Fresh-Start Family Read online

  He went on. “I tell you what. Why don’t we just take things one trip at a time and see how it goes? Agreed?”

  Tag had been prepared for her to be relieved with his offer. He couldn’t stand to see all that worry on her face when she talked about Brian. He wasn’t prepared for the tears that sprang to her eyes or the musical laugh that floated out of her mouth.

  “Brian will love that!” she said.

  Abruptly, she stepped forward and threw her arms around him, giving him a squeeze. When she pulled back, the look on her face told him she was just as surprised as he was by her impulsive gesture.

  “Well,” he said, for lack of something better to say.

  While he knew his hands were shaking, Jenna merely laughed. That slight blush that had made her glow earlier crept up her cheeks again.

  “I’d better go in before I make an even bigger fool of myself,” she said, the smile never leaving her lips.

  Jenna turned and ran into the house, her feet hitting the porch steps in time with the beating of Tag’s heart. And he wondered what was more foolish. Wanting to chase her down for another hug or wanting to run like a bandit in the opposite direction?

  Chapter Four

  The weather was kind to them and the sky was a clear blue, which had Tag wanting to play. There were days like this when he wanted to spend the entire day in the air, just flying to places he hadn’t yet seen. In his life he’d been blessed to be able to see new places, experience new things and meet new people, a fact that others could only dream about. The adventure never got old.

  Joining the marines had been the right move for him when he was young. It had given him what he craved: the opportunity to serve his country, to help those around the world who couldn’t help themselves and to live his dream. During the twelve years he’d served in the Marine Corps, he’d had his share of all of the above.

  But living his dream had come with a price that others had paid. That realization had come too late for him. If he could go back… No, that wasn’t possible. It was best to keep his mind on where he was at now.

  Since the day he’d had dinner with Jenna, he’d wondered if she’d read that letter from the Department of Defense, proudly advising him that they had recognized his service to his country and wanted to award him the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions in Afghanistan.

  Yeah, right. Heroic. Tag was no hero, and he didn’t want any medal. He’d just done what he had to do. He didn’t need a medal to remind him of anything.

  If Jenna had seen it, she hadn’t said anything. For that he was glad.

  This was the third run taking Jenna and Brian to Valentine this week. In truth, he could have made the full run for the week’s supplies for Mr. Peers and the other business owners in one trip, but with two passengers on board, even as light as Jenna and Brian were, he couldn’t add more weight to the plane. And he certainly didn’t mind the excuse to make more flights and spend more time in the air.

  But it was more than that that had him enjoying the flights. He’d always loved flying alone, but Brian’s chattiness and excitement were infectious.

  “What does this one tell you?” Brian said, leaning forward against the restraint of the belt and pointing to the instrument panel.

  “It tells you whether you’re ascending or descending,” Tag replied.

  “What about that one?” Brian pointed to another dial.

  “That’s the ammeter. It blinks to tell you whether or not the engine or battery is getting enough juice. It reminds me if I don’t have enough electricity.”

  “Electricity for what?” Brian asked.

  “To run all the parts of the plane and keep it flying in the air.”

  Brian’s eyes grew wide. “What if it starts blinking?”

  Tag smiled mischievously. “Then we’re in trouble.” To Jenna he said, “But it’s not blinking, so you can breathe.”

  Jenna gave him an amused grin.

  It was the same every time they flew. Brian had a thousand and one questions for him about everything from the controls on the plane to what Tag did in the military. Jenna just sat back and let Brian chatter. But when they talked… Yeah, Tag realized he liked Jenna’s company, too.

  These last months he’d spent a fair amount of time alone, just with himself. He’d needed that right after he returned from Afghanistan. He’d had to right himself when his life was spinning out of control. When there wasn’t anyone else around, he didn’t have to answer questions or disappoint anyone by not being social.

  Jenna and Brian kept up more than their fair share of the social part, making things easier.

  Lately the quiet he’d craved seemed less peaceful and more like noise in his head than thoughts that needed working out. He missed having someone to run ideas by, to talk to about the nonsense of life, and just plain sharing a meal. It had been so glaringly obvious that first night, when Jenna’s truck broke down in his driveway.

  And he missed a challenge. In the military there had always been some mission or project that gave him that challenge. But there was also a challenge in friendships. Tag had pushed a fair amount of his friendships away because they always turned back to his reason for leaving the military. The only one who still called was his cousin Wolf, and it would be only a matter of time before he stopped as well. But no. Wolf was family, and family had a way of never giving up.

  Brian’s voice broke into his thoughts just as the plane bobbed with a bit of turbulence. Tag adjusted the plane’s position to stabilize the ride.

  “Are we going to crash, Tom?”

  Tag glanced over his shoulder at Brian, who was sitting next to Jenna in the back row. His eyes were wide with panic as he pointed to another dial that was moving.

  “Gee, I don’t know, Brian. I hope you brought a parachute.”

  “Are we really going to have to jump out of the plane?” Brian’s wide eyes darted to Tag, then to Jenna. The plane bobbed again, and Brian gripped the seat.

  “Niiice,” Jenna said, eyeing Tag with an amused warning. “Are you going to come over and talk him down from this ledge you’re building for him when he has a nightmare tonight?”

  Tag mouthed the word sorry and then turned to Brian. “Don’t worry about it, Scout. It’s just the directional indicator. If you noticed, I turned the plane just a little because we hit a few small air pockets that made the plane jump a bit. There’s a bunch of those air pockets all over the sky, and we never know when we’re going to hit them. But when we do, I can turn the plane until all the bumpiness from the air pocket stops. That’s when I know we’re clear. Think of it as being on a big roller coaster. You’ve been on a roller coaster before, right?”

  Brian shook his head. “Only the little one. I’m too small for a big roller coaster.”

  “Big or small, it’s kind of the same thing. Only when you’re on a roller coaster, you can see the big hill coming. You just can’t see the drop until you’re there. That dial shows the pitch of the plane when I turn and then straighten out again. That’s why you saw it moving just now.”

  Brian gave a quick smile. “I like roller coasters. Even the little ones. But Mom usually screams.”

  Tag laughed. “No screaming allowed in this plane.”

  Jenna rolled her eyes. “So noted.”

  “So we’re not going to crash?” Brian asked.

  “Tom was just having fun with you, sweetie,” Jenna said, rumpling her son’s hair.

  Brian tried to peer out the window and look down at the ground, but his small size made it hard to see all the way down. “Did you ever have to jump out of a plane, Tom?” he asked.

  “Yeah, plenty of times.”

  Brian’s jaw dropped open wide. “Really? Like, from up this high and everything?”

  “Sure. We used to do maneuvers like that all the time in the military. Sometimes we jumped from the plane and parachuted into a location. But most of the time we made drops into the jungle from a Super Stallion.”

  “That’s one of th
ose hover helicopters, right?” Jenna asked.

  “Yeah, the Super Stallions can hover right above the tree line so a unit can rappel to the ground quickly. No parachutes.” Tag winked at Brian, who finally eased into a smile.

  The small landing strip in the center of his property came into view, and Tag’s heart fell just a notch as he prepared to circle around to come in for a landing. Mr. Peers’s truck sat waiting to be loaded with the supplies Tag had on board.

  Calm winds made landing between the barren crop fields as easy as walking. But there was never anything routine about coming in for a landing. Tag stopped the chatter and gave landing the plane his full attention.

  As the wheels hit the ground, a tug of disappointment washed over him. He loved flying, and he always felt a little sadness when his time in the air was over, but that sadness was stronger now that the end of a flight meant saying goodbye to Jenna and Brian.

  “Are you eating dinner at our house, Tom?” Brian said, already unbuckling his seat belt and getting up to kneel in the seat to see better.

  His mother shooed him down, and Tag wasn’t sure whether it was because he’d prematurely taken off the belt or because the boy had spoken out of turn, asking him to dinner.

  Jenna had asked him to dinner herself the first two times he’d flown them, and he’d declined. He wasn’t exactly sure why, since it took only a few minutes to load Mr. Peers’s truck with the goods he brought back from Valentine. But somehow it felt more appropriate. The woman was sweet, and Chesterfield was a small town. Tag didn’t want people coming to the conclusion that they were an item.

  He was happy to have Jenna as a friend, but there was no room in his life for a romantic relationship or small talk from people who didn’t know him or his history. They’d have to stay just friends. But then, was there really any reason why he couldn’t have dinner with a friend? The food was guaranteed to be good and he knew he’d enjoy himself. Jenna was easy to be with and had a sunshine quality that made him smile.

  “Your mom hasn’t asked,” he said.

  “She’s going to, though,” Brian said resolutely. “She even said that she’s going to insist this time, ’cuz she doesn’t like getting things for free and she needs to pay you for your services.”

  “Brian!” Jenna exclaimed.

  “But, Mom, you said so at breakfast!”

  Tag couldn’t help but laugh. “She said that, huh? Well, then, I guess a home-cooked dinner would go a long way toward payment.” He glanced over his shoulder and saw that Jenna’s cheeks had turned crimson. “That is, if it’s okay with you, Jenna.”

  “I didn’t say it like that,” she said, touching her hand to her cheek and sighing. “Kids.”

  Tag glanced over his shoulder again and smiled at her.

  “Honestly, if you don’t have other plans, we’d love to have you,” she said.

  “It’d be my pleasure. I just need to unload some things here for Mr. Peers. And I’ve got those parts Ben wanted for the truck. Maybe Ben and I will have some time to work on the truck after dinner and get it running smoother.”

  He secured the plane and walked them back to his house, where she’d left her truck. Mr. Peers met them halfway.

  “I’ll be right with you, Mr. Peers,” Tag said after they greeted each other.

  Tag wanted to make sure Jenna’s truck started up without a problem. They’d managed to get the truck running, but it still ran rough. The new parts should solve the problem they’d been having so they didn’t have to worry each time they took the truck out of the driveway. When the engine turned over, he nodded.

  “I’ll stop by the house and drop off the parts when I’m done here. If you’re not home by the time I get there, I’ll assume you broke down and come find you.”

  “You take too good care of me, Tom Garrison,” she said, putting the truck into gear and then checking to make sure Brian had buckled up.

  “How else am I going to get some home-cooked food?”

  He watched Jenna drive away, suddenly aware that something had changed. He’d been living on the farm for a few weeks, but today was the first day that he felt he had the makings of a home here in Chesterfield. He was sure the woman driving away had something to do with it.

  When Jenna had reached the end of the driveway, Tag turned back toward the plane to help Mr. Peers unload his supplies.

  “Can I help Grandpa and Tom work on the truck after dinner, Mom?”

  Jenna held Brian’s hand as they crossed Main Street and walked toward Alice McKenna’s house, which was near the center of town. Alice’s son David was in Brian’s class, and she had offered to have Brian over for the afternoon to play. “Mom!”

  Startled by Brian’s outburst, she said, “What is it?”

  “Can I?”

  “Can you what?”

  “Help Tom and Grandpa after dinner? He’s coming over for dinner, isn’t he?”

  “You’ve got homework.”

  “I can finish it before then.”

  She was distracted for a moment as she mentally went over the menu she’d selected for dinner that night. Brian wasn’t a picky eater, and her dad would eat just about anything she put in front of him. But since Tom was coming over, she thought she’d make something special.

  “Mom?” Brian looked up at her impatiently.

  “You can barely see above the hood of the truck. Won’t you be bored?”

  Stupid question. Male bonding rituals started young. Looking inside a truck with twisted metal parts and grease wasn’t her thing, but since it involved his two heroes, Brian was bound to find it interesting. Whatever they were doing he just wanted to be with the guys. At any rate, she knew he wasn’t going to give up easily. Her son never did when he had his mind fixed on something.

  “I can stand on a hay bale.”

  Jenna chuckled, trying to squash the slight pang of jealousy that hit her. First a playdate and now she was competing for her son’s attention with Tom. Not being the center of Brian’s world was a new thing she was going to have to get used to.

  It was going to be a busy afternoon for Brian and a long evening with Tom stopping by later. Normally Jenna would try to keep Brian to a schedule. But Brian was probably going to come up with a counterargument for everything she put in front of him.

  She finally conceded, “If you get your homework done, then okay. But only as long as Grandpa and Tom say it’s okay. And only until it’s time for your bath. No going out there after you’re clean.”

  Alice was at her front door when they made it up the walkway. Though it had been more than a decade since they’d gone to high school together, the pretty blonde looked much the same. Alice had graduated a few years before Jenna, and they hadn’t been friends. Still, now that she was back in Chesterfield and the two of them had sons the same age, Jenna was looking forward to getting to know Alice better.

  After Brian bustled through the door, Alice leaned forward and said quietly, “Anything I should watch out for?”

  Jenna had mentioned Brian’s dialysis treatments to Alice, so she was aware of his illness. “Keep the cookies to a minimum. Brian told me about the snicker-doodles David brings for lunch, and he said they were awesome.” She mimicked the way Brian said it, and Alice laughed.

  “David loves them, too. I’ll make sure he has only a few.”

  “Good,” Jenna said, smiling. “I’ll never get him down from the sugar high otherwise. And if you can get him to drink some juice or lemonade, that’d be good, too. He never drinks enough. I’ll be back in an hour or so to pick him up.”

  “Oh, that’s okay. I can drive him home. That way you won’t have to rush your errands. Is six o’clock okay?”

  “That’d be great.”

  An afternoon to herself. This was something new.

  She said her goodbyes and headed back the way she’d come. She’d have plenty of time to do her shopping before calling her father to come pick her up in town.

  She knew her dad would welcome Brian�
��s company later on, while working on the truck, even if Brian man aged to get into something he wasn’t supposed to when no one was looking. She was glad that the move back to Chesterfield had given Brian and her father an opportunity to have a closer relationship than they’d had when she and Brian had lived in Omaha. Sure, her dad gave in to every little thing Brian wanted, much to Jenna’s dismay. But he was also a strong male influence, which Brian needed in his life right now.

  Then there was Tom. In the short time she’d known him, Jenna had come to rely on his help and, yeah, even his friendship, despite the fact that he was very guarded with her. With Brian, however, Tom seemed to be an open book, and it was a refreshing side of him to see. He was genuine in his motives and never expected anything in return for a good deed.

  Tom didn’t need to come over to fix her truck. But she didn’t have to ask him to do it, either. He just did it. And Jenna liked the feeling of having a man be attentive to the little things that way, wanting to help fix problems instead of running away from them.

  If Tom stuck around long enough, she was sure she’d quickly get used to the feeling. It was a dangerous thought.

  Jenna had just finished picking up the last vegetables needed for her roast dinner and was walking out of the market, bags filling her arms, when she saw Tom walking through the door of the hardware store next door.

  “I’m glad I caught you,” he said, turning back in her direction.

  A momentary sense of disappointment hit her square in the stomach. “You’re still coming for dinner, aren’t you?”

  “Sure, I’ll be there. I just wanted to warn you your dad might not be in the best of moods.”

  She stopped walking and groaned. “Why?”

  “The piece he ordered for the truck doesn’t fit.”

  “Oh, no. Serves me right for talking him into saving a few pennies with an aftermarket part when the store didn’t have the dealer part he was looking for.”

  Tom shrugged. “It was worth a shot. Sometimes it works out. Just not this time.”