by M K Dwyer
“Hey, what’s going on with you? You’ve been quiet ever since we left.”
Her words pulled him out of his head and he looked at the clock to see a half hour had passed since they left her house.
“Just thinking.” He didn’t know how to broach the subject, but he’d never been any good at subtlety. “You didn’t tell me that Joe’s dad was a Marine.”
She was silent, so he took his eyes off the road for a split second. Just long enough to see the disbelieving look on her face.
“That was Will Braun, right? I, uh, recognized him.”
“What?”
“I met him in Afghanistan on my last deployment. Is he still a firefighter?”
“Huh?”
He’d laugh if he wasn’t as shocked as she was. “Help me out here, beautiful. Are you just shocked or do I actually need to repeat myself?”
She cleared her throat. “Maybe you should repeat yourself. I could’ve sworn you just said you knew my ex-husband.”
“I did say that, but what I don’t understand is why you never mentioned he was a Marine. You’ve never said anything about being a military wife.”
“What’s to say? It’s the past. You’ve never said anything about the military either. Were you in the Marines? Or what? Did you think Mark told me? You know he barely told me anything.”
“I’m just a little dumbfounded that you and Braun…” He couldn’t complete the sentence.
“Yeah.” She chuckled. “You and me both, mister.”
“To answer your other questions, yes, I’m a Marine, but I got out of active duty years ago. I guess I don’t really talk about it either.”
“And you were deployed with Will?”
“Just once. We ended up in Afghanistan at the same time on my last deployment about six years ago. We hit it off and hung out a lot, but I haven’t talked to him much since. What’s the story between you two?”
“You hung out a lot and he didn’t talk about me? Figures. What do you want to know? We met. We got pregnant. We got married. Joe was born. We tried to make it work. It didn’t. We got divorced. I moved back to Yuma with Joe. Will left the Marines to move close to Joe. Now we’re making the custody arrangement work. The end.”
“Okay, then.” She didn’t want to talk about it. He could be dense sometimes, but he received that message loud and clear. He needed to change the subject, or it was going to be a long drive to the state park where they were bedding down for the night. “Well, I got everything set up for tonight, so when we get there we can just crash out. I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted.”
“Thanks. That sounds good.” She was quiet for a long moment, then continued. “Sorry. I’m not exactly proud of the person I was with him. We were miserable together, and I didn’t help matters much. In fact, I used to blow up at nothing to get foot rubs out of him.”
He guffawed. “What? That’s awesome!”
He chuckled a self-deprecating laugh. “Yeah. He thought that was his trick for getting me in a better mood, but really I made up bogus reasons to get the foot rubs in the first place.”
“Good God, you’re hilarious!”
“It’s nice to know someone appreciates my ingenuity.” He looked over to see her smiling and batting her eyelashes. He couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled up out of him. The further he drove from Yuma, the more he felt like he saw the real Theresa. He still didn’t know much about her, but at least, he knew their time in exile together would be fun.
“So, what did you do in the Marines? Oh God, you aren’t a firefighter, are you?”
“No. Why?”
“No reason.” Because she constantly gave Will a hard time about how dangerous his job was and made jokes about him burning his pretty face. But only because deep down—way deep down—she cared, especially for Joe’s sake.
“I was an MP.”
“Military Police? Really? Are you still a cop?”
“Detective now. I do a lot of undercover work.”
“Ooooo Mr. Big Shot. Is that why you’re able to pick up and disappear for an unknown amount of time?”
He smiled at her teasing. “I took a sabbatical. I have quite a bit of vacation saved up and the chief has been on me to take a break since my last case. What about you? You said you don’t really have to work. Why’s that?”
She didn’t answer him at first. Long enough for him to wonder if she would answer him at all.
“Six months after my divorce and moving home to Yuma, my parents were killed in a head-on collision. I was devastated. Joe was devastated. I had only just moved home. I was enjoying the time we got to spend together and looking forward to spending more time with them. Joe finally had full-time grandparents, and he was building a relationship with them. I also relied on them to help me rebuild my life after the divorce. My dad is actually the one that got me the job at the sign shop. It’s owned by an old high school friend of his, and John has always been like an uncle to me. That’s why I still work there and why I was worried about leaving him in the lurch.” She paused for a moment. “Anyways, let’s just say that my parents had a robust life insurance policy. Enough to keep me and my grandmother afloat as well as college funds for my first eight children.”
She looked over at Blake and laughed. His eyebrows were halfway to his hairline both from the substantial amount of insurance money she must have received to her mention of eight kids.
“Not that I want eight children, mind you.”
He chuckled. “No judgement even if you did.”
“Nah, maybe a couple more if it’s in the cards, but that’s a big if.”
“I understand that. I’m thirty-four. I thought I’d have a couple of kids by now. It just hasn’t worked out that way.”
“Well make sure it happens with someone you love. It’s really hard when it’s with someone you don’t.”
“I’ll bet.” He didn’t know how else to respond to that.
They drove in easy silence while the radio played some rock song softly in the background, and before he knew it, they were driving through Las Vegas. They agreed spending the night there would be too obvious which is why he’d set up his trailer at a campsite in the Valley of Fire State Park that morning.
“Do you need to get anything here in town before we get to the campsite?”
“A burger? I’m starving.”
“Sounds good, beautiful. I’m hungry too.”
“Stop it.” That’s what she said, but he could see her smiling out of the corner of his eye.
“Sorry.” He wasn’t.
He exited the freeway towards one of his favorite burger places, and instead of ordering at the drive-thru, he parked, figuring it’d be nice to get out and stretch their legs. They’d been in the car for about four hours and had at least another hour ahead of them. He was surprised it was the first time she had asked to stop, and technically, she hadn’t asked to even get out of the truck. Didn’t women usually have to pee every hundred miles? His mom and his sister were like that anyway.
They got in line at the counter and he noticed she was bouncing on her toes a little. If his mom were there, she’d call it the “potty dance.” So maybe she was more a little like the women he’d grown up with.
“If you want to use the restroom, I can order our food. Then maybe we can switch. I’ll run to the restroom while you wait for the food.”
She quirked an eyebrow at him. “Or maybe you run to the restroom now while I order the food, and then we switch.”
He smirked at her knowing she didn’t object on the basis of who went to the restroom first, but who ended up paying while the other was in the restroom.
“I don’t mind paying, beautiful. You can get the next one.”
“Except you paid for the gas in the truck and the campsite for tonight, and you probably won’t let me get the next one either. Will you?” Well she had him there.
“Touché.”
“Look here Mr. Big Shot, I can pay my own way and I fully int
end to on this little adventure of ours.”
“‘Adventure,’ huh?”
“Yes. ‘Adventure.’ I’m a bright-side, glass-half-full kind of person. ‘Adventure’ is better than what it feels like which is running away from my problems and my kid.”
He pulled her into a side hug and kissed her head, just as the person ordering in front of them stepped to the side to wait for their meal. He didn’t know why he did that except he felt like she needed the comfort. Maybe he did too.
He let his arm fall from her waist and felt the disconnect immediately. As they stepped up to the cashier, he gestured for her to order first. When she finished her order, she looked at him expectantly and he told the cashier his order as well. She handed over the cash for their orders before the last of his order left his mouth and smirked at him like she’d won something. He would let her have that triumph for the moment. He knew it wouldn’t be the last time they fought over money on their adventure.
“All right, beautiful. Thanks for dinner. I’ll grab it when it’s ready. Why don’t you go take care of that little dance of yours?”
“What little dance?”
“The one that says you need to take care of business.” If he were any younger, he would have been snickering.
“Fine.” She rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him, but didn’t argue, as she walked towards the restrooms at the back of the restaurant.
A few minutes later, the cashier called his number, and he took their food to a booth along the wall. He was just getting settled when Theresa returned.
“You’re turn!”
He just laughed and left her there at the booth.
When he came back, she’d devoured most of her burger and half her fries. He was impressed.
“Woah.”
She looked up at him with a fry in her hand halfway to her mouth. “What?”
“Damn! You can eat! As skinny as you are, I assumed you ate like a bird.”
“Nope. I like to eat. Just wait. You ain’t seen nothing yet.” She winked at him and he smiled as he sat down across from her to finish his meal. It was good to see her so light-hearted.
They finished their meals and threw their trash away on the way out the door. When they reached the truck, he had to fight the urge to open her door and help her climb in. He got the feeling that gesture would not be well received.
On the road again as they headed out of Las Vegas, Blake went through a mental checklist one last time to make sure he’d remembered to stock the trailer with everything they would need for the night and breakfast the next morning.
He noticed Theresa seemed deep in thought about something as well.
“Something on your mind? Want to talk about it?”
“What? Oh. No. Just thinking about Joe. Wondering how he is. If he’s settling into his dad’s place. If he hates me.” She barely whispered that last part, but with the radio low and his attention solely on her, he heard it loud and clear.
“I’m sure he doesn’t hate you.”
“How would you know?” The words came out harsh, but he saw regret on her face the moment she said them.
“I know because he’s a little boy that loves his mom. He may not understand what’s going on, but I’m sure Will is doing everything he can to help Joe be understanding that you’re doing what you have to do. He’s that kind of guy.”
“You’re right. Deep down, I know you are. But right now, that doesn’t do anything to assuage my fears.”
“I’m sorry, Theresa. I wish I could say the magic word that eases all your fears and lets you know that everything will be okay. All I can do is promise that I will do everything in my power to bring us to the other side of this in the safest way possible.”
“I know, and I trust you to do what you say you’re going to do. It’s funny.”
“What is?”
“I never really trusted Mark, even when things were sort of good between us. But you’re his brother which should make me cautious, but I think I’ve trusted you from the beginning. Like I could tell from the moment I met you that you were nothing like him.”
“Well, you got that right. We’ve always been complete opposites.” He beamed at her appraisal of him. She had every right to be wary, but something made her trust him, and he would work every day to keep earning that trust.
It wasn’t long before they were pulling into the Valley of Fire State Park, but they still had a little bit of a drive to get to their exact campsite. It was a good thing he’d been there already in the daytime. He wasn’t sure he would have been able to find it in the dark.
He parked next to his trailer but left the truck’s headlights on, so he could see his way to the door. Once he unlocked the trailer and turned on the outside lights, Theresa stepped out of the truck. He turned off the headlights and they both grabbed her overnight bags and stepped into the trailer. He placed her bags on the queen bed in the room just to the right.
Theresa looked around the trailer to check it out. She noticed where he put her bags and she turned questioning eyes on him. “I guess you’ve decided where I’m sleeping. Where are you sleeping?”
He pointed to the bunk beds at the other end of the trailer.
“Seriously?”
“What? They’re full-size beds and bigger than they look.”
“Doubtful. Just take the queen. I’ll be much more comfortable on the smaller bed than you would be anyway.”
“It’s already been decided, Theresa. Just accept it so we can get to bed. We have another long drive ahead of us tomorrow and this time we’ll be hauling this trailer.”
She shook her head. She didn’t like the idea, but she was clearly tired and in no mood to argue. “Fine, but only because you owe me for dinner tonight.”
She smirked at him, and he smiled back without thinking about it. He loved that she always had to win or one-up him. Perhaps that made him a little crazy, but he enjoyed sparing with her. Maybe he even had his brother to thank for bringing her into his life and being the jackass that made her leave him. Before she came along and the mess with his brother, his life had become stagnant. Even his undercover work was predictable. Infiltrate the bad guys lair, record the bad guys doing bad things, and then bust the bad guys. With his full tattooed sleeves and beard he didn’t look like a cop, but he didn’t stand out on the streets of Las Vegas either. He was perfect for undercover, and he was good at it too. So good that it wasn’t fun anymore.
Theresa was fun.
Clearly, he had a warped sense of fun.
He gave her a little tour of the trailer and showed her how to work the slide out portion as well as where all the light switches were. It came equipped with a fully working kitchen and bathroom. Everything one would find in a home, just a little smaller. It even had a bathtub which was only suitable to bathe small child or a dog, but it was a nice upgrade nonetheless. His favorite parts were the outdoor kitchen and the second outside door that led straight to the bathroom. He liked that people didn’t have to traipse through his entire trailer to use the restroom when he was camping at particularly dirty, dusty or sandy places.
Theresa gave him another disbelieving look when she saw the bunk beds up close but didn’t say anything.
“All right Mr. Big Shot with your fancy trailer. I’m going to bed. See you in the morning.” She walked into the bedroom and shut the door.
He took that as his cue to get ready for bed too and started undressing. He was down to his boxers and climbing into the bottom bunk when he heard a wolf whistle behind him. He shot up, hit his head on the bottom of the top bunk and cursed.
Theresa giggled. “Sorry. I couldn’t resist.” She passed his bunk on the way to the bathroom dressed in another skimpy pajama set like the one she’d worn at his apartment weeks ago and winked at him.
A few minutes later he heard her go back to the bedroom, and after finding a semi comfortable position, he eventually drifted off to sleep planning to try out the sleeper couch the next night. Anyth
ing had to be better than the two inches of foam masquerading as a mattress on the bunk beds.
He hoped Theresa was comfortable at least. He’d upgraded that mattress to the most premium one available, so he knew it slept pretty comfortably. She deserved a good night’s sleep after the day she’d had. Not only was she officially on the run from her ex-boyfriend, his brother, but she’d had to watch her ex-husband leave with their son. She put on a brave face, but he knew that nothing about their situation was easy on her.
Chapter Eight
Theresa
Coffee. She smelled coffee. The only time in her life she’d ever woken up to the smell of coffee was when she remembered to pre-set the coffee maker. She smiled picturing her sexy roommate in his boxers drinking from a mug.
It was still early. She could have rolled over and slept a few more hours in Blake’s comfortable bed, but the smell of coffee and the thoughts of Blake got her moving.
She slid open the panel door between the little bedroom and the main living space. Blake was up sitting on the couch while sipping from a mug, shirtless but with jeans on.
Close enough.
She didn’t know why she cared though. It was not like anything could happen between them. She’d just left his brother and she was not that kind of girl. Nothing would stop her from looking though and Blake had a lot to show.
“Good morning, beautiful. Sleep well?”
If he was so intent on calling her that, she wouldn’t complain anymore. “Yes. I slept very well actually. That bed is amazing. How did you sleep on the bunk? You tossed and turned for quite a while. I almost felt bad enough to offer to switch. Almost.” She winked at him.
“I slept fine. I think I’m going to try out this sleeper couch tonight.”
“No. You’re going to sleep in the big bed. We’re going to switch out. It’s clearly the best bed and we don’t know how long we’re going to be here in this trailer. We’re both going to need a good night’s sleep at least every other night.”
