CHAPTER ONE
Mitchell Jordan, Mitch to friends and family, watched his brother dance with his new wife. He liked Lennon. She was perfect for Brooks. She was beautiful, smart, brave, and made his brother happy. He could feel it. He could feel the peace that his brother was now feeling.
Across the room, his sister, Marissa was dancing with her husband, Joey Dougall. Joey was a long-time friend of theirs and they trusted him as much as they trusted one another.
Being a triplet afforded a lot of opportunities. Having an identical triplet brother made it even better. They often swapped places in school, during athletics, even on a few dates. They’d been hyper-protective of Marissa when she was younger but the guys soon learned their sister was tough as nails and didn’t need a lot of their protection.
At another table, his younger triplet brothers, Cooper, Levi, and Caleb were fighting over who was going to dance with Hadleigh Carson, Major and Elena’s daughter, and Pearl and Amy Slater, Brix and Daphne’s daughters.
He shook his head laughing, realizing that his brothers hadn’t figured out that it wasn’t up to them. It was up to the girls. Hadleigh stepped forward staring at the three teens, although they looked like grown men.
“Hey, Hadleigh,” smiled Cooper. “You wanna dance?”
“No, thank you,” she said with a shy smile.
She walked past him and headed straight to Logan Anders, Rush and Caroline’s son. He was at least six years older than Hadleigh but she didn’t seem to care. She politely asked him to dance and he smiled, calling her kiddo which annoyed her. But he stood taking her hand and twirling her around the dance floor.
Mitch felt sorry for his brothers. He stood and walked over to their table where they were still bickering with one another.
“If you snooze, you lose,” said Mitch. “If you like one of the girls just ask her to dance or better yet, just go talk to her. They’re all beautiful and they won’t sit there alone for long. Hadleigh is a year older than you guys. She’s in college. She’s not going to be interested in high school boys.”
“What do you know?” frowned Caleb. “You’re sitting all alone.”
Mitch’s face fell into a sad, a little angry, expression. He nodded at his little brother and started to walk away.
“Mitch!” he said grabbing his arm. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. I’m just frustrated.”
“I know,” he nodded. “And you’re right. I’m sitting alone because I haven’t met anyone that I want to get to know better or that I feel like is the right girl for me.”
He pulled out a chair and sat down with his little brothers.
“See, just because you’re good-looking guys, big, strong, all that stuff, girls will want to go out with you. The question you need to ask yourself is if that girl is worth your time and effort. Is she someone you would be proud to bring home to mom? Does she make you feel good about yourself? Does she make you a better man? Does she open your eyes to things you’ve never seen before?”
“Wh-what if you like her but she’s asking to do things you might not be ready for?” asked Levi. Mitch frowned, turning to look at the young women at the other table. “Oh! Oh, no! Not one of them. Someone at school.”
“That girls sounds like trouble to me, Levi. She knows who you are, who your family is and where we live. She’s looking for an easy way out of whatever life she currently has, or it’s possible that she just enjoys more intimacy than you. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that but you’ve got a lot of time to figure that out and if becoming a SEAL is in your plan, you need to tap the brakes on that shit right now.”
Levi nodded at his older brother and smiled.
“Thanks, Mitch.”
He stood and walked to the other table, taking a seat beside Amy and Pearl. He had a big smile and started talking about school and the upcoming summer. Mitch grinned at Caleb and Cooper and they both stood up to join their triplet.
Caleb stopped next to his older brother and put his hand on his shoulder.
“Thank you for that, Mitch. We respect you and Brooks so much and we’ve missed having you around. I hope you find the girl you need.”
“Me too, Caleb,” he laughed.
“Hi, sweetie,” smiled Ramey as she took the seat next to him. “Having fun?”
“Sure. I’m having fun, Mom,” he smiled.
“I heard what you said to your brothers. Thank you. They’ve missed having you and Brooks here to ask ‘big boy’ questions to. They forget that they have dozens of others. They just want the two of you.”
“I’m happy to speak with them any time.” He looked down at the table, spinning a spoon in big circles. Ramey reached over and stopped it from spinning.
“Give it time, Mitch,” she smiled.
