The mood eventually lifted and soon they were all laughing again, thanks to Jake and Rachael.
“So,” Jake said to Wolf, “you’re telling me your name is not the badass thing I thought it was? That it’s from that old Duran Duran song? Brother, I like you even more now!”
“I’ll have to add it to my set on Saturday,” Rachael added. “Just for you.”
“God, please don’t.” Wolf laughed.
“God, please do,” Caroline laughed.
Kyle announced it was time to fire up the grill for dinner and the women went into the kitchen to prepare the sides, which was apparently code for opening up a bottle of wine and talking some more. Kyle was all set with a cooler full of beers outside.
Wolf approached Brock as he swigged his beer. “So you’re a Swick, huh?”
“That’s right. I used to pull you SEALs out of the shit.”
Wolf grinned. “That’s what you river rats think? Truth is, we feel sorry for you playing in your boats all day with nothing else to do, so we humor you and pretend to get in the shit.”
Brock laughed. “You keep thinking that, brother.”
Wolf turned serious. “You okay, man?”
“Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?” Brock took another swig.
“It’s hard losing a teammate. That first anniversary’s a special bitch, especially when you’re going through it alone.”
Brock frowned. “I’m not.” He gestured at the house. “I’m here with the last of Sean’s family.”
“But the rest of the team isn’t here, man. What happened? You the only one who got out after that?”
How to explain?“There’s always that one guy on the team, you know? The one who holds it all together. Sean was that guy. He was smart as hell, funny, loved being on the river. He was my best friend, the one guy who never got sick of my shit.” He drained the rest of his beer and dropped the bottle into a bucket with the other empties. It banged and clinked against the other cans and bottles too loudly, making Kyle and Jake look up momentarily from the grill. Camo trotted over to inspect the problem.
Brock scratched the dog’s ears and waited until Kyle and Jake went back to talking. “Sean’s death rocked all of us, but I was done after that.” He left out the looks his teammates gave him after that day, and the reasons why. “I’ve kept in touch with my brothers, but you know how it is when you’re out and you’ve still got teammates in. You drift. You can’t talk about missions anymore.”
Wolf finished his beer and set the bottle in the bucket. “So joining up with Watchdog musta been a Godsend.”
“You said it, brother. Good to be back on a team.” Brock lowered his voice. “Arden claims the house is haunted by her great-great-great-grandmother. I’ve never seen any old lady ghost, but.” He shook his head. “Don’t laugh, but I can feelSeanhere sometimes, you know?”
“I’d never laugh at that.” Wolf popped open another beer. “Word of advice about the woman you met today though? Life’s for the living. Some men laugh at the idea of love at first sight, but I can tell you that when it’s right it doesn’t take long at all. That’s what happened with me and Caroline. I can see it in your eyes, brother—this woman’s gotten to you. Don’t let that go. And don’t look back at the past with regret. I can see that in your eyes, too.”
“I don’t intend to.” At least that was a partial truth. He didn’t know how to begin letting go of his regret. But he wasn’t going to let it bring him down, not today. Tomorrow, he’d keep an eye on Brianna and look for an opportunity to spend some alone time with her.
Chapter 5
Okay, this is itBrianna thought to herself as she stood on the wooden stage and looked out at the crowd of fellow musicians watching her and waiting expectantly.Here’s where the rubber hits the road and I either kill it or die a fool trying. No pressure, Bri, just your favorite new singer sitting in the front row, ready to critique you.
Brianna had lucked out the day before and didn’t have to play. After Brock walked her to the farm, she dragged her feet getting to the pavilion where everyone else was gathered. Not that she wasn’t excited—she was nearly bursting out of her skin with anticipation—but she still wasn’t ready to play, despite Brock’s help. She tried to keep in mind the look on his face when she’d finished her set. She didn’t think he could fake that enthusiasm, even if he was interested in her beyond just the music—and that she knew for sure. Brock wasinterested.
She’d walked around the wooden wall of the pavilion to where it was open to the elements and stepped into the beautiful, controlled chaos of musicians doing what they loved. Fiddlers, banjoists, mandolin players, guitarists, and singers stood around in clusters talking, or off to one side tuning or playing. A couple of the instructors—locals—were already there, including Anthony Silver on the fiddle. God, the man could play. Second to Rachael Collins, Brianna was excited just to talk to him, let alone learn from him. He was speaking to her ‘competition’—one woman and one man, both holding their fiddles and nodding vigorously.
Brianna recognized the man and cringed. Jerold Glass. He was a regular customer at Riversong, constantly pestering her Uncle Sonny to let him play on the little makeshift improv stage and pretty much treating her family like crap otherwise. Brianna took a deep breath and smiled. He probably wouldn’t even recognize her even though she knew his order by heart—americano, but not too hot, one-third water and make sure it’s not tap water don’t lie to me about it because I’ll taste the difference, a dash of oat milk but notthatbrand, oversized cup, and can you hurry because I’m busy.
And she was right; he didn’t recognize her, not at first, though he did look at her like she reminded him of someone. Anthony Silver, on the other hand, smiled back.
“Brianna. Good, you’re here. Was that you practicing by the river?”
Her heart jumped into her throat. Not only did one of her heroes already know her by name, but he’d heard her playing. “Hi. Yes, that was me.”
He smiled wider. “Next time, please, grace us with your presence here in the pavilion. We like to keep things friendly and cooperative. You’ll all be learning together this week. No need to be bashful. Unless you just like playing beside the river, which we’ll be doing as well.”
