She gave him a shove, but not before he saw her shiver, as if she liked the idea. Then, shaking her head, no doubt at the both of them, she reached for the door before pausing to glance back. “Take care of him?”

He was surprised by her genuine tone, though he shouldn’t have been. She clearly truly cared about his dad, and that above anything else she could have said or done told him all he needed to know about her. “Copy that.”

She held his gaze for a beat and then she was gone, vanishing into the storm, which seemed to have doubled upon itself in the past few minutes. Crazy winds slammed sheets of rain against the roof and walls, making the house shudder.

Cam turned to the empty doorway leading to the kitchen. “You can stop eavesdropping and come out now.”

Emmitt poked his head out, looking only mildly sheepish. “Just making sure you two didn’t conspire against me.”

“You deserve no less. Stay inside. I’m going after her.”

“Is that because you’re special forces Coast Guard, Deployable Operations Group, aka DOG—”

“Dad, I told you to stop googling that shit. I’m a Reservist now, but even if I wasn’t, it’s not something any of us would say. Plus, it’s Deployable Special Forces these days, so DSF, not DOG.”

“Semantics, son. Once special forces, always special forces—”

“We’d never call ourselves that.”

“What would you call it? The elite? The best of the best? The—”

“Dad.”

“Oh, I know! Coasties, right? I saw that on a TV show once and—”

Cam drew in a deep breath. “I’m going to make sure Piper gets home in one piece. Just stay out of trouble until I get back.”

With his free hand, his dad held up what appeared to be the Vulcan sign. “Scout’s honor.”

“I’m serious.”

“No shit. You always are.” Emmitt’s smile faded. “But I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the diabetes. I didn’t want to worry you.”

Cam pinched the bridge of his nose. For years he’d been in command of a team of Coast Guardsmen who followed his every order without question. There’d been very little personal life, and when there had been any time at all, he’d done his best to spend it with his brother and dad. But it’d been mostly just Rowan because his dad had been busy trying to stay afloat financially. This meant they weren’t as close as he’d like. Cam didn’t feel animosity or anger toward either of his parents. He thought they’d each done the best they could. But he and his dad were still unfamiliar with each other, and a little awkward.