Alex (In the Company of Snipers) (20 page)

“Oh.” She smiled to see the flag. “It’s July Fourth.”

“See? I knew you’d remember. Now come on. We’re catching the metro.”

“The what?”

“The metro. It’s like the subway in New York, only safer.”

Alex set a quick pace, which she matched easily. The morning was bright, and the warm Virginia sun felt pleasant on her shoulders. Before she knew it, they had walked the few blocks to the metro station. The weather was warm, but pleasant.

Alex purchased two fare cards from the vending machine, and ushered her through the ticket gate to the platform. She stood amazed at the busyness around her, people rushing off and onto trains, one train coming and another departing. It was confusing until Alex leaned into her and explained the schedule and the different routes. And then it got worse. She couldn’t think with him standing so close. The whiff of soap and his aftershave in her nose made her light-headed and dizzy. He might as well have been explaining a tangle of blue, green, and yellow spaghetti as the different train line routes.

“Does that make sense?” he asked, like she had any idea what he was talking about.

“No,” she admitted as she snagged her own metro schedule. “I need to study this. Then, I’ll let you know.”

“Good idea.” His eyes lit up like she had just impressed him or something.

Thankfully, the blue line train roared into view, and he ushered her onboard. That simple action calmed her, but the touch of his hand at the small of her back set off a tremor in her legs. When she sat, she gripped her knees to stop the shaking, and hoped he hadn’t noticed. She seemed to be falling apart for an entirely different reason this morning. She smirked to herself.
What was in that sandwich?

“We have a dozen or so stops before we get off, so sit back and enjoy the ride.” He seemed so at ease. She took a deep breath, prepared to absorb herself in the sights along the metro track, but then he put his arm across the back of their seat. The hair on his arm brushed against hers. He didn’t seem to notice, but tucked against him with his arm almost around her, she could scarcely breathe.

His cell phone chirped. He tensed as he withdrew his arm and pulled the phone off its hip holster.

“Stewart.” He listened for all of two seconds. “No, I said Lennox, not Hudson. Two weeks, not four. Write it down next time.” He stowed the phone brusquely back into its holster without so much as a good-bye to whoever had just called.

“Trouble at work?” she asked timidly.

“No more than usual.” Instantly, his smile reappeared. “I thought you’d like another option to walking or riding the bus. The metro will take you anywhere in the DC area.”

She looked up at him, and wondered what it would feel like to lean into him, but the journey ended before she got the nerve. Before long they were off the metro and had explored the beautiful Smithsonian Information Center, the castle as Alex called it. They lunched at the National Museum of American History, and walked through some of the museum’s numerous halls and exhibits when his cell rang again.

His eyes darkened. He turned away, but she heard restrained aggravation on his side of the conversation. “I told you once. No. Read the fine print. Eight percent sucks. Their offer’s no good.” Without another word, he snapped the phone shut, his lips pursed in thought. He looked like he was a million miles away.

“You’re a busy man.” Kelsey eyed him. Whatever the phone calls were about, they had effectively dampened an otherwise happy day.

Alex ran a hand through his hair. He turned to her with a frustrated glint in his eyes, but it passed quickly and he resumed his cheerful tour guide persona.

“Come on. You’ll like this.” He led her to a display case in the Exhibit of American Stories.

“The ruby red slippers.” She recognized the shoes made famous when a little girl from Kansas defeated the Wicked Witch of the West in the childhood favorite
The Wizard of Oz.
“How cool.”

“I thought you’d like it.” He beamed like a little boy. “You know, the whole no place like home thing.” Intense blue eyes studied her.

“That’s very thoughtful,” she said.

He looked away. She thought she had made him uncomfortable, but that single insight made her smile. This was a very different side to this man called Alex Stewart, one she hadn’t seen until now.

Before long they had seen not only the original flag stitched by Betsy Ross, but also George Washington’s sword, the chairs Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant sat in during the Civil War surrender ceremony at the Appomattox Court House, as well as a Huey Helicopter from the Vietnam War. By late afternoon, her feet were tired, but she had enjoyed herself. They walked westward to the World War II Monument. When they got there, she took her shoes off and sat on the concrete edge of the huge reflecting pool.

“Ah. This feels good.” She leaned back on her palms, basking in the summer afternoon sun with her head back and her feet dangling in the pool. “You’re a good tour guide.”

“I’ve just lived here longer than you,” he replied quietly. He leaned back, too, his eyes hidden and unreadable behind his Oakley sunglasses. With the National Mall stretched behind them to the east and the Vietnam Memorial to the west, crowds of tourists were everywhere.

“I’m sorry I woke you last night.” Kelsey didn’t look at him as she apologized.

“Don’t worry about it. That old house has heard its fair share of bad dreams.”

“Do you still have nightmares?”

“Not for a few years now, but you’re not the only one. Sorry if you thought you were something special.”

“No, not special.” She stared at the noisy crowd around the pool.
Not special at all.

“You know, Whisper would sleep with you if you’d like.” He said it so quietly that she had to look twice. “That is if you don’t mind sleeping with a big ole hairy dog in your room.”

She gulped, her eyes full of tears at his gentle suggestion. Alex knew. He understood. She felt like a little girl who had just been offered a big fluffy teddy bear to keep the boogey man away.

“Whisper kinda likes you, you know.” He turned to look at her, but his dark glasses only reflected her face back at her.

“Thanks.” She bit her lip and blinked hard. They fell anyway.

“Ready to see some more sights?” he asked softly.

All she could do was nod. He pulled her to her feet and off they went again. This time Alex hailed a cab. She sat glued to her window while he took her on a whirlwind tour of the city. They circled the Capitol building as well as the Senate and House Office Buildings, the National Archives, the Library of Congress, and dozens of other hugely prestigious buildings that appeared to be monuments unto themselves. All the while, he explained the history and other interesting trivia that went along with each site. As night fell, they were once again on foot, just west of Arlington National Cemetery. He seemed to have an indomitable source of energy.

“One of these weekends, we’ll tour inside the Capitol,” he announced as he walked. “Maybe Arlington, too, but right now we’re going to the best place in the city to watch fireworks.”

“The best place, huh?” She couldn’t keep the smirk out of her voice. He sounded so sure.

“You’ll see.”

She caught the boyish excitement on his face. How had she missed this side of him? He was charming.

“Come on, slow poke.” He nodded uphill. “Almost there.”

The fireworks show was imminent when they reached their final destination. Apparently everyone else in the city knew the best place to watch fireworks, too. Crowds of revelers swarmed the expansive lawn around the thirty-two foot high memorial of the Pacific Battle of Iwo Jima. She stared up at the mighty bronze statue of five Marines and one Navy corpsman as they had raised the American flag during that historic battle. Unfurled and flapping in the breeze, the beautiful stars and stripes stirred her heart as quickly as it filled her eyes. As Kelsey read the words of the monument, she noticed the somber look on Alex’s face.

“In honor and in memory of the men of the United States Marine Corps who have given their lives to their country since November 10, 1775.”

“I don’t need fireworks,” she declared. “This is awesome.”

“It is, isn’t it?” He looked so pleased with himself, but just then his cell phone rang. He turned away to answer it, but she heard the blatant hostility in his voice.

“What do you want now?” He paused. “Yes, yes, three percent. Write it like that then—No. Make it April. Wait. No. June.” He took another step away, his hand brushing through his hair again. “Then tell ‘em no.”

She walked away and around the huge monument to give him space while he ranted. When she glanced back at him, he was still deep in conversation with someone who obviously didn’t have a life since they were working on a federal holiday. It had to be someone from his office. What kind of a slave driver was he?

Within minutes he was back at her side, his good humor nearly restored.

“Sorry,” he muttered. “Work.”

“You have people working today?” she asked, hoping the amazement in her voice didn’t come across rude.

He grimaced in exasperation. “Not really. One of my techies creates video games on the side. She uses the office computer equipment sometimes. It’s got more bits or bites or something like that.”

“So she’s working on the job while she’s ….” She didn’t know what to say next.

“Yes.” His jaw clenched and Kelsey could tell this was a sore subject for him. “She’s a busybody is what she is. Can’t leave well enough alone.”

These phone calls revealed an entirely different side to Alex. She questioned what she really knew about him as they circled the monument in silence.

“Iwo Jima was one bloody battle.” He peered up at the faces of those men like he knew them. The first burst of fireworks arched across the dark ceiling overhead. Voices all around oooh’d and ahhh’d, but in the brightening crescendo of falling stars, she noticed he brushed something out of his eyes. Another volley of shooting sparks splashed through the night. Kelsey studied his profile against the lighted sky. She saw pride mixed with sadness on his face. The phone calls forgotten, she wanted to take his handsome face in her hands and do something to make him smile again.

“I didn’t know the Marines Corps has been around so long.” She wanted to get his attention off his sad thoughts.

“Since the Revolutionary War. Of course it’s changed a lot since then.” His voice was husky as he stepped back from the monument. Kelsey looked at it one more time before she followed him away from the crowd and walked uphill again.

“Mount Suribachi. That’s the dormant volcano on the southern end of Iwo where those men raised the flag that day. The statue is actually designed after the actual photograph that was taken.” He gave her another history lesson as they walked.

“Were those men killed there?”

“No. Not that day anyway. Three of them died out there, but the others came home. Nearly seven thousand men died taking Iwo though, almost a tenth of the American force that was sent. Another twenty thousand were injured, most of them on the first two days of battle,” he said somberly.

“That’s a lot of death and suffering in just a couple days.” Kelsey walked beside him. “I can’t imagine what it must’ve been like for all their poor mothers.”

“I’m sorry.” He cupped her shoulder with his hand. “I shouldn’t be talking about this.”

“No, it’s okay.” She walked in silence. They had been just talking about boys dying, but she hadn’t fallen apart. It really was happening. She was learning to live again.

“It was one of those times when uncommon valor really was a common virtue.” Alex’s voice was extra low. “Seems those are rare things these days.”

It happened without notice. He slipped his hand around hers. Her breath caught.
My goodness, he’s held my hand before. What’s the big deal?
But this was different. This wasn’t a friend comforting a grieving woman or a stranger helping an amnesiac through a hard time. No. This was Alex reaching for Kelsey. This was a man reaching for a woman. For some reason, he sought her hand tonight.

A splash of false meteorites tumbled overhead, lighting the sky in sparks and embers as they descended back to earth. He looked heavenward. Again she caught his profile, the way his chin jutted sharp and strong, the square line of his jaw. His nose was straight, but flared as he inhaled the drift of gunpowder from all the revelry in the crowd. Kelsey gulped. She had never seen him like this before.

“Had enough for one day?” He caught her gaze.

She blushed. While his question begged an answer, all she saw was the scintillating waves of warmth around them.

“No,” she said softly, her eyes still hooked to his while brilliant red and green flashed above them. Every whorl of his fingerprints, every crease of his palm burned hot and pleasant against her hand, somehow resonating the heated display in the sky. “This is wonderful.”

“It is, isn’t it?”

His gaze was a magnet she couldn’t pull away from. She swallowed hard, not knowing what she had just described, the monument, the fireworks, or him.

“Your choice of rides home, ma’am. What’ll it be? Metro or cab? Rosslyn station’s only a couple of blocks away. It’s still quite a walk, but—”

“Metro,” she said a little too quickly, and then lowered her eyes. “That is, if it’s okay with you.”

“Then let’s get walking.” They trudged across the grounds and back to the sidewalk, her hand still tight in his.

“It was my grandfather.” Alex nodded back toward the bronze monument. “He was one of those twenty thousand. Gramps was a good man, but he drank himself to death. They didn’t call it post traumatic stress back then.”

“That’s why this place is important to you.” She noticed he had adjusted his stride to match hers.

“Yes. They don’t make guys like him anymore.”

“Do you come from a military family?” Even as they walked, the answer was obvious. Straight posture, head held high, and eyes forward as if he never doubted where he was going.

“Gramps was a Marine. My father, Navy. So, yeah, I guess it runs in the blood.”

“Do you have any brothers or sisters?”

“No. Mom passed when I was nine. Dad sent me to live with his parents.”

“Where was he?”

“Who knows? He didn’t stay in touch. Besides, I was just a pain in the neck kid.”

“I’m sorry. That must’ve been hard for you.”

“No. He was a mean old bastard. We’re both better off.” There was no recrimination in his words, just fact.

“So this was the grandfather who raised you then, the one injured at Iwo Jima?”

“Yes. Patrick Bradley Stewart. Gram was Patricia Rose Southerland Stewart. Pat and Patty. Both good people. You’d have liked them.” The way he said those words struck a chord with her. There was no doubt she would have liked them because she liked him.

“Is your grandmother still alive?”

“She passed four years ago.”

“Oh, Alex. That’s—” She gasped. She couldn’t finish the thought.

“Losing Sara and Abby was hard for Gram.” His voice tightened.

“I’m sorry.” She wished she could call her words back. Instead, she squeezed his hand and he squeezed hers in return. “Where’s your father now?”

“Don’t know. Don’t care. He left me the land that I built my cabin on, but I haven’t heard a word from him since.” He didn’t slow his pace for a second as he related the history of his family. Before she knew it, they arrived at Rosslyn Station and just in time. Their train had arrived. She felt his hand at the small of her back guiding her onboard. For some insane reason, her heart fluttered at his touch again.
What is going on with me?

She hoped the train would be too crowded, that maybe they would have to stand, maybe jostling against each other as the train whisked along the track. It wasn’t There were seats aplenty. Then she wished the train would corner a little sharper so she could lean into him, or better yet, so he could lean into her. Either way would be nice. She sighed in disappointment. The metro was the smoothest train ride she had ever ridden.

“Our stop’s just ahead. Metro will get us close, but it’s late so I’ll call a cab. Sound good?” He leaned in for her answer. “Or would you rather walk some more?”

With her voice lost somewhere in her heart, Kelsey squeaked out a puny, “Yes.”

He smiled, his eyes dark and teasing, and for a moment she felt as if she had answered a completely different yes or no question. She blushed at her carnal thoughts. Not for one minute in her past life had her mind wandered the way it did tonight. Never.

“What? Say again?” He cocked his head and leaned in close enough for a—kiss.

With his body tilted toward hers, Kelsey had a sudden impulse to wrap her arms around his neck and nibble that ear. Instead she breathed another timid, “Yes.”

He smirked. “Then we walk.”

The train pulled into their station and once again, he politely escorted her off the platform, his hand warm on her back as they jostled through the holiday crowd. Just as quickly as they passed through the exit turnstile, he reclaimed her hand for the short walk to his house. Fireworks and sparklers flashed around the neighborhood as revelers continued their Independence Day celebrations, but Kelsey didn’t see or hear them. Every tingling nerve in her body tracked, analyzed, and somehow drew energy from the man walking proudly beside her.

Too soon they stood at his front door while he unlocked the deadbolt. Again his hand rested comfortable at the small of her back as he ushered her into his house. That simple act of chivalry made her feel special. She wanted to look up at him, but didn’t, afraid her eyes would reveal too many feelings she didn’t know how to deal with.

“Well, there you have it, ma’am, your first tour of Washington DC. What’d you think?” He plugged his cell phone into the charger on the table and sat on the opposite end of the couch from her.

Kelsey sat in a tired heap. She kicked her shoes off and massaged sore feet. “It’s an awesome city. It was very kind of you to take a whole day just to do that for me.”

“I do have an ulterior motive.” His eyes were extra blue tonight. “I have to go out of town for the next couple weeks, maybe longer. I didn’t want to leave before I showed you around. Will you be okay while I’m gone?”

With her mind all a twitter, she wondered what he was really asking.
Do you want me to stay? Should I cancel my travel plans? Would you like to come with me?
She shrugged her foolish thoughts away. “I’ll be fine. I’ve been alone before. Besides, I’ve been thinking of taking some on-line courses to get my teaching certificate back.”

He studied her before he spoke again. “That’s a good plan, Kelsey, but I don’t have a computer here at home. How will you do that?”

She shrugged. For some reason it was important to let him know she was more than just a hysterical woman in the middle of the night. “The library has computers. It’s not far. Besides, I can take the bus. I’m also going to apply for a student loan, and if I decide to stay in Virginia, I’ll need my own place. I can’t impose on you forever.”

“Did you realize it’s been two weeks?”

Startled, she had to think for a minute. “Wow. You’re right.”

“It went fast, didn’t it?” Again that smirk played at the corner of his mouth. That mouth. His tongue skimmed his bottom lip and she wondered what that mouth might taste like.

“By the sounds of it, you don’t want to go back to Washington.” His voice low, he pulled his knee onto the couch as he turned to face her.

Kelsey shook her head, her feelings a confused jumble. If he had asked that question last night, she would have been ready to go. Today – not so much. “You’ll need someone to take care of your dogs while you’re gone, won’t you? I could stay a little longer –”

“Kelsey.” He meant for her to look at him so she did. Instantly her brain disengaged, her heart stopped beating, and time screeched to a breathless halt. She felt off balance, on the verge of falling off the couch and straight into his arms. “I want you to stay as long as you want. Finish your schooling. Then you can make a better decision to stay or leave.”

She only heard his first three words.
I want you.

“I’ll take good care of the dogs,” she whispered.

“I know.”

His voice was so soft.

“I have to go to bed.”

“So do I.”

Hmmm. Bedroom soft ….

“When, ah, are you leaving tomorrow?” She forced herself to focus on his words instead of his lips and those incredible blue eyes. Right now everything he said sounded like an invitation she very much wanted to accept.

“I’ll be gone by the time you wake.”

By the way, my answer is—yes.

“Goodnight then.”

“Good night, Kelsey.”

Such sweet words. Are my feet touching the ground?

“Will you call or-or anything? I mean, what if something happens to one of the dogs?”

“I’ll call, but I’m not worried about the dogs.”

She forced herself to look away.

“Good night, Alex.”

“Good night, Kelsey.”

His voice sounded calm, strong and deep and—
oh, my gosh
. She grabbed her shoes, and all but ran down the hall. With seconds to spare, she locked her bedroom door behind her, her heart thumping as if something entirely different and very wonderful had just happened.

What is going on with me? For heaven’s sake, I’m a fool.

She flopped breathlessly onto the bed breathless.

First I’m sick out of my mind. I’m screaming. Having nightmares. Now I’m what? Delirious? Stupid?

Her introspection followed by a flurry of other questions.
Did he mean to take my hand tonight? And if he did, did he mean it that way, or was he just being nice? Did he know he touched my arm while we were on the metro? Did he mean to say goodnight the way he said goodnight, or was it just goodnight?

She lay awake long after she turned the light off, feeling like a foolish schoolgirl with a crush on the home-team quarterback. Her mind rattled more questions.
Did he mean he was worried about me more than the dogs? Was he really worried or just being nice? But he said he would keep in touch. What is wrong with me?

Her prayer from the night before came back to her. She had gotten exactly what she had asked for.

Fourteen

Kelsey

The house was extra empty.

Hollow. Kelsey sipped her coffee alone at the kitchen table. It was Monday, a travel day for Alex, but just another day for her. He had been so quiet when he left this morning that she had slept right through it, which was probably a good thing. Who knows what dumb thing she might have said if she had been awake. She realized she didn’t know where he was traveling to or why. How strange that the prospect of him being gone for a couple weeks made her feel more alone than his outrageous work schedule. At least before, she had known he would be home every night, and he was always happy to see her. Wasn’t he?