“Hell of a small Navy.”
“Apparently.”
He walked away.
Another officer greeted me.
Then another.
I kept the conversations brief.
My attention stayed fixed on the family section.
They hadn’t moved.
At last, Ryan came toward me.
Mom and Dad trailed several steps behind.
Madison and Aunt Patricia hung farther back.
For the first time in my life, my brother seemed unsure how to approach me.
He stopped three feet away.
His eyes went to the officers around us.
Then to my face.
“Captain?”
I exhaled.
“Ryan.”
“You’re a captain.”
“Yes.”
“In the Navy.”
I almost smiled.
“That’s generally where Navy captains work.”
His jaw tightened.
“Don’t joke.”
“I’m not trying to.”
“You never told me.”
That stopped me.
I looked at him.
“I did.”
His expression sharpened.
“No, you didn’t.”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Your sophomore year of college. You asked whether I was still doing ‘that Navy thing.’ I told you I’d been commissioned.”
He stared.
I went on.
“You said, ‘Cool,’ and then spent twenty minutes telling me about your fantasy football league.”
Color rose in his face.
“That’s not the same as telling me you’re a captain.”
“I wasn’t a captain then.”
“You know what I mean.”
Dad reached us.
His voice was low.
“Emily, can we speak privately?”
Nathan appeared at my side before I could answer.
“Captain Carter.”
Dad fell silent.
