One night stand with my daddy's best friend
70

Dane MacLeod-Two Months Earlier

The military was good to me, but I was ready to retire. What I wasn't ready for was coming back home and diving headfirst into the family business-the business I never wanted to be a part of. Navy SEAL training was challenging. Being with my family was excruciating.

To help in the transition to a new life, I reached out to my childhood friend, Troy Manion. I wondered if he'd even remember me. Our contact was sporadic over the last twenty years, when I left right after high school to join the Navy. He hadn't forgotten. In fact, he was very enthusiastic about my return and invited me to dinner.

I should have known when he gave me the address that Troy had done very well for himself. I knew the area had nice homes nestled together in a family-friendly neighborhood. His home was outside the neighborhood, where the housing plots were larger to fit larger homes. Many were fenced in, not unlike my parents' place.

"Dane. God, it's good to see you." Troy pulled me in for a hug, patting my back.

"You too, Troy. Wow. Quite the place you've got. Has Tiana seen it?" I mentioned his high school sweetheart, who'd broken up with him when his aspiration was to be a construction worker. She wanted glitz, glamour, and, most of all, money. He laughed. "Yes, actually."

"You're still in touch?" That surprised me. High school was so long ago. "Long story. Come meet the real love of my life." He escorted me up the

hall, making a detour into a large kitchen. "Beer first. Unless you want something else?"

"Beer would be perfect."

Troy opened the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of imported beer. "Remember the first time we got drunk?"

I shook my head. "I think my brain was pickled." I did remember the time, but the biggest part of the memory was how I felt like shit the next day. Worse than shit, actually.

Troy laughed. "God, I puked and puked and puked." He clicked his beer bottle against mine. "Here's to our misspent youth."

He left the kitchen with me following him through a spacious living room that had large floor to ceiling windows. Several children splashed in a pool.

"This is all quite domestic," I said, surprised at the pang of envy.

"Who'd have thought I'd end up like this, eh?" He opened the door and I followed him out. "Lizzy, baby, come meet my oldest friend."

A lovely woman rose from the side of the pool where she'd been sitting next to a toddler. "Ari, can you come watch Eli?"

"Can't he just get out with you?" a young girl whined. "I don't want to get out," the toddler, Eli, said.

"How about you all get out?" Lizzy's tone was flat, but her eyes zeroed in on the kids in a way that suggested she meant business.

"Fine. Come on, Eli." The older girl swam to the steps where the boy sat with a toy boat.

Lizzy turned to me and smiled. I could see why Troy fell for her. She wasn't just beautiful, she radiated with kindness.

"It's so nice to meet you, finally."

I held out my hand, but she embraced me. "Please tell me some of the stories he tells about your adventures aren't true."

I laughed. "Sorry. I suspect they are true."

She rolled her eyes. "How did you ever survive childhood?"

Troy and I got into mischief as kids, but the challenge of my childhood wasn't the crap he and I got in. It was from my family.

"The oldest over there is Ariana." Troy pointed to the girl who was sitting with Eli. "Eli is our youngest, and unless I can change Lizzy's mind, our youngest."

God. He wanted more?

"The mermaid over there is Layla. I'm pretty sure she'll be an Olympic

swimmer one day. The one with water wings is Emma."

"I'm five." Little Emma tried to hold her hand up, showing five fingers, but the buoyancy in the pool made it difficult.

"Kids, this is Dane MacLeod. My best friend from childhood." Troy patted my back.

"I thought Ryker was your best friend," Ariana said.

"Ari likes to make trouble. I think she gets it from Jet." Troy rolled his eyes.

Who was Jet?

"Ryker is a great friend from adulthood," Troy clarified.

"If you'll watch the kids, I'll finish up dinner. If you take Eli, you can send Ari in to get the table settings." Lizzy appeared to be quite efficient. It was something I appreciated. Efficiency was a requirement in the military. "Will do." Troy motioned me over to a table near the pool. "Come sit." When we were seated, he said, "Ari, can you help your mom? Eli, buddy,

come sit with me."

Ari made a groaning sound suggesting she didn't want to help her mother, but she complied, bringing Eli to her father.

"Do you really want more?" I asked as Troy bounced the boy on his knee like a bucking bronco. Eli squealed with delight. "Yep." He pulled Eli close and planted a raspberry on his cheek. "Daddy!" Eli wiped his cheek. "More horsey."

Troy resumed bouncing Eli on his knee, now and then checking the other two girls in the pool.

"You're outnumbered. How do you keep your eyes on them all the time?" I asked.

"Lizzy has eyes on the back of her head." Troy sipped on his beer. "So, you're really retired?"

"I am."

"I thought you were going to travel the world when you left the military.

What brings you home?"

I sighed because I was here to avoid the topic of my return. "My father had a heart attack, so I'm back taking over the business." "I'm sorry about your dad."

"He's doing okay, but he and my mom, mom mostly, think it's time he retires too."

Troy shook his head. "You always said you'd never go into the family

business. Do you even know anything about the business?"

I picked at the label on my beer bottle. "I still don't want to do it, but..." I shrugged, not sure how to finish the sentence.

"Are things better with your folks?"

I barked out a laugh. "Hardly. They'll never forgive me for joining the military instead of the business. In the end, they win. If I were a bigger jerk, I'd tell them to fu-ah... go away." I needed to watch my language around Troy's kids. "But alas, I feel some duty to them."

Troy shook his head. "Families can be f-ed up." "Dinner's ready," Ari called from the door.

Troy rose. "We're eating at the patio table." We walked back toward the house where Ari set the table sitting under an awning blocking the setting sun.

I sat where Lizzy indicated, next to Ari.

"Daddy, if you and mommy have another baby, where will they sleep?

There aren't any more rooms."

"How about Jet's?" Layla picked up the corn on the cob by the holders poked through the ends. The dinner looked homey, fried chicken, corn, and salad. My mouth salivated. I hadn't had a proper home cooked meal in a long time. "She's coming home, isn't she, daddy?" Emma looked at her father with hope in her eyes.

"Who's Jet?"

Lizzy's eyes widened. "He doesn't know about Jet?"

Troy looked amused. "How would he? He left when I was eighteen and she didn't show up until I was near thirty."

"So, who is this person?"

As you reach the final pages, remember that 000005s.com is your destination for the complete story. Share the joy of reading with others and spread the word. The next chapter is just a visit away! "She's our big sister," Ari said next to me. "You have an older daughter?" "Technically, Troy does," Lizzy said.

Troy sipped his beer. "I need a little liquid courage to talk about Tiana."

It took me a moment to process what his words meant. "You had a child with Tiana?"

"I don't like her." Layla made a face. "She's pretty," Emma said.

"It's that long story I was telling you about earlier. About ten years ago, I was at a construction site, giving Lizzy a tour, actually. Do you remember

that?"

"I do." Her gaze held his for a moment.

"I hate it when they do that." Ari rolled her eyes.

Lizzy blushed and then turned her attention to Eli, cutting up chicken for him.

"I was trying to figure out what it was about Lizzy that had my insides turned inside out."

"Maybe it was food poisoning," Ari quipped.

I covered my mouth with my napkin to hide my laugh.

"See. More like Jet every day." Troy shook his head. "Anyway, I'm at the site and Tiana shows up out of the blue. I hadn't heard from her in... well, eleven years. She gets out of the car with a red-headed, mouthy kid and tells me I'm her father." I choked. Ari patted my back.

how's your love life?" Troy clearly wanted to change the subject.

"Nonexistent."

"Now that you're home, maybe that will change," Lizzy shared. "Maybe."

I enjoyed reconnecting with Troy, and I looked forward to rebuilding our friendship. After dinner, I returned to the condo I bought near the beach. If I was going to be home, I'd take advantage of the amenities. I definitely wasn't going to stay at my parents' place.

I lay in bed thinking how strange my life was now. There really was a culture shock coming out of the military back into civilian life. In some ways, I missed the regimen. Or maybe I was just scared shitless about taking over the family business. What the hell did I know about real estate investing? I hoped my father would fully recover and decide he didn't want to retire, which was a possibility. I don't think he wanted me running the business anymore than I wanted to.

The one bright spot was seeing Troy again. Holy shit, he was a full-fledged family man and clearly loved it. I couldn't blame him. Lizzy was just right for him. The kids were great. Even Ari with her sharp wit and smart mouth. If she picked that up from her oldest sister, Jet must be quite a kid. No, not a kid. Woman. How weird to think of Troy having a grown daughter! I was happy for him. And if I was honest, envious. Maybe that's why I missed the military. There was almost always something distracting me from the loneliness. Now that I was home, I felt untethered. Like I was drifting

nowhere good.

especially for spouses. I didn't want to have to feel guilty about being gone so much, and it didn't seem fair to put a wife and kids through that.

But now I was home. Perhaps Lizzy was right. Maybe now I could settle down.