The Grunt (6 page)

After boxing up the last of her trinkets, Courtney looked at her watch and grabbed her purse. She couldn’t be late for dinner at her parents’ house. That always burned the old man’s ass.

Turning off her lights, she glanced back at her small apartment, nearly all packed away and shook her head. Most people would be worried about making such a drastic decision (i.e. moving in with a family that they knew nothing about) but Courtney had a good feeling about Brett and Cameron, and she didn’t believe in playing things safe. Unfortunately, that had been her downfall for most of her adult life.

She had bet everything on Mark, which had turned out to be a disaster. He had sailed off on a big ship never to return and married an Asian woman six months later. Word had traveled back to her in the form of a very informal email ending their relationship and her trust in sailors.

She had bet everything on Galen, which had turned out to be an even bigger disaster, when he ran off with her life savings and their dog, Butch. If she recalled correctly, he had a bit of a cocaine habit that he had hid very well until the end, though she should have been suspicious when her purse came up missing a few months into their relationship. However, he had always been great at sex, lying and avoiding creditors. More than her heart had suffered with him. Her credit score had crashed and burned. It was still recovering – slowly but surely.

Then she had bet everything on her father, when she had hoped that after Galen and Mark he might help her get back on her feet. Wishful thinking. Her father had turned his back on her and told her that both men, her poor credit and her decision to drop out of school was the last straw. While her mother had secretly slipped her money to help along the way, it still took three jobs and evening classes at the local community college to get her back in the family’s good graces and out of debt.

However, Courtney was still resilient even in the face of utter despair. She had always been like that. Since she was a little girl, she had never known exactly what she wanted in life, but she knew that she wanted to always enjoy the fullness of it. Thankfully, she had never been plagued with bitterness like many people that she knew. For every time that something bad happened to her, she had been blessed with two or three great things. Even now, she wasn’t surprised when she was told by the library that it was downsizing. She was not surprised when she had met Brett. And she wasn’t surprised when they found a way to help each other during their time of need. In her mind, it was just the universe readjusting to take care of her.

However, her resilience wasn’t always seen as a good thing by others. Her father had deemed her undependable and irresponsible. Those were his exact words. As the only girl of two children, she had been the one who didn’t seem to get
it
. Courtney agreed with her father on that. What was
it
? And why was
it
so important? As far as she was concerned, the most important thing in life was happiness and without it, no matter how much money one had or how many titles one obtained, life was not complete. The people in her family, however, would highly disagree on any given day, especially Lieutenant Colonel Jeffery Lawless aka Old Man Lawless aka Daddy Hard-ass.

Courtney always thought that their surname simply didn’t fit their family. Her clan was all about law and structure. Her father was a man who lived and died for principles that were based on honor, courage and commitment. And her brother had followed suit. After graduating from Annapolis, David immediately took his place as an officer in the Marine Corps, making his father the proudest man in the universe. Alternatively, she had failed out of her first year at Yale and found her way back home before the semester ended. Her father, of course, had been utterly devastated by her failure and found time to express his discontent at every single family function.

She had grown up on military bases around the world and was exposed to many cultures and people, except for her coveted summers, which were reserved for time with her grandma and grandpa in Austin, Texas, who had a flare for the eccentric and had a special place in their heart for their only granddaughter.

The
grampies
, as she affectionately called them, were a real God-send. They had accepted her just as she was and actually had a hand in her making. If it had not been for them, she may have crumbled under the demands of her father, but because of them, she had prevailed through his hellacious shit storms and often come out unscathed.

Loading into her truck with a green bean casserole that she had made for dinner, Courtney headed from her apartment in Emerald Isle to her family’s sprawling villa in Indian Beach with a few minutes to spare.

She actually loved this community a lot more than any others her family had lived in before, which was why when she moved out of her parent’s home, she had decided to stay close and move into an expensive little dive, too pricey for her pockets but close to her dear mother.

To say that she and her mother were close was an understatement. Courtney never let a day go by without calling her and never let a weekend past without seeing her. And because she didn’t have any friends since she had moved back to Emerald Isle, her mom had to be her best friend, though she was certain that she didn’t mine. Diane was a youthful woman with loads of energy and tons of optimism. Plus, she was glue that held them all together.

It was a peaceful night, just right for windows down and music blaring. The white yellow moon beamed down on her and illuminated the street lined with palm trees and gated homes of the coast’s most prestigious families. The quiet tranquility of the waterway eased her spirit and put her at peace. Knowing what was ahead before she even arrived, she soaked up as much amity as she could before she pulled into the
colonel’s
driveway.

A few short minutes later, she punched in the security code to the front gate and drove onto her family’s expansive property. The Spanish-style luxury villa, complete with a red-tiled roof, expensive stucco and wood trim was situated on a cliff just 40 feet from the Atlantic Ocean. Palm trees lined the home on every side with a green plush manicured lawn illuminated by security lights that made the house seem even larger at night than in the day.

As Courtney pulled in front of the house, she parked her truck and looked up the stairs to the front double doors and took a deep, therapeutic breath. Home. This was her family’s seventh residence and more than likely, their last. Her father was due to retire soon. If he decided to finally rest instead of taking a job at the Pentagon, then her mother would get a chance to realize all of her decorative dreams. While her mother always created a warm cozy home full of life and classic taste, she never fully committed herself to them because of the fear and knowledge that they would someday have to move. But when her father had announced that he might really retire this time, her mother devoted herself to this house, sparing no expense.

With the casserole in her hand and a bottle of wine in her bag, she hiked up the stairs and opened the doors to be received by the family dog, Benji. Bending down, she raked a hand over the back of the golden retriever and bid him good evening.

“What’s up, mutt?” she said, closing her door with her foot. “Is anyone here?” she called out.

“In the dining room,” her mother said, walking through the doorway. With a bright smile on her face, Mrs. Lawless came with open arms. She held her daughter tightly, savoring the feel of her prize possession before she took the food. “I’ll take this to the kitchen. Did you use the recipe I gave you?”

“Sure did,” Courtney said, looking around. “You’ve been working in the house, I see. It’s really coming together.” She noted the new tile recently laid in the foyer.

“Every day,” her mother answered. “I’m going to Wilmington this weekend to pick up a few things that I found for the morning room. You should come if you aren’t busy.”

“I thought you said that you were going to wait until daddy decided for sure before you went crazy with this house.”

“I’m hoping that I can
fully
persuade him,” she said, walking into the large, open-aired kitchen. Placing the food on the island, she unsheathed the plastic covering and inspected her daughter’s work. “Impressive,” she said approvingly. “I can actually smell the onion powder. That is what gives it the kick.”

“Why are you in such a good mood?” Courtney asked as she dug in the drawer for a corkscrew for the wine.

Mrs. Lawless let out a giggle. “Your brother is being transferred to Camp Lejeune. He’ll be here in three weeks.” She clasped her hands together and the huge diamond on her ring finger sparkled into Courtney’s eye. “Now, I’ll have both of my babies within arm’s reach. It’s a mother’s dream.”

Courtney paused. “It’s a sister’s nightmare,” she said popping the cork on the wine.

David Lawless was a force to be reckoned with. As serious as his father and nearly as shrewd, her big brother was a testament to high society, while she was anything but. She had managed to keep a somewhat congenial relationship with him as long as he was far away at Camp Pendleton
whipping men into shape
, but the idea of him moving to Camp Lejeune was overwhelming.

Her father would surely be harder on her now, urging her to shape up and be more like her big brother, to focus on creating a better future for herself and no doubt urging David to find her a suitable match – an officer from a good family on his way up the military ladder. She gagged at the very thought.

“Well, aren’t you the least bit happy?” her mother asked as she turned to lay eyes on her daughter. “He is your brother.”

It wasn’t like she needed to be reminded. “Of course I’m happy,” Courtney lied. “Where is daddy?” Pouring a glass of wine, she passed it to her mother.

“He’s upstairs washing up. He’s been out in his shed tinkering around all evening,” her mother said as she placed Courtney’s food in a more suitable dish.

“What is he building now?”

“Oh, I don’t know, child. That is the one place that I never go. It’s his man cave.”

Courtney watched her mother in envy. Dianna Lawless was a flawless beauty. With midnight skin as soft as silk, black hair streaked with silver and curled into soft tendrils, bright brown eyes and the most feminine features – a wide straight nose, full brown lips, heavy lashes under thick brows, perfect white teeth and a long, swan-like neck, she had been the cat’s meow her entire life. As graceful as a queen and educated at Spelman, her mother had been a professional wife and mother that other military couples looked up to for decades.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” her mother asked, sipping on the wine.

She hunched her shoulders. “You’re beautiful. That’s all,” Courtney said lovingly. “Daddy is really lucky.”
And no matter how I try, I’ll never be you
, she thought to herself quietly.

Diana smiled. “You are beautiful,” she said proudly. “The most beautiful girl at Camp Lejeune.” She sighed. “Have you told your father yet about your new job?”

Courtney smirked. “Are you crazy?”

“You should tell him, Courtney. Don’t hide it from him. You’re a grown woman now. You should stand by your decisions.”

“Easy for you to say. You don’t have to be his black sheep daughter. He’s going to freak, Mom. I’m moving in with a white, enlisted widow to help raise his child. It sounds pre-emancipation.”

Diana laughed. “It does, but you’re doing it to further your education. You’ll be a full-time librarian after college. It’s a great profession and any man will be happy to have you as a wife.”

“Any
officer
,” Courtney corrected.

“There are other types of men in the world. As long as he is a good man, his profession does not matter.” Diana knew that she was the only person in the family outside of her daughter who felt that way, still she felt as though she owed it to Courtney to stand beside her daughter’s decision.

“Fine, I’ll tell him at dinner. And then we can have an all-out war for desert,” Courtney said with a grin.

***

The Lawless dining room had received some of the military’s finest men and women as well as a host of dignitaries, philanthropists and local government officials. Diane had always been a devoted public servant serving at the head of her sorority for years, a member of local non-profit organizations and even as a member of the local historical society. She was the “it girl” and her husband loved it.

As such, the dining hall was a beautifully designed room right out of the Victorian era. Under a 19
^th
-century chandelier and using a beautiful oak table from Spain as a the focal point, the accents of gilded gold and expensive wallpaper, art from Africa and serving utensils from England set the tone for fine living.

At the head of the table was Colonel Lawless himself. A clean-shaven, muscular man towering over the world at six foot four with piercing brown eyes and a commanding demeanor, the man of the house was a gentle as husband could be to a wife but as stern as a spinster headmaster over his children.

As he cut through his steak, he looked over at his daughter and then at his wife, knowing without knowing that something was on the horizon. “How is work?” the colonel asked, his deep baritone cutting through the silence like a knife.

Courtney looked over at her mother, who nodded in support. “Well, it’s funny you should ask, Daddy. I have recently changed jobs.”

The colonel’s face stiffened.
How many times had he heard this before?
He waited for an explanation. The grip on his knife tightened.

Courtney patted her face with her napkin. “The library had to cut back on its staff due to the cuts in the budget. And my job was eliminated. So, I’ve taken a new job as a live-in nanny.”

“A nanny?” The colonel asked appalled. “For whom?”