I smiled at them before my mind went to our one missing member. “Has anyone spoken to Christopher?”
All of their faces dropped when I asked that question and I fucking hated it, but I needed to know.
“Uh…” Thomas started. “He, uh, he’s been relieved of duty.”
“What happened?” I asked him. Of all the things I expected him to say, that wasn’t it.
“A bomb went off,” Lauren said, “and he was a little too close. It damaged his hearing too much for him to be kept on as an armed military officer.” She looked so sad. “He’s taken it hard. He said he just needs some time.”
“Poor Christopher,” I muttered. “Can you ask him to call me? I’d love to talk to him.”
“Will do, man.” Thomas nodded his head. “He’ll be okay. He just needs time.”
“Yeah,” I muttered. Well, that put a fucking dampener on things.
“Anyway,” Thomas said, obviously taking the initiative to move on to the next topic. “Tell us about this new man.” He grinned at me and as I looked at all their faces, I could see that they were all looking at me expectantly.
“Is this what the group-call is for?” I laughed when Nina rolled her eyes at me.
“Come on, Luke.” She placed her hand on James’s chest as she cuddled closer, her wedding ring glinting in the light. “Time to fess up. He’s the one keeping you busy in the city.” She giggled. “Come on. Give us all the juicy details and when are we going to meet him?”
I looked at Thomas and I tried not to notice the way his face fell when she mentioned‘him keeping me in the city’. I knew that he and I needed to have a talk about things, but I wasn’t ready for that and I especially wasn’t going to have that talk over a camera.
Thomas subtly nodded his head at me to continue. “Yeah, Luke. We want to know who is making you so happy. Tell us about him.”
I swallowed, trying to clear the choked-up feeling I was having at his words before I began talking and telling them little details about Freddie and the man that he was.
CHAPTERSIXTEEN
FREDDIE
Iknew leaving Luke and heading back to my apartment to sort through my list of jobs before going to work alone would be strange, but I knew Luke and I needed to have some time apart and not spend every waking moment in one another’s pockets. I also hoped giving Luke some time catching up with his friend back home would help the worry that had been coming off him in waves and ground him. I completely understand how hard it is being so far apart from the people you cared about, especially when you’re greeted with radio silence. I’d been in the same predicament with Everleigh for the last eighteen months and it felt like I’d lost a limb, so to have my world an ocean apart must be agony. I just hoped that hearing Thomas and Lauren’s voices made Luke more relaxed, but my gut screamed that it would make his homesickness worse.
I had so much to sort out, especially after Isobel let slip in a text message a couple of hours ago that Everleigh and Dawson’s flight was due to land at the weekend. I knew why she’d failed to tell me; I couldn’t let her return without a warm welcome and what better way than a party. It just meant I had a lot to organize in a short amount of time and I needed to call on some helping hands to pull it off.
* * *
“Are you joining us back on reception yet?” I heard Isobel’s familiar voice echo behind me as I headed across the entrance of The Wilden towards the elevator.
I turned around to face Isobel as I uttered, “It seems I’ve found a new calling, my lovely.” I smirked in response as Chrissie headed up behind her with her finger to her lips and hair tied up in a high bun, with a fitted smart dress and blazer combination, before she grabbed Isobel’s shoulders and made her jump in a startled fright. “She’ll get you back,” I joked as Chrissie rolled her eyes at me.
“I will.” Isobel huffed. “That’s my move.”
“Promises, promises,” Chrissie replied, waving her hand nonchalantly at her, making us both giggle at the way she’d copied Isobel completely.
“Anyway, when you have five minutes on your break, I could do with a hand,” I said, breaking the moment between us, knowing I had to get to work before Robert got his knickers in a twist. He wasn’t going to be happy as it was when I asked him for his help with my elaborate plans I had up my sleeves. Everleigh was going to kill me. It was a good thing she loved me.
“Call me intrigued.” Isobel grabbed my forearm as she fluttered her eyelashes, and I barked out a chuckle.
“Me too.” Chrissie beamed.
“Let’s say we have a welcome home party for Everleigh to plan.” I winked.
“Oh, this is going to be fun,” the girls chimed, as I gave a quick wave over my shoulder and headed straight to the elevator.
I rushed through the door and headed straight to the back, whipping my light jacket off in hand. I slung it on a hook in the back and headed straight out to the front of the bar.
“Sorry Robert…”