Secrets in Battle: Secrets of Savannah Series Book 3 (7 page)

BOOK: Secrets in Battle: Secrets of Savannah Series Book 3
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Chapter 1
1

My phone pings letting me know I have a text.

Princess:  Wish I was back in our bubble already.

Me:  Well come back when you feel

like it.

Princess:  I wish it were that easy
. Thanks for a great night. Gotta get some rest for my shift.

Me:  Sweet dreams Princess.

I make my way down to the main house to see if Ryder is going to need my help today with anything. Walking in through the kitchen, I see a blonde lady sitting at the breakfast bar.

She smiles
. “You must be Judd. I’m Sarah.”

I’m confused
. “Um. Hey.”

About that time
, Ryder walks in. “Hey, man. You meet Sarah?”

I nod
. “Yeah.” With a
What the Fuck?
Look on my face.

Ryder laughs
. “Shit, I forgot you dipped out early last night. She’s dad’s girlfriend.”

I chuckle
, finally getting it. “Oh, okay. I was lost for a minute. Sorry, Sarah, I didn’t mean to act strange. I’m just not used to walking in here and finding new people sitting at the breakfast bar.”

She laughs
. “It’s okay. I’m sure it was a little bit of a shock to you to find some weird woman you weren’t expecting. I’ve heard wonderful things about you.”

I nod
. “Thanks. It’s nice to meet you.”  I turn to Ryder. “I came to see what we had planned for today.”  I see Sarah slip out of the kitchen.

“I need to run into town and grab some feed and shots for the Waycross farm for tomorrow
. Can you go check the back forty? I noticed the fence over there the other day had a couple of broken boards. Can you take care of that?”

             
“Sure, I’ll get right on it.”

“No rush
. I just don’t know if I’ll have time today and Nelson has a doctor’s appointment.”

“Again?”  I look at Ryder
. “What in the hell is going on? I’ve never known that man to have this many doctors’ appointments.”

Ryder rolls his shoulders
. “I don’t know. I’m getting curious myself. He said it’s just some normal checkup stuff.”

“Well I’m going to get to the bottom of this shit
. I don’t like being kept in the dark by my own damn dad.”

“I hear you
, man.”

I motion to his dad’s study
. “So what do you think of Sarah?”

“She seems nice
. Dad’s happy, that’s what really matters.”

I nod
. “Okay. What did Nana say?”

He shrugs
. “Nana seems to like her. Will she ever love her as much as she loved my mom? No, probably not, but Nana practically raised my mom, so it’s just different. I think she’s glad to see my dad happy again.”

“Hell, I
’m happy about that, too. Greer deserves to be happy. Hell, he deserves a commendation medal for putting up with your ass for all those years and surviving.”

He punches me in the shoulder
. “Asshole. I’m pretty sure for most of that I wasn’t alone.”

I laugh
. “Yeah, I guess not.”

“Oh and family dinner tonight
at six, per Nana Pearl.”

“Okay.
What’s going on?”

He shrugs
. “Don’t know. I’m sure it has something to do with my dad and Sarah. She asked if Annabelle could come, too.”

“Annabelle has to work tonight, she goes in at ten
. I’ll text her, she may be sleeping.”

He nods
. “Okay, well just let her know.”

We head out the back door
. Ryder looks over at me. “Speaking of Miss Annabelle, where did you and she disappear off to last night?”

I shake my head. “I swear
, you gossip as bad as Nana.”

He laughs
. “Yeah, I figured. Her brothers were looking for her, you know?”


Great. Well, if you must know, I made a little bit of an ass out of myself.”

“How did you do that?”

I sigh. “The crowd made me a little nervous so we decided to take a walk. Then when the fireworks started…well, they caught me off guard and I threw her down to the ground. I freaked out a little bit, started shaking.”

Ryder’s eyes are huge
. “Oh shit, man. I’m so sorry, I didn’t even think to warn you about the fireworks. I just, shit man, I’m so sorry.”

I put my hand on his shoulder
. “Hey, man. It’s okay. You can’t help that normal everyday shit has the capability of sending me on the short train to crazytown.”

“Yeah, but common sense should have told me better.”  He looks defeated and sad.

I shake my head and punch him in the arm. “Hey, no one ever accused you of having a lot of common sense.”

He shoves me
. “Thanks, asshole, I really feel bad. I wanted you to enjoy last night.”

I laugh, trying to lighten his mood
. “Hey, trust me, I did. I enjoyed this morning, too.”

“So she stayed the night
? How did that go?”  Ryder is the only person, aside from my counselor and Annabelle, who knows about the dreams.

I nod
. “It was okay. I had a dream, but it was actually a good one. She wanted to stay with me because of the fireworks. Just in case I had a bad dream.”  I shake my head. “Why would she want to put herself in that situation? I don’t know, but I wanted her to stay so bad because I’m selfish like that.”


She stayed because she cares about you. Just like the rest of us. Plus, trust me, she must be hanging out for something she likes.” He motions to my crotch.

“Oh
, so it’s not my personality she’s after?”

“Yeah, damn sure not your personality
. It’s that monster in your pants
.
Snuffleupagus.”

“Yeah, well at least I can go through the airport without my junk getting groped by an over friendly TSA agent because my dick can’t go through the metal detector.”

“Hey, Scarlet gives no complaints, asshole. And for the record, when I go to the airport I put a plastic ring in so I don’t give the old ladies working too much of a thrill.”

“Trust me
, I lived in the house with you for a bit. I know Scarlet gives you no complaints. I know more than I want to know.”

He shoves me
. “I’m going to get that feed, you go fix the damn fence.”  He calls back over his shoulder. “Don’t forget to call Annabelle about supper.”

“Yeah,
yeah, asshole.”

I grab my phone while walking out to the barn.

Me:  Nana Pearl has called a family dinner at 6. She said you’d better be here.

Princess:  Okay well I’d better go ahead and take my nap.

Me:  Bring your stuff for work so you don’t have to leave early.

Princess:  Sure thing
. What do you think is going on?

Me:
  IDK I met Greer’s lady friend this morning. That may be what it’s about.

Princess:  Holy Shit!  Okay I’ll see you a little before 6 going to lay down now.

Me:  Sweet Dreams. I’m going to fix a fence.

Princess:  XOXO

 

Chapter 1
2

It’s weird that I feel so much more comfortable about going to a family dinner at the Abbott
’s than I do at my own home.

I think it’s because they just accept me for me
. Nana once told me that class isn’t about money or where you stand in the community, it’s about the person. She’s right, my parents have no class. They are a couple of self-righteous assholes.

I quietly try to make my way out of the house
and avoid my parents. They’ll wonder why I’m leaving so early and why I have my bag.

As I get to the bottom of the stairs
, I hear my father’s voice raised.

“Christopher, I’m not putting up with this bullshit!  Are you, your sister and Victor trying to kill me? Trying to go into bullshit careers. I’m not paying for you to go to med school.”

“Dad
, you didn’t pay for me to go to school in the first damn place!  Grandpa’s money paid and scholarships. Plus, I’m a big boy, I can afford to put myself through school now. Those two dipshits, Shane and Greg, are the ones you had to pay for schooling. Fuck, I bet you still pay their bills.”

I hear glass breaking against the wall and my mom scream
. I run in the den. “What’s going on?”

My father glares at me
. “None of your fucking business!  Where are you going, young lady?”

I square my shoulders
. “I’m going to Scarlet’s for dinner and then to work.”  I step over to Chris.

My father throws his hands up
. “You two are some of the biggest disappointments in my life, along with Vic.”

Chris tenses up
. “Hey, don’t talk to her that way.”

He grabs Chris by the collar
. “I’ll talk to my daughter any damn way I please.”

I try to get him to let go
. “Dad, stop. Calm down.”

I taste the blood on my tongue from the slap before I even realize it happened
. Chris in turn shoves dad over the back of the couch.

My mom screams
. “Get the hell out of here! Both of you!”

Chris looks at me
. “Prissy, go grab some more stuff. You are not coming back here for a few days. We are going to figure something out, you can’t live in this shit anymore.”

Chris and
I run up to my room, grabbing my school stuff, my scrubs, some other essential clothes and my box of mementos, and run down to my car. I stop at the door and realize this is their car. I look over at Chris. “Can you give me a ride to Scarlet’s?”

He nods
. “Yeah, jump in.”  Once we are seated in the car he looks over at me. “I just came to tell him that I planned to go back to school and he went ape shit.”

“I know
, I heard most of it before I ran in. Sorry. He and I had it out in the garage when I got home this morning about me leaving the club yesterday. Then I went inside and had words with Mom, so I probably primed the pump for your argument.”

“Hey
, it’s not your fault. If they were fucking normal people we wouldn’t have to worry about it.”

I shake my head
. “Tell me about it.”

“So, how are you going to get to work in a little bit
? You need me to come pick you up or something?”

“No, I’ll get Scarlet to take me or let me borrow her car or something
. I’m going to ask her if I can crash in her spare room for a few days, until I figure some shit out. You are right, the stress from them is killing me.”

He nods
. “Yeah, I understand. Look, I know my apartment isn’t big, but if you want to crash with me you are more than welcome, little sis.”

“I know
, thanks. Scarlet has a lot of room though, and you need your space with Angie.”

“So what’s up with you and that guy Judd?”

“He’s a friend of Ryder’s. He and I met last year before his last deployment. He got injured a few months ago, we’re friends.”

He laughs
. “Friends, huh?”

“Okay
, a little more than friends, but we are taking it slow. He needs to because he’s still having some adjustment issues. He’s is a great guy, though. He’s just been through so much.”


Is he going back or can he?”

I shake my head
. “No, he was medically discharged. It was a pretty bad injury.”

He nods as we pull down the gravel drive to the Abbott House
. “Okay, well call me if you need anything.”

“I will
. Thanks, Chris.”

Grabbing my bags
, I make my way in the house. Scarlet gives me a funny look as I enter and she makes her way to me. “Hey, what’s going on?”

“Just a little argument at the house
. Can I crash here for a few days?”

“Yeah, use the room upstairs that you normally stay in.”

              She grabs one of my bags and follows me up the stairs. After we get in the room, I turn to her. “Thanks. Dad is kinda pissed with me and Chris right now. Chris dropped me off here.”

             
“Is that why your lip is split?”

             
“Yeah. I tried to stop him and Chris from fighting. Oh, I left my car there, can I use yours to go to work tonight?”

             
She nods. “Sure, but you probably need to clean your lip up before supper or Judd will go beat the shit out of your dad.”  She turns to walk out. “And I wouldn’t stop him. We will talk about all of this more tomorrow.”

             
I go in the bathroom and clean up my face. I’m sick and tired of this shit and it’s time for a change.

I make my way back down to the dining room
, taking the seat in between Judd and Scarlet. Judd eyes me suspiciously. “Hey, are you okay?”

I nod
. “I’m good, I’m happy to see you.”

He smiles
. “I’m happy to see you, too.”

We settle in to start supper
. I’m introduced to Sarah and she seems very nice. She works in an accounting firm in Atlanta. Her husband died ten years ago and she has two children that are in college.

Ryder looks up to Nana
. “So what is this meeting about, Nana?”

She looks at him
. “Ryder, we are eating first and then we’ll talk.”

He nods
. “Yes, ma’am.”

I have to say I’m kind of curious myself
. I love Nana, but I don’t know why she wants me here.

I’ve really bonded with her over the past year
. She knows how I feel about Judd, my family, everything really. She hates my mother, I know that. She’s the only person besides Scar that knows how my family can really be.

I love Nana, she’s the coolest old lady I know.

BOOK: Secrets in Battle: Secrets of Savannah Series Book 3
8.5Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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