A Soldier's Honour. Regan Black
supposed that was the easy way to put it, and he wished it didn’t feel like the truth. “We met at West Point. We were in the same cadet class there and became friends.” Matt couldn’t suppress a smile at the fonder memories. “We were young and we cared about each other a great deal,” he continued. “Your mom made some really tough choices when she found out she was pregnant. She did what she thought was best for her and ultimately for you.” She’d cut him out and left him reeling. “I honored her choices, but insisted on helping in the only way she would let me.”
The sandwiches were delivered and Matt asked the server about a to-go order for the office.
“Mom never said anything about going to West Point.” Caleb frowned again as he squeezed ketchup into a puddle beside his french fries.
“She was there for three semesters,” Matt said. “She transferred to another school when we got pregnant.”
“Why didn’t you tell anyone I was your baby or anything?”
Bethany had insisted it would be an honor violation that would get them both expelled, ruining his career and jeopardizing her transfer and scholarship. He’d been willing to risk the potential demotion or discipline. Hell, he’d been willing to transfer with her to a new school. She’d refused, claiming his place was to follow in his father’s footsteps. She’d turned down every option Matt offered on the basis of personal responsibility: her body, her rules.
If she wanted Caleb to know all of that, she’d have to share it. He didn’t feel it was his place to do so.
“I wanted to,” Matt said at last. “And I did my best to convince her to let me be part of your family from the start.”
Caleb studied him again, apparently finding the explanation sincere. “Mom can be pretty stubborn.”
“Her picture is part of the dictionary definition,” Matt agreed, making Caleb laugh.
The unexpected burst of such a happy sound reminded Matt of Bethany. Jealousy flared and flashed through him that she’d had a lifetime with Caleb and kept him out of the loop. Thankfully the bitter-tasting emotion drained out of him almost as quickly as it had appeared.
This wasn’t all on her. He could have pressed for his paternal rights and visitation and probably should have. Had they both taken advantage of the easier, ready excuses of his career and her independence? However this had come about, now they had a chance to make a better choice and create a fresh start for their future as a family.
“Why do you keep staring at the window?”
He didn’t miss a trick. Matt approved of his observation skills. He thought about shooting straight with him and anticipated Bethany’s reaction to that. Their son was only fourteen. He tempered his answer to fall somewhere in the middle. “You finding me now seems tied to the security breach, hack or whatever the official term will be. I don’t trust that kind of coincidence. Something feels off.”
Caleb twisted around to check for himself, and then turned back and tucked into the food again. “You think I was followed?”
Or sent. He kept that theory to himself. It seemed a little far-fetched, even in his head. “It’s crossed my mind.”
Assuming this situation was a deliberate setup and put into motion by someone who’d used the compromised information, it pissed him off. Of the three of them, only Matt hadn’t been threatened. It infuriated him that some jerk would target the innocent civilians tied to his profile rather than come after him directly.
“Cool. It’s like James Bond or something.”
Matt should have known. “This isn’t a movie, Caleb. If someone used you or manipulated this situation, that stops now.”
“So you’re sorry I found you.”
“No, I didn’t say that.” His appetite gone, Matt wrapped the remains of his sandwich for later. He couldn’t expect Caleb to instantly accept and believe that Matt loved him and had always wanted to be part of his life. “All this time, I’ve only had pictures and a few annual updates. I’ve wanted to meet you for some time. You can verify that with your mom tonight over Greek chicken.”
“I will.”
“Good.” His phone chirped with a text message that the order for the office was ready. “If you’re not done, we’ll get a to-go box and you can eat with the rest of the general’s staff at the Pentagon.”
“You mean it? We’ll eat inside the Pentagon, really?”
Matt nodded. “Go get a box for each of us. I’m calling for a car.”
Caleb jumped up and hurried to the counter and Matt pulled up the app on his phone, only to be interrupted by another text message that the general’s car was on the way to pick them up. Although Matt might have protested the assist in the past, today he was happy to accept.
This wasn’t a combat zone, but something out here was pushing his buttons. He needed the familiar confidence of knowing he had a team at his back, even if they were all currently in administration roles.
Bethany stared at the incoming messages and a couple of selfies of Caleb and Matt. Her son was apparently having lunch with General Knudson and his staff in the Pentagon. The boy landed on his feet, every time. Not unlike his father.
As a mom, it seemed as though Caleb’s day was looking more like a reward than a disciplinary action for a kid who should have been in school. And as a mom, she knew her son was having the time of his life. With his father.
She wanted to be angry and stay angry, but she just couldn’t hang on to it for long. Oh, she was aggravated about Caleb’s unauthorized jaunt to DC—and he would pay a price for that—but her heart turned gooey when she saw the father and son together. Their faces were so similar, especially with the matching dimples when they smiled.
Her world had turned inside out in a matter of hours. The idea of the two of them together gave her warm fuzzies, chased by chills she kept bringing on herself. Guilt and regret were her new best friends throughout the rest of the day. Her mind kept traipsing back through all the milestones Matt should have been part of.
Through the years, she’d discarded several opportunities to invite Matt into their lives, all in the name of giving Caleb stability. It had paid off, she thought. He had friends he’d known from kindergarten, a soccer team he traveled with, a normal, healthy childhood without the angst of moving every few years. Yes, she’d given her son so much stability, he thought it would be fine to take a train and track down his dad on his own.
In all fairness, Matt had never complained about the moves or changing schools growing up. Then again, he’d been raised in a prominent Army family and had likely been dialed in about West Point from the womb. Once, she too had planned on a Military career, maybe a husband and possibly, floating in that misty realm of far-off theories, a child someday.
Someday. Not at twenty. Not before she’d tested herself and traveled and become part of something astounding and important. Instead she found herself pregnant and bewildered. Matt had been almost thrilled, while she’d been fighting through sheer terror. Becoming a single mother had never crossed her mind.
He’d proposed, though they couldn’t marry while either of them were still cadets at the academy. As much as she loved him, she’d known she couldn’t marry him at all. She had to make her own way—for herself, as well as for her child. Following Matt through a career destined for greatness, always waiting at home for news, just felt too passive. She feared he would eventually feel trapped, or she would. And she didn’t want either of them to come to a point of resenting the other. That would have been a sorry end to what had started as a good friendship.
Hard as it had been, she’d walked away from Matt, away from her dreams, and into the