Page 9 of The Night Ride (SEALs on Wheels #3)

Chapter five

The hours since I arrived home from school had crawled by. My brother was coming home today!

Evan’s a Navy SEAL and was stationed overseas most of the time.

Since he joined the Navy when I was eight, I didn’t see him often.

But we emailed each other all the time. He was ten years older than me.

Mom and Dad had given up trying for a second kid after years of trying.

But then Mom wound up pregnant with me, and then with our baby sister, Nora, two years later.

Evan enlisted in the Navy when I was only eight. I only got to see him sporadically because of it. But I loved him. He was my big brother. And he was always interested in what I was doing with my life. Especially since Dad died from lung cancer right before he joined the Navy.

Evan was on leave for just a few days before he had to report back to his base in Norfolk, Virginia. But it’s also why mom was letting me stay home from school on Friday and I had scored a three-day weekend off from school.

I was in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on dessert.

Dinner was in the oven and would be ready shortly.

After dad died, I took over many of the household chores including the cooking.

But cooking was something I enjoyed. It was therapeutic.

And ever since I took that cooking class in school, I was getting pretty good.

Cooking and baking were simply basic measurements, anyway. While math wasn’t my strongest subject, I could handle the basics.

“Honey, I’m home!” My brother’s voice boomed followed by male laughter.

Evan was home. Joy burst inside my chest at hearing his voice again.

He had one of his SEAL team buddies visiting with him. Apparently, his friend’s family was out of town while they were on leave. My mom and sister stopped setting the table and dashed toward the front door. I was about to race there myself when the oven timer beeped.

Sighing, I switched the timer off. I always had to mind my responsibilities first before any frivolities. But given I didn’t want to burn the special dinner I made for Evan and his friend, I donned oven mitts and pulled the roast out the oven.

“Hey Squirt!” Evan said as I laid the roast on top of the stove and shut the oven door.

I swiveled with a smile on my face and froze. Standing behind Evan was the most gorgeous man I’d ever seen. He was as tall as my brother with the finely honed body of a Navy SEAL. But that’s where any resemblance ended.

The ground shifted beneath my feet as I tried to suck oxygen into my lungs. The man was a tanned, golden Adonis. His dirty blond, ginger hair liberally dusted with platinum blond from his time spent outdoors. An engaging grin was on full-bodied lips on a square jaw dusted with stubble.

I felt like I was in one of the teen movies where the frames switch to slow motion as the hot hero enters the classroom, and suddenly there’s wind and a golden halo around him.

My heartbeat raced and palms went damp. He was utterly gorgeous, like the men I imagined in the romance novels I hid from my mother.

“Earth to Beth.” Evan waved his hand in front of my face. It shook me out of my stunned stupor. My cheeks heated to the surface temperature of the sun and were likely beet red.

“Uh hi! Sorry, busy week.” I went into Evan’s open arms and hugged him. Evan always gave the best bear hugs. I always felt safe when he was around. Like for once, I didn’t have to be the strong one and could lean on him.

But then I glanced beyond his shoulder and spied his friend. He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. My heart ached for him. This beautiful man had been hurt and hurt deeply. I understood the sentiment and felt the need to comfort him.

When Evan finally released me and stepped back, he gestured to the gorgeous man at his side. “This is my buddy, Aiden. His folks were out of town when we got our leave time, so I invited him home. Hope that doesn’t put a wrench in the dinner you made, Squirt.”

I’d known he was coming, but even if he hadn’t, it wouldn’t have mattered. The roast was big enough to feed ten people. “Not at all, there’s more than enough for everyone. And I made dessert too.”

“I can see that.”

“Dinner’s ready if everyone wants to fill their plates.”

I went into action, putting the serving utensils beside the roast. When I turned around, I almost ran into Aiden.

Because he was right there, tall and utterly gorgeous, he made me want to swoon, just like the women in those historical romances I secretly read at night when mom thought I had gone to bed.

I read them under the covers with a flashlight.

I stood there awkwardly, trying and failing miserably not to blush. But my cheeks were hot to the touch.

“Mind if I get some of that amazing smelling roast on my plate or are you its guardian?” he gently teased with a wry grin. His deep base pinged through me. And the smile he bestowed upon me almost made me swoon.

“Um…yes, sorry. Here’s the serving utensils. Take as much as you want.”

Our fingers brushed. Tingles of energy raced from the point of contact.

He was so big and strong, and seriously, the hottest guy on the planet.

There were things he made me want that I had never experienced before with a man, starting with a swoon worthy kiss and ending with him professing his undying love for me.

“I’ve got ‘em. Thanks for including me.” He smiled.

My brain cells fainted. I couldn’t even form words.

My tongue tied in knots. He was gorgeous and kind.

No guy was ever that way with me except for my brother and he didn’t count.

The frumpy, frizzy-haired homebody with more on my plate than most of my peers.

This never happened to me. The boys at school were rude. Some were even downright mean.

I waited for everyone else to load their plate before I made one for myself.

When I sat down at the table, my mom glanced at my plate, and I flushed.

Being chubby in my mom’s eyes was the greatest offense known to mankind.

I’d always been thicker than my classmates and shy to boot.

That puts a bullseye on your back for the bullies.

At school I was teased relentlessly.

Every barbed word tore at my self-worth and confidence.

I was never mean to anyone, was always willing to share what I had and help where I could.

But then, I’d always been a softie with the inner consistency of a marshmallow.

I loved baking and romance novels. When most of my peers wanted to party and get drunk.

No matter how much I tried, I never fit in.

On my plate was half of what everyone else was eating, but it still wasn’t good enough. I felt her disdain as I scooped up some of the mashed potatoes.

“You really shouldn’t be carb loading, Beth. Stick to the protein and veggies.”

Embarrassment flooded me. I glanced down at my plate, fighting tears. She just had to do this here, in front of such a gorgeous man. And I simply wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

“Mom, she’s fine. Stop picking on her.”

Mom slurped down more wine. She always had a drink in her hand. Since dad died, she drank every night. It was why I had been forced to pick up the slack around the house.

“Beth knows she could stand to lose a few pounds,” Mom argued, glancing my way with utter disdain.

“Mom. Stop it. Leave her alone.” Evan glared until she finally caved.

“Of course. I didn’t mean anything by it.” She smiled at Evan, before shooting me a hot glare laced with meaning. It meant she would get me alone and tell me I ruined the evening by simply existing.

I didn’t react and kept my head down. It was easier than confronting her or speaking up for myself. I tried that once, and it was horrible.

The food’s flavor turned to sawdust, and I wanted to vomit the few bites I’d been able to choke down. Throughout the meal I kept quiet while Evan and Aiden told stories, and Mom and Nora laughed. When I was finished, I rose with half my plate still full. But I couldn’t eat another bite.

It was part of my problem. I didn’t like eating in front of my mother.

So I tried not to eat too much because she would comment about it and make me feel awful.

I felt like such a failure and unworthy somehow because I couldn’t seem to be how she wanted me.

But later, I would wind up starving and would binge part of the small stash of food I kept hidden from her.

Because if she knew, she would berate me, usually publicly.

It always made me want to crawl in a hole of shame and die. And I had never understood why she targeted me, but both Evan and Nora weren’t targeted the same way. All I could figure was there was something wrong with me.

While everyone finished their meal, I began putting the leftovers away and cleaning up the kitchen. I carried the plate of desserts over to the table for everyone.

“What do we have here?” Evan asked with an endearing grin. He didn’t look at me like there was something wrong with me and I loved him more for it.

“Chocolate peanut butter cupcakes with Reese’s pieces. I know how much you love the chocolate and peanut butter combo.”

“It looks delish, sis! Thanks for such an awesome homecoming dinner! We’re going to be the envy of our unit when we return to base.”

“He isn’t lying. This is the best meal I’ve had in ages. Ever think about being a chef?” Aiden asked and bit into a cupcake, moaning in ecstasy. “These are phenomenal.”

“Thanks.” I flushed at the unexpected compliment, unsure how to accept the praise from such a hot guy because it had never happened before.

I avoided taking a cupcake myself under my mother’s scrutiny.

She would only make more comments about my weight in front of our guest. And I wanted to float a while longer on his compliments and not have to deal with her.

She would only make me feel bad about myself.

At times I felt like she hated me, and I didn’t understand why.

As dinner concluded, I stood at the sink rinsing dishes and putting them in the dishwasher.

“Here’s this. Again, thanks for such a great meal and including me tonight.”

I glanced over my jaw agape, stunned. Aiden smiled with a disarming grin. Butterflies flew in a riot through my belly. My throat felt dry. I opened my mouth to reply but nothing came out because my brain wasn’t functioning at higher levels.

A knowing smirk filled his features, but his eyes were kind. He knew I thought he was hot. “I’ll just set this here.”

He laid his empty plate and utensils on the counter beside the sink with a wink before heading off with my brother to look at our backyard pool and the surrounding land that butted up to a forest on the outskirts of the redwoods.

The rest of the weekend flew by. Far too fast for my liking as I watched the activity from the sidelines, refusing to get in a bathing suit, preferring to watch the activity from the kitchen window while I cooked for everyone.

By the end of the weekend, I had fallen in love for the very first time, with the kind man who always complimented me and listened when I talked about my dreams. He left back east with my brother and took my young, tender heart with him.