Page 44 of Adam’s Rising (Midnight Sons #6)

SAM

S am allowed the fusion of country-rock music to fade into the background as he soaked in the sights and sounds of the local tavern and its patrons.

As long as it’d been since Sam had come here, nothing had changed. He’d swear that even the regulars screaming every time their team scored were the same folks who’d caterwauled Happy Birthday to him seventeen years ago, on his twenty-first birthday.

Everything in the bar was either stained or painted a deep rustic brown.

Soot-colored pine timbers made up the walls.

Boot-scuffed planks served as the floor.

And the heavy door, as slick and black as Alaska oil, kept out the bright sunlight and frigid winds.

With twenty hours of sunlight daily, the dive bar was the only place in Falcon Run to experience a real nightlife.

Soccer fans drummed their feet and fists, screaming, “Goooooool!” Many launched themselves from barstools.

Most of the year, hockey or football dominated the screens, but this was May.

Even Alaskans cheered their favorite teams, excited to see which ones would advance to the World Cup.

The establishment was broadcasting the game on nearly every TV, but the real devotees were huddled at the bar.

One of the Pipeline workers — Sam had seen the roughneck around town — staggered backward, causing the waitress to swerve and splash Sam.

Her front teeth biting her lower lip, she dabbed at Sam’s black shirt with a cocktail napkin. “Sorry, Sam.”

Sam winked at her as he nudged the man back toward the bar.

“No worries, Gina. It was only a few drops.” He’d gone out with Gina a few times.

Years ago … maybe ten; he wasn’t sure exactly.

He’d been in a bad place then, he remembered.

Of course, seeing someone he hadn’t dated was unusual.

With less than two thousand year-round residents, single people tended to make the rounds.

At thirty-eight, he’d dated more than his share of locals, though, and he wasn’t one to repeat past mistakes.

Dating visitors wasn’t smart either, but he couldn’t help thinking about the woman who’d taken off earlier.

He’d hung her gloves over his rearview mirror, hoping he’d see her again.

At least he’d have an excuse to approach her if he did.

Gina handed out the drinks. Only two of the five mugs held drafts, one for his mother and one for the birthday boy.

The other three were just water. One of the downsides to running a search-and-rescue team was that, other than a sick day or vacation, he was on-call 24/7, 365 days a year.

For him and his team, that meant no drinking.

Not even one light beer. And since it’d been forever since Sam had taken a sick day, even longer since he’d actually gone on vacation, he’d been dry for several years.

Not all rescue workers felt the same way, especially in Alaska where drinking was pretty much a required pastime.

Alex, the next eldest and Sam’s only full brother, accepted his mug of water from Gina and wrapped an arm around the birthday boy’s neck.

“So, your first drink, Daire —” A few coughs and a loud guffaw had Alex scanning the faces around the bar.

Even their mother was doing her best not to spew out the sip she’d just taken.

“Okay, your first legal drink,” he said. “What should we drink to?”

“Hmmmm …” Daire stared up at the exposed rafters as though he was contemplating an answer. “Got it! I’m gonna drink to the fact that now that I’m twenty-one, Sam will stop treating me like a kid and start treating me like the expert whitewater rescue guide I’m gonna be.”

Erik, their adopted brother from the time he was five, smacked Daire’s back. “Gotta earn that one, baby brother. I’m older than you, and I’m still fightin’ that battle.”

“You’re only six years older —” Daire set down his mug without taking a sip, shifting his beleaguered look to their mother. “ Baby brother. See how they treat me, Mom?”

Claire Belgarde tipped back her mug. “It’s okay, honey.

You know you’ll always be my favorite.” Although their mother still worked in the family business, she no longer worked search and rescue, so she tended to indulge in a drink or two.

Made the nights shorter and kept the nightmares at bay, she’d confessed once.

Claire had been an expert climber, one of the few team members who could spider any rock face.

But she’d retired her climbing gear and boots after his father died.

Now, Erik led the mountaineering expeditions and rescues.

With his trim but amazingly strong frame, there wasn’t a crag he couldn’t scale.

Claire had brushed off Daire’s words, but Sam couldn’t.

Sam didn’t know if he could ever stop treating Daire like a kid — his kid.

Although his parents had raised Daire as their child, and he’d tried to treat Daire the same as he did his other brothers — blood and adopted — he couldn’t.

He also couldn’t figure out how to tell Daire that he was his father and that the woman Daire had called Mom from the time he uttered his first word was actually his grandmother.

“Well,” Daire continued, “that’s what I’m drinking to. Oh, and that Vince makes it home tonight. It’s been way too long since I’ve seen his goofy grin.”

“When he gets off the boat,” Alex grumbled under his breath, “he might go away permanently for murdering his wife after he finds out what she did.”

Sam started to admonish Alex for his snide comment, especially when Vince wasn’t even there to defend himself, but a stirring of the crowd caught his attention.

“Make way,” a resonant, raspy voice sliced through the throng of chattering drinkers, parting them like the Red Sea. “I got a party to attend.”

The entire family lowered their mugs and scanned the bar. That familiar booming voice belonged to their brother Vince. Not really a brother. Not even adopted. As if he’d been a lost pup, Vince had followed Erik home in grade school and had been a family member ever since.

“Vince!” Daire set down his untouched mug and rushed to the man who was as much of a brother as any man could want. The two men, although separated by more than seven years, embraced each other like long-lost twins reuniting. “I didn’t think you were gonna make it.”

“Miss my baby brother’s most important birthday?

Never!” Vince leaned back, appraising the younger man’s enhanced physique.

Daire had been pounding protein and working out like an Olympiad.

In the last few months, he’d gone from a scrawny adolescent to a strapping man.

Vince, a hulk of a man himself, squared off with Daire, squeezing both of his shoulders. “I see you’ve been getting ready.”

“Hell, yeah! Been waiting years for this day.” Daire tossed a grimace over his shoulder. “Ridiculous that I had to wait until I turned twenty-one to join the team when I’ve been paddling white water and climbing mountains nearly ten years.”

Sam cast his gaze upward. “Rules are rules, Daire.” He circled the table, and Vince stepped back so the family could take turns hugging the brother they hadn’t seen in several months. As Sam backed away, he searched for any indication that Vince knew about his wife.

Vince narrowed his eyes as he took in everyone’s serious gazes. The family had always been able to read one another’s thoughts with little more than an eyebrow raise, an invaluable skill when you didn’t have time to talk on a rescue.

He obviously saw their sympathy because anger mottled his face. “You knew!”

Sam offered Vince a solemn nod. “At first, Karen was discreet. We only suspected something might be going on. But in the last few weeks, she’s gone public. Word on the street is that she and her new beau are heading south.”

Vince straddled a barstool. “Yeah … with my money! Why didn’t someone tell me?”

Sam’s shoulders lifted and dropped. “Would you really have wanted us to radio the boat when there was nothing you could do? We tried talking to her, but honestly, I don’t know what happened. Karen has become —”

“A royal bitch,” Vince finished.

The family gathered closer, encircling Vince. Everyone had known. Everyone but Vince, since he’d been offshore all season.

“I could handle her leaving. But my boat …” Vince sighed as Daire sat down beside him.

“Apparently she hasn’t been making the payments.

When I got home, I found a letter stating that as soon as I docked, the bank would repossess it.

’Course, that was the only thing she left: past-due letters.

She took everything, didn’t leave as much as a roll of toilet paper.

Hell, she even took my underwear. What on God’s great earth is she gonna do with my tighty-whities?

” He mimed holding them up. “‘Here, babe, I even took his briefs. They’re only slightly used.’ That’s nasty. ”

Sam covered his mouth. It wasn’t funny, but it was hard to hold back a laugh when Vince told stories. Even sad ones.

Vince tried to maintain his somber expression, but burst out laughing. “Go ahead and laugh, my brothers. I deserve it. Every single one of you warned me.”

Daire slid his draft in front of Vince. “Here, you need this more than I do.”

“Damn straight!” Vince tipped back the mug, draining it. “’Nuff about my sorry ass. Let’s get this party started.” He ruffled Daire’s thick dark hair, the same color and defiant curls as Sam’s, except Sam kept his hair cropped short. “When you gonna cut this mop, kid?”

Daire laughed off Vince’s comment, causing another kick to Sam’s gut. How come everyone else could call Daire kid and baby brother , and Daire didn’t get upset? Maybe Sam did treat Daire like a kid. Maybe he did need to let him grow up without always worrying that he’d die … like Sam’s father had.