Page 6 of Remade
Ryan sighed a little, and he looked wistful. “He was big on family. Always herding us together and making sure we included Lias—that’s our youngest brother. Our folks had him much later.” He showed me another photo, and this one nearly broke me all over again. “Then they adopted two sisters, Willow and Elise, and they wrapped us all around their fingers. They were about to start first grade when this was taken.”
In the picture, Dad was…well, college age, and he had one girl thrown over his shoulder, and the other was laughing and trying to save her sister. Or reaching for her anyway.
“He looks happy,” I said quietly.
Ryan nodded with a dip of his chin. “Those girls brought out his protectiveness. Hell, they had that effect on all of us. They’re autistic—and Willow, especially…she needed more help. She and Jake formed a bond. They were real close. When he was home, she wanted him to take her to school.” He cleared his throat. “A while after he’d died, Willow told us he’d leave her little notes around the house—and in her school bag—to find when he was away. Just…little warrior motivation to boost her confidence. Stand your ground, bullies are meant to be defeated, tell Ethan if anyone’s ever mean to you… Ethan got in a lot of fights in those days. He’d drive over to kids’ parents and yell at them for raising little fuckups.”
I pressed my lips together as more tears welled up.
The last photo he showed me was of Dad in combat gear, and it looked like it’d been taken overseas. Desert all around.
“He talked a lot about having his own family one day, but he never brought anyone home to our folks,” Ryan said. “I think that’s why I remember him mentionin’ your ma. It was so unlike him.” Then he let out a chuckle. “It does, however, make perfectsense that he met someone and needed several years to realize that it could be more than a fling.”
Fuck, this hurt. He should’ve realized that sooner!
Damn you, Dad.
“Did he ever live around here?” I asked hoarsely.
He shook his head. “No. He came out to see Darius, that’s all. Jake was… I don’t know, he floundered a bit. First, he wanted to be an engineer or somethin’, and then he changed his mind, quit school, and moved home to work odd jobs. Then he decided to become a teacher and went back to school.”
In the end, he’d joined the Army. He’d enlisted roughly a year after I’d been born.
“Did he join the Army because of 9/11?”
Ryan nodded once. “It was the last straw, if nothing else. He’d been thinkin’ about the Army for a while.”
I released a breath and cleared my throat.
“If you give me your number, I can send you what I have of Jake,” he said. “Just remember that each photo comes with a story, so it’s in your best interest to stay in touch frequently.”
I choked out a laugh and grinned up at him. “That has the potential to sound like a threat.”
He smirked. “Like a proper family with Catholic roots, in other words. Just wait till Ma gets to know you. She practically guilted me into moving my entire family back to Washington.”
“Really?” I snickered. It sounded like Beckett’s grandmother.
“Maybe I’m exaggerating a pinch,” he chuckled. “But she did play her part.”
I hoped she did that with me too. Not that I could see myself leaving NoVa, but I wouldn’t mind visiting their town in Washington a lot.
“Where did you live before?” I wondered.
“San Francisco,” he said. “I opened a bar there right after I separated from the Marines. I wasn’t ready to move back home, but the Bay Area climate suited me better than Pendleton.”
I could imagine. My only trip to the West Coast had been a training rotation to Fort Irwin in the middle of fucking nowhere in California. The nearest city had been Barstow.
“I was at Fort Irwin for three sweaty weeks once,” I said. “Army’s asshole.”
He laughed. “NTC before deployment?”
“I wish. I never really deployed. I had a nine-month stint in Germany because we were doing a bunch of NATO exercises, but that’s it.”
He handed me his phone after adding a new contact so I could insert my number. “Well. At the risk of bein’ a hypocrite, I’m glad you’re a peacetime soldier. I know Jake would be too. We put our folks through hell.”
Yeah, I guess.
I shrugged and returned his phone. “I don’t have a big family. I’d be perfect for long-term deployments.”
