Raising a Cowgirl (5 page)

Finally
Lou turned around and put her hands on her hips. “Well, I am waiting. You have
been standing brooding for a few
minutes
now. What is wrong?”

“Oh, well, we are opening another letter in a few minutes. Uh, Raider, my best friend
,
” Gage stumbled over his words. Shit, he hated it when it was like this. Never had
he been rattled so much he stuttered, and it was happening
increasingly
when he was around the women.

Lou and
Timothy
knew they had seen the spirits of their fallen
friends
. After Sable came to live with
them
, they decided not to keep the secret in the
house
. The older couple took it in stride and accepted what they thought was true, never
judging
or calling the mental
ward
to have them checked in.

“Okay then, let me get Timothy and we will be right in
,
” Lou said and hurried to the back door and before he could open his
mouth,
she was yelling for her husband to come quickly.

Damn it, the guys said they would open the letters alone and deal with it together.
That is what they had done for Wolfman
. H
e was
n't
sure how they were going to react when the older couple showed up.

“Wait,” Gage said as Timothy walked in and Lou quickly explained the situation. Timothy
looked at him with his tanned
,
weathered
,
narrow face.

“Nope, we talked to the others a while back
—
we are in for a penny in for a pound
,
” Timothy said firmly.

“Oh, then okay.” Gage shrugged.

“It was when you were at work
,
dear
. W
e didn’t go behind your back and ask them
,
” Lou said quietly. She knew him so well already. If he didn’t know better he would
have thought she was one of those mind readers. After
raising
two men, she said she could read a man
'
s expression a mile away. He agreed since so far she had never been
wrong
with them
.

Lou wiped her hands on the apron she wore,
then grabbed the pot of coffee and ordered them to grab cups for everyone.
The three walked in the living room where the others were waiting with the box already
sitting on the table.
Thane had the
m
all stored for when they needed to do this.

“
Let’
s
hear it
,
” Lou said and plopped down in the comfortable rocker and motioned the others to the
coffee
, then
folded her hands and waited
patiently
.

Master Chief,

If you are reading this
, then
something
real
ly
bad happened. I update this letter with every mission and right
now,
I am sitting here staring at the team
as we
get ready to go to the tag and bag mission with the terrorist.
I have not had a chance to meet my daughter yet, and hopefully I will, but in case,
here it goes.

I gotta tell you, I have a bad feeling about this, and if I changed this letter
for no reason,
then I am sitting here laughing my ass off at myself.

Gage looked up and saw all of the fallen
members
of his team standing in a circle
behind
the others. Wolfman was there
,
too
,
but he was faint and leaned against the back wall. Gage knew he had already passed
over since
Wolfman
knew his sister
,
Sable
,
was safe and happy with Alex and Slone. They had all seen him leave.

Raider nodded to him
,
knelt next
to
him
, a
nd listened closely
as Gage continued
.

I really hope we are having a beer, but if not
—th
en you need to know a few things
.
First, man
,
you are the best friend I have ever had. I know you don’t trust much, others or
yourself. But don’t go getting all closed up and pitiful, sitting in that cold disgusting
apartment all alone and shutting everyone out. Talk to someone. You need to, I know
you do, since I was the only sorry ass who would listen
,
I know what you are doing to yourself.

Two, it was not your fault. I know you are thinking you were responsible for all
of us. LC is thinking that
,
too. Get over it. I knew what I was getting into when I joined the SEAL
s
. There was nothing more I wanted to do or be, I
made
my own decisions, and so let’s just mark this down to wrong place
—
wrong time.

Three, Marie, man
,
I know you are going to make a big deal out of this. The guilt, you aren’t worthy,
blah
blah,
blah. Now I am not saying I want you dating my wife
.
NO FUCKING WAY! No, I just want you to check on her, make sure her and Sammi are
okay.

There is a letter in here. I am a little hesitant for you to give it to Marie until
Sammi is older, like ten or so. I don’t think Marie would handle it real well. It
was one of her biggest fears
—
getting one of these letters
—
she made me promise not to write one.
So,
this is really for you.

Look at the keychain. There is a bank box with your name on it waiting. Everything
important is in there. Marie
has
her own and has copies of this stuff. But I need you to have this one. Like a back
up.
Plus,
there is money in there, from the parents. Marie and I agreed to start a college
fund when Sammi was born,
obviously
I
didn’t
have the chance if you are reading this.

My will and Marie
'
s will is in there. I know you are gonna kick my ass, and ask Marie to change it
as well. But if anything happens to both of us
,
man
—
you get custody of Sammi. You
and
the guys are the only ones I would trust raising her to remember
Marie and I,
if God forbid anything happened to us. There are more direction
s
in the box if that is the case.

So, pull up your thong, tuck it away, and get your ass on the horn and call Marie,
she knows all of this, we both agreed
.
Tell the others the time with the Team were the best years of my life. I served my
country with the best men I could have ever hoped for. Together we were unstoppable,
continue the tradition, don’t leave them.

Not to be all
kissy—
huggie
,
but
I love you like a brother
,
man. Now, take care of my family. No screwing my wife, and if she starts dating
again do a background check before the first date. You know how trusting she is.

Also I am sure you don’t know this cause we never told you or anyone.
Sammi's
full name is Samantha Gage Farat. She is your daughter now. Make sure you tell
her all about me. I have her picture here
,
too,
tell her when she i
s
old enough
that
she was
one of
the last thing
s
I thought of. Marie and Sammi are always the last thing I think of when I go on
a mission.

Thanks
,
Gage
.

There was silence in the room as the
y
all digested what Raider wrote him.
What the hell was going on
?
How could he do this to him
?
Gage turned to look at Raider and sucked in a deep breath at the sight before him.
With a cry of
rage,
he stood and yelled.

“What the fuck is going on?
!
” Gage yelled and pointed to where Raider was standing.

“Dude, chill, we will get through this. Call Marie
and
ask her to come for a visit. Maybe she will like it and move to town. We can fi
x
this
,
man
,
” Alex said calmly and looked around the room. All of them were nodding and trying
to talk to Gage who was focused on the wall.

“
Can’t
you see?” Gage sounded like a desperate man.

“Yeah
,
man.
I can see them
,
”
Alex soothed.

“Master Chief, you need to focus
,
” Voodoo said.

“I am
,
man, I am.” Gage groaned and fell to the floor.

Lou was the first one to reach him, pulling him in
to
her arms and rocking him slowly. “It will be alright, we will all help. Let’s settle
down and talk about it calmly. Alex is right, let’s invite Marie and the babe here
,
” Lou whispered.

“Don’t you see? How the hell am I supposed to do that?” Gage said in frustration.

“
Honey
,
it is the push of a few buttons
,
” Lou crooned.

“Grrr, you people are not getting the jist of what we are seeing
,
are you?” Gage yelled and stood.

“Dude, of course we are.” Alex sighed and looked at Slone. “It was hard for me to
accept as well, I thought I was going fucking crazy. I don’t talk to dead people,
only the team, we have to finish what they are asking
of
us. Shit, Wolfman sang a fucking song over
and
over until I listened. They
won’t
give up, they
can’t
move
on
without our help
. I don’t know about you but I couldn’t live with myself. I don’t know if there
is a
heaven
or hell, all I know is I don’t want my
friends
hanging out there just stuck. They deserve more than that.”

Gage sighed and said, “I get it, I WANT THAT
,
TOO!
Aren’t
you the least bit curious why Marie is standing next to Raider?”

There was a silent pause as everyone in the room digested what Gage was saying. He
frowned at Alex who was looking worried about
him
,
to
staring at the couple who were clasping hands and looking worried
, too
.

“Where do you see Marie?” Thane asked and then looked at Alex. “Do you see her?”

So far, Alex and Gage were the only ones the guys revealed themselves to.
Each one of them was taking a turn, respecting what the guys could deal with. Just
as if
they were still a team.

“
Hang
on!” Gage said and looked round the room. “Alex, you can see
Frog,
Emo,
and Dag
?”

They were
standing
on the right
side
of the room. All of the guys stood silent and raised their hands. Gage could feel
his stomach begin to revolt as his gaze swept to Alex.

“Yep,” Alex said. The others were just looking at the empty space Gage pointed to.

“Clipper,
Wolfman
?
”
Gage asked.

“Yep,” Alex sighed and nodded.

“And here, Raider and Marie?” Gage demanded.

“Man, I am seeing Raider only
,
” Alex said.

“What the hell kind of game is being played here? Are you all trying to drive me
insane
,
'
cause I gotta tell
you
it is working.”
Gage
stalked over to where the couple
were
standing and held up his hand flat above his dead friend
's
head
.
“Raider
…
" then he moved his hand to hold over Marie's head, "
Marie
…
”
h
e said slowly as if talking to someone who was dumb.

Raider turned and looked at him. “I
wanted
to tell you
,
but I
couldn’t
until Marie came to me.”

“Oh shit,” Alex muttered and looked at Thane and the others with a
grief-stricken
face.

“What?”
t
he commander demanded.

“Now I can, Marie is with Raider
,
” Alex whispered.

“How?” Gage demanded
Raider to answer.

“
Can’t
tell you, you know how this works
,
man. You have to find out on your own. But she needs help
,
” Raider said.

“Damn you
!
” Gage yelled. “Sammi is in trouble?”

“Yes and no. Just find out
,
” Raider said.

“What is
going
on?” Thane said.

“Raider is telling Gage that Sammi needs help
,
” Alex said quietly.

Lou made a noise and then whispered
,
“The babe, she is alone?”

Voodoo
nodded
and said
,
“Raider and Marie were only children and their parents
passed
away already. No outlying family. We were their family.”

“And you still are
,
” Marie said
,
stepping forward and put
ting
a hand to Gage’s cheek. “Gage, I know we were both grieving and shut ourselves off.
But we would have gotten through it. You and the others were my brothers as well.
Now I need you to find Sammi and help her.”

Gage closed his eyes and felt
Marie
'
s
touch against his skin. She
was
like their little sister, and he had failed her once, but not a second time. “Where
is she?”

“We don’t know
. Y
ou have to find her though
,
” Raider said grimly and Gage nodded.

“
I will find her
,
” Gage said with determination.

“We all will
,
” Alex said firmly and the others nodded. Each of them in deep thought as they processed
the little bit of information they had been given.

“Soon,”
Marie
said
and smiled. The
g
hosts around the room faded as they left the living alone to deal with the situation.

“How in the hell have things become so fucked up?
!
” Gage yelled and slammed his fist into the wall.

“Life,” Timothy stated.

“Well life sucks
,
” Gage grumbled.