Soft Place to Fall (Navy Book 4)

Chapter 28

Will took a swig of his beer as he fell into the chair on the far side of the table. He had never had to act so hard in his life. How he had managed to keep it to only a kiss on her cheek was beyond him. But now he had a few minutes to gain some control before he saw her again.

He knew she probably thought he didn't care, that was what he had wanted everyone to think so they would leave him and Carmen alone. He was suddenly aware of the continued silence and he looked up to find four equally amused expressions on his friends' faces.

"Who needs enemies with friends like you." He lifted up his beer in a toast before he took a swallow.

"Hey, I was as surprised as you." Lee shrugged.

"As was I," Kellan agreed before they all looked at Josh.

"They only told me about it this morning, and I'll take on all kinds of danger but not four women with the same mission. I'm not that stupid." Josh shook his head as he turned back to the grill.

"No, but if you didn't agree with them you would have stopped it, or at least given Will a heads up." Kellan said, throwing him under the bus.

"Wait, are you saying that Laura was in on it too?" Davis sunk into the seat next to Will.

"She was the key to the entire plan. She was the one who got Carmen to my office so that Charlie could issue the invitation, and I bet she also pushed her to come this evening too," Josh said.

They were all silent as they thought about the situation.

"I love my wife and I think she is beautiful, but I gotta say Will...Wow!" Lee leaned back as he tried to peek back into the kitchen and see Carmen once more. "She's stunning. I find it hard to believe that nothing happened while the two if you were together."

"Josh gave an order and I followed it." Will said, and he couldn't disguise the bitterness in his voice.

"Lee says your thinking about retiring?" Kellan changed the subject suddenly, watching Will closely.

Will shot Lee a resigned look, noting that he didn't even look sorry for sharing. "I am, I'm tired."

There was no response to his reasoning, and no one tried to talk him out of it like they would have a few years ago, that in itself should have given him the answer he needed.

"If you decide to retire, what will you do?" Kellan walked over to the grill and poked at the meat a little before Josh blocked him, despite the fact that it was Kellan's grill and Kellan's house.

Will shrugged. "I'm not sure." He was of course. He wanted to purchase his own ranch and rehabilitate horses.

"You could always come and work for me," Josh offered.

"Thanks bother, I'll think about it."

"What are you going to do about Carmen?" Josh asked, and they all watched and waited.

"Nothing."

"Nothing?" Josh sounded surprised.

"Nothing. Two broken halves don't make a whole."

There was silence once more as everyone thought about his comment. They couldn't say anything because they couldn't dispute it. They knew how broken he was, maybe not the true extent of it, but most of it, and they may not know about Carmen's horrible past but they knew something wasn't right there, especially Davis and Josh.

The backdoor opened and the ladies joined them. All of them but Carmen and Laura. After a few minutes when they still hadn't joined them Kellan looked as Charlie and asked where they were.

"Carmen left and Laura is inside finishing up the sides." Charlie said, shooting Will an eat shit look.

"What did I do?" Will asked with his ever-present grin.

Devon must have sensed a fight about to erupt because she changed the subject. "We didn't know you had a little sister Will. Did you know he had a little sister Josh?" she turned to look at her husband.

"Yes."

When that was the only word he said Devon looked as if she wanted to strangle him.

"I have two older brothers too." Will offered in an attempt to save his friend, not that he needed it. He had chosen the woman after all.

"Carmen didn't mention the brothers." Kate said as she wrapped her arms around Lee's waist. She looked sad.

"What did she mention?"

"Nothing we didn't already know." Charlie supplied, as she looked over Josh's shoulder at the meat.

"Except the part about Kitty." Will took another sip of his beer. "So, you all just left Laura alone to cook the dinner?" he asked as he stood.

"She's probably happier in there then she would be out here." Davis supplied, looking unconcerned.

"I need another beer," Will said as he headed back into the house.

When he entered he noted Laura at the stove, she wasn't surprised by his sudden entrance, and she watched as he took another beer from the fridge. She was beautiful but cold, how Davis had managed to fall for her was beyond him. But didn't Carmen appear to be just as cold to other people?

"I was surprised to hear that you had as much to do with this setup as the others."

"Why? Carmen and I aren't all that close but I like her well enough, and she was there for me when I was falling in love so I just thought I would return the favor." She shrugged.

Will choked on the sip of beer he had just taken.

"We all see it. They all see it in you, and I see it in Carmen." Laura turned off the burner and walked over to her purse to take something out of it.

"What is it about a man that makes a woman like you fall in love?" Will suddenly asked, wanting to know what Carmen could possibly see in his broken self.

Laura turned towards him with a smile that made her appear soft and approachable. Will was finally able to see a little of the Laura that Davis saw. "That's the problem, you want it to be about what you have, is it looks, charm, chemistry? You've never thought that it's about what you can give her."

"Give her?" Will pushed his beer aside, intrigued. He had a feeling that this was the most honest conversation he had ever had on the subject love.

"Davis sees me. The real me, not the me I present to the world, but he accepts the need for both. He knows that who I am in private is different than who I am in public, and he keeps all of my secrets safe. He's the only man I have ever trusted. Carmen's the same."

"What did you give him in return?" What Laura said was true but she had it backwards. He was in love with Carmen because she saw the real him and kept his secrets safe, what could he possibly offer her in return. He was too broken.

"I gave him my heart and the part of my soul that wasn't broken. It was all I had to offer but he seemed to think it was enough." She held out her hand and he noted a piece of paper in it.

"She left because she thought you didn't want her here. She didn't know you would be here otherwise she wouldn't have come. I'm out of it now." She took off her apron and left the kitchen, moving further into the house and away from everyone else.

Will looked down at the paper, hesitating to open it. Knowing it was the proverbial fork in the road. But slowly, he did open it. It was the name of a well-known hotel and a room number.

Discreet but not subtle.

After a few minutes he returned to the party and acted as if nothing had happened between him and Laura and she acted the same. Everyone seemed to be fooled but Davis, who kept looking at his wife strangely, but she would only smile at him calmly as if everything was as it should be.