling, weather permitting. When the snow came down hard and fast and the wind whipped around, it wasn’t ideal riding. I’d learned that lesson the hard way.
My cell phone buzzed on my desk, and my sister’s name and face filled the screen. “Hey Elena, what’s up?”
“Wilde. My eldest brother. How do you do?”
I chuckled. “Yourfavoritebrother, you mean? I’m doing just fine, and yourself?”
“Good. Ready for a quiet weekend with myself and my book. But I wanted to check in. We haven’t spoken in a bit.”
“I know. It’s been crazy at work. All the beginning of the year crap, with taxes and reports coming out of my ass. Fun stuff. I was hoping we could catch up over dinner. I’ll cook.”
“Perfect. How’s tonight?”
“Are you missing me that much, sis?”
“Sure am. Just figured I’m free tonight. Why not?”
“Okay. I have a pot roast in the crock pot. Does that work?”
“Look at you being all domesticated and shit. Since when do you own a crock pot?”
“Since forever. It saves a ton of time.”
“I’ll be there for six. And there better be mashed potatoes.”
“What’s pot roast without mashed potatoes?”
Later that night, after a run with Otis and a hot shower, I boiled some potatoes and prepped broccoli, sprinkling it with oil and seasonings. I didn’t always know how to cook well, but after living on my own and getting sick of takeout food and how expensive it was, I learned by watching YouTube videos, and now I cooked more than I ate out. My parents taught me a fewthings, but they were busy with jobs and raising children, like my sister, fourteen years younger than me and needing a lot of care still.
After high school, I quickly joined the military, and I had no choice but to grow up and learn how to care for myself.
It was one of the best things I ever did.
“Woof, woof.” Otis barked and spun in circles by the front door, his signal someone was here.
Less than a minute later, my sister walked through the door, a tray in one hand. Her warm smile filled my cabin, and I pulled her into a hug while Otis danced at our feet.
“I feel like you’re taller every time I see you,” Elena said as she handed me a chocolate cream pie. “Can’t show up without dessert, bro.”
