Hard Days Knight: Under-Cover Knights, Book 1 (11 page)

L
uc sighed
. “Rachel’s son. He’s in Afghanistan. They told him he was coming home and then apparently there was some glitch two weeks ago. She’s been stressing ever since. Mom tried to find out using her connections, but no luck.”

Alicia stood at the kitchen door. “Everybody file in and bow your heads. Ms. Eme will give the blessing. Then y’all start over here at this end and go that way and out the side door to the porch.”

In fifteen minutes, many of the pots and serving bowls were emptied and a quieter group of Larues littered the backyard. Del wondered if this was a typical family reunion, having only been to the Burke and O’Malley backyard barbeques. The Larue traditions, everything from the family dynamics to the enormous spread of food and “No Rules baby football” spoke of generations in the making, and all apparently without a main matriarchal figure guiding it at first. Luc said Sam had been his stay at home “mom”. Amazing.

French manicured nails appeared and combed through the long strands of Luc’s hair. “I love my boy’s hair, don’t you, Delilah?”

“Mom, I’m not Samson and Del’s not going to slip in and cut my hair in the middle of the night. Wait—I thought you liked my service cut, high and tight they used to call it.”

“Honey, you always did just exactly opposite of what your sisters and I suggested, so what could I do? Promise me, now that you’re grown you won’t react by cutting it. I think long hair on a man is quite virile. I’m still trying to get your father to grow his a little longer.”

Luc looked at his mother like she had three heads. Victoria and Del laughed at his expression.

Sam hollered, “You ladies did great on the grub, especially that alligator stew. Luc, Joe, Mitch, let’s go.” He bounded off the steps toward the back lawn.

Victoria pushed Luc toward the steps. “Go help your dad with the field setup. I’ll visit with Del.”

Victoria sat in Luc’s chair when he walked out to the yard to help Sam place markers for the adults’ game. “I’m so glad you could come, Del. This is the best time to see our family as they really are with all the warts and freckles.” She laughed, “Freckles being a good thing.”

She glanced at her oldest daughter who sat staring into the distance. “My poor Rachel. I know how she feels. She won’t be able to sleep until she sees her son home and safe.”

Del smiled at Luc’s mother. She really was stunningly beautiful. She found it hard to picture Victoria as an officer in the Navy, someone who directed men on the battlefield. No, it wasn’t that. She certainly possessed the self-discipline, intelligence and leadership qualities to command the respect of both sexes. It was the fact that she seemed like she’d been doing her current job, ‘mothering’ for lack of a better term as if it was the most natural thing to her—like she was two different women. But that was the great thing about this era, she thought. A woman could be both; she didn’t have to choose.

“I haven’t seen any warts yet, Victoria. What I am struck by is how much sacrifice is at the core of this family’s id. In police terms we’d call it the MO. Your family’s core strength is sacrifice.”

“Oh, I think you know plenty about sacrifice yourself, Delilah Burke. You lay your life on the line for anyone and everyone you encounter on a daily basis.” She sighed, watching the family members, fathers headed to the football field to help Sam and Luc; mothers snapping orders to clean up trash and pickup empty cans.

“This was the hardest thing for me. It’s not so much an attitude of sacrifice as it is teamwork. But sacrifice from whatever angle you look at it is a key to teamwork, on a playing field, in a strong family, or at war.

“You know, it’s a common misconception that soldiers make the biggest sacrifice. Except of course, when they give their lives.

“I look out on this group of fine women and men, and I am so proud. When I was young I had such grand notions of making a difference, making that great sacrifice for my country. I was a very strong willed young woman.”

“You might not have been as successful as you were if you hadn’t been,” Del said, relating to what the older woman was saying.

“True. But, there was arrogance in my approach to that dream. I expected—indeed, demanded that Sam accept my dream for his.” Her eyes blinked rapidly as they seemed to watch an invisible rerun of her early marriage. “I never gave him a chance to throw his desires into the ring and have us hash out which direction we’d go.”

She looked at Delilah. “I just told him I was going to be a career officer and he could like it and get on board—or not.”

She looked down at her hands. “I got lucky. He loved me enough to do it my way. But after we had Rachel, when I re-upped that first time and went back to the field, I thought I would die from missing my baby and doubts started creeping in. I made it, with frequent phone calls and letters from home.” She patted Del’s hand. “I’ll have to show you some of my little Rach’s hand drawn cards.”

Her smile faded. “We settled into a routine, me and my work in the field; Sam, raising Rachel and renovating this rotting down behemoth. Two separate lives marked by yearly, or longer, quick visits with my husband and daughter. We were starting to become strangers.

Then I got pregnant again, with Chaz. That’s when things really got tough. I had a troubled pregnancy and had to come home for an extended time. Well, when I tell you I had a crisis… my husband and I
were
strangers. I was completely at home in my Navy persona and in that sphere. But at home, bed-ridden for most of the last six months, dependent on him to not only be mom and dad to Rachel, but for my care…it was…humbling. I finally accepted that he was just being who he is. Not Mr. Mom, not my caretaker, not the man who couldn’t make a life plan that outweighed mine—simply the man who loved me and was raising our children until I lived out my dream.

He was
just
Sam. My rock. My love.

“After Chaz was born I had to deal with leaving two little ones, one with whom I’d just begun to bond, and my dear Sam. I felt like my heart had been torn from my chest, and I had to figure out how to live away from them, to work once again without them. I also had to rethink my ‘dream’.” She looked across the backyard at the two tallest figures.

Del said, “That must have been terribly hard. How did you continue to make it work?”

“A surprising solution.” Victoria laughed. “Sam talked me into having more babies. See, I’d decided—again, on my own without letting him have a say—that two was enough, because I couldn’t bear to leave them behind again.” Victoria’s eyes met Del’s. “I don’t just love my husband, Del. I admire him for who he is, and the fact that he
always
knew what was best for us. He was absolutely firm in his belief that we could make it work. He used my own words and things I’d said about my training to teach me about being the Larue family team.”

“How did you make it work?” asked Del.

“We made a pact. No matter the distance or what was going on, on either side of the ocean, we would be a team, and not let the miles between us win.”

Del said, “I can see how that could be done these days with email and satellite, face-time…”

“Sam had the plan. The girls talked to me on the phone while looking at picture albums Sam made to remind them of times they’d been with me. He and mama sent me new pictures every week because naturally I didn’t have room for them all in the barracks, and I sent pictures of me home as well. He asked me what stain I wanted on the floors, what color paint on the kitchen cabinets, told me what flowers he was planting next to the porch. Took pictures of the whole process. Even my girls had a hand in painting the house and sharing it with their momma. I got pictures of the new kitchen along with little handprints made with the kitchen palette.

“When I look at this house now, walk down the hallway or into the kitchen, I feel as if I was actually here for every renovation. Another fifteen years, three daughters, and Luc—we planned four, we got six—we decided it was time for me to come home for good.”

“It had to be tough being away from your children.”

“Some times I felt like a hired baby machine,” Victoria said, chuckling. “But I never really knew what I was putting my husband and daughters through when I chose the service until I retired and started actually growing into my mom duties. Then, Samantha and Luc decided to enlist.”

Victoria shook her head, “Karma’s a bitch with a titanium tipped flogger. I’ve spent every single day of the last twenty years praying they would cut their careers short and come home. Luc did. And Samantha’s finally retiring. I’m not saying I would have chosen a different life. The service was the right choice, the only choice for me. But maybe I should have quit after ten. I missed so much. Every day, every hour I have with my precious husband and our family is pure gold to me now.”

Victoria shrugged, “Who knows? If we hadn’t had those separations maybe we wouldn’t be a close as we are now.”

She patted Del’s hand. “I’m sorry, Delilah. You didn’t ask to hear my life history but these family picnics bring it all back so clearly. Enough about the Larues, how about your family?” Victoria asked.

The question caught Delilah off guard. Her family had changed so much after what happened to Tommy. “My brother was shot three years ago. He’s been in a wheelchair ever since.” Del didn’t know she was going to tell Victoria about Tommy until she heard the words come forth. Victoria just sighed compassionately and took her hand waiting for her to go on.

“I haven’t been able to go to a family dinner since. And yet here I am.”

“Oh, honey, if there were only a detailed instruction manual for dealing with difficult family situations. Only you can figure out what you need to do, but I’ll say this. I’ve seen so many soldiers, men and women alike who came home and family reunions were never the same. While you sort everything else out remember your family unit is your team, they’re always on your side. Take it from me, life is too short not to spend every minute we can with those we love.”

She got up. “Think I’ll go check on Mom. She wanted to come outside for the game.”

Rachel yelled from the grass. “Del. Got a minute? I’ll show you some embarrassing pictures of Luc.” She looked over her shoulder. “Just keep working, Luc. I’ve got this.”

She winked at Del, “Have I got a surprise for you.”

D
el waved
at Luc and followed Rachel into the house.

“I have something for you but you might want to sneak it out to the car. They’re in my old room upstairs,” Rachel said as she turned up the wide steps. The stairs were thick planks of wood that felt as solid as the earth under the house.

She opened the first door. The room they walked into had a slanted ceiling and contemporary style but the walls were lined with pictures of Rachel’s life from childhood to wedding. “Mother never throws a picture out.” Del spotted one with four young women in back and the two youngest kneeling in front. Luc was making ‘devil’ horns with his fingers over the back of Samantha’s head.

“Did you guys ever consider modeling careers?” Each of them could have easily graced the cover of Vogue or Elle.”

“I don’t think that career ever crossed anyone’s mind.” There was another of Victoria in her uniform on an aircraft carrier next to several sailors. A banner was strung across that said,
Waves to Rachel from CVN-69
.

“She was always sending me pictures from the strangest places. Here,” she stooped to open the crawl space under the low ceiling and tugged a box into the room. When she flipped it open, the many faces, or characters, of Luc Larue stared back at her. The Sorcerer, the Mercenary, Navy Seal—

“He looks at home in the Seal costume.”

“That’s because it’s mostly skin,” Rachel laughed. “Baby boy is a hunk, isn’t he? Look at this one.” She pulled one called
The Cowboy’s Last Ride
and whispered, “It’s erotica.” They giggled like schoolgirls over eight different covers. Delilah’s favorite was
The Mercenary’s Hidden Secret.

She grinned at Del, “You’ll have to ask Luc what his ‘hidden secret’ is. I put a set together for you. They’re wrapped in a brown paper bag so you can just pop them onto your back seat and he won’t know you’ve got them.”

“Luc thinks you’re embarrassed by his covers and his job.”

She rocked back on her ankles. “Wonder why he thinks that.”

“He found the box of books, and he thought you were buying up all the local copies so no one would find out you were related.”

Rachel laughed heartily, and Delilah was glad that she was able to give her a good laugh. It took years off her appearance. “That fool. Come on, the game’s about to start and you don’t want to miss it. I think Luc is still insisting on quarterbacking. He took his sling off.”

“That idiot!”

“No argument here.”

As they walked downstairs, they could hear the yelling from outside as the kids started working off their lunch. In the kitchen came the sounds of water running, dishes clacking together and the women cleaning and putting up leftovers.

The crash of a plate splintering along with other dishes in the sink reached them halfway down. As they turned the corner into the hallway, Del heard Alicia’s voice ring out. “Oh, my sweet gracious Lord.”

Silence followed.

In fact, now sounds were coming from the yard as well. A frisson of fear slid down Del’s neck and her first instinct was to reach for her weapon. Instead, she followed Rachel as she ran to the back entrance and threw the screen open. She gave a strangled sound before she stopped, Del almost bumping into her but peeked around her instead.

She would never forget the tableau before her. Twenty figures on the lawn literally frozen in place like a scene out of a Harry Potter movie. One by one their heads turned to look at Rachel, then back at the figure standing at the edge of the field.

Rachel cried, “Oh, my God,” as she started to run full out down the stairs and across the field, her long hair flying. The young man was advancing toward her as well, arms out. Mack. Rachel threw her arms around him, kissing his face, sobbing and running her hands over the young man’s hair, looking into his eyes, hugging him again. Joe was there as well, and his big brother was thumping him on the back. After giving Mack’s intimate family a few minutes, the rest of the family converged on them like winners of a baseball game, piling on, each one trying to hug their prodigal son, grandson, uncle. The sounds of joy and laughter returned.

Del relaxed, wiping away tears herself.

“Thank ya, Jeesus,” whispered Alicia behind her. Into the house she yelled, “Mack’s home.”

“
G
od
, I’ve missed Ms. Alicia’s cooking!” Mack said as he ran his bread once more around his plate swabbing the last of the juices from the pile of food he’d just eaten.

Sam asked, “What happened? Last we heard there’d been some kind of snafu changing your orders.”

“Well,” Mack looked at his grandfather and mother, chagrinned. “I wanted to surprise you so I didn’t call after my L-C got me cleared to leave. I wasn’t sure if I could make it by today. I wanted to—bad—but I’d already disappointed everyone the first time.”

Rachel said, “I’d figure out a way to make you pay for what you put me through, but I’m too damn glad to see you.” She blinked rapidly and Mack kissed her cheek.

“I’m sorry, Mom. It seemed like a good idea at the time.” He looked around at the loving faces of his family and said, “I had to get here in time for the game.” He got up and gave his best impression of the quarterback jacking his team up, made a Hulk-like pose yelling, “Are we ready to play some football or what!”

Adults and kids ran to the field like a flurry of ants. Del followed. She wanted to try and talk Luc out of playing. Sure, everyone knew he wasn’t to be tackled, just tagged, but even tripping and falling the wrong way could further damage that shoulder. His family wasn’t having any luck talking him out of it so she figured she’d take a different tack.

Luc always quarterbacked one side. Joe, Jr., Rachel’s oldest about Luc’s age, quarterbacked the other. They each started picking their teams and each person named his own position. Joe picked his dad as his center and Briget as his receiver. Mack was their running back.

Luc chose Alicia’s son Bruce as his center—which was a great move since Bruce was an ex-NFL lineman. Then he chose Del who looked at Bruce and said, “I’ll play running back and if necessary Guard. Sam’s dad and Joe, Jr. said, “Whoa.”

Briget said, “Baby boy, you need two more.” Luc took Erin and Mitch, leaving them to select Chaz and Tim.

Samantha said, “I’m going to be refereeing the Navy goal line. Mom’s got the Civies goal.” She nodded at Sam.

He blew his whistle and play began.