Page 61 of Complicated Past
“I’ll assure her that she’s not in any trouble.” Clara grabbed a water bottle from the fridge. “I take it everything went well with Kendra last night?”
Based on her grin and the innuendo in her voice, she knew, or at least suspected, he’d spent the night. However, she must not have talked to Kendra this morning and didn’t know about their conversation ending their brief relationship, if you could call it that. He didn’t ask or answer her question as he stirred the coffee.
“I don’t think you’ll have to worry about Grandma Ruby. You’re going to change her mind, and she’ll be asking you to set her up with some retired Special Forces soldier. When do you go back to finish out your deployment?”
“I’m going to call my chief and work that out while you’re interviewing my sister. Can I trust you to stick to the case?” He didn’t need Bri getting the lowdown on him and Kendra because Bri would probably give him hell.
“Of course.” Clara’s playful smile disappeared, and she studied him through the narrowed eyes of a skilled detective. “You can wait in the lobby after you make your call.”
He gave a curt nod, then headed outside.
“I got your message,” Chief Lundgren answered. “Glad to hear Bri’s back safe, and they caught the people behind the operation.”
Amen to that. “She and her grandmother are giving their statements to the police now. The detective working the case said neither should be in danger going forward. Her grandmother wants to go home to Atlanta tomorrow, except she’s still recovering and not up to making the drive herself. Bri asked me to drive her down. I thought I could fly out of Atlanta back to Poland.”
“It’ll make it an easier trip for you. Call HQ and have them make arrangements. We’re not doing more ordnance training until you’re back. Our newbie or a trainee might get a nickname like three-finger G.I. Joe if I let Dominguez and Grant fill in for you.”
“Our newbie have a nickname yet?”
“No. We wanted you to have a say.”
The chief wanting him back and verbalizing what Linc brought to the team was what he needed to hear. Getting back to work might give him something to think about other than Kendra and wondering if he’d made a huge mistake this morning.
TWENTY-TWO
Linc removed the bag of coffee from the freezer to make a pot of strong brew. Despite being in his house and bed, he’d barely slept.
The fridge was as empty as the house felt after his time with Jalen and Kendra. She’d invaded his every thought. And it had only taken one night together and one alone to make him feel like something was missing from his life.
Since before dawn, he’d replayed her speech telling him she saw his worth over and over until it had started to drown out the negative messages repeated so many times in so many ways that he had believed them.
Shortly after her stint in rehab, Bri had told him how counseling helped shift her perspective from a victim mentality. She’d encouraged him to consider seeing a therapist to deal with any issues from their upbringing, but he’d blown off the suggestion. After all, he was a tough Spec Ops guy. His kind didn’t need sympathy for having a crappy childhood or want to talk about their feelings.
What Bri said about him walking away at the first sign of rejection as a defense mechanism was true. What if, instead ofprotecting him from being hurt, it kept him from having the life he’d once dreamed of?
Jalen had stolen his heart the first time Linc held him as a newborn. Though he didn’t plan to become a father, he loved being Uncle Linc. He thought back to what Kendra had said yesterday morning.
As a kid, he dreamed about being part of a functional family. His mom getting clean and making him and Bri her priority. That hadn’t happened. But he’d still dreamed about one day having a wife who loved him. Having kids he’d love and protect. Except the fear he didn’t deserve or wasn’t good enough to take care of a family had been pounded into him over and over.
Most days, he risked his life serving in the military. The time had come to risk something else. He wanted to believe what Kendra said. That what she saw in him was true. He could have the life he’d dreamed of as a kid.
It was early. However, he only had four hours until he had to leave Fayetteville, so he pulled out his phone and scrolled through his contacts.
After verifyingKendra’s car was in the DSS parking lot, Linc entered the building. He passed through security and made his way to the reception area.
“I need to see Kendra Andrews,” he told the same middle-aged receptionist he remembered from his prior visit.
“Do you have an appointment?”
“I don’t, but it’s important that I speak to her for a few minutes.”
“You were here last week, right?”
“I was, but this is personal business.”
The receptionist gave a knowing smile. “I got you, dear.” She picked up the phone. “Kendra, you have a visitor at the front desk. They need you to sign for something.” She winked at Linc, then hung up. “She’ll be right out.”
Linc shifted his weight as he waited. The way Kendra froze in the hallway and her mouth hung open as she stared, made his heart stop beating. She regained her composure to meet him by the desk.