I heard a knock at the back door and put down the rag I was using to wipe down the cafe’s counter. I’d closed the store about ten minutes prior, and just like normal, Vince was here to do his paperwork while I read a book. I walked to the back of the store, feeling for loose strands of hair and fixing my blouse so it hung properly as I went. I paused with my hand on the push bar, taking a minute to settle my nerves. We may be a few months into this whirlwind, but I still had butterfly panic moments whenever he was near. Finally, I pushed open the door and smiled when I saw him standing there with his usual bags in one arm and flowers in the other.
“What’s the occasion?” I asked, accepting the colorful mix of flowers he handed me as he kissed me on the cheek and entered the store.
“I could lie and tell you I got them for you, but the true story is better.”
I laughed, following him to the cafe area. “Oh, man. Can’t wait to hear it.”
He plopped his stuff down at our usual table and sighed. “It’s winter formal season, and one of my poolees got these flowers for a girl he likes. Then, when he was about to give them to her, he heard she’d been asked by someone else. Instead of trashing them, he brought them to the workout today and gave them to me to give to you.”
“Poor kid. But what a sweet gesture.”
Vince laughed. “He said someone deserved happiness, even if he didn’t, and he told me to lie and say I’d bought them for you.”
“Oh, my heart. That’s so sad. I appreciate your honesty, though.” I kissed him on the cheek and went behind the counter to see if I had a pitcher or anything to display the flowers in the cafe. I spent most of my time here anyway, why bring them home? I smiled as I pressed my nose deep into the flowers. Of course I would have loved to get flowers from Vince just because he felt like it. But the fact that he didn’t take the credit for them made me love them even more. I found a makeshift vase, filled it with water, and got to work cutting the stems and arranging the flowers.
Vince had already dived headfirst into his paperwork, as usual. One thing I’d quickly learned about dating a Marine Corps Recruiter was their work came before most anything else, and there was more of it than you could imagine. He carried a personal phone and a work phone, since it would be weird for high school kids and their parents to have his personal phone number. His personal phone was largely ignored except for when I saw him listen to music while he worked on nights like these. His government phone, on the other hand, seemed to never leave his sight, or his hand. He was texting new prospects or responding to kids he’d already contracted. He fielded questions from parents, arranged medical documents with hospitals, worked with the police to get police records, and hounded poolees about not missing workouts.
I poured us each a cup of coffee from the pot I’d brewed right at closing time, fixed them to each of our liking, and brought them to the table. “So, how was your day? Other than the excitement with the flowers.”
“Terrible. Remember that kid I told you about last week who decided not to join?”
I nodded, sipping my coffee.
“I ran into him at the mall and he was wearing an Army poolee shirt. I was so mad.”
“Wasn’t he the one who said he wanted to go to college instead?”
“Yep. So, I went up and asked him what happened, and he said the Army offered him a bonus and we didn’t, so he changed his mind.”
“Ouch.”
“Yep.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine, it’s just annoying when you invest time in these kids and think you’re really going to make a difference in their life and then they just blow you off like it’s no big deal. I mean, I guess it is no big deal to them, but it feels like a big deal to me. Especially since I get hounded like it’s my fault when stuff like this happens.”
I reached across the table and took his hand. “You can’t control whether the Army offers bonuses and the Marines don’t. This isn’t your fault. If going with whoever has a bonus means more to that kid than being a Marine, he probably wouldn’t have been happy as a Marine anyway, right? This seems like something you really have to want or else you won’t make it.”
Vince blinked at me and narrowed his eyes a bit. “Thanks. That’s true. Man, how did I get so lucky?”
I blushed as he lifted my hand to his lips and kissed the back. “I never thought I’d be grateful for what happened to me six months ago. Thanks to you, I’m starting to feel that way.”
“Hah. I’m definitely grateful.” He held up a hand quickly. “Please don’t take that the wrong way.”
“I didn’t.” I laughed and gestured to his computer and a stack of file folders. “Now get to work before we wind up sitting here all night.”
“I can’t believe how happy you are. Sara from six months ago was a total zombie,” Angie observed candidly as we walked through the mall.
“Thanks.” I chuckled. “Not gonna lie, sometimes I think it’s a little too good to be true. I jumped into things really fast with Derek too and look how that turned out.”
Angie tossed her long black hair. “I hate that man for what he did to you. There’s nothing wrong with jumping into things quickly if it feels right. Don’t let that slimeball ruin what you have with Vince. He’s the real deal.”
Angie had hung out with the two of us about once a week since we first started dating. She had insisted on meeting him as soon as I’d told her about him. I liked that she was protective of me after everything I’d gone through. Who knew, maybe if I’d lived in the same city as Angie when I’d met Derek, she could have helped me see his true character sooner and saved me a lot of heartbreak.
Thanksgiving was a few weeks away, so they filled the shop windows in the bustling mall with Christmas decorations and signs for Black Friday sales. We were there to find Christmas presents for our parents. Thankfully, it wasn’t as busy as it would be in the coming weeks. I usually preferred the people in my books to actual people, so I avoided the mall during the holiday season.
“So, Vince invited me to fly home to San Francisco with him over Thanksgiving. He wants me to meet his mom and nonna,” I admitted to Angie, eyeing her carefully as we walked.
“Seriously?” She gaped at me. “That is fast.”
“Right? I thought so, too. I haven’t given him an answer yet, so I guess I should say no.”
Angie huffed. “I mean, it’s really cute, but emotionally... do you feel like you’re ready for that kind of... next level relationship stuff? It’s a big step that he wants you to meet them. I mean, I barely know the guy and even I can tell what a momma’s boy he is. Her opinion of you will probably matter more to him than anything else. The grandma, too.”
I chuckled. “Oh, for sure. Those women have him completely wrapped around their fingers. I’m almost more nervous about meeting them than I am about what it means for our relationship.”
“I can totally see that. Well, what does your gut say? Like, what did you feel when he first asked you?”
“Yes. I wanted to say yes. But I got nervous... so I told him I’d let him know.”
“Let’s go in here,” Angie said, pointing to a candle store. “My mom likes candles. And honestly, I think you should go then. You’re my best friend and I would love to keep you in a bubble so you don’t get hurt again, but then Derek wins. And that’s just sad. So, you go with your hot Marine piece of arm candy and meet his momma.”
“Thanks, Ang.” I smiled warmly at my friend, turning and pretending to be interested in the candles, afraid if I said anything else, I’d cry.
8
Vince
The mall is obnoxious for most of the year, but especially so during the holidays. Thankfully, the uptick in traffic usually meant I could get a few good contacts out of a trip there. I left the music store feeling pretty great, considering the group of private school kids I’d found looking at vinyl records.
I couldn't believe how good it’d turned out. They’d agreed to come in for an interv
iew and had never spoken with Marines before. They seemed like smart kids; I hadn’t seen any tattoos; and I seriously doubted they had criminal records considering the school they went to. It was the kind of school where trouble with the law would affect what college they went to, so their parents usually made those records disappear. The only hurdle would likely be the college thing. I’d have to work hard to show them the benefits of letting the Marine Corps pay for their schooling rather than their parents.
I turned the corner into the sports memorabilia store just as someone else was leaving. Reflexively, I reached out with both hands and caught her on the shoulders before she slammed right into my chest. And it was a good thing, too, since she was carrying a red fruit smoothie that would have completely ruined my tan dress uniform shirt.
“Whoa.” I steadied her, starting to laugh nervously, then realized who I’d run into.
She looked mad at first, but when recognition struck her, she beamed widely. “Vince.”
“Hey, Erika.” I quickly let go of her shoulders and straightened my uniform. “Sorry about that, I wasn’t watching.”
“Oh, it’s fine. I’m glad I ran into you. It’s been a while.”
I nodded, glancing around for an escape. “Yeah, what, about six months or so?”
“Something like that.” She twirled an auburn curl around her finger and bit her lip. “What have you been up to?”
“Ah, just working mostly. You?”
She pouted. “Actually, I just got fired. I’m so bummed. I really thought it would work out with this place.”
My mind worked hard to remember where she’d worked when we’d dated. “Was that the diner?”
“No, they fired me right after you broke up with me.” She pouted further, and I wondered if her lip would fall off if she pushed it out any more than it already was.
“Oh, I’m sorry. So, what was this place?”
“I was a receptionist at a hair salon. They said I kept overbooking clients, but I just thought their system was janky.”
“Sorry that happened, Erika.” I smiled politely and gestured to the sports store behind her. “Were you here to apply for a job?”
“Yeah, but they said they were looking for people who had more knowledge about sports. I told them my dad watched a lot of baseball when I was little, but I guess that wasn’t enough.”
I’d met Erika at a bar the first weekend I’d moved to San Diego. It was about three months before I’d met Sara, and we’d only dated for two weeks. If you could even call it ‘dating’. She was a nice girl, but just didn’t really seem right for me. I wouldn’t call her dumb, just maybe... dense? That seemed rude, too. She was nice, though. At the end of the day, as attractive as she was, I could never see myself bringing her home to meet my mom and nonna. Her outfit today almost punctuated why that wouldn’t be a good idea. She’d chosen a low-cut black tank top and skin-tight jeggings with a pair of shiny red heels. Part of me thought she wasn’t dressed for job-hunting, more like barhopping. And then the other part of me figured she thought she could get a job at the sports store just based on her looks.
“Well, I hate to cut this short, but I’m here to find people who want to join the Marines. I should probably go. It was nice to see you, though. Good luck with the job search.” As I said the words, I was smart enough to hear the stupidity in them. Here she was, looking for a job. She needed direction and self-discipline. She had nothing worthwhile going on. If this wasn’t someone worth recruiting, I didn’t know who was. However, passing the tests might be hard. She really wasn’t the brightest. But it wasn’t my job to make assumptions about that.
“Good to see you, too,” she replied and started to walk away.
“Wait, Erika, have you ever considered joining the military?”
She raised a brow at me, tossing her hair over her shoulder flirtatiously. “Do you think I’d be good at it?”
I nodded, my ninja-recruiter skills in place. “Absolutely. Maybe all those closed doors were just leading you this way.”
Erika brightened considerably. “Yeah, maybe you’re right. It’s like fate, bringing us back together.”
Our need for a grad female was always strong, so I pushed down my desire to flee from her advances, as well as any judgments about her ability to pass the ASVAB. “Do you want to come back to the office for an interview? We can make sure you’re qualified and get some preliminary paperwork done.”
She nodded enthusiastically and threw her arms around my neck. I flinched, worried about the red smoothie she still held, and said a silent prayer it hadn’t spilled on my shirt. Gently, I unclasped her arms from around me and held her at arm's length.
“Okay,” I said, putting my most professional smile in place. “Let’s get started.”
Two painful hours later, Erika was in the back office taking her practice ASVAB. It had taken forever to get through all the screening questions because she wouldn’t stop her incessant reminiscing and flirting. Cooper had immediately recognized her, as he’d been with me at the bar the night I’d met her and a couple of other nights we’d gone out with her before I’d ended things. Cooper had been leaning back on his chair with his feet on his desk, and the sight of Erika walking through the door with me had nearly made him topple over.
“I bet she’ll get a thirteen. Tops,” Cooper said. “And I’m being generous. I’ve got twenty on her getting less than fifteen.”
I threw a wadded-up piece of paper at him. “Shut up man, you know I still need a second contract this month. And I’d get brownie points for the grad female. Keep your fingers crossed she passes. I’ll gladly take your money.”
“You’d need a miracle, bro.” Cooper shook his head and went back to the list of leads he was calling as Sara walked in the door holding a cup of coffee.
“Hey.” I stood and crossed to her, gratefully taking the coffee and kissing her on the cheek. “How are you?”
“Good, we’ve had a busy day so far, but I figured I’d bring you this. How’s it going?”
I wagged my eyebrows conspiratorially. “I’ve got someone on the practice test right now. Fingers crossed she gets a high enough score to move on.”
Cooper snorted behind me and I tossed a dirty look at him over my shoulder.
“That’s good, I hope she does well,” Sara said, crossing to the couch. “What’s on today?”
“Battle: Los Angeles,” I replied, taking a seat next to her and drinking my coffee. We always had a movie playing that featured Marines, whether it was a documentary or a Hollywood blockbuster. We tried to cycle through them as often as we could since we could only take so much Full Metal Jacket.
Erika exited the room where she’d been taking the test and sauntered over to us. I stood, placing my coffee on the small table that sat in front of the couch. “How did it go?”
Erika shrugged. “It said I got a thirty-two. Is that good?”
“Good enough,” Cooper mumbled, taking out a twenty and placing it at the edge of his desk.
I didn’t acknowledge his money, just put my hand up to high-five Erika. “Great job.”
“That means I can join? I’m so excited.” She ducked under my raised arm and went in for a hug instead.
I cleared my throat and patted her shoulders, then gently untangled myself from her grasp. “Let’s go over your next steps.”
“I’m ready. Let’s do this.” She clapped her hands enthusiastically, then turned to Sara on the couch. “Are you joining, too?”
Sara shook her head. “Oh, no, I’m just the coffee girl.”
“Hah. You’re a lot more than the coffee girl, though I do appreciate the coffee,” I said with a wink, stooping to pick up my coffee and gesturing to her in toast.
“Is she like, your girlfriend?” Erika asked with a slight curl to her upper lip.
I glanced at Sara, who raised a brow, then back at Erika. I didn’t think I could feel any more awkward. “Yes, she is.”
“I see.” Erika looked Sara up and do
wn, her lips fully formed into a look of disgust now. “And does she know about us?”
I was wrong, I absolutely could have felt more awkward, because now I did. Immediately, Sara’s eyes flashed with hurt and anger, and I knew this conversation would need addressing later. The number one thing I’d been working on with Sara was getting her to trust me. She needed to see there was such a thing as a good guy who wasn’t a liar and a cheat. Slowly but surely, the wariness in her eyes had been fading over the last three months. And yet, Erika ruined all my progress with one stupid sentence.
9
Sara
It was all I could do to keep my cool. If I could be cool during the worst moment of my life six months prior, I could be cool with this bimbo in front of me. I rose slowly from the couch and smiled tightly at Vince, then at Cooper, who’d turned to watch the scene. “I’m going to head back to work. We’ll talk later.”
“Uh, yeah. I’ll come over after you close.” Vince said, crossing his arms over his chest as he let me walk past him and out the door. He was staring daggers at the girl and didn’t stop me when I left.
When I made it into the bookstore, it was all I could do not to lean back against the cool glass doors and cry. The customers didn’t deserve that kind of mess, however. I straightened my back and smiled at everyone I made eye contact with as I made my way to the back room. My only dramatic slip-up on the way was when I’d glared bitterly at the empty table where Vince and I had our nightly coffee dates. Once safely inside the back office, I grabbed my sweater off the desk chair and screamed into it, pressing the soft fabric against my open mouth to muffle the sound.
Forever With You Page 5
