Seduced by a SEAL

Chapter 16

His house was exactly like what he remembered. The same stature and the aristocratic features and the old attitude that the building exuded which made him recall that he was in some old horror movie. And only the presence of his mother in this house had made it bearable for him to stay all these years but now without her it seemed that the house was looming over him with it’s sinister coils.

“Dude, you have been staring at your house for like five minutes straight. Are you planning on going inside sometime tonight? Or are we camping down here?” asked Cadence as he came and stood beside him.

“No no…come on…it is just that..…leave,” said Nathaniel as he started walking towards the house on the graveled path which crunched under his boots and Cadence sighed as he walked alongside him.

“Nat just because I have my parents alive and they are doing well and good, are hale and hearty and in perfectly fine health means that I do not understand your pain. We are brothers Nat. I can understand what is going inside your head and heart. The reason why you consider your own house as the enemy lines!!” chuckled Cadence and Nat knew that he was saying absolutely correct.

They went inside the house and their coats were taken by the servant. Their butler Thomas came forward to greet them.

“Welcome home Master Nathaniel. It has been a long time,” he said in a gentle voice and a soft smile.

“It is good to see you too Thomas. How are you doing?” asked Nathaniel as Cadence waited and Thomas greeted him as well.

“The guests have arrived. They are all waiting for you in the living room,” said Thomas in a tone which sounded like a gentle warning. Enemy lines would be rather a correct assessment, Cadence thought but he did not dare speak his mind in this place at all.

Samuel Lane and Admiral Night both were in the living room and smoking cigars. They were laughing at probably some private joke in between themselves, even though Nat knew that that his father was a normal human being but still watching him laugh made him feel a bit odd.

“Ah!! There you are. Come and join us for a chat,” said Admiral Night and Samuel just grunted at his comment.

“My my both you boys are looking just dapper. We should be doing this more often Nathaniel and Cadence,” said Nat’s Grandmother as she came in the room. She was close to ninety years old but she still walked straight and there was no hair out of place in that perfectly coiffed updo.

“How are you doing Gran? I brought you your favourite kind of wine,” said Nat with an indulgent smile. While Cadence pulled out a box of chocolates with a flourish and said,” For the beautiful and sweet lady who is kind enough to have us in her lovely home.”

“Oh dear!! You two are just perfectly charming, aren’t you now? Thomas!!! Would you please take the gifts away? I am scared that I might not be able to control my penchant for chocolates and end up tasting them,” said Violent Lane with a giggle and Nathaniel burst into laughter along with Cadence. The older men were looking at the trio in shock for they had never seen something like this before.

“Come Gran, sit here with us,” said Cadence as he caught hold of her hand and then brought her to the couch and helped her sit down.

“I look at my boys and I am filled with so much joy!!!” said Violet as she sniffled slightly and dabbed at her eyes with her kerchief.

“There there Mother!! There is no need to be so emotional at all. It is good to have men in uniform under the same roof talking and chatting like this. I have missed this,” said Samuel with a slight chuckle when Violet’s head snapped up and she glared at her son.

“Oh!! Pish-posh…you are always running off to that Navy bar of yours when you get the time and then going to play golf. You might have retired Samuel but I am not very sure that you have really retired,” said Violet and both the boys carefully suppressed their snorts.

“Actually Mrs. Lane, in our field of work it is really difficult to retire in that sort of sense. I mean, we are so habituated with remaining at duty and protecting people all over the world doing things which would scare even the nightmares that once when the time comes and they say that you are of no use anymore. Nothing but an old horse, I feel it is better to be put down rather than retire. Nothing could be better than getting killed in action and not having to come back to civilian life,” said Admiral Night and Nathaniel had to restrain himself for a brief spell before he could speak up.

He looked at Cadence and found that his hands were clenched together and his face was set in such hard gaze that it might crunch at any moment.

“So what you are saying basically Admiral is that Chris Hawkins was lucky that he was killed in action in the prime of his life at his youth. You mean to say this that he was lucky to not be able to come home and see the face of his daughter whom he had not even touched in his life. You also are trying to say that his widow is lucky enough to live the rest of her life living without the man whom she loved just because he was lucky to get killed in the line of action,” said Nathaniel in a controlled voice and Admiral Night looked at him in shock. He knew very well what the mistake that he had made was.

“You know that your Admiral was not trying to tell that Nathaniel. Apologize to him at once,’ said Samuel Lane in a low roar.

“ No Father!!! Thanks for the invitation off dinner but I think that it is not prudent for me to stay here any longer. It is his choice that he chooses glorious death over a peaceful life because he feels like an old lame horse but I cannot get over the fact that we buried Chris four days back and he was present there to see his family, or do you think they were lucky as well?” asked Nathaniel as he stormed off from the house taking his coat with Cadence at his heels.