Page 53 of On the Double
“No, what?”
“No, sir,” Edu barked.
Grandpa stepped right into Edu’s space, his eyes gleaming with the need to control someone. I probably should have mentioned to Edu that Grandpa was also former military. A colonel in the Army, to be precise. Barking orders was what he lived for. I actually felt a little bad for Edu.
“So…” Grandpa said, walking around Edu, checking him out like he would one of his soldiers. “You think you’re good enough for my Harper, do you?”
“Sir—”
“I didn’t ask for an answer.”
“No, sir.”
“You’re not still active military?”
“No, sir.”
“And you think being a bodyguard is a good job to keep my Harper safe?” He stopped right in front of Edu, staring him down.
“There’s no one better suited to care for your granddaughter, sir!”
“Are you saying I’m not capable of taking care of my family?” Grandpa snapped.
“No, sir. I just…”
“Just what?”
I could see Edu sweating as he stood there like a good soldier, not looking Grandpa in the eye, but straight ahead.
“Soldier, if you have something to say, you’d better get to it!”
“Whoa!” Fox laughed, jumping in to save the day. He wrapped his arm around Grandpa’s shoulder, tugging him away from Edu. “Sir, that was totally amazing. I was never one for authority. Theysort of kicked me out of the SEALs, but it all turned out right in the end.”
He continued to blather on as he tugged Grandpa further away. I turned to Edu, biting my lip as I waited for him to unleash his anger on me. Instead, his shoulders slumped and he wiped the sweat from his brow.
“Fuck, I haven’t felt like I wanted to puke like that since I was in boot.”
“Yeah, I should have mentioned he was a colonel in the army.”
“Maybe that would have been a good idea,” he said sarcastically.
“But the worst is over,” I said cheerfully. “And they’re old. They won’t stay for long, so then this will all be over. Which I’m sure you’ll be glad of.”
He bent over suddenly, resting his hands on his knees as he took deep breaths. Man, he was really taking this whole thing hard. I rubbed his back, hoping to soothe him while trying not to laugh.
“It’s okay, Pookie. Everything will be fine. Just take deep breaths.”
“Stop calling me Pookie,” he muttered.
“Harper?” my grandma called out, looking at Edu in concern. “Is everything alright?”
“Uh…yeah, everything’s fine,” I smiled.
“Then why does that man look like he’s about to pass out?”
Luckily, one of Edu’s friends stepped up and answered for me. “We’ve just recently had a loss in our OPS family. It’s hitting some of us harder than others.”
She looked at him curiously. “And you are?”