Two Weeks With a SEAL (The Wakefield Romance Series) (14 page)

"Hell yeah,"
came the loud echo from the kitchen, all of the locals in the room laughing and
joining in, whistles and cheers making me smile and laugh as Chad did the same.

"Really
though," Janice leans down between us, her voice almost a whisper,
"don't let anyone damper your time together, and by the way," she
smiled, looking from me to Chad, "it's 'bout God damn time," she
giggled, kissing both of us on the cheek and waddling away.

We ate most of our
lunches, leaving a forty dollar tip and taking the take-out containers. Chad
and I hold hands on the drive home, the windows rolled down letting in the sun
warmed air. We unloaded the boxes of my things, stacking them in the spare room
along with building the bedroom set and setting the mattress and we collapsed
on the couch, resigning to watch television till dinner with Dana.

Wrapped up in his arms,
my head across his chest, my eyes started to close, the beat of his heart
lulling me to sleep. I heard Chad whisper, "You're beautiful,"
against my lips before kissing them lightly and I was in heaven, drifting off
to dream of this man I had finally attained.

Dana's house was overly
warm from the working oven, the smells of turkey with all the fixings flowing
out the front door as we entered, a bowl of cut fruit in Chad's hands while I
carried a pitcher of Sangria we had thrown together after our nap. Dana was
humming away in the kitchen, her thin frame adorned with her normal red and
white checked apron, the leopard print slippers I had given her last Christmas
on her feet. "Hi you two," she grinned, her eyes lighting up as she
hugged us both, kissing me on the cheek and taking the pitcher from my hands,
"everything is almost done if you'd set the table."

I was straightening the
silverware that Chad had set out when his phone started to ring, playing a tone
that I wasn't familiar with. He took his phone around the corner into the
living room as I heard him answer it with a "Yes, sir."
Oh no,
I thought, a million bad things going through my mind. I froze, a knife still
in my hand hovering above the napkin that it had been resting on, my eyes
locked on the edge of the wall where Chad had disappeared.

My heart started to race
and my fingers gripped the knife, my mind not registering the pain from the
blade cutting into my fingers until Dana grabbed it, "Hun, you've cut
yourself."

"Wh-oh huh," I
mumbled, looking down at my hand and the blood seeping through the napkin Dana
had wrapped around my fingers. "Oh, I didn't," I start to say,
looking up to see Chad re-entering the dining room, a smile fading from his lips.

"What
happened," he said, taking the last few strides to me in a mere second.

"Oh, just a little
accident, nothin' serious," Dana said, a sidelong glance coming my way as
she pulled me down the hall and into the small bathroom. "You need to get
a hold of yourself or you'll never make it through," she gave me a serious
look, washing my fingers I see that the cut isn't that deep, just a little more
than scratches. "My son is smart, well not when it came to you. With you
he shoulda opened his mouth a long time ago, but with life and his job, my son
is smart."

She wraps gauze around
the three fingers that had been affected, wrapping medical tape over that and
making sure I can still bend my fingers. With her hands on my shoulders, she
looks me right in the eyes, "We are victims of war as well as those who
fall in battle, because for six to nine to twelve months a year, our hearts are
out there, and we have no way to know if they are safe every night or
not." Her eyes were rimming with tears along with mine and I took her into
a tight hug, her arms wrapping around my neck.

We stand there for a
good ten minutes, just hugging each other, silent tears falling down our
cheeks. "Alright hun," she pulls me to her side, both of us facing
the mirror as she wipes her fingers under her eyes, "let's go eat."
Her smile makes me laugh as I wipe my eyes.

Chad is standing in the
kitchen, stirring a pot of grits, his smile wide as he turned to us. "Who
was on the phone son," Dana asks, going back to her food as I leave them
to sit at the table, taking a long drink of my wine.

"Just the
Sarge," he says, a seriousness in his voice, "with some last minute
instructions. We gotta be on base at 0600 hours on Monday, in desert gear and
the plane leaves at 0700." I could hear Dana mumbled an acknowledgement,
shuffling and the clanging of pots filling the silence. Dana was right. Chad
was right. I needed to be strong, I need to know that my man will do his best
at everything he does, including his effort to come back to me.

Dinner passed with conversation
about the plans for tomorrow, Chad saying that he was going to start painting
the kitchen because he didn't want to leave it all for me to do. We said our
goodnights around eleven, Chad's arm around my waist as we walk out into the
chilly night air. I wrap my arms tight around my chest to try and ward off the
cold. Kicking my shoes off as soon as we got in the door I scurried across the
slippery hardwood floor to put my fuzzy slippers on, a chuckle coming from
Chad, his blue eyes seeming to dance as I look at him.

"You know what I
wanna do," I say, a sly smile crossing my lips, my fingers tracing lightly
along the arm on the couch.

"What's that,"
he said, stalking towards me, taking his sweatshirt off slowly and letting it
fall to the floor.

"I wanna watch the
Notebook and eat popcorn snuggled up next to you right here," I patted the
couch, Chad's crooked smile meeting my lips for a light kiss.

The popcorn was made and
sitting on the table, the movie cued up and on the main menu as I jumped onto
the couch, springing up and almost falling off before Chad caught me. Pulling
me onto his lap he kisses me till I'm panting for breath. "You're
crazy," he smiled, leaning close to my face.

"Yeah, but you're
datin' me," I say, a laugh rolling through his chest as he kisses me, his
hands roaming my body. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling my face
closer to his, hearing a slight moan of contentment run through him. His strong
arms cradled me to his chest, one set of fingers massaging into my scalp while
the others rubbed at my back.

We never did get to
watch the movie.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

January 24, 2012

The sun was still low in
the sky, just peeking through the branches of the old birch tree that sat right
outside the glass sliding patio door in the kitchen. The grass was frosty, it
being only thirty-two degrees on the thermometer attached to the door and my
breath fogged the window as I held my coffee close to my chin. The little
cement patio was cute and I daydreamed myself out there, sitting in a cute
little bistro chair, having a summer lunch with Chad and Dana, a dog running
around the yard, barking wildly as Chad threw a tennis ball for it to chase. I
smiled against the lip of my mug, enjoying the warmth the fresh coffee brought
as it's peppermint flavor slid down my throat.

"Well don't you
look cute," Chad's sleepy yawn came from behind me, swinging around I see
that he's shirtless, just the way I like him and in his fleece pajama pants.
His bare feet shuffle across the hardwood floor, heading for the coffee.

I just smile and do a
silly curtsey, my jean overalls sagging all over. They were unflattering, but
they were useful when doing jobs like painting, which we had planned out last
night. My long sleeve Henley underneath was a thermal material, being already
stained with my black hair dye from months ago and I was wearing a pair of old
converse sneakers. Chad leaned his butt against the counter ledge, his coffee
mug to his mouth as he scratched at his beard, running his hand up and through
his hair. "All ready to work, I see," he smiles stretching his thick
arms up and over his head, the sound of his joints popping being audible
throughout the kitchen.

"Well I figure if
we get started early it'll be dry for dinner," I wanted to make him
dinner. A special dinner with three to four courses complete with wine and
candles. I already had the perfect hot little outfit picked out.

I had already moved the
small furniture away from the walls, covering them with old sheets and blankets
from my house and I had a ladder that I had trucked up from the basement set
up, my paint tray all ready to go. "You want me to make you some
breakfast," I ask, moving to go into the fridge, but Chad just shook his
head, taking another sip of his coffee and I nodded, taking a paint can off of
the island.

I had only gotten one
half of a wall done when Chad joined me wearing an old tattered pair of faded
jeans, old Nikes and a t-shirt that made me pause and stare, just the sight of
it bringing back a flood of memories. It was a black and a well faded ACDC
shirt. The same exact shirt he had worn the night he had taken my virginity at
that house party and he noticed my stare, his smile crooked as he rolled the
paint onto the opposite wall from me. "You still have that," I
breathed out, trying to get back to the task at hand, but my arms were shaky.

"Yeah," he
said, quietly but with an underlying passion that made my heart race and my
skin tingle, "it brings me to happy place when I wear it."
Oh,
realllllyyyyyy
, did he really just say something that makes me fall in love
with him even more? I smile to myself, rolling the burnt-orange colored paint
on the white wall, a little tear sneaking out and rolling silently down my
cheek. At that second I took a deep breath, telling myself that I was going to
be the strongest woman I could for this man. I realized in that moment that a
driving force behind his will to live was me, coming home to me, lying in bed
with me, so in turn I had to be strong for him. To let him know that I would be
okay while he was gone, even if I wouldn't.

We finished the five
walls of the kitchen just before two, having one entire can of paint left over
and we collapsed on the couch, my head automatically going to rest on his
shoulder while his arm went around my shoulders. I sighed out loud, my lips
vibrating as I exaggerated it, the loud rumble of my stomach joining the noise.
Chad threw his head back against the back of the couch, his laugh echoing
through our silent little world, bringing giggles to my chest. "Hungry
much?" he got out through the chuckles, squeezing my shoulders to his
side.

"Mmm, yeah," I
say, rubbing my hand over the jean material on my stomach, "Chinese sounds
good." I smile wide at him as I swing my legs over his lap, my nose rubbing
his as I kiss him lightly, his hands falling to my waist tugging at my
overalls. This was what it was going to be like after Chad decided to retire.
We would have days just like this and maybe a kid or two, filling our lives
with love and strife and all that good stuff to keep us on our toes. We had
laid on the couch last night after making love for what seemed like forever,
the menu music of the Notebook playing over and over again, just talking, Chad
confessing that he thinks he might retire from the SEALs soon. I had told him
to do whatever made him happy because as long as he was happy, I'd be happy,
which was the deep down truth.

We called and ordered
forty dollars’ worth of Chinese food from the closest place, about thirty
minutes away and not bothering to change out of our paint splattered clothes we
were out the door ten minutes later. I don't know what came over me today but I
am in a wonderful mood, rolling down the windows and leaning out as Chad honked
his way through town, waving to everyone who waved back. The radio was cranked
up , blaring out the windows and sunroof, Chad and I singing along, me being
very off key.

The little Chinese
restaurant was located in a strip mall, surrounded by a Big Lots and a Staples
store, the woman smiling cheerily at us as we entered. I'd never ordered enough
food to fill two and a half brown paper bags, but there we were, Chad carrying
the bigger two while I handled the little one with the rice and sauces. I was
so happy in this moment and I can't help the wide smile that crosses my face.

Our journey back out to
his truck was halted as I saw Duke leaning up against the passenger door, his
arms crossed over his chest. "What the fuck," I say, my steps angrily
hitting the pavement, my old sneakers squeaking as I storm over to the ignorant
Redneck. "Are you stalking us," I say, my face flushing as Chad came
up to my side, his hands clenching around the paper bag corners.

"That's not very
nice," Duke smiles and spits on the ground right at my feet, his
blue-green eyes coming up to meet mine then skating over to Chad, "you two
seem to pop up wherever I am. Now don't ya look like a happy lil' couple,
gettin take out n all," he leaned forward, brushing at the paper bag in my
arms and I pull away from him.

In the blink of an eye
Chad had the bags on the ground and Duke up against the door of his truck, his
hand around his throat. He was nose to nose with Duke and I pulled on his arm,
"Let him go Chad," I try not to yell as Duke wheezes out a laugh.
This was what he wanted. He wanted to get Chad in trouble, to provoke him into
something. I needed to stop it.