MC Soldier (Broken Demons MC #6)

Chapter 14 - Adeline

The look on Docs face made me want to cry for him and Johnson's don't fucking cry. Not when my granddaddy died and not when my beloved dog got hit by a truck when I was 10. But Doc looked so broken and defeated, he didn't mean to hurt me, I know that. He had every right to be angry, I let him think for a whole month that I cheated on my husband. Anyone who's served has no doubt seen the heartbreak of a soldier when he gets that letter, or when he arrives home after a brutal tour to find his home empty, or even worse, his bed full with a strange man and his girl.

"If you ask me one more time if I'm alright I'll drag you out to the parking lot and beat your ass myself." I growl at Needles as he hands me a shot

"Fine, fuck. I'm just pissed. You've got a fucking hand print on your arm Addy." Needles groans

"He didn't mean to do that and he had every right to be mad at me." I reply

"Why, what the fuck would justify that?" He asks pointing to my arm

"None of your damn business." I growl and he holds his hands up in surrender. Tonight just isn't working. All the shit I've dealt with over the years I've become an expert at letting it roll off my shoulders but tonight, nothing is pulling my head out my ass. I need to talk to Doc. I handled this all wrong, I'm such an asshole. Why didn't I tell him the following day? I'm such a bitch.

"I'm heading out." I smile as I finish my beer and stand

"Want me to take you home?" Needles asks

"Jesus you're worse than my brothers, I'm fine." I say as I pat him on his shoulders and head for the door.

I make a short stop at a store and then drive to Docs house

"What are you doing here Adeline?" Doc asks from the side of his house

"I want to start over, I want to forget all the shit. All the times I pissed you off, what happened today and what happened between us a month ago." I say as I hold out the six pack of beers

"I brought beer." I smile

"You need to stay away from me, I hurt you." He replies, fuck he sounds so defeated, it kills me.

"You and I both know you didn't mean to and we both know you had every right to be mad at me." I say as I step up on his front porch. A swing sits to the left of his front door, I take a seat and open two beers offering one to him.

"Right, let's do this properly. Nice to meet you sir I'm Adeline Johnson, former First Sergeant in the army, now I'm a private contractor. I live alone in New York but my family are from Texas. I got married five years ago but my husband John was killed in action in Syria when his convoy was ambushed." I say as he finally sits down beside me

"Christopher Townsend, I was a combat medic in the army, did four tours before I left. I got shot in my side on my third tour during an ambush." He says as he hold out his hand

"Pleasure to meet you Christopher." I smile as I firmly shake his hand

"Call me Chris." He replies

"Well in that case call me Addy." I smile and he nods

"Can I ask you a question?" He asks uncertainty in his voice

"Sure, shoot." I reply

"Why do you still wear your wedding ring?" He asks and I smile as I roll the gold band around my finger

"I don't want him to be forgotten. John joined up because he was an only child and his parents were much older, he was seventeen when his mom died and his father died only six months later. He felt like he had nowhere to go, so he joined the army. We met at training and had been dating for about six months when my orders came through. I had a week until I left and John insisted we have a wild weekend in Vegas with his buddies. While we were there he asked me to marry him in a stupid little chapel and I agreed, I still don't know why I agreed, we barely knew each other, I'm not even sure I loved him. The first two years of our marriage I think we spent maybe a month together, then he was killed. I was the closest thing he had to a relative, his funeral was packed but I was the only family. I want to make sure he's remembered, he was a good guy." I should've told him this the first day I met him when he asked me if my husband served, I didn't want the pity party, but I just made everything worse

"I'm so sorry Addy, I can't believe I hurt you." Doc sighs looking at the floor

"Hey, accidents happen, you need to get the fuck over it because I am. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about John sooner. Now, I've told you all about John, tell me something about you." I reply as I rest my hand on his forearm.

"My family sounds a lot like Johns." He says looking down.

"My dad died when I was a kid, cancer. My mom died when I was 16, my sister took care of me for a while, but she has her own family, so I joined up." He says

"Well where's your sister?" I ask

"She lives in Hong Kong with her husband and three kids, they moved out there nearly ten years ago now." He replies

"Wow that's awesome, I told you about my brothers right?" I ask and he nods

"My mom and dad are still alive, but my dads getting slower and slower chasing Vietcong at night." I smile. It's horrific to watch my father during one of his flashbacks but my family turn everything to humour, it's just the way we are.

"As kids we used to set up obstacle courses for him, I'll never forget my mom losing her shit when he fell over the couch and smashed the glass coffee table with the umbrella he thought was his gun." I laugh, it was how we coped, we didn't think our dad was crazy, we saw an opportunity for some entertainment.

The six pack is empty and Doc is finally smiling, this is what I needed, to make things right

"Well I better head home, it's getting late." I say as I stand up and stretch out my back

"Thank you Addy." Doc says as he stands beside me

"No problem, I promise not to be a pain in your ass, but if you ever feel like you want to talk to someone who understands, I'm right here." I say as I wrap my arms around his waist. He hesitates but then wraps his arms around my shoulders

"See you later buddy." I call as I walk over to my car.