I looked at him quizzically, but he smiled. “I ordered some things for delivery when I took Winston out. Can you grab them?”
“Damn you eat a lot,” I quipped. “I might have to get a second job to pay for your groceries.”
“Smartass,” he mumbled as he continued laying out bacon on the cookie sheet.
Winston barked at the door as I reached for the handle. Swinging it open, I found the last thing I expected.
Dare and Greer stood on the porch carrying overnight bags. My best friend turned and smiled at me. “Hey, asshole. We came for the funeral.”
My stupid eyes filled with tears as he pulled me in for a hug.
“You didn’t think I’d let you go through this without me, did you?”
I pulled back and looked at him, my damn eyes leaking. Greer squeezed my shoulder but walked around us to talk to John.
“How did you know we were here?”
He motioned toward John. “Your husband and I texted most of the day yesterday. When I told him we were coming for the service, he said he’d rented this house for a few days and there was room for two more.”
Looking back, I saw John leaning against the counter talking to Greer. When his eyes met mine, he smiled and nodded, making my damn eyes leak again.
“Come on,” Dare said, swinging his arm over my shoulder. “I was promised breakfast and fishing today.”
I laughed and swung my arm around him. “Thank you for coming.”
“You couldn’t have kept me away. And I brought your dress whites. We’re going as motherfucking Navy SEALs.”
We spent the rest of the day relaxing with our friends. We had a good time fishing, and when Greer caught a larger fish than Dare, I thought he'd be irritable. But he wasn't. He was actually proud of him.
Greer and John hit it off immediately. We spent the evening around the fire pit talking and retelling stories about our time in the service.
When our conversation turned toward Portland, Greer gave us a standing invitation to join them in his suite if we wanted to watch the Pirates play.
"My daughter, Laura, works for the Sun Rays. She's a social media guru for them."
Greer brightened at that. “They’re getting a new owner. There’s even talk they may change the name." He leaned over and took Dare's hand. "There’s something to be said for a fresh start. Change is good.”
I looked at John, and couldn’t agree more.
CHAPTER 29
JOHN
I hated funerals.As the leader of a SEAL Team, I attended a lot of them. The worst were the ones when we buried a teammate. And watching my husband bury his father was going to be excruciating.
Brent put up a good front, but under all the outlandish behavior beat the heart of a tender soul. A child who had been weighted down with blame that didn’t fit the size of his shoulders. Once we were out of here, we weren’t coming back.
After shaving, I put on some shorts and gave Winston one last walk outside before we had to leave for the visitation.
Greer and Austin were upstairs getting ready, and Brent was in the shower. I wanted to give him some private time to release some emotions before I smothered him with love.
When I walked back in with Winston, Dare was coming down the stairs. Freshly shaved and wearing his dress whites, he looked like he was still in service.
“Looking sharp. Any tight buttons?
He chuckled and ran his hand down his uniform. “I was worried, especially after the honeymoon. We ate more than we should have, but the food in Costa Rica was so damn good.”
I smiled, a bit worried about my own. “I can’t thank you enough for coming and bringing the uniforms. He needed you.”
