“What do you think?”
Finn tensed at the loud voice behind him. Sure, he’d heard Joseph’s vehicle pull into the otherwise quiet place, but he hadn’t bothered to turn around. It had only been a few weeks since he’d learned Joseph Anderson was related to him.
But just because a man shared the same blood as you didn’t make him family. What made a person family were the blood, sweat, and tears of years upon years of a relationship. Blood mattered, but brotherhood meant more.
Finn could truly say he had that brotherhood with his siblings. He could also say the same for fellow soldiers. Joseph might be in his family tree, but that didn’t mean he trusted the man or respected him. Respect was something that must be earned. And it wasn’t something easily earned, in Finn’s eyes.
“I wasn’t thrilled to jump on board this project when you put it before us,” Finn told him. He was aware of how stiff his shoulders were and how he moved six inches to the left when Joseph stood beside him. There was nothing Finn did that he wasn’t aware of.
“Why is that, son?” Joseph asked. The man’s normally booming voice was a bit more subdued in this sacred place. Finn gave Joseph a morsel of respect for that.
“I’m not your son, Joseph. I don’t want to be disrespectful or rude; I just want to set boundaries with you,” Finn said.
Silence greeted his words. He was used to the art of a good silence. As thirty seconds turned into a minute and then two, Finn had to fight a curve to his lips. He didn’t want to like Joseph, as the man was related to his late asshole father, but Finn couldn’t help but wonder if a piece of his own stubbornness had come from this man.
“I respect boundaries,” Joseph finally said.
Finn was so surprised by the words he wasn’t sure what to say. For one, Finn hadn’t been sure of Joseph’s response, and that hadn’t been at all what Finn would expect to hear.
“Good. Then we shouldn’t have a problem,” Finn said. If Joseph could compromise, then maybe he could as well.
Compromise wasn’t something that had been much in his vocabulary, either. Finn was a leader through and through, and as such, he didn’t often have to meet somebody in the middle. They either did it his way . . . or they died. That was the sort of situation he’d been in for a lot of his life.
“I agree,” Joseph said with just enough power and edge to his voice to show Finn the man might be willing to compromise but never would he grovel. Finn could respect that as well.
“What made you decide to build this center if it wasn’t for us?” Finn asked. He was watching as the rainbow began to fade, and the fog slowly sneaked away. He was wishing he had a camera on time lapse to capture the moment.
“I’m doing it for my wife,” Joseph said. “As I told you, this project means a lot to her.”
Whenever the man spoke of his wife, his voice softened, and his body relaxed. There was one thing Finn had no doubt about when it came to Joseph and Katherine. The man loved her more than himself and loved her more than anyone else on this earth.
She was his rock, his foundation, his world. That was something Finn had never understood before. Why in the world would a person give up everything for another human being? Why would they put themselves through the possible trauma of loving someone they couldn’t live without?
But Finn’s view on this was beginning to change. One chance encounter with a woman he couldn’t stop thinking about was making that change. It was softening him. That wasn’t necessarily a good thing. But no matter if he wanted to stop it now or not, it wasn’t in his hands.
He was a powerful man, confident and ready to take on the world. But this woman could drop him without much effort at all. That was true power. That was power he knew nothing about.
“Was Katherine a veteran?” he asked Joseph.
“No. But her father was. And she lost him because of terrible care. The man shouldn’t have died the way he did, and Katherine has been an advocate for veterans ever since. It was time to do something on a grander scale,” Joseph said.
Finn didn’t want to respect this man, but it was increasingly more difficult not to when he gave so much to others. That was something that couldn’t be faked.
“So what do you envision?” Finn asked Joseph.
“No, son . . .” Joseph stopped and shrugged. “I’ll apologize for that; it’s a habit for me. I won’t apologize for loving you, but I’ll give you time to accept you have family before I push too hard.”
There really wasn’t much Finn could say to that, so he shrugged and waited for Joseph to continue.
“As I was saying, that’s not for me to decide,” Joseph went on. “This project is for you and your brothers to work out. I can’t wait to see the magic that happens.”
Finn did smile then.
“In this place, magic won’t be a problem,” he told Joseph.
“I’m surprised to hear those words from you. In my humble opinion, you don’t seem to be a man who believes in fairy tales and unicorns,” Joseph said. “And that’s what magic is all about.”
Finn did laugh a bit at those words.
“Yeah, I never have believed in the impossible,” Finn admitted. “But I’m realizing I might not have all the answers after all.” He was quiet for a while longer, but Joseph seemed to be very good at reading others. He didn’t interrupt—just waited for Finn to continue.
“When it comes to soldiers, I’ve seen miracles. I’ve watched the hand of God come down and heal an unfixable wound. I’ve seen a bullet miss a head by a hair, and I’ve watched a man rise from an ambush without a scratch. I’ve also seen some horrific things that should’ve never happened. But those miracles changed my mind about magic. Those miracles made me begin to believe.”
Joseph nodded but didn’t say anything for long moments as they watched the rainbow fully fade and the last vestiges of the fog hide behind the mountain. Only then did he turn to Finn.
“This place will be a refuge. It will offer the best services, but it will also hold that magic you speak of. The reason for that is love,” Joseph assured him. “It’s being built out of love.”
The walls around Finn’s heart where family was concerned cracked a little with those words. He decided he’d better leave before a grenade took the walls completely out. There was no goodbye as the two of them parted. Finn had a lot to think about.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“Do you know how unbelievably stupid it was for you to get hit in the face, with the injuries you suffered only three months ago?” Denny Michaels, his friend and military doctor, said with a scowl.
“It was just a couple of punches, and I needed a reason to see the doc. I’m going to marry that woman,” Finn said with a shrug.
“Dammit, Finn!” Denny thundered as his fist slammed down on the desk. “You were nearly killed by that bomb. It ended your career and could’ve easily taken your life. You need to take this seriously.”
Finn grew solemn as he sighed. “Believe me; I’ve been taking it seriously. I’ve been a military man for seventeen years. I don’t know how to be anything but a soldier. I was so pissed off for months my family couldn’t stand me. Then this last week I’ve found myself smiling again.”