“They can’t see the driveway,” I told her. “Remember, I told you I liked my privacy. No one is peeping.”
“Okay.”
I walked her to her car, standing barefoot on the black pavement that was fortunately not hot yet. I gave her a kiss as she stood inside her open car door. “I was thinking about taking the boat out sometime this week. Would you like to go along?”
“I would like that. I’ll need to check my schedule first.”
“Do that. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Call your brother,” she said. “Didn’t you tell me he was overseas?”
“He is.”
“You can’t miss his calls!” she exclaimed and slapped at my shoulder.
“It’s fine,” I assured her.
She got in the car and left. I headed back inside. I was in a great mood. A really good mood. Evie put me in a great mood. I didn’t want to get ahead of myself, but the idea of her staying over again was very appealing.
I walked into the kitchen to start some coffee before dropping a couple pieces of bread in the toaster. I grabbed my phone and listened to the voicemail. “What the hell?” I said aloud as I listened to the message.
I hit the return call button.
“It’s about time,” Kade answered.
“Sorry, I was, uh—what are you doing back already?” I asked instead of telling him I was busy with a woman.
“There was a last-minute change and the whole unit was sent home a couple weeks early.”
“That’s cool. That had to be a welcome change.”
“It was. Usually, we get extended.”
“Where are you?”
“We’re up north right now,” he answered, keeping to the vague answers I expected from him. It was all about OPSEC. I had been trained from a young age not to ask questions about my father’s whereabouts.
“For how long?” I asked.
“I’m taking two weeks,” he said. “Then I’ll be heading to Cherry Point for a while.”
I nodded, knowing the base well. “I bet Dad’s excited.”
“As excited as an old Navy guy can be,” he joked. “Come home and visit. We’ll grab a beer, eat some crab and that amazing chowder at that place near the beach.”
“Kade,” I warned. I did miss the clam chowder from Mo’s. After our parents had moved to Oregon, it had become my new favorite restaurant.
“I’m serious. I want to see you. It’s been over a year. You can get away for a day or two.”
I grabbed the carafe from the coffeemaker and poured myself a cup. “Dad doesn’t want to see me. I don’t want to ruin your visit home by ruining the reunion. Why don’t you come down here?”
“He will want to see you,” he insisted. “I don’t want to waste my leave flying up and down the west coast.”
“You are full of shit,” I answered. “The only thing our old man wants to see from me is failure so he can scream he told me so.”
“Come on. One of you has to swallow your pride and put all the bullshit behind you. You know he isn’t going to do it. He is old and set in his ways. He can’t do it. You have to be the one to try and move forward.”
“I’ve been doing exactly that. He just can’t seem to accept that. He thinks I’m a loser.”
“He doesn’t think you’re a loser,” he said. “He just doesn’t know how to relate to you. The service was his life. It’s all he knows.”
“I design fucking ships,” I snapped. “He’s Navy. Shouldn’t that be something we could talk about?”
“One would think, but it’s Dad. I know you two love each other. I’m not sure why you two butt heads so bad, but I think it’s time to bury the hatchets.”
“I don’t know,” I said. “I don’t think it’s possible. Mom was the mediator. With her gone, I feel like we speak different languages.”
“I’m not home very often. I might not be back on the west coast for another year or longer. Please say you’ll come up.”
I sighed. “Fine. Call me when you are in Oregon and I’ll either drive or fly up for a couple of days. But don’t ask me to stay at the house. I’m not staying at that house.”
“Got it. I’ve got to run. I’ll talk to you soon. Answer your damn phone next time.”
I smiled. If he knew why I had been unavailable, I doubted he would be upset.