One Summerhill Day (The Summerhill Series Book 1) by Keira Montclair Page B

gave her a sympathetic look. “What happened to your parents?”
    “Paige!” the others all cried out.
    Caitlyn reached for Ryan’s hand and covered it with hers. “It’s all right.” She turned to Paige. “My mother died when I was eighteen. She was an alcoholic. She couldn’t handle the loss of my father.”
    “Why? What happened to your father?”
    “My father was killed by a bomb in Iraq when I was thirteen.”
    The entire room became silent, every member of the Grant-Ramsay family staring at Caitlyn in disbelief.

 
    Chapter Nine
     
    Caitlyn glanced around the room and said, “What’s wrong?” Her fork froze in her hand.
    Dr. Ramsay cleared his throat and said, “Caitlyn, would you mind repeating what you just said?”
    Caitlyn set down her fork and said, “I was talking about my parents, Dr. Ramsay. My father died in an explosion in Iraq when I was thirteen. My mother couldn’t handle it and started drinking too much. She died when I was eighteen.”
    “How awful,” Lauren whispered.
    Lorraine gave her a sympathetic look and said, “We’re so sorry, dear. That must have been very difficult for you.”
    “Yes, but I moved in with my aunt when I turned sixteen, so I wasn’t alone.”
    Mallory reached for her hand. “Still. We all know what it’s like to lose one parent. You lost both. I’m so sorry for your loss.”
    Caitlyn blushed and stared into her lap. “Please. Go back to this wonderful meal. Everything is delicious, Lorraine.”
    Bits of chatter popped up at each table grouping. Once she was certain she was no longer the center of attention, Caitlyn glanced at Ryan, “Sorry. I didn’t want to put a damper on the picnic.”
    “Don’t be. I’m sorry for your loss.” Ryan swore his heart had stopped beating when Caitlyn said her father was killed in an explosion in Iraq. How could that be? He didn’t believe in coincidence. He shoveled food in his mouth, unable to take part in the conversations around him, unable to even look at Caitlyn as he tried to process what he’d just learned. Then he froze.
    Suddenly, he was back there, hearing the sound of the bomb exploding, reaching for his friend and searching for his brother. Lights flashed in his peripheral vision, a boom went off next to his ear, and he saw Chad grab his chest before collapsing. Yelling alternated with the strange silence caused by his temporary deafness. Then his voice, Jake’s voice, gunfire, Chad screaming, pain, more pain, more gunfire…He grappled to get out of their upturned vehicle, to save Chad. More gunfire. Chad’s voice telling him something. What was it? I can’t hear you, Chad. His hand gripped something—a gun? his fork?—and he couldn’t let go.
    “Ryan? Are you alright? Ryan?”
    A sweet voice beckoned to him, cutting through all the chaos around him. Cait. He turned his head and saw her staring at him, her golden halo of curls making her look like an angel. Her hand reached under the table and grasped his hand in hers. “Ryan.” He heard her voice as if he was on a different plateau, above her but next to her. Was that possible? He stared into her eyes, not daring to look away…if he did, he’d see bombs exploding all around them, he was certain of it. Feeling a sudden slice of fear in his chest, he grabbed her arm to pull her away from the bombs before one hit her. He couldn’t let that happen to her, too.
    “RYAN!” Mallory yelled at him.
    Mallory brought him back. He stuttered and set his fork down, reaching down into his lap for his napkin. “What, Mallory? I’m fine.”
    For a stricken moment everyone was silent, but then his siblings started to chatter and play with their food again. He glanced over at his father and saw his dad’s keen gaze on him, measuring him, always assessing as he had been trained to do. Caitlyn’s hand was intertwined with his and gave his hand a squeeze.
    “Mallory, what shifts are you working this week?” she asked.
    Jake was still staring at him