Redeemed Complete: A Military Stepbrother Romance (3 page)

Chapter 03 - The Party

I finally got dressed and made my way downstairs, just as the party was getting started. Just my luck, the dress I’d picked out and worn only once before still fit me, in a sense. I was definitely a little curvier than when I left for school.

As a result, the dress was too short both on top and on bottom. I felt like I was spilling out of the dress, and it might have been a little more appropriate for the club then a family dinner party, but I soldiered on. I did bring a nice pair of heels with me from school that happened to go well with my the rest of my outfit, and I knew that at least my parents would be surprised I'd started wearing high heels. Maybe Harrison too.

Though of course I didn’t care what Harrison thought about my appearance. Not at all, not even one little bit.

Almost all the guests had arrived by the time I got downstairs. My parents had hung a giant “Welcome Home, Soldier” banner in the family room where we all gathered. The buzz of conversation died down as I came down the steps, but quickly picked back up again, people milling about in their own little pockets of conversation and catching up.
 

Ten people? Hardly, this party had picked itself up without me. There must have been at least double that many already.

My father came up to me first, smiling. “Y-You look great tonight, Laurel.” He looked me up and down, definitely surprised at my outfit. If he wanted to say anything more, he kept it to himself. Maybe we’d have a talk about it later. “I’m so glad you decided to join us.” He extended out his arm and I took it.

“Well, it's not the first place I wanted to be tonight,” I said, letting the sarcasm drip through my voice.
Come on Laurel, be a little bit more polite.
Once in a while I could try and be a little more accommodating. Despite how I acted toward them, family, especially my father, was really important to me.

“I know, but it means a lot to your mother and I that you should be here. Harrison is important to us, and we want to celebrate his accomplishments.” He stopped, trying to recover quickly, knowing he’d said something that didn’t quite cover all the bases. “Of course, you're important to us also.” He looked at me as we made our way around the room, as if trying to see how mad I was at the little slip.

I felt my cheeks burn.
So much for that.
“Gee, thanks, Dad. I'm going to go get a drink.”

“Don't drink too much,” he said, his smile a little smaller now. He caught the eye of another guest and drifted away, picking up whatever conversation they’d begun before without missing a beat.

It was funny how my father could be the perfect conversationalist in public, hobnobbing with anyone who came in his general direction, getting them to make deals with him and give concessions in his interest at every turn, but with his own daughter he continually found new ways to stuff his foot into his mouth.

It would have been funnier if I wasn’t the one on the receiving end of the results. As it was, it was just a little saddening.

I made my way to the makeshift bar at one end of the long room and hallway and was pouring myself a weak gin and tonic before turning around to survey the party. I wanted to drink, especially around these people, but it would do no good for me to get drunk quickly, or at all. I took my first sip, savoring the burning sensation of alcohol going down. That hit the spot; just what I needed.
 

A good drink, and plenty of them at the right intervals, was probably the only way I’d make it through this party without saying something embarrassing at the wrong time in front of the wrong people. As much as that might stir things up and be fun for a moment, this was a family and friends gathering, and I hadn’t seen these people for months if not years. No sense in making a fool of myself.

Especially when I’d just arrived in town this afternoon. Plenty of time for that later, I had a whole other week.

I found a corner with fewer people in it and planted myself there. Watching all the people catch up, make new friends, learn about other people’s lives. I tried to look unapproachable and standoffish, which wasn’t that difficult for me.

I didn't want to admit it to myself at first, but I was looking for Harrison. This party was for him, so naturally he was the center of attention. Then again, being the center of attention came naturally to Harrison - everyone had always fawned over him, even when he was doing bad things and getting in trouble for them.

When I finally saw him, though, he was off in a corner talking animatedly with a young woman, the daughter of a family friend. She looked entranced, only taking her eyes away from Harrison’s face every so often to run them over his body and smooth out her dress, preening to look good for him.
 

Typical Harrison. Arrive at a party, find a girl, and get right down to business. Why did I even wonder if he’d changed? People didn’t change. They just became more comfortable with who they’d been the entire time.

At least, that’s how I thought things worked with me.

As I took another sip of my drink Harrison noticed me noticing him and raised his glass to me with a wink. I smiled back and raised my glass. When he took in what I was wearing, I could see his eyes widen for a moment.
 

My cheeks blushed and I quickly looked down in embarrassment, though I was also excited by the idea that Harrison was surprised at my outfit. I was definitely showing off more skin than I was used to, most definitely for a family event, but I was OK with that.

I liked that I felt like someone different now. I wasn't the same girl who’d left for college a couple years ago. I had become something closer to my truer self.

Harrison, for his part, looked gorgeous. I was wondering if he was going wear a military uniform, but he decided not to, and ended up with a fancy Italian cut suit. You could see his muscles underneath the shirt and jacket, barely contained by the trappings of modern society.

This seemed an almost strange environment for someone so manly as Harrison. It was as if this party was the cage that kept him from being who he really wanted to be. Harrison seemed to recognize this and take it in stride, easily moving through the crowd and leaving everyone with a smile on their faces.
 

I was surprised to see that - this is definitely not the kind of party that the Harrison I knew would spend more than a couple minutes at. As soon as he could have figured out a way to leave, he would've done so. I was impressed. At least, that was the Harrison I thought I knew from before.

After taking me in, Harrison returned to his conversation with the young woman, and I felt a pang of jealously, a slice of disconnection as he severed the look between us. I knew I had no hold over him; I was the second to last girl in the room he’d ever look at, but my brief time in the sun had felt wonderful.

Harrison had a way of making a girl feel like she was the only one in the room, and I wanted more of that feeling, even if it unfortunately came with Harrison attached.

Almost immediately after I took another sip of my drink, a couple came up to me. They were longtime friends of the family and I hadn't seen them since I left for college. They asked me about what I was up to, what I was majoring in, and how much I was enjoying university and life in the big city. As I spoke to them and politely answered their questions, I looked around the room trying to keep track of Harrison's movements as he worked the room.

After a few more minutes my father clinked his glass and got everyone's attention. The crowd quieted down quickly, eager to hear a speech or two.

“Thank you all for coming. Everyone knows why we're here,” he pointed at Harrison with his glass and everyone looked at him fondly. “We just wanted to hold a little reception for our boy when he came home from deployment and express our gratitude to him for his service.” He stopped and everyone clapped. Harrison did little bow, a small smile on his face, raising his own glass in return toward my father.

My father's voice cracked a little bit. “It has been a long road, but we are so proud to see that he is finally walking it, and we just wanted to say to you, Harrison, that we are here to support you in anything you do.” There was more clapping and people looked at Harrison expecting a speech.

Finally, Harrison motioned for the clapping to stop again, put his drink down, and spoke in an even and measured voice that conveyed a different kind of confidence I hadn’t seen before but couldn’t quite understand yet. “Thanks again to my mother and father for hosting us tonight. It was really unnecessary. I know you all know the recognition that soldiers get for their service, and for that of course I am grateful, but I wanted to say, that at least in my case, I think the military has given me more than I have given it.” The crowd murmured their appreciation, and I looked around the room to watch how enraptured everyone was.

Even though they weren’t related, my father seemed to somehow have given Harrison his gift of gab - Harrison could command a room like only my father could.

“I was, as many of you know, not the most well-behaved child in the history of Summitville.” Laughter in the room at this, and I watched people’s faces as the memories of Harrison the hellion washed over them. Harrison let it continue before he spoke again, “I was not the most well-behaved child, but I have to say, badly behaved children are something the military is very good at working with.” More murmurs of approval - everyone loved a story of redemption, and Harrison had that in spades.

“I’ve learned so much in my time there so far, and I'd like to think I've become a better person,” Harrison looked at me as he said this, and I felt my cheeks blush all over again. Why was he looking at me? Did he really think he could fix things between us?

Did I want him to try?

“And if there’s anybody here that I haven't treated with the proper respect in the past, then I apologize for that and I will try to make up for it now that I am back.” He stood up straighter and taller than usual, smiling again, taking his eyes off me for the first time since he’d found me in the crowd. “But for now, let's enjoy ourselves. Thank you so much again and enjoy the rest of your evening.”

Well, this was a complete change. The Harrison I thought I knew was apparently gone, and I didn't know how to process that. I knew he was talking to me above everyone else when he brought up respect, and I had no idea what that meant going forward. He and I were just barely civil to each other, and I’d long ago stopped trying to make our relationship anything more than that.
 

At least from his words, though, Harrison seemed like a completely different person, and I was wondering if maybe I should give the new Harrison a shot to at least be some sort of friends, if not stepbrother and stepsister.

Soon after he stopped speaking, the crowd returned to milling about, talking to one another. One by one couples and family friends came up and shook Harrison’s hand, thanking him again for his service and the lovely speech.

“Laurel?” That voice sounded familiar. I turned around.

“Jack? Jack Page? Is that you?” Whoa, Jack didn’t look anything like he used to. He and Harrison had been partners in petty crime back in high school, but now he looked like he’d traded all that in for a suit and tie. The look definitely suited him.

“Yeah, that’s me. I’m surprised you recognized me. How’ve you been?”

“I almost didn’t, just the voice. You look great. How are you?”

“I’m good, really good, Laurel, thanks. It’s so good to see you. How’s school? You’re in New York now, yeah?”

“I am! It’s really great, big change from life here in Summitville.” I couldn’t even begin to convey how different it was.

“I’m sure that’s an understatement.”
 

I laughed. “Yeah, it is, but it’s good to come home every so often and remember where you came from.”

“I guess that’s one reason to come back here.”

“Have you visited New York?”

“Once or twice, yeah, for a weekend getaway. Summitville’s more my speed.” He looked around, smiling, taking it all in. “I did a bit of traveling, enough to realize this was what I wanted. Are you going to be out later?”

“Yeah, I’m actually heading out to the Crown with Maggie. You remember Maggie Stern, right? I haven’t seen her in months, can’t wait to catch up.” Felt weird to talk about Maggie like we weren’t practically sisters, but after so long apart, maybe we weren’t anymore.

“Right, Maggie, of course. You two were thick as thieves in high school. I heard she and Chris finally got married, and she’s pregnant now, yeah?”

“Due any day now. She’s as big as a house, as she puts it. She’s picking me up in a few minutes.”

“That’s awesome. That’s so cool that you two still keep in touch. I’ll be at the Crown later too, I hope we get a chance to catch up.”

“Yeah, Jack, that sounds nice. I’d love to hear about what you’ve been up to.”

“Not a lot to tell, really, but it’s a good story. I’m a little different than you may remember me. I’ll see you there.” He gave me a quick hug and went off to get another drink. I watched him leave, shocked at how the Jack I remember and the Jack I just met were actually the same person.

Wow, running into Jack Page, while not entirely unexpected, still felt funny. Harrison had always been the ringleader of his little band of hoodlums, but Jack was always right there with him. Funny how people change. Jack seemed like a completely different person. Like he’d put away that life and picked up another one in the meantime. Whatever he was doing now, it looked like it fit him perfectly.
 

Maybe Harrison had changed too? Was it possible?

I hung back, talking with more family friends off to the side, enjoying my drink. My phone buzzed, and I excused myself to pick it up. It was Maggie.

“When can you get away?”
 

“Come and get me in…5 minutes?” I thought that was long enough that my parents would give me credit for showing up. I’d hung around the party long enough - everyone had seen me, I’d talked to a few people and hadn’t made a mess of anything; I’d put in my dues, full credit for this assignment awarded.