“I'll get you another.” I offer as I finish my beer and walk to the cooler. Lifting the lid, I take two out. Then hold them for him to open. He twists the tops off, takes his, clinks the necks, and we both drink, enjoying the comfortable silence between us.
After a minute, I offer. “You know, a good old fashion head noogie is a good transition when Luke’s too big for tickling.”
He looks at me with that intense stare, and my heart melts.
I’m the luckiest girl alive.
Chapter Nine
Jorja
Sitting around the table, eating dinner, Jocko and the three Malone brothers throw barbs at each other while everyone is laughing their asses off. I've never experienced this sort of family dynamic before, having been raised by a single mom. Some of the things they say to each other make me cringe, but those are the very things that they laugh the hardest at.
Guy’s humor is so different from girl humor. I can see now that back in high school, Jocko was teasing me. I just didn’t understand guy humor.
Occasionally, Chief chimes in, and everyone roars when he does.
Grady and Grant are just beginning their story about how they entered Grayson’s name in Modern Family Magazine’s Hot Dad Contest without him knowing it when Luke throws both hands in the air and stands up. “May I be excused?”
Grayson looks at him. “NO! Sit down!”
Everyone howls.
Luke looks right at Sidney. “Mom, please?”
She nods as the story takes off.
Luke scoots his chair back to leave, and Jocko waves him over. When he arrives, Jocko leans back in his chair, turns slightly toward me, and puts his arm around Luke. Luke rests his hand on his shoulder as Jocko says, “Hey, buddy, do me a favor. Take Luce outside with you.”
Luke’s face lights up, and he spins around. “Come on, Luce. Let’s go play outside with Moose.”
Jocko watches Luke, and Lucifer leave, then turns back to the table and trades barbs with the three brothers.
Occasionally, Jocko glances at me to make sure I’m enjoying myself. Which is really sweet since I have nothing to contribute to the conversation, but I’m really enjoying watching him in the family dynamic. The Malones are tight, and I gain real insight into who he is as a non-military man.
When the dessert is passed around, I take a piece of Betsy’s homemade cherry pie, top it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, eat about half, and then push the remaining over to Jocko. He sees it and looks at me. “You are welcome to my
After the dinner dishes are done, Betsy takes her apron off. “Let’s all go out to the backyard so Jorja can share what she witnessed today.”
Everyone files out of the house and finds a place to listen. Betsy, Chief, Grant, and Emerson walk over to the lounge chairs. Emerson's cradling Gwen, who's fallen asleep, but Betsy holds her arms out for her granddaughter, and Emerson places her little girl gently in her arms. Grady and Dylan sit on the edge of the porch, holding hands. While Grayson and Sidney stretch out on the grass with Luke, Moose, and Lucifer.
Jocko tries to join them, but I grab his hand and pull him up on the deck with me. “Oh, no, you don’t. You're the main attraction.”
Everyone laughs.
When I clear my throat to begin, Sidney pipes up. “Give us all the details, Jorja. Don’t leave anything out.”
“Of course!” I grin, and Jocko rolls his eyes and moans.
Everyone laughs again.
Looking over at Grayson and Sidney, I begin. “First, let me say it was an honor to be a part of the rescue. Thank you for including me.”
They share a quick look. Sidney gives Grayson a smug smile.
I begin my accounting of the rescue with, “After we landed, and Jocko met with the rescue team ….” I share with them how watching Jocko care for Lucifer as he removed his eye goggles and other gear and the way Lucifer focused on Jocko with total trust made me realize they share a profound bond. Then I describe how Jocko addressed the rescue team volunteers, rallying them to the task, but not mincing his words, telling them “to stay ‘the bleep’ out of the way.”
Everyone chuckles, including Jocko, and he shrugs.
“Once Lucifer sniffed the old man’s shirt and had his scent, Jocko gave the command to track and followed his own advice. He got ‘the bleep’ out of Lucifer’s way.”
Everyone chuckles again.
“The way Jocko allowed Lucifer to work independently of commands impressed the heck out of me. He totally trusted Lucifer to do his job and find Mr. Romano.”
“Once Lucifer put his nose to the ground, we were off. They sprinted across the field Grayson landed the helicopter in, then blindly charged into the woods.”
Looking around, giving them all eye contact, I describe how the ‘dynamic duo’ navigated the rough terrain and dodged trees, all while hauling ass.
“Then … they stopped.”
I pause to let the tension build.
“When we pulled up next to them in the mule, the sheriff asked if they had lost the scent.”
Holding my hands to each side of my mouth, I lean toward them. “I think Jocko was a little insulted the man doubted them.”
Everyone chuckles, and when I look at Jocko, he gives me a killer head nod.
Luke asks, “What happened? Why did they stop?”
“They needed a water break. They had been running cross-country for twenty minutes at a brutal pace. I asked the sheriff how far we had come, and he estimated two and a half miles.”
Jocko raises an eyebrow and shakes his head, and I laugh.
“Yes, he miscalculated. Sitting in the cruiser waiting for you and Grant, I calculated the distance and the speed. From Mr. Romano’s house to where we found him was four miles. The time tracking was right at 22 minutes. That means Jocko and Lucifer were going approximately 11 miles an hour through the woods. At that pace, they were covering a mile every five and a half minutes.”
Grady whistles and Jocko gives me a sexy pleased smirk.
Grant pipes up. “He ran a four, seven, 40-yard dash in high school. That's still the fastest time, by the way.”
Luke asks, “How fast is that?”
“That is right at seventeen miles per hour.”
“Wow! How fast can Lucifer run?”
Jocko tells him, “He's been clocked at thirty-five miles per hour.”
“WOW!”
Grant puts it in perspective for Luke. “He runs faster than the speed limit in town.”
Luke pats Lucifer. “Dang, boy! You're fast!”
“He's got twice as many legs.” Grayson adds.
Betsy says, “Back to the story, please. It’s past my bedtime.”
Everyone laughs.
“We weren’t on the trail again two minutes before Jocko and Lucifer take off at a dead run. Then Jocko shouts ‘STAY’ and Lucifer locks up. But Jocko doesn’t. He barrels past, plants a foot, and ….” I demonstrate the motion of his arms lifting over his head, then bring them back to my chest. “He dove off the riverbank! My heart almost stopped beating.”
I look at Jocko. “The minute it took for us to arrive in the mule, get out, get to the edge, and spot you swimming, has got to be the longest minute of my life.”