Garret studied Reese for a moment. He kept his voice low. “You had a talk with her earlier?”
Reese nodded. He wasn’t about to go into what happened. It bothered him that Shay hadn’t come out for the meal, but he knew she was upset. And probably about their kiss, too. Damn. He felt anxiety rise in him. And his protectiveness toward Shay increased. Garret was staring hard at him, as if trying to read his mind. Reese knew the black ops vet well enough that if he didn’t do or say something, Garret would go marching off to Shay’s bedroom to find out why she wasn’t at the dinner table.
“I’ll go check in on her,” Reese told them, his voice firm, his gaze sweeping over the vets.
Harper scowled. “She needs to eat. She’s losing weight.”
Garret snorted and sat down. “No shit.”
“My guess is she’s had a bad day with her father,” Noah offered. “Probably got a headache and doesn’t feel like eating. This has happened before.”
Reese walked away, heading down the hall. His gut was tight. Shay needed to be left alone. And he wasn’t sure how she was going to receive him, coming to her bedroom. Girding himself, he halted and knocked gently on the door, unconsciously holding his breath.
The door opened.
Reese looked in Shay’s eyes. “The guys are worried about you. Are you coming out to dinner?” His heart wrenched because he saw darkness in her blue eyes, the corners of her mouth drawn inward.
“Uh . . . no . . .” Shay touched her wrinkled brow. “I’ve got a headache. Can you tell them that? I just need to sleep it off.”
His mouth went dry and all Reese wanted to do was step forward, pull Shay into his arms and hold her. That’s what she needed. “Of course,” he said.
“Wait.” She reached forward, touching his hand briefly. “I-I need to talk with you later, Reese.”
His heart thudded as her cool fingers grazed his hand. “Sure . . . whenever you want, Shay. You’re looking stressed out. Can I get you some aspirin?” Because he wanted to do something . . . anything . . . to take the anguish out of her eyes. He saw her lift one corner of her lush mouth. A mouth he’d kissed earlier. Even now, Reese could taste her on his lips.
“I just took a couple of tablets. I’ll be okay. The guys know that sometimes I get headaches and I just need to rest, is all.”
Taking a step away, he nodded. “Okay . . .” It wasn’t okay, but there was nothing Reese could do right now. He didn’t want the other vets to know what had happened between them. It was sacred. Private. And he wanted to keep it that way. He saw her nod and she quietly closed the door. Mouth tightening, he turned and walked into the warm, fragrant kitchen. All the vets were seated and waiting for him.
“Chow down,” Reese said as he joined them. “Shay has a headache and told all of us to go ahead and eat without her.”
Garret gave him a dark look from across the table as he spooned huge squares of lasagna onto each man’s plate. “It’s her father, isn’t it?”
“Most likely,” Reese agreed, taking the basket of bread and putting four pieces of garlic bread on his plate. “But she didn’t tell me that.”
“Some days are better than others for Shay when she visits her old man,” Noah muttered, frowning. “She looked like hell when she drove up earlier.” And then he turned to his right to glance at Reese.
Reese nodded, saying nothing.
Harper shrugged. “The guy is a mean rattler. Shay’s never said anything, but I think the dude takes it out on her on some days.”
Garret snorted. “Shay protects him, but dammit, we all see how upset she is when she comes home from those visits to the nursing home.”
Reese said little. His stomach was tight and he’d lost his appetite, but he forced himself to eat. Little by little, he was regaining that lost fifty pounds. The pleasant clink of forks and knives against the plates filled the kitchen as the men hungrily dug into their meal. Reese began to relax a little. The men seemed to have dropped this topic of conversation, much to his relief. Was Shay’s headache because of their kiss? Or seeing her father? Or both? He hoped Shay would tell him what had happened on that visit earlier this morning. The other vets seemed well informed that the tension between Shay and her father was an ongoing, torturous route she had to walk.
Later, Garret brought over dessert, butterscotch pudding with walnuts sprinkled over the top, plus whipped cream. Noah had gotten up and cleared the table, rinsed the plates and flatware, putting them into the dishwasher. Reese sat because it was his turn to clean up the kitchen after they were finished with their meal. There was no official schedule. It was assumed everyone would pitch in, and they did. It reminded him of the military, the training that still was very much a part of their lives even now.
Noah wiped his hands on a towel, hanging it up and heading to the table. “Did you get to talk to Shay after I saw you in the barn, Reese?”