I pull away, but leave my arm around Jess’ waist. “I’ve seen you kiss Becky when you’re on duty, lots of times.”
“She’s my wife, and I outrank you,” he says. He smiles at Jess. “It’s good to see you.”
“Good to see you too, Bryan.” She hooks her fingers in my belt loop. “How are your boys?”
“Crazy as usual. You should come over while you’re here. Becky would love to see you.” He looks at me. “Do you two want to come over for dinner?”
“We can’t. Jess’ brother would kill me if we deserted him tonight. We’re getting close to finishing the car. We'll probably know tonight if all the work we’ve done is for nothing.”
Jasmine pulls Stevie out of the stroller. As soon as he’s free, he heads for the Humvee. I catch him on the way, pick him up, and hold him above my head with one hand. “Say Uncle Jake.”
He squeals and kicks his legs.
“Say it.”
“You’d better put him down,” Jasmine says. “He just ate. He might throw up on you.”
I bring him down to face level. “Un-cle Jay-ake.”
He mumbles something that sounds more like “bumba bake." I tell him, "good job" and put him down. Then, I follow him to the Humvee and help him in.
Stevie pushes the buttons and says, “Tuk, tuk.” Jess looks inside the Humvee, but I don’t think she’s watching him. I put my arm around her waist.
“Do you know where they were sitting?” She asks suddenly. “Where Matt and Gage were when the grenade hit them?”
I avoid her eyes. I’ve looked into the report, so I know exactly what happened, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to fill her in on the specifics.
She puts her hand on my face and turns my chin toward her. “I want to know.”
I take a breath. “Matt was the gunner, so he was sitting here. Gage was on the left, behind the driver.”
She touches the seat where Matt would have been. “Where did the grenade hit them?”
“Left and back. They’ve ramped up the armor since then. An explosion like that now probably wouldn’t…” I stop when I see the look on her face.
“Did you see them? After they were killed, did you see them?”
“I was flown over by helicopter for the unit memorial service. I was there when they loaded the coffins onto the plane.”
“So you didn’t see what they looked like after?”
I shake my head.
She steps back. “I started my ER rotation last week. The first night they brought in a sixteen-year-old who’d been in a car accident—totally torn apart. I couldn’t help but think about…” She shakes her head. “I don’t think I would have wanted to see them, but sometimes I wonder if it would have been easier to say goodbye if I'd seen Matt’s face.”
I pull her against my chest and kiss her forehead. She leans there for a long time.
Jasmine is talking with the other guys. Post-baby, Jaz looks good. She has on a low-cut blouse and tight jeans, normal for her. I watch the guys close, feeling protective of Jaz, like she really was my sister. Jess looks up and follows my gaze.
“Maybe I should warn her about those guys. They’re a bunch of dogs.”
“Maybe we should have warned her more about Gage. Not that I didn’t try.” She takes a breath. “Don’t worry about Jasmine. Being a mom has changed a lot of things about her. She’s too smart to get mixed up with guys like that.”
Jasmine walks over like she knows we’re talking about her. She pulls a camera out of her diaper bag. I set Stevie on the hood of the Humvee, and we all stand in front of it while Bryan takes our picture. “For your parents,” she says. She picks up Steve and wrestles him into his stroller. “We need to get going, Jess. He needs a nap.”
I kiss Jess lightly on the lips. “Tell Ty I’ll be over as soon as I’m done here.”
“Love ya,” she says. I watch her walk away.
