Her fingers find mine and clench around them. “Then tell them your story, Charlie. They’ll be just as proud of you as I am.”
* * *
After helping clear up dinner, I move to stand between the enormous tree and the grand fireplace.
This is where truths are told in this home and I’m about to add mine.
For better or worse.
All these years since I first met Phil, Cassidy, Emily, Alison, Corinna, and Holly, and I’m about to lift the lid off my own simmering pot of secrets.
Bodies shift. Chairs scrape.
Conversations trail off.
One by one, every set of eyes focus on me. I can only imagine what they’re thinking—this loud, loyal, impossibly beautiful family who has built me into the best version of myself. A version I never knew existed.
The version I was able to give to Rhoswen.
She’s as close to me as possible—at the end of the sectional, squished up next to Cassidy, Em standing behind her, and Philat her feet. She’s about as protected as she can be without me actually being at her side.
She’s trying to look composed, but after the past year of loving her, I know her tells. Her fingers twist together anxiously in her lap. Her brows are drawn together, furrowed in a deep V.
Catching her eye, I mouthI love you.
That causes her expression to smooth out. Her lips curve as she mouthsI love youback at me.
The pressure in my chest releases. She has no idea that her quiet strength is giving me the final momentum to share my story.
I’ve made mistakes. I’ve taken oaths, broken them for good reason. But with Rhoswen? The vow I intend to take will be the last of its kind.
That is, if she’ll have me after hearing me repeat this story.
I clear my throat, the sound echoing in the vast room. “This isn’t going to be easy for me to tell. And parts of it won’t be easy for many of you to remember.”
The Freeman siblings exchange silent glances with one another, twisting and turning until each has met the eyes of the other five. I wait for them to give me their silent go ahead. Keene sits up as if he’s prepared to jump me to stop talking.
Good. It’s his big mouth that started this dumpster fire to begin with. “Also, if you have questions about anything I say, you don’t ask Rhoswen; you come to me.”
The room stills, including my woman. Just when she’s about to protest, I lift a hand. “The pieces of my life led me to her, but the shadows belong to me.”
The men I helped guide from stupidity to manhood all shoot me looks of respect. The women wear expressions of varying degrees of outrage. I expected nothing less. Exhaling slowly, I draw in warmth from the fireplace letting it remind me of the unbearable days I spent at NAB Coronado. “For years, many of you have heard rumors about the man I used to be—a Navy SEAL. That is, before I went to work for Lasky Investigations.”
My namesake, Cassidy and Caleb’s youngest, raises his hand. “What’s Lasky Investigations?”
Jon answers before I can. “It’s the company Dad and Uncle Keene bought and turned into Hudson Investigations, moron. Stop reading StellaNova and maybe…”
“Jon,” my voice comes out as a sharp warning.
He ducks his head, chastised. “Right. Sorry Uncle Charlie. Sorry Chuck.”
“I can’t really get into my time as a SEAL except to say I blew through too many marriages when I was one.”
Phil opens his mouth and drawls, “Young, dumb, and…”
“Too committed to the SEALs to be a good husband? Yes.” I stop him from vocalizing the truth even though by the twinkle in his eyes, he knows he’s right. Judging by the ripple of laughter in the room, so does everyone else. Once again, the room quiets as everyone settles.
They’re ready for me to continue.
