Always Be True (20 page)

Tino stepped out of the shower. As he dried off, he opened the bathroom door to let out the cloud of steam that had filled the small room. A sound coming from downstairs caught his attention. Who would be knocking on the garage door at this hour?

He yanked on the flannel pajama bottoms that he'd slept in and ran his fingers through his hair. He hadn't shaved yet, so scruffy was as presentable as he was going to get. The knock came again before he reached the bottom step. Whoever was out there must be getting impatient, because the next round of knocking came faster and went on for longer. It was tempting to head back upstairs without answering the door. The last thing he wanted was uninvited company before he'd had his first cup of coffee.

Of course, it could be his mother needing something or, worse yet, Jack needing some grunt work done. He really didn't feel like wielding a hammer all day, but he might as well get it over with. “All right, all right, I'm coming. Hold your horses.”

He threw the deadbolt and yanked the door open. But instead of his obnoxious brother, it was Natalie standing there, her hand poised to knock again. Her eyes went wide as she stared first at his face and then slowly lowered her gaze, taking a slow trip from still-damp skin on his chest down to his bare feet and back up again.

Finally, her mouth quirked up in a small grin. “I guess you weren't expecting company this morning.”

Well, no shit. He wasn't and most especially not her. Unable to think of anything else to say, he pointed out the obvious. “I was in the shower. Did you need something?”

That came out far more unfriendly than he'd meant for it to because she took a step back from the door and her fair skin flushed pink. “Sorry about dropping by unannounced. I would've called first, but I couldn't. Well, I could have, but it wouldn't have done any good.”

He was pretty sure that even if he'd already had a gallon of coffee to clear his head, her explanation still wouldn't have made much sense. “Can you run that by me again? Maybe slower this time with shorter words.”

Natalie glanced past him to the annex, maybe wondering why they didn't continue the discussion inside. It would only be good manners to invite her in, maybe even offer her some coffee, but there were reasons he'd never told her where he lived. Too late to change things now, his feet remained frozen in place and the words of welcome refused to come.

Before speaking again, she started rooting around in her purse. Finally, she dragged a familiar-looking cellphone from its depths. “I stopped at the community center this morning to do a few things in the computer lab. When I saw Clarence, he thought this was most likely yours and asked if I could return it to you. Apparently he found it in the men's room right after you and another guy finished up working on the basketball court. I'm guessing that might have been your brother?”

She held out the phone. “Thank you for doing that, by the way. I was hoping to eventually get around to fixing it up, but other things had to take priority.”

“It was. My brother, that is, and you're welcome.”

Although she wasn't really the reason they'd done the work. And maybe he really was being a total jerk by making her stand out there in the driveway like some stranger he barely knew. Taking a half step back from the door, he gestured toward the small kitchen on the other side of the room. “The coffee should be ready by now. Would you like a cup?”

That she didn't immediately leap to accept the offer told him all too clearly that he was sending her a fucked-up mix of signals. To offer her an easy out, he added, “Unless you need to get to work.”

She bit her lower lip while she considered her options. “I do need to get to work, but a quick cup would be nice. That is, if you're sure it wouldn't be any trouble.”

It would be trouble, all right, but not the kind she meant. He moved aside to allow her room to come in and then closed the door after taking a quick peek out toward the driveway. His mother's car was gone, so at least he didn't have to deal with introducing the two women in his life to each other. Then it occurred to him to wonder how Natalie knew to look for him in the garage instead of the house.

Right now, Natalie was standing in the center of the small living room, her eyes bright with curiosity as she studied their surroundings. “I met your mom, by the way. She was leaving for an appointment just as I arrived. She was nice enough to point me in the right direction.”

Well, great. Now he'd have to allow time in his schedule for an inquisition from his mother when she got home. Maybe it wasn't too late to see if Jack could use an extra pair of hands today. That would give him an excuse to hustle Natalie back out the door and avoid his mother for a few hours.

And didn't that positively reek of cowardice?

He headed for the kitchen and pulled two of the last three clean mugs down off the shelf. One had the Marine Corps symbol on it, although Jack had drawn a red circle with a slash across it just to irritate Mikhail. The rim on the second cup was chipped, but the only other option was one with an obscene message on the side that a buddy had sent one of his brothers as a joke. Mismatched dishes were only one of the downsides of three brothers sharing the place, using it mostly as a place to crash on their brief visits home between deployments.

He carried the coffee out to the living room where Natalie was studying the array of gym equipment in the corner. “I'm sorry if you wanted cream in yours. I ran out of milk yesterday and haven't been to the store.”

“Black is fine.”

She sipped the coffee as she continued to look around. “So this is where you live.”

There was nothing judgmental about what she said, but he went on the defensive anyway. “My brothers and I thought someone should stay close by for Mom. She never complains, but we all know she gets lonely without Dad.”

Natalie's expression was nothing but sympathetic. “That has to be hard for her. I'm sure she appreciates how you guys watch out for her.”

She glanced toward the staircase. “I'm guessing your bedroom is upstairs.”

He nodded. “Actually, there are three bedrooms up there and a full bath.”

Not that he'd invite her up there to look around or to try out his bed—his twin bed, the same one he'd had since he turned seventeen and moved into the annex with Jack. Mikhail had joined them a few months later when he'd turned seventeen, too.

“Amazing. I've never seen another place like it.”

No surprise there. “I doubt you've run into many people in your circle of friends who live in a garage.”

For the first time, she looked at him with a hint of anger in her eyes. “What is that supposed to mean?”

Knowing things were spinning out of his control didn't mean he could stop them. “Just what I said. Nothing more.”

She set the cup down on the coffee table and stepped close enough to glare straight up into his eyes. “Are you by any chance under the impression that I judge my friends by where they live? If so, you don't know me at all.”

“Oh, we both know how well I know you.” He injected enough heat into his words to make sure she knew he wasn't talking about where either of them lived. “Remember, I'm the one who had you on your back and begging for more the other night. Hell, if we hadn't gotten back to your house when we did, we'd have ended up naked in the backseat of my car.”

Natalie raised her hand as if to slap him, but then she dropped it back down to her side. He was almost sorry she hadn't carried through with the impulse. He deserved it. Before he could apologize, she started for the door.

“Where the hell are you going? We're not done here.”

Although considering what a jerk he was being, they might be done, period. Natalie waited until she reached the door before stopping to answer his question. She looked back at him with eyes gleaming with the sheen of tears.

“I don't know why you're acting like this and don't care. Personally, I'm going to work. I've got responsibilities and people depending on me.”

Now he was getting mad, too. “Was that a slam because I don't have a fancy job like Benton?”

“Don't be an idiot, Tino. Have I ever once acted like I wanted you to be more like him?”

No, she hadn't. He really needed to get his head straight before he screwed this up beyond any chance of fixing it. He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. “Look, will you be at the center this evening?”

“Yes, I'm teaching my class then.”

“We'll talk more then.”

“No, actually we won't, Mr. Gianelli, and I'll tell you why. I do my best to avoid spending time with fools and snobs. Right now, I'm pretty sure you qualify as both. So when you get done coaching the kids, don't bother waiting around for me.”

She slammed the door on her way out hard enough to rattle the windows. The sound reverberated inside Tino's head, leaving him feeling hollow and hurting. For one brief moment, he burned with the same pain he'd experienced when the police had told him that his parents were dead. Felt the same immediate sense of emptiness and dread about how the rest of his life would play out with this new gaping hole ripped in his heart.

But he wasn't a kid this time, helpless and adrift in an adult world. He charged out of the annex to catch up with Natalie and beg her to let him hit the rewind button. She was already in her car with the engine running. Instead of driving away, though, she sat with her forehead resting on her arms, which were crossed on the steering wheel.

If she was aware of his approach, she gave no sign of it until he tapped on the passenger-side window. Her head snapped up. Seeing her pretty face streaked with tears kicked him in the gut.

“Natalie, honey, please let me in.”

Not that he deserved a chance to apologize. Evidently they'd found the one thing they could agree on, because she put the car in gear and drove off without a single glance back in his direction.

He watched until she was out of sight. Maybe she'd at least read a text from him. Unfortunately, one look at the blank screen on his phone reminded him that the battery had died, leaving him unable to communicate with her at all. Maybe that was for the best; he had no idea what he would say. He dragged himself back up the driveway to the annex. For now, he'd plug the phone into the charger, finish getting dressed, and then choke down some breakfast. Maybe by the time his phone came back to life, he would have figured out what words he could string together that might ease her pain and undo the hurt he'd caused.

He didn't hold out much hope, but he had to try.

As Tino rolled the rack of basketballs out of the storeroom, Jay took one look at his face and backed away.

“Damn, man, you look like hell. If you're sick, I can handle practice by myself.”

Just what Tino needed to hear. He went back in to get the box of jump ropes that they had the kids use for warm-up before practice. “I'm not sick.”

Well, actually he was. Sort of, anyway. That didn't mean Jay or the kids were at risk. As far as Tino knew, being stupid wasn't catching.

Jay still didn't look as if he believed him. “Seriously, man, if you're not up to coaching tonight, go home.”

“I'm fine, Jay. I just had a rough day.”

“If you say so.” The former Seal picked up one of the balls and took a shot at the basket from half court. “But I've got to say, I barely survived missions in some of the worst hells on this planet that didn't leave me looking that bad.”

“Very funny.”

Jay walked back over to pick up another ball and took another shot at the hoop. Then he tossed a second one right at Tino. “I'm talking you look like three-day-old roadkill.”

The man definitely had a talent for apt descriptions. Tino felt like three-day-old roadkill. That didn't mean he needed his face rubbed in it. “Jay, not now.”

Another ball went flying through the air. “The last time I saw someone look that bad, he'd had two root canals, and the pain medicine wasn't working.”

Well, shit, this wasn't helping Tino's mood one bit. Earlier, his mother had dropped by the annex to let him know she'd been happy to finally meet Natalie. It hadn't taken her three seconds to zero in on the fact that something had gone seriously wrong between the two of them while she'd been at the doctor's office. Marlene asked him one simple question—who was at fault? When he'd admitted that it was undoubtedly his, his mother hadn't demanded details. She'd simply said he was old enough to clean up his own messes and left him to figure out how to do it. Unfortunately, he hadn't come up with a single idea on how to start.

The bottom line was that he didn't need Jay busting his chops over the situation. Tino snagged one of the balls off the rack and heaved it at the other man. “You're the one who's going to be needing a dose of pain medicine if you don't stop.”

Jay dodged the ball, grinning as he held his hands up in surrender. “Sorry, Tino. I'll say one more thing and then shut my trap. In my experience, the only thing that leaves a guy looking that much like death warmed over is woman trouble. I recommend some big-time groveling and then pray like hell for forgiveness.”

Tino would be only too glad to do exactly that. Unfortunately, his text messages and phone calls had gone unanswered. When he'd stopped by the computer lab on his way into the building, Natalie had taken one look at him and turned her back. Rather than admit that she was currently pretending he was invisible, Tino said, “You can't grovel if the woman in question won't let you near her and won't answer the phone. Besides, what makes you an expert on woman troubles?”

“We don't have nearly enough time for that particular story right now.” Jay's smile slowly faded. “But if it's really too late for groveling to work, after practice is over, we can always hit the local watering hole to drown your sorrows in a fifth of scotch. Who knows, after a couple of shots, I might even regale you with my own tale of woe, which can only make you feel better about your own situation.”