“You do worry about every little thing, don’t you, my friend?” Marla bumped her lightly with an elbow. “You don’t need to be concerned about ‘poor Cluny.’ He’s a big boy who’s weathered a lot worse than a woman in distress. He’s paid a heavy price, but he’s solid.”
“You’re right.” She reached in her pocket for a scrunchy and pulled her blowing hair into a ponytail. “I upset Santos too. I’m a mess.”
“Yes, you are, but trust me it’s temporary, you’ll figure it out.” Marla stooped to pick up a newspaper on the sidewalk in front of a neighbor’s house. She stepped across the lawn and tossed it to the porch. “Mr. Johnson’s knees are bothering him. He’ll appreciate not having to walk so far.”
“You’re so thoughtful, Marla.” Graciella felt fortunate to have made such a friend. Marla’s confession about how conflicted she’d been when she’d fallen in love was encouraging. Everyone had fears and conflicts. “So, are we going shopping for sexy dresses Wednesday after our guys get home from work?”
“Absolutely. Now that I don’t have to be concerned about keeping my hands off Dwayne to avoid pregnancy, I plan to live it up. Watch out, Dempsey, you’ll never know what hit you.”
Graciella laughed. “You’re a very bad girl and he’s a lucky man.”
“We’re both lucky. We love each other and we have two great kids.”
Cluny, Santos, and Queen were waiting for her on the front porch when they got back to Marla’s. They wore identical wrinkled-brow expressions. She smiled, and it was comical how quickly they relaxed. She shouldn’t have put them through this drama. She’d do better because they deserved better.
Marla passed them without a word and went inside the house.
Graciella sighed and stepped into Cluny’s embrace then pulled Santos in with them. “Shall we go home?”
“Guess what, Mama? Amber’s grandpa gave me a swimming lesson. He said if I was going to be a SEAL, I’d have to be a strong swimmer. They have a swimming pool and everything, and he said me and Amber can come over there any time we want to. Oh, and her grandma made popcorn for us when we got out of the water.”
“Isn’t that nice? How did you do?” She kissed his forehead, noticing she didn’t have to bend much because he’d grown taller in the past couple of months.
“Pretty good. I even opened my eyes under the water, and I wasn’t scared.”
A stab of fear sliced into her at the thought of him going into a swimming pool without her there to watch out for him. He was afraid of the water.
Stop it! He’s fine!
Cluny held his arms around their shoulders and walked them to his car. He opened the passenger door and pushed the seat forward to allow Queen and Santos into the back. He whispered in her ear. “I love you, baby.”
“Amo-te,” she whispered back.
Cluny jumped in the driver’s seat and turned the key. “We’ll be home before you know it.” He headed down the dark street to his house a few blocks away.
Aware of him turning his head to glance at her every few seconds, Graciella put her hand on his leg and squeezed, and then she shivered and hugged her upper arms.
“Are you cold, baby?”
“I got chilled when walking with Marla. I’ll be fine.”
“Santos? Is my denim jacket back there?”
“Yes, it’s rolled up in the pocket behind Mama’s seat. Do you want it?”
“Thanks, buddy. Hand it to your mom, she’s cold.” He brushed his knuckles across her cheek.
She turned in the seat. “Never mind. We’ll be home before I can get into it.” She rubbed Cluny’s thigh. His muscles were hard and tense. “I’m fine. You can warm me up when we get there.”
He flicked his eyes away from the road and let out a pent-up breath. “Ooh-rah.”
It was so good to see him relax and smile. She berated herself for putting him through distress when it was so unnecessary.
“Santos, I’ll bet you’re exhausted after playing baseball all afternoon and then your swimming lesson.”
“I am. Macfearsome said we could sleep late in the morning because it’s Sunday, and he’ll make blueberry waffles for breakfast. They’re my most favorite. Then we’re going to watch the Dodger’s game then the Angel’s game on his giant TV in the afternoon, and maybe grill steaks for dinner after.” He yawned. “I’m sleepy.”
“Ah hah, I can see my men have a strenuous day planned.” She poked Cluny’s arm. “If you wake up in the night and see my bedroom door open, don’t worry. I’ll be with Cluny in his room.”
Cluny drew a sharp breath and turned into his driveway.
Santos yawned again. “OK, but I’m so tired I won’t wake up until tomorrow.”
Cluny caught Santos’s eye in the rear view mirror. “Before we go in the house, let’s you and I take Queen for a short walk, sailor. Mom can take a warm shower and put on her pretty purple robe while we’re out.”
“That’ll make you all toasty, won’t it, Mama?”
“Yes, it will, but come in and grab your sweater off the hook in the hall.” She stepped out of the car. “You too, Cluny. The temperature is dropping fast tonight.”
Cluny grinned at Santos. “Guess we better do what Mom says.”
* * *
“Why does Queen have her nose up and wiggling like that, Macfearsome? I don’t smell anything, do you?”
Cluny let Queen off leash. “She’s scenting. Old habits are hard to break. Part of her training as a war dog was sniffing out explosives and finding bad guys. There’s little chance she’ll find either in this town. Sometimes she forgets she’s retired.”
“Oh.” Santos looked into his eyes. “Do you know why Mama was crying today?”
He’d been pretty sure the question was coming and he had chased several responses around in his head. “She’s not used to you being away from her. I imagine she got real anxious when nobody was home at Dempsey’s and they didn’t answer my phone call.”
“Gee whiz, I’m not a baby anymore. I don’t know why she worries about me so much. I almost hardly never ever do anything bad. Auntie Krystal says I’m a goody-two-shoes, and Grandpa Earl says I’m just like my dad when he was a boy. He never got in trouble either.”
Cluny stopped and whistled for Queen. “Well, buddy, moms are supposed to protect their children, so that’s why they worry. As long as you don’t give her reason to be concerned, she’ll gradually come around to the idea that you’re growing up and you know how to be responsible.”
“Do you love Mama? Do you want to sleep with her? Amber said grownups who love each other like to cuddle together in the same bed every night.”
Oh boy! Leave it to Amber.
The hair on the back of Cluny’s neck prickled.
“Yes, son, I do love your mother and I like to have her close to me. Let’s get back home now so you can get to bed.” First chance he got he’d tell Dwayne and Marla about Amber’s imparted wisdom. They’d all share a good laugh over that one.
In the meantime, he and Graciella would have a discussion about what happened today, before Santos came up with more pointed questions they hadn’t prepared answers for.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“You comfortable, baby?”
Graciella shifted and laid her leg over his. She snuggled deeper into his side. “Yes, but we’ve been talking for hours. We should get some sleep.”
He stroked her bare hip wanting this new level of intimacy to go on and on. “We’re sleeping late tomorrow, remember?” The mass of her hair lay strewn across his neck, shoulder, and chest. He threaded his fingers through the silken strands, stuck his nose deep in her tresses, and sniffed. “You smell good enough to eat. I think I’ll—”
She smacked his hand. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned since we moved in here, it’s that you never sleep in. You and that dog—she’s sleeping on my foot—are up running the hills around here while it’s still dark every morning. I could set my watch by the time you two close the fr
ont door.”
“You know all my secrets, huh? I should have thought of that before I invited you to move in, but it’s too late now.”
“Yes, poor you.” Her fingers fluttered across his lips.
Any secrets he’d lose were a small price to pay for having this woman in his arms. That day at the beach, when he looked into the sun and watched her strolling toward him like a vision, seemed a dream now. From that day to this night was proof miracles do happen.
“Amor?”
“Hmm?”
“Are you sure I can’t sleep here with you?”
“You remember what happened the other night.”
“I also remember we slept through the night on your couch. You didn’t have a nightmare then.”
He chuckled. “It was a fluke.” No way was he getting his hopes up to the possibility that having her in his bed was a solution to the unpredictable and recurring dreams. “That’s because you were on top of me and had me pinned down.”
She raised her head and crawled on top of him. “Let’s try it again.”
His arousal was spontaneous. “I don’t know if this is a good way to fall asleep. I’m…uh…well, it’s obvious what I am.”
“Ignore it. Go to sleep.”
“Never happen.”
“It’s an order, Marine.”
“You’ve been spending too much time with Marla.”
“Shut up and go to sleep.”
“Sheesh. Another order.”
She nipped his collarbone. “Get used to it.”
He grinned into the darkness, put his arms around her, and rocked from side to side. “I’ll give it a shot but no promises.” Get used to it? There was nothing he wanted more.
Queen’s nose sniffing his ear was the next thing to penetrate his awareness. Her barely audible whine had him alert and awake. Rolling his head to the side, he read the digital display on his clock. Five fifty. “I’ll be damned.” He’d slept nearly five hours without so much as a twitch. Queen hopped off the bed and stood staring at him in the early light. Time for our run, she told him.
Very gently, he slipped out from under Graciella. She murmured and rolled to her side exposing her bare back and bottom. Grinning, resisting the urge to wake her with a kiss, he pulled the sheet up and over her shoulder. It wouldn’t be good if Santos came looking for her and found her half naked.
He took his running clothes from the hook on the back of the closet door and crept down the hall to the living room. The only sound in the house had been Queen’s toenails tapping on the hall floor when she followed him. “Time for you to visit the groomer, girl.”
He sat on the front porch step to put on his running shoes, breathed in the cold early morning air, stood and stretched. Taking off at a lope, he laughed when Queen tore out ahead of him claiming the lead in the familiar five-mile route. “What’s your hurry?” He shook his head at her joy in exercising her boundless energy. He had a good deal of extra vigor himself this morning.
Cluny wasn’t naïve enough to think sleeping with Graciella was the simple solution to his ongoing struggle with the paralyzed-and-helpless nightmare. His tension rested on a knife-edge. No matter which way he moved, somebody was going to get hurt. Graciella was fragile. She put up the front of a strong and self-sufficient single mom, but underneath something wasn’t adding up. They’d had a good long talk last night, but she’d held something back.
She’d been more stressed over Jamal than she’d let on, hence her breakdown yesterday. Cluny had restrained from underestimating her concerns or offering meaningless platitudes to soothe her. He knew the phenomenon of continuous tension and how it could erupt without warning. Living a normal life since he’d left the Marines had taken a toll on him.
Maybe he should find a desolate mountaintop where they could go and scream into the wind at the top of their voices until they got it all out.
Long quiet talks like the one they’d had last night would be more beneficial to them in the long run. And he certainly wanted that long run with Graciella. They’d open up to each other little by little, he hoped. If that long run didn’t work out, his heart would break.
He whistled for Queen then bent over and rested his hands on his knees. Glancing at his watch, he grinned. They’d surpassed his goal. Cut a good five minutes off their usual time. He jogged down the hill and waved to a grandmotherly woman who lived two doors away from him.
She held the Sunday paper. Shaking her head in a disapproving fashion, she called, “Keep that damn mutt of yours on a leash!”
“Kiss my ass, Bertie.”
“I would, but you run too fast.” She grinned and waved. “Slow down for an old woman, why don’t you?”
Cluny laughed and slowed to a walk. “How’s this?”
“Still too fast, but I’ll catch you one of these mornings.”
“Eat your Wheaties, Bertie. I’m looking forward to it.” He waved over his shoulder and smacked his leg for Queen to get in step with him.
Lights glowed from the kitchen window. He wondered who was up, opened the gate, and ushered Queen into the back yard. He tapped on the window.
Santos peeked out.
“Unlock the back door, son.”
Santos opened the door and stepped out in his bare feet. “You and Queen finished your run already? I’m still making the coffee. I didn’t remember the filters were in the dishtowel drawer. When are you going to cook the waffles?”
Cluny kicked off his shoes in the laundry room and followed Santos to the kitchen. “Take that package of blueberries out of the freezer and let them thaw while I take my shower. Where’s Mom?”
“She’s asleep in your bed. I’ve been real quiet.” He put a finger to his lips. “She must be tired.”
“Yeah, we talked late into the night. I’ll sneak in the bedroom for my robe then take my shower in your bathroom so I won’t disturb her. Between us we’ll have breakfast ready when she decides to get up.” He turned to go and stopped. “Do me a favor, pal. I didn’t fill Queen’s water pan by the outside faucet. Will you do that for me?”
“I’ll do it now before I finish the coffee, Macfearsome.”
“Good man. Leave her outside, OK?”
He walked quietly in his stocking feet, avoiding the one squeaky board in front of his bedroom door. He’d left it like that on purpose as a Mickey Mouse alert warning. It gave him a sense of security when he turned out the lights at night.
He slipped sidewise through the partially open door with the squeaky hinge for the same reason and tiptoed to his closet to lift his robe from the hook. Graciella was out like a light and didn’t even alter her breathing. If they’d been alone in the house, he’d have been tempted to slip under the sheets and wish her a proper good morning. Lord knew the sight of her in his bed had him locked and loaded.
Cluny and Santos were having a cup of coffee at the small kitchen table when Graciella shuffled in, hair sleep-tossed. She looked so luscious and sexy. It was all he could do to breathe. “Good morning, beautiful. Sit and have a cup of coffee.”
She yawned. “Are you drinking coffee, Santos?”
“Yes, Mama.” He jumped up and brought a mug and the pot to the table.
“How many cups have you had?” She wrapped a hand around the back of her head and pulled the mountain of wavy hair over one shoulder then wrinkled her nose in Cluny’s direction.
Cluny raised his mug. “This is our first cup. Right, sailor?”
“Right, Macfearsome.”
Graciella filled her mug, picked it up with both hands and inhaled the strong aroma. “Why do I sense a conspiracy?”
Instead of answering, Cluny stared at her with wide-eyed innocence, exchanged a look with Santos, and concentrated on their nearly full mugs.
Graciella took a long, slow sip and sighed. “Next thing I know you’ll be letting him drink beer.”
“Macfearsome only has root beer in the refrigerator.”
Cluny bumped fists with him. “That’s right, buddy
. The only beer drinker in this house is her.”
Graciella’s eyes slitted. “Hmm.”
* * *
Her man and her boy ganged up on her with their easy familiarity. You’d think they’d been together for years. They shared a hidden language she wasn’t privy to. A male thing she was more than happy to let Santos share with Cluny. She didn’t need to insert herself between them to protect her son from growing up. He would anyway, with or without Cluny’s masculine influence. Influence Santos craved and emulated. It pained her to admit he was a more positive male role model than Marvin. But Santos didn’t need to have his hero worship of Marvin tarnished.
“So why am I sitting here drinking coffee when there’s no sign of breakfast, huh?” She widened her eyes at Cluny first then Santos. “Get cracking. I’m hungry.”
Cluny pushed back his chair. He rounded the table and kissed her on the lips. “Yes, ma’am, we’ve got you covered. Blueberry waffles coming right up.”
Santos followed him to the big island. “What do you want me to do?”
“Empty those blueberries into a cereal bowl and find the bacon. I think it’s in the fridge deli drawer. Do you know how to cook bacon in the microwave?”
“No, but you can tell me. I’ll make another pot of coffee.”
“Make it decaf,” Graciella instructed.
“Good thinking.” Cluny lifted a waffle iron from a drawer in the island and cleaned the surface with a paper towel. Graciella pushed back her chair. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“The shower?”
“Sit yourself right back down in that chair. No way am I going to allow you to take away my view of the real Graciella Jefferson. You’re my inspiration.”
“I must look like a car wreck. I didn’t even have the courage to check in the mirror before I walked in here.”
Santos giggled. “Mama always says that in the morning.”
Love of a Marine (The Wounded Warriors Series Book 2) Page 24
