Run To You

A client and Vince’s future sister-in-law. And she was too young.
    He glanced at the navigation system in the center of the dashboard. He’d been celibate for eight months. Eight months since he’d picked up a cocktail waitress in a Chicago bar. Eight months since he’d looked in a hotel mirror and saw his father looking back at him.
    He’d spent a lot of his life proving he was nothing like Captain William T. Junger. His old man was a legend in the SEAL teams. A hard-as-nails warrior who’d earned his reputation in Vietnam and Grenada and countless other clandestine engagements. He was a hero. A leader. Loyal to the teams and his country. If you read a book about the history of Navy SEALs, several paragraphs were always dedicated to Captain Junger’s contribution to the teams. A lot of words dedicated to his courage and valor. Words like “tough,” “brave,” “honorable” were used to describe him. He was all of those things, but what no one ever wrote about, what no one mentioned, was that he was also a ruthless philanderer.
    On the surface, the Jungers had looked like the perfect military family. Handsome Navy captain, beautiful blond wife, and two healthy sons. He and Blake had excelled at everything: school, sports, Boy Scouts. Beau couldn’t recall anyone ever telling him or Blake that they had to be the best. They’d just always known. Not only did they have their father’s blood in their veins, they lived with his expectations and reputation. They went to bed with it and woke with it in the morning.
    Teachers, coaches, and random adults expected them to run faster. Swim farther. Hit harder. Naturally competitive, they always gave their best. They pushed themselves and each other, and if they somehow fell short, they tried again. Beau and Blake idolized their father. He was bigger than life and they loved him as much as they feared him. The captain never punished with his hands. He didn’t have to. One look from his gray eyes cut to the soul. The look he’d perfected to intimidate Uncle Sam’s enemies, be they terrorists, drug lords, or thugs, intimidated the hell out of his sons. If the look wasn’t punishment enough for the old man, he made the boys do push-ups until their muscles trembled and burned.
    Amid all the tough, hard edges of their lives was their mother, Naomi Junger. The one person who loved them no matter the color of the ribbons they won. Naomi had been a sweet girl from North Carolina when she’d met and married William Junger. She was beautiful and vivacious, with an infectious laugh, and her warm accent and soft touch had filled the Junger home with unconditional love. As long as they remembered to say “please” and “thank you” and put their dinner napkins in their laps, the twin brothers never heard a critical word from her lips. She kept a perfect house. Cooked perfect meals. Looked perfect, even when their father was deployed or away training.
    Perfect, except for the days when she didn’t get out of bed. When she sobbed like she would never stop, and when pain took over her beautiful face. When she learned that her husband had once again betrayed her with another woman.
    For about the first ten years of his life, Beau hadn’t had a clue why his mother had days that seemed like her life had been drained from her. It wasn’t until he’d heard his parents arguing about it, when he heard his mother’s raised voice for the first time, that he learned of his father’s infidelity. That he learned his father caused so much pain. Time and again. That day, he learned that his father wasn’t a hero.
    He’d talked to Blake about what he’d heard. His brother said they should try and forget about it. Their parents had fought it out and their father had to stop now. Of course he hadn’t, but there hadn’t been any more fighting about it. No more raised voices or yelling. Not until Beau was seventeen, but the fight hadn’t been between his mother and father.
    They’d been living in a white stucco house, a few miles from the base in Coronado, California. He and Blake had applied to the Naval Academy the year before and were heading for Annapolis in a few months. There was never a question about what they would do with their lives. Never any thought about their future but that they would follow in their father’s footsteps. Together. From the womb to the tomb.
    Never any thought until he found his mother in her big closet, lying on a pile of clothes she’d