Goddess Rising (42 page)

“Robert here.”

“Got some good news and some bad news. Which do you want first?” David asked.

“Depends,” Robert replied. “Should I be adding bourbon to my coffee for either?”

“If I wasn’t surrounded by a couple dozen cadets right now, I’d be drinking bourbon straight.”

Robert sat silently, waiting for him to go on.

“I caught Samantha and Alejandro de Soto fighting outside the barracks early in the morning.”

He set his coffee down. “Who was winning?”

“From what I could tell, your daughter was givin’ De Soto a right whoopin’ before Cadet Ramos stopped it.”

“Well, that
is
good news.” Robert smiled, proud of his daughter for finally sticking up for herself. Maybe he wouldn’t have to step in after all.

“Actually, it’s not. They’re both disqualified from the Challenge now,” David huffed. “My two best, too. I’m pretty twisted up about this, truth be told.”

Robert pinched the bridge of his nose. Sammy would be devastated.

“Now before you say anything, Rob—you know I have to make an example out of them. Can’t treat them any different, or the cadets will start running roughshod over the organization,” David told him. “I’m not happy about this, but it had to be done.”

“No, no, you’re right to do it,” Robert agreed. “She shouldn’t have been fighting, even if this kid had it coming. She knows better.”

“Well, the good news is that it puts off her Army ambitions for another year,” David pointed out.

“Gives me more time to get her around to my way of seeing things,” he murmured. “If she’s going to be a midshipman and make it onto the Navy’s summer cruise, she’s still got time to declare.”

“Got a question for you.”

Robert waited.

“Is Sam interested in the Rangers because it’s not the Navy, or is she interested in it because it’s one of the most difficult outfits to get into?” David asked.

Robert thought about it. “Probably a little bit of both, but I’m leaning more toward the latter. Why?”

“Have you considered that maybe the Navy SEALs might be a better fit?” David told him. “She’s a legacy, which helps. And I know you’re connected up the wazoo with that lot. If anyone can get the Navy to accept a woman in its special forces, it’s probably you, especially with a cadet as talented as Samantha.”

Robert sat back. He did have far more contacts and much more sway with the higher-ups in the Pentagon on the Navy side. And he could get her access to active SEALs with a few favors pulled in. That would be easy enough to organize. SEALs didn’t accept women either, but at least Sam could train with them.

“It’s not a bad idea,” Robert acknowledged. “So besides excluding her from the Challenge, what other punishment did you give her?”

David laughed softly. “She’s paired with De Soto for the rest of the year. I figure that’s punishment enough.”

Robert agreed, finished the conversation, and set the phone down, lost in thought. Hannah came back out at some point with her own cup of coffee, breaking his reverie as she sat down beside him.

“Is everything all right with little missy?” she asked.

“She got disqualified from the Challenge for fighting,” Robert told her.

Hannah flinched in surprise. “Who with?”

“This senior who’s been picking on her. Sasser doesn’t know who started it, but Sammy finished it.”

Hannah laughed a little. “Bet he won’t be picking on her again.”

“No, ma’am,” Robert agreed as he sipped his coffee, watching the boys playing by the stables. He knew Sam would be crushed, but it was for the best. She just didn’t realize it yet.

“You going to tell me what else has been bothering you?” Hannah asked him after a moment.

Robert shot her a sidelong look. “Swear to God, you got antennas coming out the side of your head, woman.”

Hannah grinned. “I just know you well, Rob. Comes with experience, I reckon.”

He sighed, rubbed his brow. “She’s falling in love.”

Hannah looked out across the yard. The Sunday morning sun was already warming the dewy earth, filtering through the large oak trees surrounding the house. “I know.”

Rob glanced at her in surprise. “She say anything to you?”

“Enough.” Hannah shrugged. “Sammy’s a cool one. Gets that from you. You can tell more from what she doesn’t say than what she does sometimes.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t know if I like this kid.”

Hannah laughed outright. “Lord, I’d be worried if you approved of
any
boy trying to get into your only daughter’s knickers.”

Robert rolled his eyes. “I’m hardly a prude.”

“No, but you’re definitely not going to trust any guy who’s gunning for your girl, Rob. You may be rich as sin and powerful as a king in these parts, but when it comes to Sammy, you’re just her daddy.”

“I figure I got to let this happen, even if I don’t like it,” he admitted.

“Sam’s going to do whatever she feels like anyhow—just like you would. Might as well let her be,” she advised sagely.

“Even if this guy’s not good enough for her?” Robert asked.

“You’re not the first father on the planet who has said that, and you definitely won’t be the last,” Hannah replied smartly.

They sat on the porch swing for a few minutes in companionable silence, enjoying the breeze and the warm fall air.

“I’m going to give you a nickel’s worth of free advice,” Hannah said after a while.

“I’m all ears.” And he was. Hannah Nelson was the closest thing Robert had to a sister, and she and Grant had practically raised his own children for him when he’d been too lost and depressed to see his way past his wife’s sudden and inexplicable death. They’d been friends for more than twenty years, and he trusted Hannah’s judgment, especially when it came to Sam.

“Even if you don’t like this boy, as long as Sammy does, you welcome that boy and you keep him close. She sees you resisting in any way, and she’ll only dig deeper.”

“Keep your friends close and your enemies closer?” Robert asked.

Hannah nodded. “Exactly.”

“I may have put my boot in that already,” Robert admitted, recalling the anger and frustration on Wes’s face as he signed the NDA with a fast scrawl. Wes hadn’t understood it, not really, and Sammy probably wouldn’t either if she ever found out, but he’d forced Wes’s hand to protect her.

When Robert had told Wes it would never be a level playing field for Sammy, he meant it. People automatically assumed that because she was wealthy, she’d have it easy. Human nature. Money translated into automatic dominance, power, and noticeability—and therefore, greater advantages. The Wyatt name carried credibility and respect. But for a girl determined to make her own way in the world, that kind of attention and association would translate into a near-automatic dismissal as well. No one would ever take Samantha seriously. Because the assumption would be that she hadn’t earned it on her own steam, fair or not.

Even worse, what if Wes took private photos of her that could harm her career and her reputation? She’d never be able to live that down—her private humiliations put out for public consumption. A father’s worst nightmare. Robert may have burned his bridge with Wes already, but he wouldn’t take it back. Not for a moment, especially if it meant protecting Sammy, whether she liked it or not.

Hannah considered him before picking up his empty coffee cup. “I don’t know what you did, Rob, but you need to find a way to make things right between you and Sammy, with or without this boy in her life. Because she’s already growing apart from you more every day. And if you let young love drive a wedge between the two of you—” She shook her head as she stood slowly. “Rob, you might not ever get her back.”

*

September—Sunday Afternoon

Camp Swift, Bastrop County, Texas

S A M A N T H A

Sam dragged the
mop back and forth across the concrete floor of the men’s barracks, her exhaustion and general achiness making her slower than usual. She stopped for a second, dragging a sleeve across the sweat on her brow before she glanced over at Alejandro. He was sitting in a corner, shining boots and ignoring her, the blatant hostility dwindling into the tired, bitter disappointment that permeated the room.

The reactions of the other A&M cadets had shifted from shocked to curious to outright mockery after Sasser announced the news that she and Alejandro were out of the running. Sam felt alternately justified and ashamed about her actions—a total conflict. On the one hand, she wouldn’t let Alejandro get away with what he did, but on the other, she’d wished she’d been more patient and premediated in her response. She could have been far sneakier in her retaliation had she not let her temper get the best of her, but she was proud she’d gotten her licks in despite being at a disadvantage. Either way, it was a crushing disappointment. She’d wanted to cry and rage and hash it out, but the one person she’d normally talk to about this wasn’t speaking to either of them.

Sam listened to Rita humming while she scrubbed the floors in the barracks bathroom. Rita was beyond pissed with the both of them, and justifiably so. But their disqualification meant she’d made it onto the list for the final Ranger Challenge team when Sasser announced his selection, so there was a little bit of silver lining that particular cloud.

Rita may not be the best shot, like Sam, or the fastest at obstacle courses, like Alejandro, but she had the makings of a damn good soldier—a contender in her own right—and getting onto the final team would be a feather in her cap no matter which platoon Rita decided to enlist with upon graduation. And that was the
only
reason Rita was whistling while she worked. Sam was certain of it.

Frustrated and exhausted, Sam hunched her shoulders and kept mopping, moving methodically from one end of the floor to the other, keeping her head down, focusing on getting through today so she could make it back to her place and lose herself in the sweet relief of a few hours’ sleep. She was angry and sad and hurting, but none of that would help her, and she’d just experienced firsthand what happened when she let her emotions get the best of her.

Rita came out of the bathrooms with a bucket and cleaning supplies. She looked at Sam first and then Alejandro. “I don’t know what the hell beef you two have with each other, but it’s gone too far,” she declared, hands on her hips. “You two need to get it together. You’re harming more than yourselves and your military careers at this point—you’ve hurt me and you’ve hurt the Corps.”

Sam stopped mopping and Alejo stopped scrubbing. They both looked at Rita wearily.

“Don’t get me wrong—” Rita continued. “I’m happy I made the team, but we both know the only reason I’m in there is because you’re out. You two are the best we’ve got, and because you’re acting like stupid assholes, our school might not win for the first time in years because we don’t have our best out there. Feel me?”

“I’m sorry, Rita,” Sam sighed, rubbing her brow. “I fucked up—I know that. I’m sorry for letting you and the team down.”

“Yeah, you did.”

Rita pushed him back, looked him dead in the eye. “You gotta make this right, Alejo. I don’t care what’s gone down between the two of you, but you gotta do better now—and not just because I’m pissed as shit with you. You’ve got a future,
mijo
. You made me believe we could do this together, remember?” Rita’s eyes filled up with tears. “We got into
college
, man. How many guys we grow up with get this far? And now you almost ruin your only way out?”

“I know,” Alejandro sighed, squeezing her shoulders. “I’m sorry. I’ll do better, coz.”

“Yeah, you will.” Rita looked over his shoulder at Sam. “That means you too,
jaina
.”

Sam nodded tiredly, and Alejandro looked over his shoulder at her, the hostility between them dulled down to exhausted aggravation.

“You two dumb shits are the best cadets in the program, hands down,” Rita pointed out. “Think about how much you could accomplish if you got over yourselves!”

Alejandro crossed his arms, and Sam rolled Rita’s words around her tired mind. They’d lost the chance to prove themselves through the Challenge, but that didn’t mean they didn’t still have opportunities to stand out.

Sam looked Alejandro square in the eye. “We don’t have to like each other. Hell, we probably never will. But we’re both damn good individually, and your cousin’s right. We could be unbeatable if we figured out a way to work together paired up.”

Alejandro considered her warily. “Go on.”

“Think of all the FTXs we’ll blow out of the water between the two of us for the rest of the year. We could come out with the highest ratings of anyone here,” Sam continued. “Way I see it, we could expend all our energy trying to screw each other over, or we buckle down and figure out a way to beat every single record the A&M has ever seen.”