Chapter 20

The end of one tale, the beginning of another!

Barton hugged his granddaughter. "I'll buy lunch today. I'd like to get to know you a little better, Rachel"

Smiling, Rachel looked to her mother. Is this what you meant by us going out to eat?"

Gina looked at Maria for a moment. It wasn't what she meant, but this was better. She was actually trying to get Rachel to dress up a little nicer to impress her grandfather.

Rachel went upstairs to take care of some of her lessons.

Jim, who had been waiting just out of sight listening to the conversation, chose that moment to come in. "I have your coffee, Maria, here you go" She took the mug and thanked him. "And you must be Rachel's grandfather"

"Yes. Who are you?"

"Jim Abrams. I'm keeping an eye on the family for a few weeks to make sure no one else tries anything stupid with Rachel"

"Were you with the team that stopped the assault?"

"Yes I was. They made a right mess of the house. Not one of our finer moments. They got way too close to achieving their objective"

"You sound like a military man. Army?"

"Navy. Seal. Made Commander before I left."

"From what I heard, your team did a damn fine job. Fought some bad odds"

"We measure our success a little differently. They got to Rachel. They shouldn't have. We were too worried about not killing anyone for it to be totally clean. Too many non combatants to pull a first rate defense"

"Well, the op went good enough to keep her safe. What about Garrett? Where is he?"

"He's back in school" answered Gina. "We couldn't keep him out. He insisted that he get back as soon as possible"

"Good kid. Was he there the night of the assault?"

Jim looked down "Yes he was. He was thrust into the bodyguard role when we were about to get overwhelmed. He took out three of them"

"How? Baseball bat or something?"

"9 mil and a flying tackle. He killed three of them. One with his bare hands. He got a broken arm, a concussion and some bruised ribs. They got dead. The boy handled himself like a pro"

The General was silent for a moment. This bit of information was something he didn't expect to hear. "And he's already back in school?"

Shaking his head, Jim replied "He doesn't seem to know that he caused the deaths. He was knocked out during the fight, so he may not remember. I'm keeping an eye on him for signs of PTSD, and so far he's good to go"

The general looked puzzled. "How would you know about this? Shouldn't he be taken to a therapist?"

Jim looked like the cat that ate the canary "I am a board certified psychiatrist. Doctor Jim Abrams. I guess I forgot to mention that. I don't like to stand on ceremony. Johns Hopkins, 99"

The General smiled and shook Jim's hand again. "Ok, I guess that little problem is solved for now"

Bree and Steve came into the pool area Bree was wearing a cover up and a big smile. Steve was in his trunks, ready for a swim with an equally big smile. Bree ran over to Gina and Maria and held up her left hand to show them the big diamond gracing her ring finger, bouncing like a litle girl.

Gina shrieked "Bree! That's wonderful! When is the date?"

Bree hugged Gina and Maria, who returned the hugs. They began to chatter about the events of the day.

Jim walked over to Steve with the General. "Congratulations, old boy. The last of the great Romeos bites the dust. Why there must be one or two women out there that are crying right now" Jim said with a hearty laugh. "By the way Steve, this is Rachel's Grandfather, General Harris"

"I understand congratulations are in order, Mr. Marshall"

Steve laughed "Thank you, General. I wasn't expecting to see you here today! Under good terms, I hope"

"The best, Steve. I was terribly wrong about Rachel. It was too bad Randy didn't live to see what she's become"

"I'm glad to hear it, General, she's something special, and so is Garrett"

"I beginning to realize that, Mr. Marshall"

"Steve, please. My friends call me Steve"

The general thought for a moment. "Say, I seem to recall a football player years ago by that name. Played for the Longhorns. Would that be you?"

"Well, It's not often that people remember me outside the state, but yes, I played in the early 90's"

"I thought so. You were a hell of a ballplayer, Steve. Damn shame about the knee"

"Hell, General, you have done your homework!" said an amazed Steve.

"Didn't get to where I am by not doing it, son" he paused, looking back at Gina. "It's eleven hundred hours Gina, are you ready to go to chow?"

"Yes sir, General!" Gina laughed and gave a salute. "Permission to put my face on!"

The General smiled "Granted"

"Maria, are you coming?" asked Gina.

"And miss a free meal bought by that tight wad? Let's go!"

The next few months passed thankfully without incident. The family was together at last. Gina had a beautiful baby girl. Garrett recovered in time to finish the basketball season. He was soon to encounter challenges of his own.

The spark between Gina and Jim grew into love. They didn't want to get married right away, but it was only a matter of time. Bree and Steve were married the day after Christmas that year.

Rachel grew into a lovely young woman. Her adventures were not nearly over. She finished her middle school years at home. She and her friends remained close. They would need to be. Some of the toughest trials were yet to come.

End book one.

Coming Soon: Rachel's High School Life!