Battlefield of the Heart (8 page)

“I can't either, but he managed it somehow.” Danny shifted his attention to Cindy. “Hey, what time do you have class today? I'll get you back to campus so you don't miss.”

“She already missed one,” Josh said.

Danny's eyebrows drew together. “You did? Why didn't you mention you had a class this morning?”

Why did he look so worried? Dr. Brixton would forgive her for missing one class, especially after he heard she'd missed because a friend's wife needed surgery. The man had great compassion; besides, he'd been one of her professors and her academic advisor long enough to know she wouldn't skip a class without a good reason. “I forgot about it until I woke up. My next class is at three.”

“I have one at two.” He glanced at the clock again. “What time was the class you missed?”

“Eight. I would have missed it even if we'd gone back to the dorm last night.” Cindy took a sip of the strong coffee. If Danny had been drinking much of the stuff, no wonder he was so alert despite the long, stressful night. “I don't function on three hours of sleep.”

Corbin walked in, bringing with him the tangy scent of soap, and gave her an odd look. “You only got three hours of sleep?”

“No, I got about six,” Cindy said. “Thanks for letting me sleep on your couch, by the way.”

“No problem.” Corbin poured the last of the coffee into a mug and turned off the coffeemaker. “So what was that comment about three hours of sleep?”

“I don't function on that little, so I would have missed my eight o'clock class even if I'd gone back to the dorm last night.”

“All professors who schedule classes before nine need to have their heads examined,” Corbin said, leaning back against the counter. “I had an eight o'clock class last year and was late about half the time. Most of the class was late on a regular basis, though, so I didn't feel too bad about it.”

Josh grinned. “I've never had a class earlier than ten.”

“My earliest class is nine,” Danny said.

“I once had a class at seven thirty.” Cindy laughed at the guys' disbelieving expressions. “The instructor was late for the first two weeks and decided to move the class to eight thirty.”

Corbin chuckled. “I shouldn't be shocked at a seven thirty class. I had five thirty reveille for most of my enlistment.”

“Mine was at six most of the time,” Josh said.

“Mine was whenever the first gunshot sounded.” Danny shrugged when everyone looked at him. “I spent a lot of my time grabbing sleep when I could. A set reveille didn't always work out.”

Josh shook his head. “You have got to be the unluckiest soldier I've ever met. What did you do, fall into the worst assignments for your entire enlistment?”

“Something like that.”

The kitchen fell silent, and Corbin set his mug on the counter. “Who's up for breakfast?”

They all were. Corbin placed a large skillet on the stove, then retrieved a carton of eggs from the refrigerator and began cracking them into a bowl while the pan heated. Josh went to work making toast.

They'd just finished eating when the front door closed, and a woman's voice called out, “Hello, hello!”

“We're in the kitchen,” Corbin said and put his dishes in the sink.

An older black couple stepped into the room and greeted Corbin with hugs. He stepped back and studied them. “Have you guys seen Monique yet?”

“Yes, we stopped by the hospital on our way here,” the woman said.

“She's pretty groggy,” the man added. “But the nurses assure us she's doing well.”

Corbin nodded, relief filling his face. “That's good. I'm getting ready to head up there now.”

“Where's my grandson?” the woman asked, running her gaze over the group around the table.

“Lacey still has him,” Corbin said. “She was going to bring him up to the hospital later, but since you guys are here, I can give her a call and see if she can bring him here or if I need to go pick him up.”

“Why don't you do that?” The woman glanced at the dishes stacked in the sink. “I'll clean up the kitchen for you.”

“Thanks, Myra,” Corbin said and headed out of the room.

Myra moved to the sink as the man leaned against the counter. She turned toward the group around the table. “Why don't you kids bring me your dishes?”

“Yes, ma'am,” Josh said and rose from his chair.

She laughed as she took his dishes. “Honey, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Myra?”

He grinned. “I'm just giving you the respect you deserve for putting up with Corbin as a son-in-law.”

Myra laughed again, and her husband joined in. Cindy followed Danny as he carried his dishes to the sink. Myra took them then laid a hand on the side of Danny's face.

“How are you doing, honey?”

He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “I'm doing okay.” He stepped back and glanced at Cindy. “This is a new friend of ours, Cindy Waymire.”

Myra smiled and took the plate and mug from Cindy's hands. “It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Myra Dunn, and that's my husband, John. We're Monique's parents.”

“It's nice to meet you.” Cindy liked this woman's warm, nurturing manner.

John raised his eyebrows. “Are you another veteran?”

She shook her head and moved away from the sink as Myra went to work. “I'm the lone civilian in the group.”

John tilted his head with a quizzical expression, and Josh laughed as Corbin returned to the room. “She needs to do research on veterans in college for a sociology paper, so we kind of adopted her.”

“She's become a good friend, too,” Corbin added. “She stayed up at the hospital with us all night.”

Myra's smile took on new warmth. “That was very kind of you, Cindy.”

Why did everyone think it so praiseworthy that she was kind to people she'd only known a couple of days? She'd been raised to be kind to everyone, whether family members or complete strangers. “It's not a big deal.”

Corbin stunned her by slinging an arm around her shoulders. “It's a big deal to me, and I'm sure Monique will think it's a big deal, too, just as soon as I tell her about it.”

Cindy was at a loss for words and glanced at Danny.

He laughed as he turned to Corbin. “I think you embarrassed her, man.”

Corbin chuckled and removed his arm from Cindy's shoulders. “I think you're right.” He turned to his in-laws. “Lacey assured me she has a driver. She and Delario will be here soon.”

The conversation moved on to Myra and John's two-hour trip to get there. Cindy was glad for the chance to figure out what had happened between Tuesday evening and that morning. It seemed as though she'd been accepted unconditionally into the group she'd worried about intruding upon, and she wasn't quite sure how it had happened. Whatever the reason, it felt good to know they trusted her and counted her as a friend.

The front door opened, and the sound of small running feet approached. Delario launched himself at his father, wrapping his skinny little arms around Corbin's waist. Corbin returned the hug as Lacey walked into the kitchen. She smiled at Monique's parents. “Hi, John, Myra. How was the drive?”

“Uneventful,” John said. “How did my grandson behave?”

“Like the angel he is.” Lacey's gaze followed Delario as ran over to hug his grandparents. “He's worried about his mom.”

“That's perfectly understandable,” Myra said, drying her hands on a dishtowel before giving Delario a hug. “I saw your mama this morning.”

The little boy looked up at her with wide eyes. “Is she okay?”

Myra smiled and smoothed his short hair. “She's pretty sick, but the doctors are taking good care of her.”

Delario nodded and turned to Cindy. “Hi, Cindy. My mommy's sick and has to stay in the hospital so the doctors can make her better.”

“I'm sure she'll be a lot better in just a few days,” she said, aware that everyone in the room watched.

“Yeah, Daddy says Mommy should be well enough to come home soon.” Delario walked over to Corbin and leaned on him. “Can we go see Mommy?”

“Sure.” He laid a hand on his son's shoulder. “She's pretty sleepy, though, so you'll have to be super quiet. I bet Grandma and Grandpa will take you out to lunch after you see Mommy.”

John smiled and nodded. “We sure will.”

“Okay.” Although much more subdued than he'd been the night before, Delario obviously loved the idea of going out with his grandparents.

Back in the living room, Cindy noticed the blankets and pillows folded and stacked on one end of the sectional. She sat down near them and pulled on her sneakers, while Danny and Lacey talked quietly near the front door and Corbin took Delario upstairs to change.

Josh sat down beside Cindy before she could stand. “Hey, I keep forgetting to ask. How's your wrist?”

She held out the wrist she'd unwrapped the day after he bandaged it. “Just fine.”

“Mind if I take a look at it?”

She'd almost forgotten about the mild sprain because it had given her so little trouble. “There's not much to see, but you can look at it if you really want to.”

She watched him give her wrist a brief examination. He released her hand and nodded. “It's not so much what I can see as what I can feel. There was a little swelling in your wrist when I wrapped it, but that's gone now. I'm glad to know it's healing just fine.”

“Was there ever any doubt about that?”

“No, not really, but things happen sometimes.” He looked across the room, his gaze distant. “And I've been wrong before.”

Cindy felt the change in his mood and laid a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, you were right about my wrist.”

Josh glanced at her, his mouth quirked in a smile. “You try to make everyone feel better, don't you?”

“Of course.” She grinned as she lowered her hand. “I'm one of those infernal optimists.”

He chuckled, his mood obviously improved. “I think you mean
eternal
optimist.”

“No, Matt always tells me I'm an infernal optimist,” she said as Lacey and Danny walked over. “I think finding a bright spot in every situation gets on his nerves sometimes.”

Lacey laughed and nodded. “That sounds like Matt. By the way, Cindy, you'll be happy to know I got to hear last night how much he hates ‘that lion movie which shall not be named.' After Delario was asleep, of course.”

Myra joined them, her eyes speculating as she studied Lacey. “And who is Matt?”

A faint blush crept into Lacey's cheeks. “My boyfriend and Cindy's cousin. Of course, I didn't know he was her cousin until yesterday.”

Myra put an arm around her with a smile. “Do I get to meet this boyfriend while we're in town?”

“Naturally. He'd be here now, but he cut his lunch break short to give Delario and me a ride over here.”

“He sounds like a sweetie. I look forward to meeting him,” Myra said, giving her a hug.

Corbin came downstairs with Delario, and everyone headed outside. Cindy followed Danny to his truck, and as they drove away from Corbin's house, she gave him a curious look. “Myra knows all of you pretty well, doesn't she?”

“Yeah, she's one of those women who is everyone's mother. If you hang around with us long enough, she'll probably become a mother to you, too. John is kind like a dad to all of us.”

“That's cool.” Myra sounded like Cindy's grandmother. Neither woman had ever met a stranger, and they treated everyone like family.

He remained quiet for a couple of minutes then he glanced at her. “I've been wondering something. Why were you willing to stay at the hospital so late? I figured you'd want to leave around midnight or so.”

“You needed me, Corbin needed you, and Josh… I don't know what Josh needed, but I couldn't leave until you were ready to go. I went up there to provide moral support, and I couldn't provide it if I left early.”

Danny stopped at a traffic light and glanced at her again. “Are you sure this is only about a paper?”

“Not anymore. It started out as just that, but I like you guys.”

He nodded, his eyes on the road before the light turned green. When he remained silent, Cindy hoped like crazy she hadn't said the wrong thing. She'd been honest; hopefully, that would turn out to be a good choice.

Just before they reached campus, Danny finally spoke. “You know, we like you, too. Some of us have problems, but it's a welcome change to have you not even appear to notice that. Your cousin Matt seems to be the same way. According to Lacey, he slows his pace if she can't keep up, but he doesn't make a big deal out of it. He just acts like it's natural.”

“It probably is for him. Matt and I have always rooted for the underdog, so to speak. Making life a little easier for others isn't a big deal.”

Danny nodded but didn't say anything, and Cindy left him to his thoughts. She was learning he'd talk to her when he was ready.

He didn't speak until they'd left his truck in the freshman lot and were on their way to the dorm. “So, did you ever come up with a new topic for your sociology paper due next week?”

“No, I'm still thinking. It's a tie between health care and poverty.”

“Those are both big issues in this country. Which one has more of an impact on society?”

He looked interested — an encouraging sign, since she bored most people with her sociology talk. “I'm thinking poverty. That one affects so many people. Besides, it kind of ties in with health care. I mean, if you live in poverty you obviously can't afford good health care.”

“There are government programs for low-income families.”

“Yeah, but that's not necessarily good health care.”

Danny chuckled. “You have a point.”