Seth raised one shoulder in a halfhearted shrug, then unlocked the chain on the gate and pulled one side open. “She’s better off. I’m…not right anymore, ya know?”
After what he went through in Afghanistan, Jude thought, who would be? Nobody came back from that kind of torture in one piece.
“But,” Seth added with steel in his tone, “I’m gonna get right.”
Jude couldn’t help it, he strode forward and embraced the man who was once his best friend in a hard, backslapping hug. “Nah, man, you’re golden. You’re a walking miracle, and I am so fucking happy to see you back in the world.”
Behind them, the car door opened. “Jude?” Libby said.
“Hey, you’re awake. Come on over here and meet one of the best men I know. Libby, Seth Harlan. He’s lending us his house.”
Libby nodded and held out a hand. “Thanks for letting us stay here.”
“It’s no problem.” After only the slightest hesitation, Seth accepted the handshake. “I won’t be around, and I feel better knowing someone else will be. Speaking of…” He fished in the pocket of his hoodie and produced a ring of keys that he handed to Jude. “You remember where everything is?”
“Sure do.”
“All right then.” Seth grabbed a rucksack that sat propped against the edge of the stone fence and slung it over his shoulder. “I have a…plane…to catch.” He said the word “plane” in the same tone other people used for “cockroach.”
Jude squeezed his shoulder in a show of support. “You’ll be fine. I’ve been hearing nothing but good things about HORNET. Vaughn went through BUD/S with the two guys heading the team, and he says they’ll take care of you. Do you need a lift to the airport?”
“No.” He drew a breath, gazed up and down the street, and then pulled up the hood of his sweatshirt. “I’ll walk.”
Jude recognized that action for what it was—a defense mechanism, a way to hide from the world—and suddenly he wasn’t so sure about letting Seth go it alone. “You sure?”
“I need to walk,” Seth corrected himself and hitched the pack up into a better position on his shoulders. “I have to prove to myself…yeah. I just have to.”
Jude tried for a smile. “Man, you always did have more balls than brains. Probably the reason we got along so well.”
“That hasn’t changed.” He started down the drive but paused at the sidewalk and turned back. “Hey, Wilde, I never blamed you for what happened to me. When I get home, let’s grab a beer. Catch up.”
The lump that formed in Jude’s throat made speaking impossible, so he just nodded and lifted his hand in a salute. Seth returned the salute with a smile. Then, after another moment of hesitation, he stepped out onto the sidewalk and headed toward a second chance at life.
Christ knew he deserved it.
Jude watched the empty sidewalk until fingers brushed his wrist. He glanced down to see Libby staring at him with an unreadable expression on her face.
“Your friend is a strange one,” she said.
Jude shook off her hand and strode to the car. “You have no idea the hell he’s been through.”
She waited until he pulled the car into the driveway, then shut and locked the gate. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”
“Well, you did.” He slammed the door and went to the trunk to grab their bags, but she caught his arm before he could stomp off into the house like he wanted.
“I’m sorry.”
He spun on her. “After what happened to that man, he could’ve just said the hell with it and put a bullet in his brain. But he didn’t. He’s got a job with a private hostage rescue team, he’s pulling his life back together. He’s stronger than any man I know and deserves nothing but your respect.”
“I-I really am sorry. I didn’t know.”
Of course she didn’t know. Damn. Feeling like a heel, he shut his eyes and tried exhaling his irritation. After spending his entire day camped out on the floor in front of her office, then yanking her out of the way of that car, followed by the plane ride to Florida, his entire body was one big throb and his eyes felt like he’d scoured them with gravel. And that was before the emotional humdinger of seeing Seth again.
What he needed was to get unpacked and take a nice, long soak in the hot tub.
“Let’s get inside,” he said. “I’ll show you the house.”
“Okay.” She held out a hand for her bag, but he ignored it. Not because he wanted to be a gentleman, but because his muscles had stiffened up. The less unnecessary movement he engaged in, the better. He tilted his head, indicating a stone path lit with solar lanterns. He’d deal with pulling the car into the two-bay garage later. “This way.”