Forget You (24 page)

I was shocked the military only allotted such
a small amount of time for such things. It seemed a little harsh to
me, but I guess you couldn’t have people on the phone for hours
talking to their mommy and daddy either.

“Then Ryker started hanging out with
Camilla.” Janet paused as though the name should ring a bell to me,
but it didn’t. When I didn’t say anything, she continued. “Camilla
was Sawyer’s high school sweetheart. They were great together, but
after graduation, she decided to spread her wings and fly, breaking
my son’s heart in the process. I’d warned him something like this
could happen when I noticed he was getting awfully serious about
her, but of course, young love doesn’t listen.”

High school sweetheart?
Sawyer had
never mentioned a high school sweetheart, but then again, we hadn’t
talked about our exs yet.

“I don’t know why Ryker started seeing
Camilla. All I know is that he wasn’t in a good frame of mind with
his brother gone and him unable to talk to him when he wanted.
Then, right after we got the call from Sawyer letting us know where
the graduation for his basic training would be held, Camilla told
Ryker she was pregnant.” Janet took another sip of coffee, and then
pushed her empty mug across the table to rest beside my plate. “He
didn’t tell Sawyer at the graduation. He didn’t tell anyone. Ryker
just sort of shut down. His father and I assumed it was from seeing
Sawyer, and knowing he still wasn’t coming home yet because he was
being sent somewhere else to study and train for his military
occupation specialty.”

“That wasn’t it though, was it? Ryker was
actually trying to figure out a way to tell Sawyer he’d gotten his
high school sweetheart pregnant, wasn’t he?” I asked, even though I
had no right to. I hadn’t known Ryker or Camilla. Their personal
life should be of no concern to me, but I couldn’t help myself. I
felt as though I was on the verge of a breakthrough, of learning
the true reasons for what had caused Ryker to be out there all
alone on the track, drunk and reckless.

Janet nodded. “That’s right. The night he
finally told someone was the night he died.” Darkness flickered
through her eyes, and her face grew slightly pale. “I found him
sitting on the back porch, staring out at the pouring rain,
drinking a beer. When I asked him if he was okay, he shook his head
and said no. He said he didn’t want to go back to the apartment,
that he just wanted to sit right there, and drink while thinking. I
told him that was fine, and then asked what it was he was thinking
so hard about. I’ll never forget his words or the look that crossed
over my baby boy’s face as he struggled to find the right words to
answer my question. He was so hurt, ashamed, and broken.” Tears
fell from Janet’s eyes, and I struggled with whether I should reach
out to her. “He said he’d messed up big time, and that if Sawyer
knew what he’d done, he might never speak to him again. I told him
that was nonsense, that his brother loved him. Ryker looked me
directly in the eyes and told me exactly what he’d done, and I
couldn’t reassure him. I couldn’t speak any words that would give
him comfort in his mistake—words that would give him hope that his
brother would forgive him. I was shocked speechless. Apparently,
the look on my face was telling enough about how I felt without the
need for words, because Ryker stood and muttered something about me
just confirming his biggest fear, and then he walked away.”

My hand darted out, and I gripped Janet’s,
offering her comfort. It was the only thing I knew to do, because I
couldn’t find my voice to speak.

“He left then, in the pouring rain, drunk. My
son left because I was too judgmental in a moment when he needed me
to be otherwise. He left, and I didn’t say a single word to stop
him. I remained where I was, unable to comprehend what he had
said.” She shook her head. “I even wondered how Ryker could be so
cruel, and why he hadn’t thought of his brother’s feelings at all.
Around ten the next morning, there was a knock at the front door,
and I knew exactly what had happened the second I saw the officer
standing there. My baby had died thinking I was disappointed in
him, and that his brother would never forgive him for what he had
done.”

“That’s not true,” I said, meaning every
word. “I’m sure he knew how much you loved him. What happened
wasn’t your fault. It was an accident, a horrible accident.”

“The horrible accident was not saying
something to make him stay. When I told my husband about it, we
decided we would wait to tell Sawyer until the timing was right.”
She shook her head. “I know now that the right moment will never
come. When he gets back from this mission, he has to know. Camilla
only has two weeks left until her due date. Sawyer would want to
know about his niece or nephew. We know he would. We want the baby
to be part of our lives, regardless of the betrayal wrapped around
its creation. This baby is the last remaining piece of my oldest
son.”

My fingers brushed across the top of her
hand. “Sawyer would want to know. I firmly believe he would want to
be a part of the child’s life.”

Janet nodded. “I think he would too.”

SAWYER

Slowing my speech down, I attempted to
explain again the areas of importance we check on this particular
type of artillery vehicle to the guy I was assigned to train.
Training someone in a foreign country was new to me. Of course, we
had practiced this bit—how to search the many cavities of the
vehicles, and explain the routine carefully to others—but this
wasn’t a practice drill, this was real life. The things I was
attempting to teach him could save his life, and those around him.
If he didn’t grasp everything I was telling him, then it could come
back to bite him in a deadly way when he attempted to go out in the
field on his own.

“See this section here?” I asked, bending
down to point underneath the vehicle. He nodded, and ducked down
with me. “You want to go over this section carefully during your
search.”

“Okay, I understand,” he said in his thick
accent, and nodded again.

From the way his eyes narrowed, I believed he
understood the importance this time. Moving to the next area, I
motioned for him to follow me.

“Let’s go over the next area,” I
insisted.

This was our fourth day of training with the
same guys. Our mission here was to help their police learn the
proper way to search these vehicles for IEDs. It was harder a task
than it sounded with the language barrier between us.

“Grub time,” the commanding officer
shouted.

I motioned to my guy. He muttered something I
couldn’t quite make out, but I assumed it was along the lines of
food or lunch to the others in his crew. Grabbing my ration of
field chow, I meandered to a little area off the side so I could
sit alone and eat in peace.

“You homesick yet, Keeton?” Andrew sauntered
over to where I sat, food in hand. There was a shit-eating grin on
his face as he moved to sit beside me. “You missing that girl of
yours yet?”

Images of Eva flashed through my mind at the
mention of her. Dear God, did I miss her. My lips quirked into a
small smile as the daydream of her finding the present I’d left
crashed through my mind again.

“Hell yeah, I’d say you’re missing her,”
Andrew teased. “Look at that goofy ass grin on your face.”

Chuckling, I shook my head, and opened the
foil packet of mush we’d all been given. “You’re just jealous I’ve
got someone to miss and you don’t.”

“Nah, not me,” he said. He took a long swing
of his water. “At least I’m free from the worry of whether I’ll be
the next fool who gets a Dear John letter. No surprises to come
home to. I left with no one, and I’ll return to no one, simple as
that.”

The smug smile twisting at the corners of his
lips was enough to make me want to throat punch him. I didn’t need
any seed of doubt planted in my mind. Not now. Not ever.

“Eva’s not the type to do that,” I insisted,
looking him square in the eyes. “Besides, there’s only five weeks
left. It’s not forever. She’ll wait for me.”

“You hope,” Andrew added.

I slugged him in the shoulder. “Watch it,
asshat. Enough.”

We laughed, and the tension I felt
constricting my chest at the thought of Eva meeting someone else
while I was away lessened, some. I knew we hadn’t been together
long, but there was something special between us. I could feel it,
and I knew she could too.

Eva would wait for me. I knew she would.

EVA

With Sawyer away, I had to get myself in a
new rhythm to occupy my free time. If I didn’t fill every second,
then I would spend them thinking of nothing besides him, worrying
if what he was doing at that very moment could cost him his
life.

School, work, and friends—those were the
things I threw myself into hardcore.

“You’re too quiet,” Cameron grumbled. “It’s
so unlike you.”

A loud huff of air forced its way from my
lungs, and I leaned back against the booth seat I was occupying.
He’d dragged me to this little deli that was within walking
distance from the college. Meeting for lunch had actually been my
idea, because I needed another distraction. The time for Sawyer to
return home was creeping up quickly, and I was a big ball of
anticipation awaiting his return. There were only three more weeks
left.

Three weeks!

“I’m lost in thought,” I admitted.

Cam took a bite of his turkey and cheese, and
narrowed his eyes at me. A teasing smirk twisted his lips as he
chewed. “Planning all the dirty little ways you’re going to show
Sawyer how much you’ve missed him when he comes back?”

I pursed my lips together, and glared at him.
“Like I would talk to you about that.”

He leaned back in his seat, and chuckled.
“Ah, so I’m right. That’ll be the happiest night of his life, I
bet.”

“Hush. You have a girlfriend. You shouldn’t
even be letting things like that slip from your big, fat mouth
now,” I scolded him.

His hands came up in front of him in mock
surrender. “I’m just saying.”

All I had to do anymore was either remind him
of Paige, or threaten to tell Paige the things he did or said that
were slightly out of line—like when he still insisted on calling me
sexy from time to time—and he would instantly step back in line.
Even though he knew I was kidding half the time, he still didn’t
want to do a damn thing to jeopardize what he had going with
Paige.

I was proud of him for that. He’d come a long
way.

“Subject shift,” he insisted. “How’s school?
Are you a full-fledged social worker yet?”

“If I was, you’d know it,” I grumbled. “Still
a few more semesters to go.”

Cam took another bite of his sub. “Okay, that
topic was a dead end.”

“What did you expect?” I picked another
banana pepper from my sandwich, and popped it into my mouth.

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I feel like I’m
walking on eggshells here, Eva. Throw me a freaking bone.” His
hazel-colored eyes bored into me, forcing me to dip my gaze down to
my glass. “Smile, will you? At least act like you enjoy my damn
company, geez.”

There was a teasing tone to his words, but it
still wasn’t enough to make me smile. I took a sip of my soda, and
then twirled the straw around in my cup, creating more bubbles. I’d
read someplace once that blowing bubbles was scientifically proven
to make you smile. Maybe after this, I needed to head to the dollar
store on the corner and buy a bottle of bubbles before driving home
so I could test that theory.

“Blaire’s bachelorette party.” He slammed his
hands down on the table, startling me and nearly making me spill my
drink when I jumped.

“What the hell?” I narrowed my eyes at
him.

“Sorry.” He grinned. “I just thought of a
topic that wouldn’t be a complete dead end right from the
start—Blaire’s bachelorette party. What are you ladies thinking of
doing?”

“Hasn’t Paige told you?”

He shook his head. “No. She told me it would
be this Saturday night, but she never would say where. Every time I
ask, she gets this weird, embarrassed look on her face.”

I laughed. Paige must have been more of a
prude than I thought. The vibrator Lauren had gotten her for
Christmas must have been such an embarrassing gift for her to
open.

“We’re going to the strip club in Carver,” I
said.

Cameron’s lips formed a thin line before he
burst out laughing, exactly as I’d imagined he would. “So that’s
why she’s being so secretive about it. I’ll have to come up with
some way to rag her about this after it’s all said and done.”

Taking another sip of my soda, an idea came
to me. “You should dress up in a costume from her favorite movie,
and surprise her when she gets home with some moves of your
own.”

Cameron’s face contorted into a look of pure
confusion. “Who would I dress up as from
The Lost Boys
? How
would that even be sexy? She’d think I’d really lost it if I chased
her around the house naked with a pair of vampire teeth and a
mullet.”

I nearly cried I was laughing so hard. “No,
not that movie. Her
other
favorite movie,
Magic
Mike
,” I said. “Pick one of the scenes you think you can learn,
and wear something similar. She will flip out.”

“Damn, that’s a good idea.” He nodded.

We continued talking about Blaire’s
bachelorette party after Cam had all the details down on what he
was going to do to surprise Paige. Either she was going to kill me
because of that idea or else she would have the time of her life
and never be able to thank me enough. Either way, I was sure she
would always remember the experience.

Polishing off the remainder of my sandwich, I
attempted to be more chipper for Cameron’s sake, even though I knew
he could see right through me. The mention of Blaire’s bachelorette
party and wedding only reminded me that my plus one I had wanted to
bring wouldn’t even be in America to attend. Guess I would be going
stag.