by Allie Able
After breakfast I went home to shower and change clothes, only to return a short time later to spend the day with Katie. I’m obsessed. That’s the only way I can describe this pull I feel. I want to spend every moment I have with her. She was right when she said I would be leaving soon. I have just under 3 weeks, before I go back out on tour, and then I will be gone for 6 months. The first month I will be completely unreachable and then after that, communication will be sporadic at best. I just have to remember that this will be the last time. I have to wonder what will happen when I come home for good? Will we just pick up where we left off? I have never had a woman waiting on me to come home. I push back all of my worries for now, I want to enjoy my time with Katie. I’ll stress about everything else later.
Katie’s parents and Abbi should be here any minute and to be honest, I’m a little nervous. I usually pride myself on being a laid back guy, but I think my palms are actually sweating right now. I know Abbi, but I’ve never met her parents. Shit, I’ve never met any woman’s parents. I pop the top on my beer and take a healthy swallow.
I hear Katie’s laugh and I turn my head towards her. She is standing by the oven, stirring the pasta. “Are you nervous, Mr. Sinclaire?”
“I wipe my hands down my jeans. “I’m never nervous,” I scoff.
She raises an eyebrow at me. “Really?” she asks, with a smirk.
“Nope.” I walk over to her and wrap my arms around her waist. Throughout the day, we’ve had a few stolen kisses, and one heavy make-out session, but there hasn’t been much time for other activities. Every time I touch her, she leans into me and I fucking love it.
I bend down and kiss up the side of her neck, right as the door bell rings. “Okay, I’m a little nervous,” I admit, squeezing her closer to me.
She turns in my arms and gives me a quick kiss on the mouth, before walking away.
“Oh, is my big bad Marine scared of my parents and a little girl?” she says, over her shoulder.
I would respond with a joke of my own, but I’m stuck on the way she referred to me as hers. That sounded so perfect coming out of her mouth and I would do anything to hear her say it as much as possible.
I watch as she opens the door and Abbi comes running inside. Katie wraps her arms around Abbi and hugs her tight. The expression on her face is something I’ve never seen from her before and I’m completely captivated that I don’t notice the two other people in the room staring at me.
Katie let’s go of Abbi to give each of her parents a hug.
Abbi looks around her mom and sees me standing in the kitchen. “Mom, Nick’s here!” she exclaims loudly.
I smile wide at the excitement I hear in her voice. “Hi, Abbi.”
My eyes go to Katie’s parents, who are looking at me like I’m a mythological creature.
I walk closer to Katie’s parents, so I can introduce myself, only to be stopped by an overly excited ten-year-old. Her arms fold around my waist and she squeezes hard. I close my eyes and hug her back, wondering how I can miss a little girl I hardly know. When I open my eyes again, I look at Katie. Her expression is a mix of tender and wary. I understand why she feels that way, but it doesn’t feel good to know that she thinks I’m going to hurt them. Abbi pulls back and looks up at me, while bouncing up and down.
“Guess what, Nick?”
“What?” I smile.
“Mom said I can finally get a kitty! Isn’t that awesome?”
“That’s so awesome. Are you going to get it from the shelter?”
“Yep. Mom says that those kitties need extra love, when they find a home.”
“Your mom sounds like a smart lady. My dad always said that too.” I wink at her.
“Alright, Abbi, go put your bag in your room. Dinner should be ready soon.” Katie says, smiling down at her daughter.
Abbi nods her head and runs toward her bedroom, leaving me in the most awkward situation that I’ve ever been in. I clear my throat and stick my hand out towards Katie’s dad. “It’s nice to meet you, sir, I’m Nicholas Sinclaire.”
He looks at my hand before looking over at Katie and then back at me. His hand comes out to shake mine, as he smiles wide.
“I know who you are, son. Abbi talks about you from time to time. I guess what I’m wondering is, why are you at my daughter’s house eating dinner?”
“Dad!” Katie scolds.
“What Allan is trying to say is, its nice to meet you, Nick,” Katie’s mom says, with an eye roll.
Allan laughs and let’s go of my hand. “I’m just messing with you. It’s nice to meet you, Nick.”
Katie’s mom steps forward and gives me a quick unexpected hug. “It’s nice to meet you, Nick. I’m Rita,” she says.
“It’s nice to meet you too, Ma’am,” I say, stepping closer to Katie, who looks amused at my awkwardness.
“Nope, don’t call me Ma’am, just Rita will do. I’m not that old yet. Katie, do you have any wine?” she asks. She sets her purse down and walks towards the kitchen.
“Yep, I have white in the fridge. Dad, do you want a beer?”
Allan nods his head and we follow Rita towards the kitchen.
After Katie has poured her and her mom a glass of wine she passes me and her dad our beers.
“How long are you home for, Nick?” Allan asks, surprising me.
“Just about two more weeks, Sir. This will be my last tour though,” I respond. My eyes wander over to Katie and I watch her laugh with her mom as she stirs the pasta.
“Is that right?” Allan says in amusement.
I’m saved from any more questions, when Abbi runs back into the kitchen.
“I’m hungry, Mom,” she says.
“Well, good thing dinner’s ready. Y’all go ahead and go into the dining room. I’ll bring the pasta and bread,” Katie says.
I stay behind and help her carry everything and I can’t help but steal a quick kiss. “You’re doing fine,” she mumbles against my lips.
I exhale and kiss her on the forehead, before grabbing the pasta dish and walking towards the dinning room. I’ve detonated bombs, I’ve had many bullets shot at me and I’ve almost been blown up by an IED, but I don’t think I have ever been more nervous than I am right now.
* * *
As it turned out, I had absolutely nothing to be nervous about. Katie’s parents are probably the nicest people I have ever met. They are down to earth and fun to be around. I think they could sense I was nervous because they didn’t ask any prying questions. We mostly listened to Abbi talk about school and gymnastics. It’s impressive how smart she is for her age. She also told me all about what kind of kitten she wanted. Before I knew it, dinner was over and Katie’s parents were leaving.
“It was so nice to finally meet you, Nick,” Rita says, giving me another hug.
“It was nice to meet you too.”
Allan sticks his hand out for me to shake. “I hope we see you again soon.”
“You too, Sir.” I respond, and he shakes his head.
“Drop the Sir, son. Just call me Allan.” He is still shaking my hand, as he leans in closer to me. “If I don’t see you before you go back out, you be safe over there. Thank you for your service, son.” He pats me on the back a couple of times, before dropping my hand.
I nod my head in response. People tell us that when we are out in the States in uniform a lot, but it means more coming from Katie’s dad. I want him to like me and knowing that I have his respect is a pretty fucking good feeling.
Katie gives both of her parents a hug, before walking them out the front door.
She comes back inside and looks at me. Abbi is in the shower, getting ready for bed, so I know we are alone. I walk towards her and wrap my arms around her waist. “Thank you,” I say against her lips.
“For what?” she asks.
“For letting me have dinner with you and your family,” I say, pulling back and looking down at her eyes.
She smiles softly. “Anytime.”
I lean back down and t
ake her mouth in a kiss that is deep and hard. I really don’t want to go, but I know she needs to get Abbi ready for bed. I lean back and kiss her forehead. “I need to get going,” I mumble. I’m happy to see that she doesn’t look thrilled about me leaving either. I reluctantly let her go and step back to grab my jacket. “Tell Abbi I said bye and that I’ll see her later.”
Katie smiles and nods her head. “I will.”
I put my jacket on and she walks me to the door. I bend down one more time to kiss her soft cheek. “Bye, kitten.”
She rolls her eyes and chuckles lightly. “Bye, Nick.”
I walk to my truck, with the stupidest smile on my face, and I don’t give two fucks that I probably look like a pathetic asshole. My life is pretty damn perfect right now.
Chapter Nine
Katie
I LOVE EARLY MORNINGS, WHEN it feels like the rest of the world is sleeping and it’s just me, the sunrise, and my coffee.
With work and Abbi, it sometimes feels like this is the only time I get to myself to just think. Usually my thoughts are more like, what I have going on that day or what I will cook for dinner, but today my thoughts go directly to Nick. He is so damn handsome I wonder what he sees in me. I know I’m an attractive woman. I’m not vain, I’m confident, and I always have been.
Sure, my confidence took a beating after Greg kicked me to the curb, but I know that shit is on him. No, my reasonings are a little bit more complex. Not only is Nick handsome, but with his personality, he could have any woman he wanted. So why does he want to be with a woman who has a daughter? He will never hold all of my attention. Abbi is my sole-focus in life and while I could share a little bit of my time with him, he will never be my number one. When people first meet and have a relationship, don’t they focus most of their attention on each other? I’m afraid he will get bored with me and my life, when I can’t give him that attention and he will move on, leaving me heartbroken. Also, does he really want to stick around and help me raise a child that is not even his? I know that sounds awful, but he is still so young. Does he even want kids?
I sigh out loud and take another drink of my coffee. My thoughts are way too damn deep for this early in the morning. I look at my watch and see that it’s 7:00 am. I need to go wake Abbi up.
I open her bedroom door and walk into her room. I laugh to myself as I look down at her. She has always been a sprawler. It’s like sleeping with an octopus. I run my hand up her back. “Abbi, it’s time to get up, sweetie,” I whisper.
She groans and buries her face in the cover.
“Come on. Go brush your teeth and get dressed. I will have breakfast waiting for you.”
She mumbles something I can’t understand, but at least I know she is awake. I make my way towards my bedroom, pull my hair into a ponytail, and apply a tiny bit of makeup. It only takes me 20 minutes to get dressed in the mornings. I wear scrubs to work every day and I’m beyond thankful that I never have to worry about what I’m going to wear.
I meet Abbi in the kitchen and we both eat a quick breakfast, before rushing out the door.
Her school is only 3 minutes from our house and the Clinic is only 5 minutes from her school. I make it to work right at 8:00 am. We don’t open until 9:00 am, but I like to come in early to make sure all of the dogs in the shelter are taken care of. We have people that come in to walk and feed them, but I like to help out.
“Good morning, Haden,” I say to the cheerful receptionist, as I walk through the door.
“Good morning, Katie.” She looks up from her computer screen and smiles.
“Did you have a good weekend?” I ask. I walk around to her side of the desk and pet the ever present Ms. Kitty.
“I did. I went to see my parents. How was your weekend?” she asks. I catch something in her tone and I stop petting the cat’s head to turn and look at her.
She is smiling widely at me and, although Haden is always chipper, she has a weird look in her eye.
“It was okay,” I say carefully.
“Hmm. Just okay?” She cocks her head to the side and her smile grows.
I narrow my eyes at her. “What’s wrong with you? Are you drunk at work?” I joke.
She laughs and shakes her head. “Nope.”
“You’re weird.” I walk down the hallway towards my office, wondering what in hell the that was all about.
Once I’ve stowed my purse in my desk drawer, I walk back towards the shelter. I smile as soon as I walk through the doors. It is always complete chaos back here and I love it.
There are dogs in their cages everywhere, barking and wagging their tails, impatiently waiting for their morning walks. I see one of our helpers, a few rows down, and I walk towards him.
“Good morning, Brian. Which ones need to be taken out?” I ask, raising my voice to be heard over the dogs.
He smiles and points towards one of the cages. “We’re up to that one, so far.”
I nod my head and grab a leash. This is my favorite part of the day. I love helping the dogs brought into the clinic, but these dogs are so starved for attention and I love being the one to give it to them. If I could take each and every one of them home, I would.
I open the cage and hook the Labrador mix onto the leash, before leading her to the out side area. “Good morning, Daisy. Do you want to play fetch?” She wags her tail so hard that her whole body shakes. I guess I’ll take that as a yes.
* * *
The morning flies by and before I know it, it’s time for me to go pick Abbi up from school. Dr. Sinclaire is nice enough to let me bring Abbi to work in the afternoons, after school. She mostly sits in my office and does her homework or sits with Haden up front for a while. Recently, she has been going into the cat room and helping the afternoon workers feed them.
“Hey sweetie. Did you have a good day?” I ask, when she climbs into the back seat.
“Yeah,” she smiles.
“Did you learn anything new?” I ask. I pull out into traffic and turn towards the town bakery. I could use an afternoon coffee and I know Abbi will want a cupcake.
“Did you know that rocks are used to build homes, an aluminum baseball bat, a washing machine, video games, airplanes, cars, and even jewelry?” she asks, excitedly.
I smile in my rear view mirror at her. “I didn’t know that.”
She smiles back and then notices that we are parking. “Cupcakes! Yah!”
We both exit the car and walk up the side walk and through the door to ‘Sprinkles’. There are a few people sitting around at tables, but it’s not too busy. Lexie is working the counter and spots us as soon as we walk in. She smiles and waves at us.
“Hey, Ladies. What are y’all having today?”
“Hey, Lexie. I want a coffee and I think Abbi wants a chocolate cupcake.” I smile.
“Coming right, up,” she says winking down at Abbi. “Did y’all do anything fun this weekend?”
I open my mouth to answer, but Abbi starts to speak, before I get a chance.
“I stayed with my Grandma and Grandpa this weekend. When I got home yesterday, Mr. Nick had dinner with us.”
Lexie was reaching for a cupcake, but stills at Abbi’s words. She looks over at me with her mouth ajar and wide eyes. Shit. Maybe we should have skipped the cupcakes and coffee today.
“Really?” she asks, looking back at Abbi.
“Yep,” Abbi continues, oblivious to Lexie’s shock, “Mom also said that I can get a kitty.”
“Your mom is full of surprises, isn’t she,” Lexie says smiling wide at me.
I shake my head and grab my coffee. “Well, this has been fun, but I need to get back to the clinic.”
Abbi takes her cupcake from Lexie and walks over to talk to Jenna, who just came up front.
I hand Lexie my debit card and take a sip of my coffee.
“We are so talking about this later,” she whispers.
I shake my head. “Nope, I’m busy later, sorry.”
“Oh, no ma’am you’re not.�
�� She laughs.
“Yep, lots of stuff to do.” I take my debit card from her and hastily tuck it into my wallet.
“You can run, but you can’t hide,” she calls to my back, as I make my way towards the door.
I ignore her and keep walking. I wave at Jenna and hold the door open for Abbi to walk out. Dammit, how did I forget that my daughter is a chatter-box? It’s not like I want to keep Nick a secret, but I don’t even know what we are doing. How would I explain it to other people? This is a small town and word travels fast, so I should have expected to have to answer those types of questions, but I’m not. Why can’t we just keep this to ourselves for awhile?
Abbi and I get into the car, and I drive the short distance to the clinic, while she munches on her cupcake.
“Grab your backpack, sweetie,” I say to Abbi, as we exit the car.
“Do I have to do homework?” she whines.
“Go ahead and get it done, Abbi, and you won’t have to do it later.”
She huffs, but doesn’t say anything else.
We walk into the clinic and I notice the waiting room is empty.
“Hey, Ms. Haden.” Abbi smiles.
“Hey Abbi, did you have a good day at school?”
Abbi sits down beside her and they launch into a discussion about rocks and soil. I smile and walk towards my office. I’ll give her a few minutes with Haden, before I make her come do her homework.
I hang my jacket by my office door and, when I turn around I am scared shitless, by the man leaning on my desk.
“Dammit, Nick, I think I just had a heart attack.” I say, laying a hand over my chest.
He laughs and shakes his head. “How did you not see me standing here?”
“I wasn’t expecting anyone to be in the office and my mind was pre-occupied I guess. What are you doing here, anyway? Your dad’s not in the office today.”
He pushes away from the desk and walks towards me. “I know Dad’s not here. I came to see you and I wanted to help Abbi pick out a cat.”
“I haven’t looked in there today, so I’m not sure if there are any kittens. You didn’t have to do that, Nick.” I smile.
He’s so close now I can smell him and God, he smells delicious. I probably smell like a dog. He reaches out to tuck a piece of hair that had fallen out of my bun, behind my ear.
