Cherishing Mrs. Right

by Debbie White

  looking over at the same lady he’d helped earlier.

  “Thanks for coming. Do you know this lady?” he

  said pointing at the hippy girl.

  “I just met her last night. She’d come by my

  restaurant. I happened to be sitting in my truck when

  she started to go in. I told her it was closing soon.”

  The Officer was jotting all this down on a small

  pad of paper. “Okay. So you never met her before

  last night?” he said, looking up at Cody after he

  wrote the last word.

  “That’s right, sir. Is she in some kind of trouble?”

  “No. She was apparently sleeping in her car when

  someone tried to rob her. A doctor just getting off his

  shift saw the altercation and intervened. He offered

  to call someone for her, and she said to call you.”

  Cody threw his head back and sighed. He dug his

  hands deep into his jean pockets. “Call me? How did

  she even know my name or my number? I didn’t give

  her any of that last night.”

  The officer furrowed his brows. “That’s strange.

  Maybe you should talk with her.”

  Cody walked over to the lady. She was holding

  her head with her hands, visibly shaken by the

  assault.

  “Hey there. What’s going on?” Cody said softly.

  The lady took her hands down from her face.

  Cody glanced at the inked flower on her wrist. “I

  didn’t know who to call,” she sputtered.

  Cody nodded. “How did you know my name?”

  The lady softened her face. “Bryan,” she said.

  Chapter Two

  

  This changed everything. Now he had to find out

  how she knew Bryan. Cody walked over to the

  officer in charge. “I can take it from here. I’ll make

  sure she’s okay before she goes on her way. Seems

  we do have a mutual friend. Thanks for your

  assistance,” Cody said, offering his hand to properly

  thank the officer.

  Cody stood with his back against her car, his legs

  and arms crossed as he watched the officers get into

  their cars and drive away. The sun was beating down

  on them, and he knew he needed to get her in an air-

  conditioned place. He gently touched her arm. She

  looked up at him, a smile tugging at the corner of her

  mouth. “I’m sorry. I didn’t really want to meet you

  this way.”

  Cody brushed his hand across his face. He felt

  the stubble that was beginning to grow. “Yeah, about

  that. You said Bryan told you to come here. How do

  you know Bryan?”

  “He’s my brother.”

  Cody shot her a look. “Brother?”

  The lady’s face was flushed, and Cody could see

  beads of sweat gathering on her forehead.

  “Why don’t you follow me back to the

  restaurant? We can get out of the heat.”

  The lady fanned her face. “Are you sure?”

  Cody tossed his head back. “I don’t think I have

  much of a choice. I can’t leave you here. By the way,

  what is your name?”

  She covered her eyes with her hand, blocking the

  intense sun from piercing her eyes. She peeked

  through her fingers meeting his eyes. “Darla. My

  name is Darla.”

  * * *

  He glanced back in his rearview mirror every few

  seconds to make sure she was still behind him. Soon

  they were pulling into Cody’s Steakhouse parking

  lot. He waited until she pulled up alongside him

  before he got out of his truck.

  Cody pulled out a set of keys and proceeded to

  unlock the door. With one hand he pushed open the

  door and motioned for her to step inside the

  restaurant. He followed her, closing the door behind

  him. He flicked on the lights and led her to the bar.

  “Coffee, tea, wine, or beer?”

  “That sounds good,” she said.

  Cody smiled. “Which one?”

  “Surprise me,” she said.

  “Have a seat,” he said, pointing to the bar stools.

  “I’ll be right back.”

  Darla pulled up a stool and sat down. Soon Cody

  came out with two frothy mugs of an amber beer.

  “This red ale comes from Oregon,” he said putting

  down the heavy mugs.

  Darla let out a small giggle. “This is exactly what

  I had in mind,” she said taking a sip of the cold brew,

  then wiping the white foam from her mouth with the

  back of her hand. “Tastes good,” she said, a slight

  smile appearing on her mouth.

  It seemed weird to be in the restaurant alone with

  this woman. This woman who he’d just met.

  However, Bryan was his best buddy when he was in

  the Marines. He barely recalled him ever talking

  about his family let alone a sister. He wondered if

  she was pulling his leg.

  “So you say Bryan is your brother? He never told

  me he had a sister. In fact, he rarely spoke of his

  family at all. I think he said he was from Montana”

  Cody locked his gaze onto hers.

  “Idaho. We’re from Idaho,” she corrected.

  Cody knew it was Idaho. He wanted to see what

  she knew. “Ahh. That’s right. Idaho. So what brings

  you to Texas?”

  “Just traveling through. I never stay in one place

  too long,” she said, then took another sip of her beer.

  Darla set the mug down. “Bryan told me a lot about

  you. Said if it wasn’t for you, he’d been dead a

  hundred times …” she said trailing off.

  Cody tried not to think about the past. It had been

  brutal over there. He had always been on the

  offensive. That’s what had kept him and his group

  alive. After his second tour in Afghanistan, he knew

  he was going to get out of the military. He dreamed

  of owning a restaurant.

  “I’ve lost track of Bryan after I got out. Did he

  stay in?”

  Darla nodded. She ran her fingers through her

  hair, tossing the locks behind her ears. Cody noticed

  her dangling turquoise earrings. “He stayed for

  another year. After that, he got out, too.”

  “What’s he doing now?” Cody asked.

  A tear rolled down her cheek. “You don’t

  know?”

  Cody stiffened his body. “No. What happened?”

  “The convoy he was in got hit by heavy artillery.

  It almost wiped out his entire unit. He was one of the

  lucky ones. He lost one of his legs, and three fingers

  on one hand but his life was spared.”

  Cody lowered his head. An image of Bryan

  popped into his mind.

  Cody raised his head and turned toward Darla.

  “How’s he doing these days?”

  “Not great. He wishes that his life ended that day.

  It was getting too heavy to be around him. I had to

  split. I tried to get him help, but you can only help

  someone if they are willing. He’s in Walter Reed

  right now, and I hope for his sake they help him.”

  Cody softened his face. “It’s hell over there. I’m

  happy I made it out in one piece. But I still have days

 
that I’m haunted by what I’ve seen and what I’ve

  done to survive. I hope Bryan gets the help he needs.

  If you do see him, let him know I’m thinking of him,

  and if he’s ever out this way, I’ll buy him a beer and

  a steak dinner.”

  “You’ve been very nice, Cody. Thanks for

  listening. I better be going.”

  “Where are you headed now?”

  “I don’t know. I thought about driving all the

  way to Walter Reed. As much as it was stressful

  being around him, I miss him.”

  Cody stood up and with his body he pushed the

  stool back out of the way. Darla did the same thing.

  He reached out and gently touched her arm. “I’m

  glad you reached out to me. I wish you’d said

  something to me last night.”

  “I was going to. But then I thought, why bother

  you with our family drama.”

  “In the military, we have a saying. We’re all

  brothers and sisters. Bryan was like a brother to me.

  I’m sorry we fell out of touch.”

  Cody reached out his hand. Darla looked at his

  hand and smiled. She opened her arms wide. Cody

  walked into her embrace and held her tight. After a

  few seconds Cody released his hold and led her

  toward her parked car.

  He had a zillion things he wanted to say but yet

  couldn’t find one word to speak. They reached the

  car in a matter of moments. Darla reached out to put

  her hand on the car door handle. She hesitated

  briefly, whirling around, her gaze locking onto him.

  She started to speak but suddenly stopped. He

  watched her as she struggled for words. It was the

  same way he was feeling, too.

  “If you aren’t ready to travel, you’re welcome to

  stay with Tracker and me for a few days. To get your

  plan together,” he added not sure where that came

  from.

  She tossed her head back, and a smile quivered

  on her mouth. “You’d do that for me? I mean you

  just met me. I might be an ax murderer,” she giggled.

  “I think I can take care of myself,” he softly

  spoke.

  Darla looked him up and down. He had that right.

  Muscles in all the right places, she could tell he was

  built tough just like a cowboy. “I can tell. You seem

  to still be working out even after you gave up the

  military life.”

  “Once a Marine, always a Marine. Besides. I

  have a small ranch that keeps me fit as well. So

  you’ll consider my invitation?”

  “On one condition,” she said batting her lashes.

  “What’s that?” he said.

  “You let me cook a nice dinner for you. I’m a

  great cook.”

  “You’ve got yourself a deal. I rarely cook for

  myself. I eat here,” he said looking back at the

  restaurant, “or have something quick like a bowl of

  cereal.”

  “If you can take me to the grocery store, I’ll get

  all the ingredients I’ll need. I prefer a store that sells

  organic foods. Anything like that around here?”

  “This is Dallas. We have everything. Follow

  me.”

  Darla followed Cody to the Whole Foods nearby.

  She went inside while he waited. She told him she

  wanted to surprise him and surprised he was going to

  be!

  As the two made their way to his ranch, Darla

  listened to some audio book she was glued to on the

  power of positive thinking and how one creates their

  own happiness. Darla laughed out loud. Bryan would

  roll his eyes at the thought of listening to this type of

  propaganda as he called it. She wondered what Cody

  listened to.

  They turned onto a gravel driveway and made

  their way toward the ranch. Darla was blown away

  by the view. Although the land was flat, there were

  fenced pastures, paddocks for horses, a big red barn,

  and even a windmill on the property. Soon they were

  parked in front of a Spanish-style house. The stucco

  structure with a curved entranceway led to a large

  mahogany door with large black hinges and door

  knob. In the middle of the door was a matching door

  knocker. A stained glass window adorned the

  wooden beast of a door and soon Darla was standing

  inside a beautiful home. She kicked her shoes off

  before she took another step. “This is beautiful,” she

  said.

  “Welcome to my home.”

  Darla’s eyes widened. He had the most beautiful

  house. She made her way down the hallway in her

  bare feet looking at everything as she did. She

  noticed how clean and uncluttered it was. The family

  room was furnished with leather sofas and chairs,

  large wooden tables, and colorful rugs over wood

  and tiled floors.

  “This is my bedroom,” he said motioning toward

  the opened door. Darla peeked inside. A king-size

  bed was on one wall and a matching dresser and

  mirror on the opposite wall. On each side of the bed

  were matching side tables and pewter lamps with

  burlap covered shades. His bed was covered with an

  off-white comforter and for color, bright pillows in

  blue, red, and green adorned the large four-poster

  bed. Gleaming hardwood floors led to the even more

  massive master bathroom.

  “Your bathroom is as large as some hotel rooms

  I’ve been in,” she said.

  “Yeah. I’ve seen some of those elegant hotel

  bathrooms. Large soaker tub …”

  Darla put up her hand to stop him from talking.

  She furrowed her brows. “No, the whole room. This

  bathroom is as large as the entire hotel room!” she

  said as she took in the two-person tiled shower, jetted

  tub, and the two sinks with granite counter tops. She

  ran her hand down the Egyptian towels that hung on

  the nickel satin towel bar.

  “Nice feel.”

  Cody lowered his head and stared at his boots.

  He shook his head. “Gottcha. I misunderstood.”

  “No worries. I’m glad you got it like that.”

  “Excuse me?” he said.

  “Clearly, you’re rolling in the dough. Are you

  some big establishment type?” she asked.

  Cody shook his head. “Nope. Just a cowboy

  trying to make it in this big bad world.”

  Tracker heard the commotion and came galloping

  to greet them. Cody witnessed Darla’s eyes widen at

  the size of him. “He’s harmless. He’s a big baby in a

  big body,” Cody said, stroking his back.

  Darla quirked a smile. She reached down and

  gently patted his head. “Nice, doggie,” she said.

  Cody shot her a strange look. “Tracker. His name

  is Tracker.”

  Darla stood up. “Tracker. That’s a fitting name

  for him, I suppose.”

  “Follow me into the kitchen,” Cody said.

  Darla did as he asked and soon Tracker was

  behind her. She could hear the pitter patter of his

  nails on the tile and the sniffing sound he was

  making as he breathed in the air around
him. “Is he a

  hunting dog?” Darla asked, her voice wavering some.

  “He’s a hound and yes, he’s a great hunting dog

  although he’s getting up in years now, so we mainly

  just hang out,” he said, putting the groceries on the

  counter.

  Darla started pulling items out of the reusable

  cloth bags. “I believe in recycling, so I bring my own

  bags when I shop.” She put a clear container on the

  counter.

  Cody began reading labels. “Tofu?” Cody

  bellowed.

  Darla smiled. “Tastes just like meat.”

  Then she placed a zucchini, yellow squash, a

  green pepper, and some mushrooms on the counter.

  Lastly, she placed a carton of organic sodium-free

  beef stock. Cody looked on at the strange

  ingredients. He wondered what he was in for. She

  reached into the next bag and took out some pasta, a

  carton of half-and-half, sour cream, and a small loaf

  of sourdough bread. “Vegetable pasta?” he said,

  reading yet another label.

  “Yes, I’m a vegetarian. I do eat some dairy now

  and again. You’re gonna love this dish. It’s sort of

  like beef Stroganoff.”

  Cody let out a laugh. He dug his hands deep into

  his pockets. He bit his bottom lip. He wanted to

  choose his words wisely. “Sort of like beef

  Stroganoff? Isn’t that like saying imitation or fake

  even?”

  Darla stiffened her stature. She pursed her lips.

  She then softened her face and Cody got a glimpse of

  a tiny twinkle in her eyes. “I prefer to say an

  alternative to beef Stroganoff. There is nothing

  imitation or fake about it. Why don’t you wait and

  taste it before you criticize it?”

  Cody nodded. “You’re right. I’ll wait before I

  pass judgment. I’m just used to eating steak. Hey,

  you do to eat meat, don’t you? You came by the

  restaurant and wanted steak.” Cody blurted.

  Darla started laughing uncontrollably. “Oh, you

  make me laugh so hard,” she said gripping her side.

  Cody stood there tapping his boots on the tile

  sending a little chill up Darla’s spine. “Well?” he