Chapter 4

Gabe drovemost of the way to Solo’s house on autopilot. Between the emotion of her reunion with Max and her instant attraction to the compassionate and philanthropic owner of the Sanctuary, her mind had little space to contemplate anything else. It was good that she’d had the forethought to get flowers and champagne for Janie before going to the Sanctuary, or she would’ve been late. As it was, she’d been forced to run out on Lori right in the middle of a very promising conversation, and she was sure the fascination had been mutual.

Now that Lori had given Gabe permission to visit Max again, she’d find out in good time. But while patience was clearly one of Lori’s virtues, judging by her lemon trees, Gabe had always been one for instant gratification and hated waiting for anything. Still, the possibility of something developing with Lori would make the sixty-mile roundtrip to see Max even more worthwhile.

Solo stood in the doorway as Gabe pulled onto their drive. Gabe double-checked the time to see she was four minutes early, but in army time, that was considered late. Lucky for her, Janie worked on civilian time, so Gabe wouldn’t have already irritated one of her new business partners.

She put the truck in park and got out as Solo hurried across to her.

“You’re cutting it close, Jackdaw.” Solo held out her arm to pull Gabe into a bro hug then pulled back and waved her hand in the general direction of Gabe’s torso. “What the hell happened to you?”

Gabe looked down at herself and chuckled. “Max happened. Don’t worry, I’ve got a clean shirt.” She recalled the look of pure desire on Lori’s face when Gabe had offered to change her shirt after her time with Max.

“What’re you grinning like a maniac for?”

“Am I?” Gabe grabbed her shirt from the back of the truck and quickly changed.

“Jesus, you could’ve done that inside,” Solo said. “You’ll have all the bored housewives swarming around you.”

Gabe wiggled her eyebrows. “I don’t mind some gay-for-you action.”

“Then maybe you don’t remember the trouble that got you into last time.”

Gabe waved Solo away, uninterested in a trip down that particular memory lane. As she retrieved the gifts from the backseat, her watch beeped. “Better get inside; it’s twenty-hundred hours, and I don’t want to upset your beautiful wife.”

Solo led the way back into the house, and Gabe followed her into the dining room where Janie was placing a sizzling dish of something tasty onto a hot plate in the center of the table. Once her hands were free, she came over to Gabe and kissed her cheek before embracing her warmly.

“Welcome to our home, Gabe,” Janie said.

“Thank you so much for inviting me.” Gabe held out the flowers and champagne. “I’m sorry it’s not chilled.”

Solo snatched it from her hand. “I’ll stick it in the freezer for a half hour.”

Janie arched her eyebrow, and Solo ducked her head slightly and smirked. “Normal rules for guests don’t apply to Jacko; she’s family.”

Right on cue, something thudded into Gabe’s calves, and she turned around to see a tiny human holding onto a technicolor zebra on wheels just as she backed up and thrust the plastic animal at Gabe again.

“Tia!”

At the sound of Janie’s voice, Tia looked up with the perfect hand-in-the-cookie-jar expression before she burst into a fit of giggles. Bringing up her rear were her two identical sisters, though they had far less mischievous expressions. Gabe pegged Tia as the trio’s ringleader, and she had to stifle a laugh as she rubbed her calves and made exaggerated noises of extreme pain.

“I’m sorry about that, Gabe,” Janie said. “Tia, that wasn’t a nice thing to do to your Auntie Gabe.”

“Hidey boo,” Tia said and giggled some more.

“That doesn’t even make sense,” Solo said as she scooped her up, though she had to tug a little to pry Tia’s vice-like grip from the handles of her walker.

Gabe ran her hand over the top of her head, trying to get a handle on Janie calling her Auntie.

Solo used Tia like a guided missile and pushed her mini feet against Gabe’s arm. “Auntie Gabe is made of iron, Tia. You can’t hurt her.”

Gabe threw her a warning look, but Solo simply laughed and used the kid to kick her again.

“What’s wrong, Auntie Gabe? Is miniature me kicking your ass?”

“Hannah.”

Gabe smirked at Solo’s reaction to her wife’s simple reprimand. Gabe didn’t have the words to describe her expression, but Solo scuttled off to the kitchen with Tia cradled in one arm and the champagne in her other hand. “Wow, you’ve got her well trained. Our CO would be impressed; he tried for years to get her to follow orders without questioning them.”

Janie looked mildly amused. “Which was probably why she never got promoted.”

“Hey now, that’s not true. I was a specialist.” Solo returned with Tia on her shoulders, still giggling.

Janie pointed to the playpen under the window. “Gather your troops, honey. I’ll finish off the tortillas.” She gestured to the table. “Please take a seat, Gabe,” she said before she headed back to the kitchen.

“Thank you, ma’am.” Gabe pulled out a chair and watched Solo corral each of her children into their little soft prison. “How are you supposed to tell them apart when they’re all biological girls as well as being identical? Have you thought of little tattoos?”

“I heard that,” Janie said from the kitchen. “Please don’t put ideas like that in her head.”

Solo’s eyes widened, and she put her finger to her lips to shush Gabe. “She has the hearing of a vampire bat,” she whispered.

“I heard that too.”

Gabe glanced at the three captives. “Seriously though, how do you tell them apart?”

“What makes you think I can? Tattoos sound like a really good option.” Solo laughed and wiggled her fingers like she was playing piano. “Janie paints the nails on both big toes. Tia is orange, Chloe is purple, and Luna is green.”

Gabe shifted slightly to look at their feet. “They’re wearing socks. Can’t you paint their thumbs instead?”

“Definitely not.” Janie came back into the room, placed a container of tortillas on the table, and took the seat at the head of the table. “The nail polish could be toxic if swallowed, and they’re all constantly sticking their fingers into their mouths. But if you look at them again, you’ll see they’ve all got something on in their color too.”

“Ah.” Now Gabe saw it: Tia’s orange pants, Chloe’s purple tee, and Luna’s green onesie. “Ingenious.”

“I can’t claim credit, I’m afraid,” Janie said. “I saw it on TikTok.”

“So it’s for more than just thirst traps and making an ass of yourself dancing then?” Gabe spooned some chicken onto her tortilla and inhaled the spicy scent. “This smells so good, by the way.”

“Thanks.”

Gabe snapped her attention to Solo. “You cooked these?”

Solo polished her nails on her shirt and looked smug. “You bet I did. Janie works crazy hours sometimes, especially when she’s working a big case. There’s only so much takeout you can eat, right?”

Janie ran her fingers across Solo’s forearm and squeezed. “And it has nothing to do with you being an amazing wife when you put your mind to it?”

Gabe smiled at the gentle show of affection and the way Solo blushed.

“You’re the amazing wife.” Solo took Janie’s hand and kissed her knuckles. “You gave birth to our three little miracles.” She looked across to Gabe. “Then she went back to kicking ass at work after just four weeks.”

“I don’t know anything about this kind of stuff, but I’m guessing that the way you’re saying it means that most moms take a lot longer?” Gabe took a giant bite of her fajita and nodded approvingly. “Tastes as good as it smells. I’m impressed.”

“You got it. The average is twelve weeks?—”

“But I’m quickly learning that your wife is anything but average,” Gabe said.

“Han told me that you went to visit your old canine colleague at the Sanctuary.” Janie smiled and smeared sour cream on her tortilla. “I had no idea that place existed.”

So Janie was modest too. She was rapidly becoming one of Gabe’s new favorite people. “Me neither until Toni floated it to the CO when he said Max would have to be put down.” Gabe clenched her jaw at the memory.

“So how was it?” Solo asked.

Gabe relaxed her jaw and found herself grinning at a series of altogether different and far more pleasant memories. “It was really good.”

Solo wagged her finger. “I know that look. It’s the woman who runs it, right? Toni said she was pretty.”

Gabe nodded. “Lori Turner. She’s an interesting woman.”

“You dog. You didn’t even wait to start rescuing women in broke down cars.”

“Explain,” Janie said before she sipped her wine.

Solo took Janie’s hand. “I told her that she’d find love here, just like I did.”

“First, I’m not in love. And second, our meeting wasn’t anywhere near as elaborate as the scenario you described.” Gabe glanced at Janie, who still looked slightly confused. “Your wife has developed an overactive and unrealistic imagination since she left the Army; she’s absolutely convinced that I’ll meet the love of my life on a tow-truck job as soon as we open the garage.”

Janie’s expression changed from confusion to adoration as she nodded and looked at Solo. “She can be the most romantic person I’ve ever met, but that’s developed over time, Gabe. Maybe the same thing will happen to you,” she said and winked.

Gabe rolled her eyes. “Please, God, not you too.”

“You’re not open to falling in love?” Janie asked.

“I’m open to most things. I just don’t believe in love at first sight or fated love or super-romantic ideals of love.” Gabe shrugged. “Honestly, I have no idea if I’ll ever find it, but I also can’t say that I’ve been looking. The Army has been my everything almost all my adult life. I haven’t had the time or inclination to even think about falling in love.”

“If you weren’t looking for forever, what were you looking for in the lingerie of all those women?” Solo asked before she shoved half a fajita into her mouth.

Janie sputtered wine back into her glass, and Gabe stifled a laugh. “You might’ve developed a romantic side, but that clearly hasn’t drowned your crass side.” She smiled at Janie, who looked marginally mortified. “It’s okay, Janie. I’m used to Solo’s directness, and it works just fine for me.”

“Damn good job,” Janie said and tapped Solo’s forearm anyway.

“I wasn’t looking for anything at all, Solo,” Gabe said. “All of that was a mutually beneficial way of passing time and letting off steam. No one ever took it seriously.” She didn’t emphasize that point with reference to Solo’s similarly prolific performances with all the women she charmed into her bunk. Charmed was probably too strong a word for it. Everyone in the Army had needs, and it was no great hardship to find companionship.

A flash of understanding crossed Solo’s expression as she likely realized that she’d led the conversation down a path she wouldn’t want Janie to walk. “Okay, so you’re not in love. Tell us how Max is.”

Gabe pressed her lips together and shook her head. “Physically, he’s fine, but his head? Not so good. Lori said he’d been doing well with their rehabilitation process to get him ready for a civilian home, but the Fourth of July celebrations did a number on him and set him back some.” It had been like a knife to her heart the way he’d practically crawled out of his kennel and slunk his way closer to her. He’d always been such a confident dog, but it was like someone had reached inside him and pulled every ounce of that out.

“They make special canine ear defenders for exactly that reason. Surely they’ve got some,” Janie said.

“Yep, and he was wearing them. But Max is a special dog—all his senses are superior to the average mutt—and they just didn’t work well enough for him.” Gabe wrapped another fajita. “They were expensive ones too. Lori said she didn’t have enough for every dog so she’s trying to get more donations before New Year comes around. She’s got a TikTok channel to raise money, and the schools pay a little for their visits, but it sounds like she’s got it tough trying to keep that place open.”

“And what else?” Solo asked.

“I asked if she’d be okay with me visiting again while they helped him get better.”

“And what else?”

“And nothing else. She said she was good with me coming back and thought that it would be a positive thing for Max as long as I committed to going regularly.” Like that would be a hardship, seeing Max and spending some time with an interesting and intelligent woman. It hadn’t been love at first sight—how could it be when she didn’t believe in such a thing?—but the sparks could’ve set the Sanctuary’s barns on fire.

“I don’t know much about dogs, but that makes sense,” Janie said. “If he starts to look forward to your visits and you don’t make it, I imagine he’d be sad.”

Gabe finished her mouthful of food and nodded. “Exactly. Lori said that would be harmful to his rehabilitation.”

“Did you ask about adopting Max when he was ready?” Solo asked.

“Nah, I didn’t want to say anything about that when I haven’t made a solid decision.” Gabe scooped up the last mouthful of guacamole with a tortilla chip.

Solo frowned. “I thought you said that was what you wanted?”

Gabe shook her head. “I said it was a nice idea, but I can’t go in blind. It wouldn’t be fair on me or Max…or Lori.” She thought about all the upheaval and change in her life right now and sighed. If she let it, overwhelm could easily set in. “I just left the Army, I moved into a new home yesterday, and I’m starting a business. I’ve got a lot going on, and I don’t see a dog fitting into that right now, you know?”

Before anyone responded, a blood-curdling scream came from one of the triplets. Gabe looked across to see Chloe, the purple one, throw herself on the soft ground of the playpen, clutching her face. Tia dropped onto her butt and grinned, adopting an angelic face that could’ve fooled the devil himself. Luna seemed unaffected by the chaos and continued stacking her over-sized building blocks. Janie and Solo were out of their chairs and at the playpen impressively fast.

“Tia. What have you done to your sister?” Janie lifted the screaming tot from the floor to inspect the damage.

“This is my fault.” Solo picked Tia out of the playpen and turned to Gabe. “We should’ve put them to bed like normal, but I wanted you to meet them properly.”

“Uh-huh.” Gabe took a long drink of her beer because she had nothing else to say. Kids had never been, and likely never would be, that fascinating to her.

“Help me get them upstairs,” Janie said, already heading out of the dining room. “I’ll get them to sleep, and you can come back down.”

“Right behind you.” Solo threw Gabe an apologetic look. “Any chance you could grab the last one?”

Gabe laughed but then saw Solo wasn’t joking. “Okay, sure.” She pushed away from the table and picked Luna up gingerly.

“You don’t have to hold her like she’s an IED. She’s not going to explode, Cracker Jack.”

“Are you sure?” Gabe asked.

“Well, her butt might, but you’ve probably got another shirt in the truck, right?” Solo laughed and headed upstairs.

Gabe held Luna at arm’s length; she’d bet money baby poop was a stubborn stink to get out, and she was wearing her last clean tee. Tomorrow was laundry day while she waited for her new bed to be delivered and for RB to arrive. Luna gurgled and bubbles of spit emerged from her mouth. “Don’t even think about it. From either end.”

She followed Solo to a huge bedroom with three large windows facing out to a lush yard edged with tall trees. The inside frames of each window and the cot beneath them had been painted to match the babies’ color code, so it was easy for Gabe to figure out where she was supposed to dump Luna. She placed her down as quickly and gently as possible before backing away to avoid any projectile vomit the kid might aim her way.

“Are you okay there, Gabe?” Janie asked, smiling lightly. “They don’t break that easily, you know?”

“I don’t want to find out,” she said and moved farther away from the trio of trouble. What was Solo thinking, calling Gabe their auntie? She could be thankful that they hadn’t asked her to be a godparent at least.

Janie laughed and shooed her away. “Go back downstairs, you two.”

Solo clapped Gabe on the back. “Let’s go. I’ll show you the deck I built.”

Gabe couldn’t escape quick enough and happily followed Solo outside. She sat on a cushioned chair while Solo started a fire in the pit even though it was about seventy degrees. Solo regaled her with horror stories of the kids’ early months and by their third beer, Gabe just had to ask. “Whose idea was Auntie Gabe?”

Solo chuckled. “I knew that got to you.” She took another long pull of her beer. “We hadn’t talked about it. I guess that Janie figures you’re my family, so that makes you my kids’ family too. And hers.” She shrugged. “You want something more gender neutral? You wanna be Titi Gabe?”

Gabe shook her head. “It’s not that, you idiot. It’s just?—”

“Just what? You don’t want to be part of my family anymore?”

Solo glanced away, and Gabe wasn’t sure if she was really hurt or just playing at it. They hadn’t spent any solid time together for three years since Solo had left the Army, and Gabe was beginning to realize how much she’d changed, how much they’d both changed. They didn’t really know each other anymore.

But Gabe was out now too, and they were starting a business together, so that would change. Their night out had proven how easy it was to slip into familiar patterns, and it had felt like old times. This, though…this was a different environment, and it was going to take some getting used to.

Solo shoved Gabe’s shoulder. “Don’t leave a bro hanging on a question like that.”

“Don’t be crazy; it’s not that either.” She hung her arm around Solo and pulled her into a half-body bro hug. “I think it’s just going to take some time for me to adjust, that’s all. I’ve been in the service for twenty years. I don’t know why I was expecting to fit back into civilian life so easily.” She looked back toward the house and shook her head. “Being here tonight has kind of brought that home.”

“It’ll be okay, Jackpot. It gets easier, I promise.” Solo clinked her bottle to Gabe’s. “And when we’re all back together at the new garage, it’s going to be perfect. All the fun and none of the danger.”

“I’ll drink to that.” In response, the healed injuries on her back tingled and began to itch. She pressed her body into the firm cushioning of the chair and shifted from side to side.

“You’re like a bear scratching its ass on a tree. Are you okay?”

Gabe nodded. “Sure. The scars sometimes feel like they’re crawling around on my back, you know?”

Solo tilted her head. “Thankfully, I don’t, but I can imagine. Everything’s okay though, isn’t it? You’re fit and healthy?”

Gabe laughed. “You worried about your wife’s investment?”

“Don’t be an ass. I’m serious.”

Gabe raised her bottle to the sky. “Thank the heavens, I’m in better shape now than I was in my twenties.” She hoped that was going to make the stress of their new business easier to bear. “I was expecting Janie to ask more questions about the garage though. But she seems kind of Zen about the whole thing.”

“She doesn’t like to talk business at the dinner table,” Solo said. “She’s kind of old-fashioned that way. Plus, she’s already asked all the questions she wanted to, otherwise she wouldn’t have drawn up the agreement for us. She knows I want this really bad. The kids have grounded me a little, but I’d been floating since I got out.” She shrugged and emptied the last of her beer. “I’ve had a few jobs, but nothing stuck. When you called to say you were getting out and asked if I was still up for our garage idea, I can’t tell you how it made me feel.” Solo smiled and looked up at the bright windows of the kids’ bedroom. “Janie said I lit up, and she knew immediately that whatever it was, she wanted to help me make it happen.”

“I don’t know how you got that woman to agree to marry you.” Gabe grabbed two more beers from the ice bucket Janie had brought out for them and handed one to Solo.

“I wore her down, I guess.” Solo clinked her bottle to Gabe’s. “Whatever it was, she’s been the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

Gabe raised her bottle. “I’ll drink to that.” As she took that celebratory drink in honor of Solo and Janie’s happiness, her thoughts drifted to Lori Turner. A new life, a new business, and a new woman to get to know. Getting out of the Army and away from the only stability she’d known might not be so bad after all.