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“All right, Doc,” Cole leaned back in his chair, “out of Cumberland and Beckett, who would you like to see come in?”
“I’d need to meet them both,” he pushed his glasses up his nose, “to evaluate them, but my gut leans toward Beckett. He’s impressive. It’s obvious he sticks things out to the end. He was a beast over in Afghanistan, and any soldier you have to pry out of there against their will shows he doesn’t give up easily.”
“Agreed.” Cole nodded. “I think we can all agree that someone can look great on paper and be completely off when you met them in person.” He alluded to Roth. “If that’s how we operated, Davie wouldn’t be here today.”
“Yeah,” Davie laughed, “that’s for sure.”
“Mike?” Cole leaned forward. “John?”
They both flipped to Beckett’s profile and tossed their folders to the center of the table.
“I’m not sure why we’re even having this meeting, boys.” Keith had been quiet most of the meeting and tossed his vote in the center of the table as well. “Two minutes into reading Beckett’s profile, it was clear to me he’s one of us. I think Frank needs to pull him from wherever he is before he commits to anything else.”
Savannah glanced at me, and I gave her a small nod. “This isn’t a job where you go home at the end of the day. This is a family with a lot of moving parts,” she added. “Obviously, there’s a lot to consider.” She opened her folder to Beckett and slid it out to join the others. “But I’m for Beckett.”
“And what about you Dusk boys? Any thoughts?” Cole addressed the others.
“Anyone who’s spent eight years over there and come out alive has my vote.” Quinn tossed in his folder.
“I just came for the visit.” Davie grinned. “Beckett was my choice from the start.”
“Mine, too.” Dell looked up. “So, when’s dinner?”
Cole shook his head with a smile, and I wiped the whiteboard clean.
“Well, it’s settled.” Cole addressed the room. “Now we just need to see if Beckett’s interested in the position.”
After everyone left, Cole and I hung back and took a place across the table from one another. The stack of folders was pushed aside, and Beckett’s photo and file filled the screen.
“Thoughts?” I asked my son. I knew he had a lot more on his mind than just Beckett.
“I was thinking, Dad. It went me, Mark, Keith, Mike, John.” He counted on his fingers. “That was the order we got married. We fell in love, tied the knot, had kids all in our early thirties. We made it work, and we used some of the property to build a mini community. But what about this new team?”
“Yeah.” I agreed it was something we needed to consider.
“They will stay in the main house. There’s plenty of room now that you boys have your own places.” I could see he knew that but had more on his mind, so I let the silence hang for a bit.
“I never saw it before I met Savi.” He rubbed his chin. “I thought this job was for guys who didn’t want more. A grunt life to the end. But I was wrong. Having someone to come home to makes you want to do better all around. I fight better, I train better, I live harder, because of those three people upstairs.”
“What are you thinking?” I tried not to smile. I had a feeling I knew where his mind was, and I felt incredibly proud of the son I’d raised. He had found what I had, love in its purest form, and now saw the power of it.
“Our men should have the right to find love and have a life like we did. I think we should have a plan in place to build more homes. Let them know we’re thinking of their future. We can pitch it like living on a base, only here. It would be great for our kids to have a new generation coming up behind them. I see how family mentally lifts you, what it does for all of us. And when Dusk gets to this point, too, we can think about doing the same there.” He paused for a moment, and his expression changed as if he’d had a dark thought then seemed to shake it off. “I want to pitch it to Frank. We might have to purchase the old Purcell land to give us more room.”
“I agree, and I think he’ll see the benefits of it, too.” I glanced up at Beckett’s face on the screen then back at Cole. “I remember sitting across the table from my dad one night, and he told me there were going to be times in my life where you were going to blow me away. He was right, and you have, countless times.” I shifted to look at him. “Then there are times like this where I just think to myself you really are an amazing human being, Cole Logan. I’m beyond honored to be your father.”
He smiled and reached across the table and squeezed my arm. “I learned from the best, Dad.”
We tidied up the conference room and clicked off the light then walked toward the stairs.
“Daddy, look what I got!” Cole’s youngest held up a book on dinosaurs. “Auntie Mia got it for me.”
“A book on cats?” he teased Easton.
“Daddy,” he giggled, “it’s dinosaurs.” He ran his little finger along the word. “See the word right there.”
“Oh, I thought it said cats.”
“Mommy’s going to read it to me, Brandon, and Reagan.”