Unwanted Fate (37 page)

T
his week has been enlightening in so many ways. I’ve been spending time with my dad before picking up Emily from work. After Emily gets off in a few moments, we are going to VHI to deliver the donation and to volunteer. To say I’m a little nervous is an understatement. These men and woman sacrificed their lives for their country and I’ll never do anything that courageous. I’m in awe that their honor never waned.

I look up and see her walking out of the building with a little extra pep in her step, and I get out of the car, walking to the other side.

“Hey, gorgeous. You look happy.”

“Dad just called. He has all the paperwork for me to look at for the charity. It’s a go if I want to take control of it!”

“Congratulations,” I say as I hug her tightly.

“I’m so excited, but I want to talk it over with you first since I won’t be making money.”

“Emily. What have I said?”

“Not to worry about finances,” she says as she gets into the car. I shut the door and walk to the driver’s side, getting in.

“I make more than enough for us to live comfortably without you working.”

“I know. I guess I have the trust fund too.”

“You’re to only use that on yourself.”

“I can use it however I want.” She scowls at me.

“I’m serious, Emily. That is
your
money. Please do not spend any of it on me,” I say sternly.

“Ugh. Fine.” I knew she would see it my way.

“Are we eating before we go to VHI?”

“No. I thought we could eat with everyone there.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

I put the car in drive and go to the building that houses VHI. The building reminds me of the rehabilitation center Dad is in, and I guess it is the same thing but for the military. I pull into a parking space a little ways from the door so the family members have closer access.

“Ready to meet some amazing people?” Emily asks from the passenger seat.

“Yes, I sure am.” I get out and walk around the car, getting the door for her.

We walk into the building and Emily leads me to the office that oversees the operations of the organization.

“Hey, Amy, how are you?” Emily asks as we walk in.

“Emily! Oh, sweetie. It’s good to see you. We’ve missed seeing you around here.”

“I know. I’ve been meaning to come in and volunteer, but everything has been crazy.”

“Your mom was in earlier this week with your dad. We had no idea.”

“You and everyone else. I’m sorry I’m being rude, Amy, this is my boyfriend Patrick Matheson. Patrick, this is Amy Patton. She’s COO of Veterans Homebound Inc.”

“Nice to meet you, ma’am.”

“Likewise. So are you guys here to volunteer?”

“Yes, and something else,” Patrick answers as he pulls out an envelope out of his pocket. “This is being made in the honor of Nathan Janes.”

Amy takes the envelope and opens it and her eyes widen as she reads the amount. “Oh, Patrick. Thank you.” She walks around the desk and hugs us both. “This will touch the lives of so many people.”

“You’re so welcome.”

“If you don’t mind, I’m going to run this to my office and I’ll show you where we need help tonight.” Tears well in her eyes as she smiles at us.

“Thanks,” Emily says before Amy turns around and heads to the back of the room, walking through a door into an office.

“Um, babe, you donated a hundred thousand right?”

“At least. Yes.”

“Patrick?”

“Five hundred thousand.” Emily’s eyes widen.

“Oh my. No wonder she’s acted like she did.”

“All for a good cause.”

“That is so true.”

“Okay, Emily and Patrick. I hope you don’t mind assisting our soldiers eating dinner.”

“Not at all, Amy. It would be an honor,” I say.

“You can bring him anytime,” Amy whispers to Emily.

“Follow me and I’ll get you set up with everything you need.” She leads us to the dining room where several people sit at the tables by themselves. “Sit and talk with whomever. Several people in here need assistance with holding utensils or getting their drink. I hope to have enough volunteers and staff to help everyone. Treat them like an adult even though they might not be able to eat like one,” she says, then shows us where the special utensils and extra napkins are located.

“I’ll be back before dinner starts. Enjoy yourself. Some of these guys have amazing, bone chilling stories to tell.”

“Thank you, Amy,” Emily says before she walks away. “You ready to try this?”

“Yes, I think so.”

“You’ll be fine.”

She squeezes my hand and walks off to sit with a woman at a table. I notice an older gentleman at the table off to the side where Emily went and I go to him.

“Hello, sir. May I join you?”

“Yes, young feller. What’s your name?”

“Patrick. Yours?”

“They call me One-eyed-Charlie, but you can call me Charles.”

“Nice to meet you, sir.”

“Likewise. Ever been in the military?”

“No, but my father was in Vietnam.”

“Ah, yes. I was there too,” he starts off. Then continues with a story that I don’t know if I’m going to be able to fully understand…

O
n the ride home, all I can think about is the story that Charles told me during dinner. I understand why so many men came back with PSTD from that war. The conditions were deplorable. Today’s wars are similar but it seems like we are desensitized to women and children being forced to wear bombs to kill our soldiers.

“Well, what did you think about volunteering?” Emily asks after a period of silence.

“It was eye opening and I feel like it’s not enough.”

“I know what you mean. The first time I volunteered, I didn’t want to leave. There was so much that needed to be done still.”

“I agree. I need to decompress after listening to Charles’s recollection of Vietnam.”

“Listening to their stories, it’s so hard to imagine living like that for even five minutes.”

“I know.”

“Do you think we can talk about the charity for a little bit after we get home and get out of these clothes?”

“Yes, of course, but I thought it was pretty much decided?”

“You know me. I need to analyze it all.”

“True, but I don’t want you to even put our finances or anything in the equation. This is all the charity.”

“I know. You made that clear the first time.”

“Good,” I say as I push the button to open the garage door.

“I can’t wait to get out of these clothes and into a T-shirt.”

“Mmm. I can wait to see you in nothing but my T-shirt on,” I say as I help her out of the car.

“Maybe I should put pants on so you’re not distracted.”

“I’ll be good.”

“Sure?” she says as she opens the door to the kitchen and hits the button to close the garage door.

“Yes, you need to talk. Sex is on the backburner.” I smirk.

“Funny. Help get everything figured out, then I’ll make sure you go to bed, pleased.”

“Deal.”

She sets her purse by the door, walks over to the fridge to get a bottle of water out, and carries it up the stairs. I follow behind her, watching her ass sway in the tight gray skirt she has on. She walks in our bedroom and places the water on her nightstand, then heads to the bathroom to change clothes. A few moments later, she walks out in one of my Johnny Cash T-shirts. While she was changing, I stripped down to my boxers and got into bed.

“I’ll be right back. I left my phone in my purse.”

“Okay.”

She walks out of the room and I can hear her run down the stairs. A few minutes later, I can hear her running back up the stairs and she walks into the bedroom.

“Dad emailed me all the paperwork. Can you please look through it and make sure that it looks like it’s a sound plan?”

“Yes.”

She hands me the phone and I start reading through the documents. From everything I can see it looks like Kenneth has everything covered. Working with an appointed board is ideal so you can have people from different sectors helping with ideas. The governing of the charity is set up so no one can get money and run with it. If this is what Emily wants to do, it’s set up to be very reputable charity.

“Gorgeous, I don’t see anything wrong with anything here. If this is what you want to do, do it. Go with it. You’ll do great things.”

“Thank you, babe. I’m going to put my three weeks in tomorrow, if that’s okay with you.”

“Yes, of course.”

“Fantastic. I’m so excited. Three Friday’s and I’ll be my own boss.”

“That you will be, congrats, gorgeous.”

“Thank you for being so supportive of me.”

“Always.”

“Now to make you happy,” she says as she goes under the sheet.

“Oh…”

Her hands pull the fabric covering my cock and her lips replace it. This will definitely leave me pleased.

T
his day…a day I never imagined would come…my last day at Project Hope. The past three weeks have been a rush of emotions, good and bad. Although I’ll no longer be an employee after today, I’m positive it won’t be the last time I’ll be here. I vowed to make sure that the people of the Project Hope community are provided the services they need.

After training my replacement, Hannah Lancaster, I know she will carry on the same compassion and drive that I did when I was in the Community Outreach Director. For once, I’m grabbing the opportunity in front of me and I’m going to use it to help others.

“Emily, do you need help with anything?” Kelly calls out from inside her office.

“No, I have everything handled. Patrick should be here shortly.”

“Just let me know if I need to take you to the tavern.”

“Will do.”

I get my phone out of my purse and hit send. The phone rings three times and goes to voicemail.
That’s odd
. Before I can put my phone back in my purse, it rings.

“Hello?”