CHAPTER 16
“You sure you’re okay with me being away so close to the wedding?” Thom asked.
“Little late to ask now, bro,” Brody said from the passenger seat.
Thom shushed him as Ginny answered, “Of course. I’m fine. Don’t worry. Having you in the next state is a nice change from the usual.”
“Not exactly the next state but yeah, it is a nice change. So we’ll be back tomorrow night. Okay?” They’d have to be back because the following morning was his wedding day. Thom tried not to panic about that.
“Yup. That’s fine.”
“I’ll stop by to see you when we get back and grab my uniform from your place but I’m going to sleep at my parents’ house tomorrow night since I shouldn’t see you before the ceremony.” It was kind of an outdated tradition, but he didn’t need to tempt any bad luck.
“Okay. But remember, I arranged for the photographer to be at the church at nine to take pictures. He’ll photograph us separately before the ceremony, then together after—” Ginny’s voice cut out and then faded completely.
Thom pulled the cell away from his ear and looked at the display. “Shit. No bars.”
“Yeah. I’m not surprised. We never had good signal driving here. Sorry.” At the wheel, Rocky met Thom’s gaze in the rearview mirror.
Thom sighed. “Not your fault.” He tossed the phone on the seat next to him and looked at the passing scenery, getting more wooded with every mile they traveled. “We almost there?”
Brody laughed. “Who needs kids when we have Thom in the backseat asking are we there yet?”
“Mm, hm,” Rocky agreed. “And the answer is yes, we’re almost there.”
That was a bit of an exaggeration since it was a solid hour before Rocky slowed and steered his pickup truck off the main road and onto a dirt one.
As they bounced along, hitting enough puddles and potholes to make Thom have to grab the front seats to hold on, he understood why Rocky had said they’d need his truck with the four-wheel drive.
“And where are we again?” Brody asked.
“The Poconos, southern boy.”
“Pennsylvania,” Thom clarified, figuring Alabama-born Brody wouldn’t know where the Poconos were either.
“And you’re from here?” Brody asked, glancing around at the deserted solitude around them.
“No. My family’s in Trenton.”
At Brody’s blank stare in response to Rocky’s answer, Thom clarified, “That’s in New Jersey.”
“Oh.”
Rocky shook his head at Brody. “Dude. I’m gonna buy you a map.”
“I have a map if I need one. On my phone.”
“Which doesn’t work up here,” Thom reminded.
“Looks like lover boy is having withdrawal already because he can’t talk to the future wife.” Brody laughed, glancing over his shoulder at Thom.
“Well, in my defense, if I’d known there was no signal up here I would have told her in advance.”
“Whipped already,” Rocky added and then said, “And we’re here.”
After another giant hole that listed the truck to one side, Rocky slowed to pull between two fence posts.
Thom leaned between the seats. “Where’s the cabin?”
When Brody and Thom exchanged glances, Rocky shook his head. “It’s another half a mile up the right-of-way. Don’t worry. It exists. I promise. We won’t be sleeping outside.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time.” Brody snorted.
“Nope,” Thom agreed.
True to his word, Rocky steered the truck up to a log cabin that actually didn’t look too bad. The stovepipe coming out of the roof proved there was heat for the colder months. The front porch, complete with wooden Adirondack chairs, was just waiting for them to crack a beer and kick back.
After throwing the truck into park and cutting the engine, Rocky pulled out the keys and twisted in his seat. “Somebody grab the cooler. I’ll unlock the door and see about firing up the charcoal grill.”
Barbecued meat and beer. Thom couldn’t argue with Rocky’s priorities. “I’ll get it.”
A few minutes later Thom was taking advantage of that porch—and the chairs and the beer as the coals got hot enough to grill their steaks.
Stretching his legs out, he took a sip of cold brew and sighed.
There might be no electric or running water, but there was a helluva shooting range set up behind the cabin. He intended to take advantage of that shortly.
As far as bachelor parties went, Thom couldn’t have asked for anything better.
Sure, it was just the three of them, but he was fine with that. Low key. Less chance of them getting into trouble than if everyone were here. Things could get crazy when they were in a group.
Besides, expecting all of the guys in the platoon to request leave to come to New England early for his bachelor party as well as the wedding would have been asking too much. As it was he wasn’t sure if anyone else from the team would be able to make it to the wedding.
He had left Virginia close to a week ago and hadn’t talked to most of the guys since. Theirs would probably be one of the last minute RSVPs Ginny had said she was still getting in the mail.
Thom had given all the guys the address of the cabin and the dates of when he’d be there, along with an open invite. They knew they were welcome to come for any part of the time if they could make it, no advance notice necessary. So there was a chance this little party could get much larger. But if they couldn’t make it, that would be fine too. Having Brody and Rocky with him for a relaxing couple of days suited Thom just fine.
Rocky stood on the front porch of the cabin and gazed out over the woods surrounding them. “Twenty-four hours of nothing but peace and quiet.”
“And of shooting at shit with the guys.” Thom added.
“Yup. That too.” Rocky grinned.
Brody frowned at them both. “You do realize that pretty much describes our job. Right?”
“Yeah, but here nobody’s shooting back at us.” Thom laughed.
“And there are no instructors rating our performance,” Rocky added before he raised a beer bottle to his lips.
Thom headed for the cooler to grab himself another beer since his seemed to be almost empty, when he paused. “We doing any shooting today?”
“Eh, we got all day tomorrow. How about we make today all about eating and—more importantly—drinking and we play with the guns tomorrow?”
“When we might be too hung over to drink anymore anyway so we’ll be good and sober for target practice, you mean?” Brody asked.
“Yup.” Rocky nodded.
Brody laughed. “That sounds good, cause I’m fixin’ to be too drunk to handle a weapon tonight anyway.”
Thom smiled and reached his hand into the ice of the cooler. He thought he was pulling out a bottle of beer but emerged instead with a bottle of bourbon.
Thom cocked a brow at Rocky, who’d packed the cooler, as he held up the bottle of liquor. “You put any soda in here with this?”
“Ah, shit. That’s what I forgot.” Rocky’s grin didn’t make him look like he’d really forgotten.
Shaking his head, Thom reached back in for a beer. This was going to be one hell of a night.