Page 97 of All We Carry Home

“How can you let him treat you like this?”

“You think you would be able to stand up to your parents if they were still alive?”

“We’re not kids anymore, Keith.”

He looked in the direction his father had left. “Look, you have your connection to your land, and I am tied to mine, to my family. I must honor that.”

“Not when it leads you down such a dark path.” I stood too, praying he would hear my words. “Don’t let him take this piece of your soul.”

“You’re right.” Keith rolled his shoulders back, straightening his jacket. “We’re not kids anymore. Our choices aren’t so simple.”

He walked out of the restaurant, the chill in his voice leaving me frozen in his wake.

I was glued to my spot until Warren emerged from the spiral staircase to my left. He looked toward the lobby and then studied me as he sat in a chair beside me.

“I’m guessing you heard all of that?” I asked.

He lifted his eyebrows and pressed his lips together. “If you sit at one particular table on the second-floor balcony, you just so happen to hear everything said in the restaurant below.”

At least that saved me the effort of summarizing how the conversation went. I wondered what he thought of Keith’s comments about my parents.

“What now?” I asked. We were going to Arizona the next day. Was it safe to leave Birkstrom at all?

“Now we know where Keith stands, but we keep to our plans.”

Ever the unwavering leader.

Was Keith right, though? Should I take the money and set up a new farm where the Merricks’ shadow wouldn’t hang over my head?

Warren must have seen the doubt in my eyes. “Don’t worry. I have a few more ideas.”

“What if my feminine wiles run out before we figure this all out?” I tried for a light, teasing tone, but it fell flat.

“We’re Ghost Soldiers, Eva.” He brushed my hair gently from my face. “We’re not about to leave until the mission is over.”

I both wanted the mission to be over and wanted to find some way to keep them around forever. After my five years in the Army, this new version of Birkstrom full of soldiers and two teenagers felt more like home than I’d ever known.

He felt like home. Imagining a future without him hurt worse than that tumble down the bluff.

But this was my mission now: to prepare for a life one day without Warren.

Warren

JUNE 23

“Let’s go over this one more time,” I said to Eddie as we sat around the dining table of his tiny apartment.

Peter and Annie were packed for our flight that evening and listening to the radio in the ranch house. Eva was supposed to be packing, but I guessed that she was flitting about the barn with last-minute butterflies. She had traveled the world twice over, but leaving while Victor’s threat still loomed and the regional show was only three weeks away . . .

She’d tried twice to back out and send me to Scottsdale alone. I didn’t want to leave her behind. She was safest next to me, and my time with her was short. I’d need to tell her as much on this trip. Until this point, I hadn’t been clear about the duration of my stay. Was there any hope for us in the future?

Eddie stretched his neck and groaned. “We’ve been over this a hundred times, boss.” He looked at the refrigerator, and I wondered if he was hankering for a drink.

“I need you in command here,” I said firmly.

“I know. I am.”

“No drinking.”