“I love you, too. Break a string, or whatever it is they say for good luck.”
Brianna laughed. “I don’t need luck. I have you.” She turned and joined up with the other contestants to learn the songs she’d play for the other band. Brock watched her walk barefoot through the soft green grass, her long hippie skirt swinging, and thoughtthis would be a perfect place to get married.
His heart skipped. Never in his life had he given thought to marriage. Not in any relationship he’d ever had. Being a Swick made it impractical. He’d seen too many of his buddies lose wives who couldn’t hack the demands on a military family. Now that he was out, things were different and he wouldn’t have to put a woman through months of not knowing where he was, if he was alive or dead. He knew though that even if he were still in the life, he’d ask Brianna to marry him. No way was he going to spend the rest of his life without her at his side.
Guess I’ll be asking Kyle where I can find the best jewelry store around here.
* * *
The debriefing was happening at the ranch instead of the security station this morning for privacy—hard to get that in an open-to-the-air building with a few thousand festival-goers walking by. Tex had some more information and Brock was eager to hear what the man had to say.
Brock knocked on the front door before letting himself in—which was their way at the ranch; layers of security kept the place safe, and everyone who came to the door was considered a friend. Good smells reached his nose first, and the house had the atmosphere of a party more than a workplace. Everyone was breathing easier now that Jerold Glass was in custody.
He found everyone gathered at the long farmhouse table enjoying breakfast. Arden sat at the head—the ranch was hers, after all—with Kyle at her side. Wolf and Caroline sat beside each other across from Jake and Rachael, who looked no worse for the wear. Camo did ‘crumb patrol’ around the perimeter and under the table. As highly-trained as he was, the amazing dog was in the end a Lab and that was one breed of dogs that never missed a meal if they could help it.
“Have a seat, Badger,” Arden said, getting up from her place to give him a hug and grab a carafe of freshly-made coffee from the kitchen peninsula. “Help yourself.” She went around the table refilling mugs, Camo at her heels. Brock speared a couple pieces of bacon with his fork and dropped them next to a stack of pancakes on his plate. The breakfast burrito from the festival was good, but nothing in the world compared to Arden’s pancakes.
“How are you feeling?” Brock asked Jake and Rachael.
“I’m all right,” Rachael said. She tapped her chest. “Just a little sore here, that’s all.”
“Really?” Jake asked. “Because I feel like I just went over a cliff in a van.” He winked. “Naw, I’m okay.” He held up his left arm so Brock could see the bandage covering a patch of skin on the inside of his arm. “Just a little burn from the bag going off, but the massive headache is gone. Turns out I’m allergic to the crap they put in the bags. That’s why I felt woozy.”
“Sodium azide can be rough on the lungs, too,” Caroline said. “You’re lucky you didn’t breathe more of it in.”
“My woman knows her chemistry,” Wolf said, a huge smile on his face.
Jake nodded. “We’re also lucky we had Brianna on board.She was a regular Unsinkable Molly Brown, taking charge and making sure everyone was okay while I was still half out of it, then keeping Twila calm throughout. I kept thinking that girl was gonna lose it whenever she said anything, her voice was so shaky, but Brianna grounded her every single time.” He grinned at Brock. “You could do way worse than a woman like that.”
“And she saved my life the day before,” Rachael said. “If she hadn’t acted fast and gotten me out of the way of that car, I’d be flat right now.”
“She needs a nickname,” Caroline said.
Wolf laughed and put his arm around her. “You mean like yours, Ice?” Then he told everyone how Caroline had earned her nickname the day she saved Wolf and two of his teammates. Already pretty high, Brock’s esteem for the quiet little woman rose exponentially.
Blushing after her husband’s retelling, Caroline said, “So she needs something cool like that, something that reflects what she did.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Brock said. “I’ll have to give it some thought.”
“I might be able to help with musical references.Maybesong lyrics,” Jake said and everyone laughed.
“Wait, I’ve got it,” Caroline said. “What about Lifesaver?”
Being a former Swick, Brock’s first thought was of a life preserver. But then it switched to the little candies. He grinned and noticed everyone else was smiling too.
“I like it,” Rachael said. “Because she’s sweet, too. So which flavor would she be?”
Brock tried his best not to burst out laughing. There was only one flavor for Brianna—cherry.
Kyle caught him though. “Anything you wanna share there, brother?” he razzed.
“Oh hell no.”
His boss laughed. “We’ll have just enough time to get to the festival to see her this morning if Tex calls in the next few minutes,”
“Caroline and I have been looking forward to it since yesterday,” Wolf said.
“Lyons is beautiful,” Caroline added.
