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“I feel like being bossy and strange is a family trait,” Eric muttered, though not quietly enough.

Maria snorted. “You’re damn right it is, and don’t you forget it.”

Matt snickered as Eric went scarlet, bowing his head to pay close attention to his pork chops. Nick winked at Matt, feelinghis friend squeeze his knee before returning to his conversation with Eric. It went a long way toward easing his annoyance with Maria, if only because it meant he hadn’t heard anything.

Maria bumped his shoulder with hers. “Don’t worry, I’ll play nice with you later.”

“No, you won’t,” he said in resignation.

“Naw, I won’t.”

MATT

Dinner took far longer than Matt thought, and eventually, Eric had to drag himself back to his cabin. Matt didn’t blame him. All the noise in the hall, something he’d swear no one else had noticed, had been pretty draining. He’d waved the man off, glad to have found someone in the crazy family he could talk to without feeling off-balance other than Nick.

With Nick having been dragged off by his sister, Matt wandered through the main house. The halls were dim in the middle of the night, and no hint of living beings permeated the air. Through the windows lining the halls and rooms, he could see thick, heavy snowflakes drifting silently through the glass.

After wandering aimlessly for half an hour, he found himself in a dimly lit room at the end of a hall. Huge windows looked out on the one part of the lodge that wasn’t surrounded by the smaller houses. It looked toward the mountain range, lined heavily with snow beneath the twinkling stars. A small fire flickered in the fireplace, and he debated building the fire up or putting it out before deciding to leave it alone as he watched the peaceful scene.

They were miles from civilization, a thought he was more than used to after his years on Team Maelstrom. Yet in thesnowy northern region of Nebraska, surrounded by four walls and the warmth of a fire, he didn’t get the same wariness he had while standing watching the desert.

That was until a soft noise from behind had him whirling around. William Engel stood in the doorway, a half-filled crystal glass in hand. The older man barely blinked at Matt’s sharp movement, a knowing smile curling at the corner of his lined mouth. With a soft wink, he raised his glass in salute.

“Evenin’, son,” William said gently.

Matt’s tension bled away instantly. “Evenin’, sir, though, I think it’s officially morning.”

“Ain’t mornin’ until you wake up again,” William said.

Matt chuckled, watching the older man cross the room. Normally, William carried himself with the same resolute straightness expected from an old-school Marine. Instead, there was a slope to his shoulders and a slight wobble to his step. Matt felt his lips twitch, betting there was something special in the man’s glass, something he’d had a few of already.

“Not used to seein’ you alone,” William commented.

“Maria abducted Nick, apparently wanted to play catch up,” Nick explained.

William nodded. “Sounds about right. You wouldn’t know it now, but she followed that boy everywhere when they were younger. No one would’ve been surprised if it bothered him, but he was always patient with her, even when she started repeatin’ everything he had to say.”

Matt could see it. “That sounds like him.”

William took one of the seats closest to the small fire. “That boy has always been all sorts of patient, even as a baby. Never seen a little boy so willin’ to wait his turn or take so much time thinkin’ about things.”

“Patience of a saint,” Matt agreed.

William grinned. “Yeah, I bet you boys know all about that, workin’ with him for so long.”

Matt turned back to face the window, nodding. “Always the last one to lose his temper and always kept his cool. Never did understand how he did it, especially...well, more than a few times, actually.”

“Thought about it myself. I think some people are just wired that way, though he didn’t get it from me or his mama. Both of us hotheaded. Not him, though. Even as a boy, when he’d get upset or worried, he didn’t show it. He’d just?—”

“Get real quiet,” Matt finished.

He’d seen it more times than he could count. Yet, of all the times he’d seen it, after Clint’s death had been the worst. Nick had almost completely shut down, barely speaking and hardly sleeping. They had all been hurting back then, a part of them ripped away, leaving a ragged, bleeding hole. Nick had reacted the only way he’d known how, locking himself down, even as it had torn pieces of him away. Matt still didn’t know what finally pulled the man from his dangerous fugue, and if it really was Aidan, then he had even more reason to be thankful for the man’s presence in their lives.

“Always thought he had a lot to give a person,” William continued pensively.

Matt nodded. “He gives a lot.”

If you gave him time and didn’t force him to be anything but what he wanted. Nick was an understanding man and, as they’d already said, patient. But that didn’t mean he was pushed easily and wouldn’t be bullied. Anyone looking to change or force him to do something was bashing their face against a brick wall. It was something Matt had always appreciated about his best friend.