Bodyguard SEAL (SEALs of Coronado Book 8) by Paige Tyler (best classic literature txt) 📗

“He was. He passed away shortly after that.” Noah swallowed hard. “But at least he was able to see me graduate BUD/S—Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training,” he added, knowing Peyton would have no clue what the acronym stood for.

“I’m sorry,” she said quietly. “You sound like you miss him very much.”

“Yeah. He was more of a dad to me than my real father ever was, even before he walked out.”

He’d never told anyone that, not even his mom, but it was true.

“Was he a SEAL, too?”

Noah shook his head. “No, he wasn’t a SEAL. He spent his entire career in the Navy working on communication and radar equipment.”

“So, if it wasn’t for your grandfather, why go into the SEALs?”

He gave her a small smile. “I wish I had a simple answer for you. All I can really say is that I was a little lost back then and looking for something to give me purpose…a challenge. I’d always been athletic and loved the water, so when the recruiter showed me a video of all the cool stuff SEALs did, I couldn’t sign up fast enough.”

Peyton snorted. “Hence the reason they show those videos to eighteen-year-old kids in the first place. What teenager doesn’t want to have a job where he gets to be a badass?”

“True that,” he laughed. “I barely had a clue what I was getting into and never cared for a second.”

“I’m sure you didn’t,” Peyton said. “But what did your mom think of it? From what I’ve heard, SEALs do dangerous stuff and are always off in the farthest corners of the world.”

He grimaced as he remembered that particular conversation with his mother. “She didn’t think much of it, that’s for sure. She worries about me at the best of times. Knowing I would be doing a dangerous job only made her worry more. It doesn’t help that I can’t tell her about where I’m going when I leave. Her imagination runs wild, which is the worst possible thing.”

“I can certainly understand that,” she said softly. “Having the people we love in danger is always hard, but not knowing whether they’re in danger or not would be even more horrible.”

That was true, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it. Besides the whole issue of all his missions being classified out the whazoo, his family would probably be even more freaked out if they knew what kind of stuff he did when he was out of the country. Like nearly twisting his leg off in Yemen.

They drove for a while in silence, a part of Noah wanting to ask if Peyton would worry about him as much as his family did. But he kept the question to himself, not wanting to ruin the mood any more than it already was.

“Do you ever see your father?” she asked suddenly, apparently deciding to change the topic of conversation in lieu of continuing the silence.

Noah tightened his grip on the wheel again. The subject of his dad had always been a sore one, even after all this time. “Not since he walked out on us fourteen years ago. Last I heard, he was shacked up with some woman in Vegas, making a living as an Elvis impersonator.”

“Do you hate him for leaving?” Peyton asked quietly, an understanding expression on her face. “I don’t think anyone would blame you if you did. I know I probably would.”

Noah thought about that question for a moment before answering, realizing it was another subject he’d never talked about with anyone. Funny how he seemed to be able to do it with someone he’d just met.

“I did at first, mostly for what his leaving did to Mom and my sister,” he said, hesitating as he turned the vehicle into the subdivision his mom had lived in for as long as Noah could remember. “But not so much now. We’ve all moved on without him, and these days I can’t muster up much of any emotion when it comes to the man.”

Peyton nodded but didn’t say anything. Not that there was anything that needed to be said. He’d talked more about himself in the past few minutes than he had in the last ten years. He blamed it on Peyton and those books of hers he’d been reading. The hero in those stories always seemed to be sharing his feelings, which confirmed beyond all shadow of a doubt that they were works of fiction. He’d been in a platoon full of SEALs for years and even in all that time, he’d have a hard time filling a thimble with the collective outpouring of the guys’ emotions. Because they basically didn’t do it.

Peyton was obviously a bad influence on him. Or at least her books were.

Noah pulled into the driveway of the two-story house he still considered home. It looked no different than it had ten years ago when he joined the Navy, with the exception of the new roof and the fresh coat of paint he’d put on not that long ago. There were a bunch of newly planted flowers in the front beds as well, something his mom loved doing. As much as he’d loved moving out and being on his own, it was always nice to come back here.

“Well,” he said as he turned off the engine and opened his door, “you ready to save my mom from drowning?”

CHAPTER FIVE

PEYTON HALF EXPECTED to hear the sound of rushing water when she stepped through the front door of Eileen’s home, or worse, see signs of it running across the floor. But as she looked across the living room and into the kitchen beyond, there wasn’t a single sign of flooding.

But there also wasn’t any sign of Eileen. And that worried Peyton more than a little. If the expression on Noah’s face was any indication, so was he.

“Mom,” he called out, moving the small bag of tools he’d taken from behind the seat of his SUV to