by Deb Rotuno
He was more like my older brother, having stayed with us through most of his teen years…and mine. He’d then gone off to college right before I’d started my junior year. He’d hated it, but he’d tried, if only for my parents. He’d come home just after I’d joined the Army.
He seemed overly happy, enthusiastic, about being at the bar, but when he looked at me, I could see the truth. It was the same thing with the rest of my family. What no one would say while they looked at me with a frightened look in their eyes was that they were scared shitless about my new orders.
Afghanistan.
Joel and I shipped out in a week for a tour overseas. We’d been given leave to get our families and lives in order. We’d met in basic and had been friends ever since we realized we were from the same area of Oregon. He was from Gresham, not far from my tiny town of Sandy. He wasn’t all that close with his family, so I’d brought him home with me. We’d driven over from Fort Warner. My parents and Derek had welcomed him with open arms. As far as they were concerned, he was simply a new member of the family.
The jukebox was pumping some slow, sappy country song when we stepped inside the bar. Derek waved to the old woman pouring beers, and we settled into a booth along the side wall. We weren’t the only ones in there. There were a few guys watching a baseball game on the TV over the bar. Three women chattered in the booth opposite us, and two guys about our age had the table in the center.
Just as I was expecting Mrs. Burke to come to us, a young girl walked in from the back room. She didn’t look old enough to drink, much less serve alcohol. She was a petite thing, her reddish-brown hair swept up into a long ponytail that swished back and forth as she checked on all the tables before making her way to us. A smirk curled up the corner of her mouth when she saw my cousin.
“Derek, the usual?”
“You know it, Sara,” he drawled, giving her a wink.
It was then that I recognized her. “Sara? Sara Stokes? The fire captain’s daughter?”
She laughed, and it was a soft, sexy sound. “That’s me, Jackson Chambers.”
I couldn’t stop my eyes from truly taking her in. The last time I’d seen her, I’d been a senior at Sandy High. She’d been a couple of years behind me. She’d been new, and the poor thing had been the center of gossip when she’d come to live with Hank. If I remembered correctly, her mother had been in a fatal car accident. She’d been thinner, not quite skinny, but she’d filled out…just fine. I remembered seeing her in the library occasionally, hiding from the whispers.
Jeans hugged her hips, and the Shelly’s Bar T-shirt she was wearing was tied in a knot at her hip.
“You know each other?” Derek asked with a laugh.
“No.” Sara chuckled. “Jack was two years ahead of me at SHS.” She turned back to me with a soft smile. “What can I get you?”
“Um…whatever’s on tap, please.”
“Got it,” she said, walking away, and my eyes drank in a sweet ass with jeans hugging it beautifully.
Derek’s laugh was practically shaking the damn table. “Careful with that one; Mr. Stokes is mighty protective of his little girl.” He smacked my shoulder before sliding out of the booth. “I’m gonna hit the head and then go outside to call Laurie back. She’s pissed I didn’t come over.”
“’Kay,” I answered, my gaze locked on Sara. When she set the beer down in front of me, I thanked her. “So…what are you doing?” I asked, rolling my eyes at the stupidity of the question. “Besides…” I waved a hand around the bar.
She laughed again. “College. In Gresham.” She nodded and smiled. “Mrs. Burke is nice enough to work with my class schedule, and when it’s slow, she lets me study in this very booth.” She tapped the tabletop. “She’s also kind enough to overlook the fact that I won’t be twenty-one until September, but I help her with her bookkeeping, so she ignores my age.”
There was something bold and confident about her now. Her eyes were a very pretty dark blue in the low lights of the room. I could tell she had minimal makeup on, yet her skin and pink cheeks were beautiful, perfect. Suddenly I wanted to know everything about her, but one question popped out of my mouth without thinking.
“You know who I am?” I asked, internally punching myself in the face for sounding like I’d never talked to a girl in my fucking life.
She hummed and nodded. “Ah, yes. You were hard to miss in school—football star, track star, not to mention the crush of every girl I knew.”
I groaned, rolling my eyes and waving that shit away. The sports, I understood. The crushes, not so much.
She smiled again but patted my shoulder. “You should know…They moved on. Well, they tried to, anyway,” she sighed dramatically, and her teasing was adorable.
“Good,” I grunted, smiling at her laughter. “I remember you.” I nodded, taking a sip of my beer. When she looked shocked, I said, “I had a girlfriend, Sara. I wasn’t blind.”
She smirked. “How is Kim?”
“Oh, good, I guess. Last I heard, she was seeing someone at college. Um, Oregon State.” I shrugged a shoulder. “We broke up when I joined the Army.”
“I heard about that. Your cousin, he’s very proud.”
Grinning, I nodded.
“He’s also worried. You’re shipping out?”
I nodded again. “Yeah, a week.”
One of the boys behind her called her name, and she nodded their way, but a dark look changed her features entirely.
“Well, it was nice seeing you again, Jack. I’ll come back to refill that in a few.” She started to step away, but she stopped, giving me an appraising look that was all kinds of sexy. “And…be safe over there, okay?”
She got a little busier when a few more people stepped in, though I caught her gaze once or twice. Derek came back but ended up in a text-fight with his latest girlfriend. Laurie was a pain in the ass, but their on-again, off-again relationship was their business and made me crazy just hearing about it.
Joel texted me back when he was leaving his parents’ place, saying he’d meet us at the bar. Derek continued to grumble about Laurie, but my gaze was on the girl working the room with a smile and grace she hadn’t had when we were in school.
She stopped by to trade full mugs for our empties but was too busy to chat, though I was beginning to think the boys at the table were doing that shit on purpose. They’d stop her, ask her things I couldn’t hear, and she’d merely shake her head, wearing a hard expression.
The place cleared out a little—the women in the other booth had gone, along with the men at the bar—leaving Derek, the guys at the table, and me.
“Crazy bitch,” Derek muttered as he glared at his phone.
I snorted. “Just go. Joel should be here by closing. He’s got my truck, so I’ll ride home with him.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, yeah.” I waved him on but looked up when someone new walked into the bar.
The bastard was huge—probably six foot five or six—and he looked like he’d already had a few drinks. He was greeted by the boys at the table.
“Brody!”
If Sara’s face was hardened with the boys, then it was pure hellfire when she caught sight of this Brody. Her eyes narrowed, her hands shook, and her mouth thinned into a tight line. She dodged his reach for her, rolling her eyes as she stepped back to our table.
“Another round?” she asked, and gone was the smiling girl. I desperately wanted her back.
“Um, Sara?” Derek started, his gaze glancing from the table to her. “You all right, darlin’?”
She sighed, forcing herself to relax and then smile. “I’m…fine. I’m ready for closing time. I’ve got a test this week and—”
“Yo, Sara. You gonna get me a beer, or what?”
I huffed a humorless laugh, glancing around her to see the guy they’d called Brody glaring my way. “Buddy, she’ll get to you when she’s damn well ready.”
Sara smiled my way, setting a hand on my shoulder. “It
’s fine, Jack. Really.” She turned to face the table. “The answer to that question would be no, Brody. You’re not old enough, though it appears that someone gave you some anyway. Perhaps you should go back to them. I’m sure I know who it was.” The last part was mumbled, but we all heard her.
Brody actually had the nerve to look ashamed, and it didn’t take me long to put the puzzle together.
“Boyfriend?” I asked softly, and her sad eyes locked to mine.
“Ex.”
“He cheated.”
She nodded, her nose wrinkling. “Among other things. We’ve been broken up for a while now…ever since I found out.”
My lip curled in hatred, not because Brody was a fucking loser but because she looked so damn betrayed. I glanced over to Derek, who was wearing a calm yet focused expression on his face as Brody stood up from his chair, babbling about apologies and promises and shit Sara wasn’t paying a bit of attention to.
It was Sara’s flinch that had me reaching out to touch her. Tilting her face gently with my fingers underneath her chin, I asked, “Did he hurt you?”
She shook her head. “Not the way you’re thinking. I just…The thought of him touching me…”
Smiling her way, I nodded. “Understood. Then you might want to move to your right in about three seconds.” I raised an eyebrow at her, standing the exact moment she stepped to the side, which brought me face to face with the highly inebriated ex-boyfriend. I felt more than saw Derek stand up at the same time. And suddenly, everyone in the bar was on their feet.
I specifically placed myself between Brody and Sara, smiling ruefully up at him. I didn’t give a fuck how big he was.
“Didn’t you hear me, Sara?” he slurred, trying to step around me, but I was way more aware than he was. “I said, what you saw was bullshit. It wasn’t what you thought. Can’t we talk? Just talk.”
“Go home, Brody,” Sara said wearily as she stepped up beside me. “There’s nothing to talk about.” Turning to me, she placed a hand on my shoulder. “Sit, Jack. You too, Derek. I’ll bring another round.”
“Thanks,” I said, not taking my eyes off her, but I knew he’d reach for her the second she walked by, and he did.
“Don’t touch me, Brody. I’m serious,” she sneered, rounding on him.
“I just want to talk about this, Sara.”
“There’s nothing to talk about. Get out.”
When he didn’t let go, I moved before Derek could, and my hand landed in the middle of Brody’s chest, giving him an urging push.
“Let her go,” I warned him.
“You wanna quit eye-fucking my girl?” he asked, turning my way, but he still hadn’t let go of her arm. “This is between us. Mind your business.”
“You realize who her dad is, right?” Derek drawled, standing next to me. “I mean, you can’t be that stupid…or drunk. Let her go.”
That caught the attention of his friends, and one or two shifted nervously on their feet. Brody’s hand slowly released Sara’s arm, and Derek urged her to go behind the bar.
“Go home, sleep this shit off, and you’ll realize just how badly you fucked up,” I told him with a smile, glancing her way, only to meet his gaze with a laugh. “’Cause you really fucked up.”
I knew he would swing. It was in his posture, in the emotions written all over his face, and in the temper he had no control over. When he did, I ducked, pushing him a little.
“This wouldn’t be a fair fight, buddy,” I told him, shaking my head. “You’re way too drunk…”
“And he’s way too trained,” Derek tacked on with a laugh, only to groan when the bastard came my way again. “Oh, Jackson…he is that stupid.”
Brody swung at me again, a sloppy roundhouse punch that wouldn’t have done much damage, but I avoided it, finally sweeping my leg beneath his, causing him to fall to his ass. When he scrambled up, he launched everything he had my way. It was over before it truly began. I punched his stomach, just to bring him up short, and then put his ass back on the floor, only this time I dropped a knee to his chest.
“You want a fight? I can give you one,” I threatened low in his face. “But I fucking promise you, your ass will still end up on this floor. Only bloody and broken. Get out, and leave her alone. Respect that, or her father will find out exactly what you did here. I’m sure Mrs. Burke is about five seconds from picking up the phone.”
“Ah, ah, ah, boys,” Derek warned in a sing-song manner. “Not your rodeo. Keep it fair.”
When I glanced up to see Derek holding back Brody’s friends, Brody took advantage, swinging one more time. He caught me in the mouth, cutting my lip a little.
I was just about to beat the ever-loving piss out of him when a baseball bat appeared. I followed it up to see Sara holding it.
“Brody Matthews, if you don’t get up and out of here, not only will I use this, but I’ll call my dad, who happens to be having dinner with the police chief and his wife tonight.”
Large hands gripped my shoulders, yanking me up off the guy. Turning, I saw Joel standing there.
“You’d have killed him, bro,” he warned, shaking his head.
Nodding, I sat down hard in the booth, swiping at my lip and frowning at the blood on my hand. I heard Derek and Joel helping the boys out of the bar, saying something about paying their tab, but my vision was cut off by Sara standing in front of me.
“Be still,” she ordered softly, holding a towel with ice in it to my lip. “I don’t think you need stitches, but…”
I shook my head, my gaze raking up her body to meet her dark eyes.
“You didn’t have to do that, you know,” she chided, shaking her head. “He would’ve gotten tired of me ignoring him and left.”
“You didn’t want him touching you. He was too drunk to see reason.”
She smiled, checking my lip and placing the ice back on. “You always rescue waitresses in bars?”
I laughed, shaking my head. “Only ones I want to get to know better.”
“Ah, gotcha. So how’d this plan of yours work out?”
“I don’t know. You tell me. Can I see you again before I leave?” I asked her, ignoring Joel and Derek coming back in the door.
She smiled and nodded. “Yeah, I’d like that.”
“Damn, you are so pretty,” I said, noting that we were eye to eye as she stood between my legs. “And short.”
“Hey!” She laughed, smacking playfully at me.
“Hey, Sara,” Mrs. Burke called, a smile on her face. “Let’s blow this Popsicle stand.”
“Closing time,” Sara told me, her eyes a touch sad.
“I’ll wait. You know, walk you to your car.”
“’Kay.”
Derek and Joel waited out in the parking lot as I walked the women out the bar. Sara pointed to her car, and I followed her to it.
Shaking my head, I sighed. I had thought joining the Army, getting out of this town, would help me find myself. Turned out, it wasn’t me I was looking for, and she’d been here all along.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
I laughed a little. “I’m glad I met you, but…”
Sara frowned. “But now you’re leaving.”
“Into each life some rain must fall,” I said, quoting the poem my dad loved so much and shrugging a shoulder. “I’ll be back. But I’d still like to see you before I go.”
Sara reached into her pocket and placed a folded piece of paper in my hand. “It’s my e-mail and phone…my address. Call me.” She had to stand up on her toes to kiss my cheek, and I chuckled.
“Sure thing, Shortcake.”
“Shut up!” She laughed, but I could tell she liked the teasing when her cheeks tinged pink. “And…thank you, Jack.”
Nodding, I backed away from her car so she could pull out.
When I joined Derek and Joel, both were wearing shit-eating grins.
“Well, Jacky?” Joel asked me. “Was the fight worth it?”
Holding up her note, I la
ughed. “Hell, yes.”
Dexter Air Force Base, Florida
I stepped out of the shower—and out of that memory—missing Sara more than I could probably articulate. However, if anything made me more determined to get back to her, it was that memory alone.
Smiling to myself, I remembered that week in Sandy. I’d hung out with my parents and Derek, usually along with Joel, but it was the few times I got to see Sara that changed everything. We’d had so much in common, and my attraction to her had grown by leaps and bounds. Our last night together, I’d never wanted to kiss a girl so badly in my damn life. And I did, but with that amazing, deep kiss had come a sense of guilt.
I’d been leaving, heading into a war zone, and despite my confidence, there was the chance I wouldn’t come home. And it had been Sara to set everything about us into motion. As we’d swayed to music around closing time at Shelly’s Bar, I’d explained how I couldn’t promise her anything, but I wanted to, that it wasn’t fair to keep her waiting.
Her stunning face had lit up with a soft but sad smile as she’d cupped my jaw. She’d merely said, “Why don’t you let me worry about what’s fair to me? Hmm? You concentrate on staying safe over there, and I’ll be here when you get back.”
I’d kissed her stupid, kissed her until I had to go, until she had to close up. Leaving her that first time was the hardest thing I’d ever done. I’d more than wanted to stay, to learn everything about her, and to make love to her in every way imaginable, but those long seven and a half months had made us stronger, closer, better. We’d learned everything about each other through the written word, sporadic phone calls, and amazing care packages.
I’d also learned that she’d been one of the many crushing girls she’d teased me about.
Snorting into a chuckle as I pulled on fresh clothes, I shook my head. God, I loved her. I’d loved her before I’d even left Sandy for Afghanistan, I was pretty damn sure. I’d busted my ass those seven months to get back to her. I’d stayed safe, careful, calling her when I could. At that very moment, I’d have killed to hear her voice. That, more than anything, made my decision to drive across this now fucked-up country to get to her. I was scared about what was out there, but I was absolutely fucking terrified about what could happen to her or Freddie…or both. Failure to make it to Clear Lake was not a fucking option.
