“I need this.”
Cooper pulled a bill out of his pocket. “Bet you a twenty he’s mine.”
I nodded. “You’re on.”
“Good luck, newb,” he said, using his feet to push himself back to his own desk. He picked up the receiver of his office phone and pretended he was hard at work when the couple came through the door. I knew he’d be paying very close attention, though. As my mentor, he was always lurking when I interacted with potential applicants so he could give me pointers.
“Good afternoon,” I said, rising from my chair and sticking out my hand for the kid to shake. “How can I help you?”
“I’m here to join,” he replied, shaking my hand. “Name’s Spencer. Spencer Hawkins.”
I smiled broadly at him. “Nice to meet you, Spencer. I’m Sergeant Moore. And who do you have with you today?”
Spencer gestured to the girl as I shook her hand. “This is Ellie.”
“Nice to meet you,” Ellie said with a genuine smile. They looked like a happy enough couple, for a pair of high schoolers.
“It’s nice to meet you both. Here, have a seat, let’s chat.” The pair sat across from me at my desk. “First of all, what school do you go to?”
I waited with baited-breath while he answered.
“Torrey Pines,” Spencer replied.
I grinned, not only because it was my school, but because I saw Cooper take the twenty out of his pocket and stick it to the wall of his cubicle with a thumbtack. I turned back to my own desk and glanced at the small sign I’d placed on my desk drawer to remind me what order to ask questions in. First, build rapport using the FORM method. Ask about family, occupation, recreation, then military history.
“So, Spencer, tell me about your family. Do they know you’re here?”
Spencer laughed. “Maybe not today, specifically, but my dad’s known I wanted to join since I was a kid.”
“Okay, cool. And how does he feel about the Marine Corps? Does he support you?”
“He was a Marine for twenty years,” Spencer replied.
“Nice, so I assume he’s proud of you then. And how about your mom? How does she feel about it?”
Before he could answer, I caught the sad expression on Ellie’s face as she patted him gently on the leg. He smiled at her slightly then turned back to me. “She was very supportive, but she died a while back.”
“I’m sorry for your loss,” I said, and genuinely meant it. It may not be the coolest thing in the world for a guy to grow up being close with his mom, but I always had been. I was an only child and my dad left when I was ten. My mom and nonna were everything to me, and I couldn’t imagine losing one of them.
“Thanks,” Spencer said, clearly trying not to think about it.
“And what about you?” I wanted to move on before my attempt at rapport building continued to bring him down, so I turned to Ellie. “How long have you guys been together? Do you support his decision to become a Marine?”
Ellie blushed and Spencer laughed. “No, no. We’re just friends.”
My brows shot up. “Really?”
“Since middle school,” Ellie confirmed, no sign that they were just messing with me.
“Huh, okay, well, you must be one supportive friend, then.”
Spencer smiled at Ellie, and when she smiled back, I had to work to control my face. Were they seriously trying to pretend they didn’t like each other? Not my business. It was better when they didn’t have girlfriends anyway, or so I’ve heard. Less chance they’ll bail on boot camp at the last minute, which looks bad on their recruiter.
“Anyway, are you guys seniors over at Torrey?”
“Yeah.”
“Cool, and do you work?” I jotted down his school status.
“Not right now, no. Usually just over the summer.”
I nodded and wrote that down. “And what kind of stuff do you do for fun? Any sports or anything?”
He shrugged. “I surf, but just for fun. Played a little baseball and football last year, but I don’t want to risk getting hurt this year.”
“Nice, that’s good thinking. Blowing out your knee this year would be an issue for sure. Okay, and I know your dad was in the Marines, do you have any other family or friends in the military who’ve influenced you to make this decision?”
Spencer shook his head. “Not really, no. I’m the only one of my friends who’s looking into this right now, and my parents were both only children so no uncles or anything.”
“Okay, cool. Well, it sounds like you’ve already given this a lot of thought and don’t have anyone pushing you to do this, which is great. The next step is for me to ask you a few questions to make sure you’re even qualified for the Marines. Does that sound good?”
“Yeah,” Spencer said, rubbing his hands on his thighs and sitting up straighter.
“I’m gonna go through them pretty quickly so Ellie isn’t bored to death, okay?”
Ellie laughed and Spencer nodded. Rapport seemed to be on point, now I just hoped the kid was qualified. Wouldn’t be the first time this week I’d sat down with an eager senior who was ready to ship out, only to find out he had some kind of medical issue that disqualified him.
“First, how old are you?”
“Eighteen.”
“You’re a senior, so how are your grades? Are you on track to graduate or will you need to repeat?”
“On track.”
Ellie cleared her throat, so I turned to her.
“He’s on the Honor Roll,” she said with a sardonic smile at her friend.
Spencer elbowed her and rolled his eyes. “Grades are good. What’s next?”
I shook my head. These two were proof that smart kids were dumb about some stuff in life. “Next is drug use. I’m talking about everything from pot to the hard stuff. Have you used anything at all?”
“Nothing, I’ve wanted this for a long time, so I’ve stayed away from that stuff.”
I made a few notes. “Have you ever had any police involvement? Not just criminal stuff, I mean traffic tickets and civil stuff, too.”
“Nothing.”
“Good. Okay now, do you have any kids?”
He laughed. “Not that I know of.”
“You’re an idiot,” Ellie groaned and swatted his arm before turning to me. “No, he does not.”
“Are you a U.S Citizen?”
“Yes.”
“Have you ever had any of the following: surgeries, implants of any kind, prosthetics, allergies, taken any prescription medications for anything, had any broken bones, asthma, tattoos, needed counseling?”
He’d been shaking his head and saying no throughout that list, so I checked the items off my paper as I went. “Okay, last thing, have you ever taken the ASVAB—or Armed Forces Vocational Aptitude Battery?”
“No, they offered it in school last year, but I wasn’t there that day or I would have.”
“Okay, cool. What we’re gonna do now is have you go take a practice version of that test. Based on your score, we’ll know if you’re qualified to move forward. Sound good?”
Spencer stood. “Let’s do this.”
“Perfect, right this way.” I stood and led Spencer down the hall to the private room we used for testing and got him set up on the computer. “We’ll be right here when you’re done.”
“Thanks, man.”
I ducked out of the room and closed the door behind me, returning to Ellie where she still sat at my desk. “Ellie, you’re welcome to wait here, or you can head next door to the cafe. It’ll probably take him about twenty minutes for the test.”
Ellie stood. “I’ll go grab some coffee, thank you.”
I opened the door for her, deliberately stepping outside and holding the door of the cafe open for her, as well. Sara had her back to the door and was busy shelving books. I considered going in and making some kind of small talk, but I knew I needed to be there when the kid finished his test.
“See you in a few,” I said to Ellie a
s she entered the cafe.
I walked back to my office and plopped onto the couch that sat opposite the TV. Full Metal Jacket was playing for the fifth time that day. It sounded like Cooper was actually on the phone for real, so I took the opportunity to close my eyes for a brief second. I was dead tired after working on paperwork until three the night before and then coming in at seven as usual.
Cooper finished up his call then spun in his chair to face me. “Looks like you get my twenty. And I was listening to your screening in between phone calls. You did good.”
“Thanks,” I said, not opening my eyes.
“Still not a grad female.” Staff Sergeant Allen called from his office, making me sigh and Cooper laugh.
Zero to hero, and back to zero again. Just like that.
5
Sara
This time, when I went into the alley to take out the trash, I remembered to flick the metal lock in the door so the bolt stuck out past the door jam and would prop it open. Just like the previous Wednesday, Vince stood in the glow of the streetlamps with his stopwatch at the ready. He smiled when he saw me, a quick, genuine smile that did very unwelcome things to the pace of my heartbeat.
“Hey,” I said, returning his smile, somewhat unwillingly. The last thing I needed was more heartbreak.
“Hey. If you’ll wait a sec, I can help you with that.” He jerked his head in the direction of the runners who had just rounded the corner.
I quickly crossed in front of their path and headed to the dumpster. “It’s okay, I got it.”
Behind me, Vince called out the times for his poolees as I heaved the bags into the bin. I turned to watch as they ran right to their water bottles and started getting ready to leave. Vince pulled one of them aside and chatted with him while the rest of the guys piled into the office.
“All right, man, thanks for coming out. You did good,” Vince said to him as I approached. The poolee followed the rest of the group into the office, and Vince turned to me, waiting until the door to the office closed before he spoke. “That was my first contract for the month, second overall.”
I beamed at him. “Congrats.”
“Thanks. You missed the whole run. Did you have a lot of extra closing stuff to do tonight?”
I shook my head. “I accidentally got lost in a book. I was doing some shelving and... it happens.”
“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised you’re a reader. Parents owning a bookstore, and all.”
“It would have been impossible to get through middle and high school without this place and the books. It’s weird coming back here as an adult and spending all of my time here again.”
“So, why did you?” he asked, tucking his hands in his pockets.
I shuffled my feet, unable or unwilling to answer him. “Last week you gave me a ride after this running thing. What would you normally do when you got off work?”
“Oh, I’m nowhere close to being done with work. I usually bring home hours of administrative stuff. Or I stay here and do it if the other guys will be here, that way it’s not so... quiet.”
“Seriously?” I looked at my watch. “It’s after eight. And you’re always working before we come in to open the store.”
“Recruiting duty,” he replied with a shrug, as if those two words explained it all. “I’m usually done around ten or eleven.”
Amazed, I sighed. “That sucks.”
Vince smiled at me again, and my stomach flipped. It actually bothered me that he looked so trustworthy. I’d made that mistake before. On the other hand, it wouldn’t hurt me to have a friend. I had Angie, and of course I could always count on my parents, but I didn’t really have anyone else. And he was right next door.
“Okay, well, I’ll let you get back to it then. I still have a lot of paperwork to do,” he said, backing towards his office door. He wore another Marine Corps exercise shirt and basketball shorts, and I wondered when he made time to go to the gym with a schedule like his. Because he very clearly made the time.
I pushed my glasses up the bridge of my nose. “Do you want some coffee? I didn’t shut down the machine yet because... well, that book was really good. I figured I’d stay a while.”
He looked behind him at his office door, then back at me. “Are you sure?”
“Unless the guys are there, and you’d be working with them instead?”
“No, I was going to bring my stuff home tonight.”
I shrugged. “Well, we can keep each other company, if you want.”
“I’d like that.” He hooked his thumb towards his office. “I’ll go get my stuff and meet you over there.”
“Sounds good.” I walked back through the door of the store, taking care to leave the bolt in place so he could get in. I ducked into the bathroom and took a quick peek at my reflection, tucking the stray wisps of hair into my braid.
Unsure of what to do with my hands, I made my way to the coffee bar and started making myself a latte. I’d just finished steaming the milk when Vince came through the back door with his usual duffle and briefcase. He gestured to the lock and I nodded, so he flicked it closed and let the door shut behind him. He’d changed from his exercise clothes and into a pair of dark wash jeans and a black polo shirt. Just as with the workout shirt, the hem of the short sleeves pulled tight against his biceps. I wondered if he intentionally bought his shirts to fit like that, or if he just couldn’t help it.
“Smells good,” he said, referring to the coffee. He put his bags down at a nearby table and pulled out his laptop and several file folders.
“I don’t have a fresh pot of brewed coffee, just espresso. I can get you that white chocolate mocha you wanted that day.”
He laughed and hung his head. “Oh, I’ll never live that day down. I don’t even like those. You just distracted me.”
“Oh.” I blushed. “Okay, well, what do you want?”
His lips quirked as if he were going to make a joke, then thought better of it. “I’ll just do a regular latte, I guess.”
“You got it.” I made his drink and brought them both to the table, my book tucked under my arm. Since we were sitting here, I’d used ceramic mugs instead of paper cups.
He eyed the mugs. “It’s weird having my coffee at a table here. I always get my coffee to go.”
I picked up my book and found my place as he got to work on whatever he had to do. We sat and drank our coffee in companionable silence for a while, until he kicked me gently under the table. I glanced up at him over the top of my book. “Yes?”
“Whatcha reading?”
“Don’t you have work to do?”
“Is it a romance novel?” He wagged his eyebrows.
I glared at him. “A murder mystery.”
“Okay, back to work.” He laughed. “That’s cool though. Getting some good tips for your next homicide spree?”
“Hah. If only.”
Vince leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms across his chest. “Oh, now I really want to know.”
“What?”
“Your deal. Your story. What happened in Seattle. What has you reading murder mysteries instead of love stories?”
I stuck my chin out. “First of all, it’s perfectly fine to like murder mysteries instead of love stories. That doesn’t mean I’m broken-hearted or something.”
“But aren’t you?”
Busted, the edges of my mouth twitched into a small smile.
“So, what happened?”
“Fine.” I put down my book and adjusted my glasses. “I was with this guy, Derek. We’d been together for about five years by the time our wedding day came around. My mom, dad, and my best friend, Angie, flew out for it. And I had the most incredible dress I’d ever seen.”
Vince leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table, not interrupting, just letting me tell my story.
“He knocked on the door while we were getting ready for the ceremony, and proceeded to tell me he was leaving me for his ex. And that they’d been having an affair
for like a year.”
His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed down this information, and if I wasn’t mistaken, I saw a flash of what looked like anger in his eyes. It was quick, but it was fierce. It felt good to get it all out. I hadn’t talked about it since it happened. Not even with Angie. He still didn’t speak, and it made me nervous, so I rambled.
“Anyway.” I fidgeted with the edges of my book. “I literally threw all of his stuff out of the apartment we shared, like a stereotypical scorned woman. And I destroyed that poor dress. Which is a shame, because it really was gorgeous. I tried to redecorate the apartment... I tried to stay in Seattle. I only made it a few months. I just couldn’t do it. So now I’m here, practically living at the store so I don’t have to spend so much time at my empty apartment. This place has plenty of books to keep me company. And the worst part is that I feel dumb for not knowing what was going on for an entire year. I hate that part the most. Ugh, I sound pathetic.”
I buried my face in my hands, cupping them around my glasses. Vince nudged me under the table with his foot again, so I looked up. He smiled slightly, maybe a sad smile, but a smile nonetheless. It was like he was trying to figure out what to say. I soaked it in for a moment, because whatever it was, it wasn’t pity. I’d gotten enough of that from my old friends in Seattle and on the faces of the guests as I tried to sneak out of the hotel the day of the wedding. He was wrestling with something, but he didn’t pity me. And that was important.
“I can’t decide how I want to go about this,” he finally said, leaning back again.
Feeling restless, I got up from the table and walked to the counter, resting my hands on the ledge and keeping my back to him.
“I think I’ll just keep it light. Keep it casual,” he said from his seat at the table. “I’ll say that I think you dodged a bullet, and you’re better off without him, and that at least it was before the wedding instead of after. I’ll stick with the shallow things people say in these moments.”
I heard the light scrape of his chair as he stood from the table, and closed my eyes as I felt him growing closer to me. My body hummed at his touch as he gently turned me around to face him, and then kept my hand in his. He brushed his thumb back and forth across the back of my hand, and sparks trailed behind each swipe.
Forever With You Page 3
