Carry Me Home (The Home Series: Book Three) by Megan Nugen Isbell Page A

minimal as Jesse grilled.  Brandon got up and went into the back of the shed, turning on the stereo.  Soon Hunter Hays was flowing from the speakers and the tension Holly had incited seemed to go away.  Jesse finished grilling the burgers and soon we were all eating.  I noticed Jesse never did answer Holly’s question regarding what he planned to do after he got out of the Marines.  I had to admit I was curious though.  When we were together, he mentioned wanting to be a cop or possibly do something with computers.  I wondered if that was still the case. 
    “Should I bring out the quads?” Jesse asked, looking around at the group as we finished up.
    “Hell yeah!” Brandon said before he took the last bite of his burger and then followed Jesse into the shed.
    “Things seem to be going pretty well,” Mandy said, smiling eagerly over to me.
    “Yeah,” I nodded.
    “It’s still weird,” Holly whispered. “He’s so guarded.”
    “You shouldn’t have given him the third degree,” Mandy griped as I remained quiet.
    “I didn’t give him the third degree.  I was simply asking questions we all wanted to know.”
    “True, but still.  This couldn’t have been easy for him to come back. You don’t need to make it any harder.”
    “It’s only hard because he made it hard,” Holly said, a bitterness to her voice. “If anyone should be having a hard time, it’s Riley.”
    “I’m fine, Holly,” I said, looking over to her.
    “I know you say that, but I don’t know how you’re just sitting there after what he did to you.”
    “That was so long ago,” I whispered, looking towards the shed to make sure Brandon and Jesse couldn’t hear our conversation. “I’m not mad anymore.”
    “Stop playing the martyr.  You know you’re mad.  Hell!  I’m still mad and the fact that he can hardly look at you shows he knows what he did was wrong.”
    “Holly, I’m not going to relive this,” I said, looking at her sternly. “Jesse thought what he was doing was the right thing.  I don’t doubt that.  Maybe it was the right thing.  I don’t know.  All I know is that he’s here now.  We’re all here and I just want to move past this.”
    Our heads all jerked up when we heard the quads being wheeled out.  I leaned back in my chair, as did Holly and Mandy and my eyes met Holly’s.  She looked at me with pity and I wished she’d stop. 
    “I’m fine,” I mouthed discreetly to her and she nodded.  I appreciated my friend’s concern, but it wasn’t warranted. 
    “Okay,” she mouthed back and we both turned to where Jesse and Brandon were fiddling with the four wheelers.
    “So we gassed ‘em up and now the real question is whether they’ll run or not,” Jesse said as he straddled his favorite quad.  A moment later, it sputtered and roared to life.  He looked over to Brandon with a triumphant smile and then glanced at me for a moment before his eyes settled on Mandy. “Wanna ride?” he shouted over the engine. 
    “Sure!” she called back and climbed on behind him, wrapping her arms around him and a second later, they were blazing down the road, a cloud of dust behind them. 
    Brandon turned to Holly and me, his eyes darting between us.
    “I’m not sure I’m quite up to handling a quad yet.  Which of you lovely ladies would like to be my driver?”
    “Go ahead, Riley,” Holly said, nudging me towards Brandon. “I’m still eating.” 
    I’d never quite got the hang of four-wheeling and was usually the passenger.  It might be nice to be the one in control though. 
    “ It’s payback time,” I said as I climbed on the quad.  Brandon got on as soon as I was settled on the seat and I felt his arms thread around my waist.
    “I don’t have a good feeling about this,” he laughed as I tried to start the engine. “How pathetic is it going to be if I survive a roadside attack in Afghanistan and then turn around and die in a four-wheeling accident in Carver?”
    “I’ll try