“Yeah, and no one’s going to tell her otherwise,” Hud said, and pointed at Jacob much in the same way that Bailey had just pointed at him. “Don’t make me kick your ass.”
Jacob laughed again. “I’ll keep your secret but not because I’m afraid you could kick my ass. I just need you to keep the same one for me.”
Hud’s gaze slid to Sophie, and he nodded grimly. “Understood.”
The rest of the Kincaids found a reason to be there as well, and not to watch him and Kenna stumble through the huge event, but to help. Everything fell into place just as people started to show up for the eleven-o’clock start time.
They had fifty disabled veterans registered from all over the country, and every one of them showed up with family or friends, so in no time the entire North Beach was taken over.
Jacob spent two hours driving the boat, whipping the guests around on tubes in the waves created by all the activity. At one o’clock, they all took a break for lunch under the big canopy.
Jacob pulled off his sunglasses and surveyed the organized chaos. The veterans and their entourages were all chowing down, the staff roaming around making sure everyone was taken care of. He caught sight of a flash of red hair and followed it, catching up to Sophie just as she greeted a latecomer.
“Heard there’s room for one more,” the guy said.
“Absolutely,” Sophie said with a welcoming smile, paying no attention whatsoever to the prosthetic arm when he held out his ticket. “You’re Chris Marshall,” she said.
“I am.”
“I’ve heard a lot about you,” she said warmly.
Stunned, Jacob came up next to Sophie just as Chris slid him a look. “Can’t believe a thing you hear from this guy,” he said, eyes on Jacob.
Jacob was having a hard time breathing. He hadn’t seen or talked to Chris since Brett’s funeral. He’d tried to get ahold of the guy and had taken his silence as a sign that he blamed Jacob for not dying or losing a limb.
Chris held his gaze. “Your brother tracked me down,” he said to Jacob’s unspoken question of what was he doing there. “He said you’d want me here.”
Jacob turned and looked at Hud, who’d come up to Jacob’s other side.
“Couldn’t have done it without Sophie,” Hud said.
Chris looked at Sophie as he spoke. “I was glad for the invite,” he said. “Needed a reason to get out and be human.”
Until that very moment, Jacob hadn’t realized how much the guilt had been weighing him down. He took a step toward Chris and was met halfway in a hard, back-slapping hug that brought a chestful of emotions far too close to the surface.
Chris must have felt the same way. His arms tightened around Jacob, and instead of pulling back, Jacob set his head on that broad shoulder and closed his eyes. “God, it’s good to see you.”
“Yeah.” Chris’s voice sounded as rough as ground glass. “Because I’m just a ray of fucking sunshine.”
Jacob choked out a laugh, and they pulled apart and stared at each other. “You’re okay.”
Chris shrugged. “Working on it, anyway.”
Jacob became aware that Gray, Aidan, Hud, and Kenna had all moved in close at his back. And with Sophie at his side and Chris in front of him, he felt humbled and honored to the core at all they’d done for him.
And he thought that maybe, just maybe, he had a place to belong after all.
Chapter 26
As the day went on, Sophie found her gaze automatically searching and seeking out Jacob.
He hadn’t said a word to her about helping to bring Chris here and she didn’t know what that meant. Had she overstepped boundaries? Was he upset? Mad?
He was for sure busy. He and Kenna ran the event hands-on. At the moment he was checking the athletes’ equipment as he assisted them each onto the back of the Jet Skis. He was laughing at something one of them said, smiling easily as he made sure their life vests were tightened properly.
He didn’t look upset or annoyed. He looked…happy. It was a good look on him.
But since when was she worried about someone else’s mood anyway? She’d once allowed herself to be at the whim of Lucas’s moods, which had changed as fast as the weather did here in Colorado. Half the time her head had been spinning at how fast he could go from one emotion to the other, and she’d promised herself to never allow herself to be at the mercy of someone else like that again.
All this past year she’d been alone, and she’d treasured it. Being responsible for only herself, she hadn’t had to worry about making anyone else happy.