All We See or Seem by Leah Sanders Page B

take care of business at EROMI. I’ll deal with it on this end… Yes… Goodbye.”
    Aaron heard the beep signaling the end of the call and waited, holding his breath. He could tell his father was seething quietly in his leather desk chair. Only when Aaron heard the violent thump of his father’s clenched fist on the desk and the creak of the chair as Dad stood and strode out of the room, did he exhale and begin to breathe again.
    EROMI. He had heard of that before. It was in his new commission orders. He’d be posted there as a military intelligence liaison — the project he was going to be overseeing. Okay. But if that’s the case, why was his dad getting those calls? They should be for Aaron. He began working back through his memory of the contents of his father’s side of the conversation. Something about an observation of a replacement. Surely Dad would fill him in later. It was his assignment, after all. The conversation was haunting him though; he’d have to do some reconnaissance work, but he was good at that. He turned to go back through the office, but jumped when he heard his mom’s voice floating to him through the portico.
    â€œAaron! There you are!” She was pacing toward him rapidly with someone in tow. “I’ve been scouring the house for you! Look who just arrived?” She stepped out onto the deck, dragging her guest with her.
    â€œTricia,” Aaron sighed. His mother shot him a stern look, and he tempered his tone with a forced smile. “So nice to see you.”

 
    Chapter Ten
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    â€œI’m sorry, she insisted I see you. I didn’t have the heart to refuse her,” Tricia explained. Aaron’s mother had quickly excused herself to return to the party, leaving the two of them alone on the deck.
    â€œWell, she is certifiably insane. You’re safer just doing what she says,” Aaron joked. He had no desire to be stuck in this conversation. Whatever his mother’s obsession with the two of them somehow ending up together, it was never going to happen. He’d explained this to her in seven different ways; she simply wouldn’t accept it.
    â€œI know we don’t owe each other anything, but I might as well tell you, I’m seeing someone.”
    â€œIf you’da told her that, she’d’ve let you off the hook.”
    â€œAre you kidding me? I did! She told me that until I say my vows, there’s still reason to hope.”
    Aaron laughed. “Yeah, that sounds like Mom. Sorry about that.”
    â€œNo big deal. Actually, it’s ironic…” Tricia smiled dreamily and turned to look out at the garden.
    When it seemed she wasn’t going to complete the thought, Aaron became curious.
    â€œWhat’s ironic?” he prompted.
    â€œI don’t know if I should tell.”
    â€œOh, come on! You don’t say something like that unless you’re dying to tell,” Aaron coaxed teasingly.
    â€œI suppose not.” She grinned.
    It was evident from the pink in her cheeks, Tricia was too embarrassed to explain what she meant. Aaron decided not to push her. They used to be close friends before he joined the military. People always assumed they would transition into something more, but it was never Aaron’s intention. Whether or not Tricia had had other plans, he couldn’t say. But who knows how women think? At any rate, he knew her well enough to know when to stop going after what she had decided was a secret.
    The silence could have easily waxed awkward, but it was interrupted by the unmistakable sound of Bobby rustling in the bushes right in front of them. He always thought he was so sneaky. Then, of course, he jumped suddenly up through the shrubs in front of them with a roar, just like he had done to them a thousand times before, back in the old house when they were teenagers.
    Bobby hopped over the rail and plopped himself right between Aaron and Tricia.