Waiting for Her Soldier Read online

  To be honest, I’d thought about entering the catering business before, but didn’t yet think the shop was quite ready for it. I talked it over with Betsy, my second in charge at the shop who’d been watching over things while I was away. The more we discussed it, the more it started to make sense. We could make orders of sandwiches, and also sides like mashed potatoes and green bean casserole and pumpkin pie.

  We decided to call back a few of the customers and offer them our newly-created Thanksgiving catering special. They were absolutely delighted with the idea, and so were Betsy and I; if this worked out, it could end up being a real money maker and we’d finally be able to afford newer ovens for our homemade bread.

  When I told Darren the good news later that night he was happy for me, but I could sense disappointment in his voice. I asked what was wrong, but as usual Darren brushed it off and kept his feelings to himself. But I knew Darren, and I knew something was bothering him, so later as we watched a movie on TV I pressed him on the question and surprisingly he answered.

  “You know I’m happy for you, Lauren. I’m really glad your business is going well. I was just hoping you’d be spending Thanksgiving at home.”

  “It’s only for half a day, we’ll be closing the shop by 2:30 PM at the latest. You know Betsy wants to celebrate with her family to. I’ll drop you off at your sister’s in the morning when I head into work and pick you up right when I get out. We’ll still have most of the day at home and you know I’ll cook you a phenomenal meal,” I said, smiling and nudging him at the last part.

  He laughed and looked away for a second before turning his gaze back to me.

  “I know that, I just don’t want to be around that piece of shit Donnie all day.”

  Donnie was his sister’s unemployed boyfriend. Donnie and Darren had never gotten along.

  “It’s not all day, it’s just the morning. It will be over before you know it.”

  “Well, maybe I could just come to the shop with you,” said Darren.

  “The shop? What are you going to do there for six hours?”

  “I don’t know. What did you do during my surgery?”

  “Nothing. I just sat and worried about you.”

  “Well, you’ve got a TV right?”

  “Yes,” I said hesitantly, not sure what he was getting at.

  “Alright, then. I’ll watch the damn Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and then football when it comes on at noon.”

  “And you won’t be bored with that?”

  “Not so long as you make me a few sandwiches along the way,” he said with a wink.

  “Alright, soldier,” I laughed. “Don’t complain to me when you get what you asked for. But it’s Thanksgiving, you have to see your sister sometime during the day.”

  “I know, I know. We’ll stop over and have a drink with her and Donnie on our way home from the shop.”

  “Ok, that works I guess. Your sister won’t be mad?”

  “Mad? Nope, she doesn’t care. We’ll stop by for an hour, have a drink or two; that will be more than enough.”

  So that was our plan for Thanksgiving Day. Darren would join me at the shop and hang out while Betsy and I worked. Then we’d head to his sister’s and finally back home for our own separate celebration. It sounded nice and I was greatly looking forward to it. Little did I know that it wouldn’t turn out quite as planned.

  CHAPTER 19

  ———

  The morning of Thanksgiving started off well enough. It began as most mornings did that entire week. Darren and I would wake up, he’d take his medicine and I’d cook breakfast, then I would go grab a coffee and head into the shop. The only difference today was that Darren had joined me in the car. I knew I had a particularly busy day ahead, since we’d be catering orders for over five hundred sandwiches for the day.

  Because of the big order, Betsy and I had to call in some of the other girls for the day, but we were paying them overtime, so they couldn’t really complain. We’d also made an executive decision to close the doors to walk-in traffic. So while the shop was technically closed, on the inside it would be busier than ever.

  I was happy to have Darren with me. I hadn’t actually brought him to the shop since he’d been home. It’s not like he wasn’t interested, but he needed to stay home and rest in the mornings. And he couldn’t exactly stop by in the afternoon since he only had one good arm, which made driving a near impossibility.

  Having him there for emotional support would be nice. Besides, I kind of wanted to show him off to the girls at the shop; they’d heard me talk about him enough, after all. Betsy, for one, was absolutely dying to meet him.

  When we got to the shop, Betsy was waiting outside. As it turned out, she’d forgotten her set of keys at home and only realized once she’d walked three blocks from where she’d parked her car, so she’d been waiting in the cold for us to let her in. About half hour later, all the other girls showed up and we set to work.

  I had bread baking in the oven, and was now working to mash what amounted to a few hundred potatoes. Betsy was making stuffing, while the girls made green bean casserole in mass quantities. After the potatoes I’d move onto slicing up turkey for all the sandwiches.

  I watched as the two younger girls stared at Darren and whispered to each other, periodically breaking out into fits of giggles. Darren for his part just winked and shot over a heart-breakers grin. And truthfully, I couldn’t blame the girls, I knew exactly how they felt because I’d been there a thousand times before. There was no denying the intrinsic charm in the way Darren carried himself, let alone the fact that he was obviously physically gorgeous, with big tan arms and his ruggedly handsome face with the perfect amount of scruff.

  “Looks like someone’s got a fan club,” said Betsy, poking me as she passed behind me to put the first round of stuffing in the oven.

  “Oh, yes,” I said laughing. “He’s certainly easy on the eyes. Hopefully they just keep working while they steal glances.”

  “You know, Lauren, if we do well today we’re gonna have to expand,” said Betsy. “The business is doing well. I think we can afford it.”

  “I know, trust me. I was just thinking today that we barely have the oven capacity to get this done. Thank goodness we at least baked some of the bread ahead of time.”

  “Oh, yes. No question we’d be SOL if we hadn’t. Both you and I definitely wouldn’t be leaving here anytime soon.”

  “I like the idea of expanding, but where would we go? I don’t think there is any other place with more space that’s in quite as good of a location.”

  “Yeah, I don’t know. I just make the food. Chris is the businessman, let him figure it out.”

  After that things got so busy that most of the conversation revolved purely around the logistics of getting all those orders out to our customers. When it was time to start making our first deliveries, Darren decided to ride with me while the rest of the girls stayed in the shop working on the other orders.

  Inside the car, I turned on the engine then looked over to find Darren staring at me intently.

  “I’m proud of you, Lauren.”

  I blushed. “Thank you.”

  “No, really. I mean it. Now that I’ve seen you working I can tell the business is going to work out for you. You know how?”

  “No. How?”

  “Because you enjoy what you do. I can see it while you’re working. And all your girls like working for you, they respect you. It’s easy to see now that I’ve been there in person.”

  “Well, if you’re so perceptive, can you tell how much they like you?”

  Darren laughed. “Ah, yes, I must admit I picked up on that a bit too.”

  “Well, I don’t know that I can blame them too much. It’s not hard to do.”

  I went white as the blood drained from my face. I’d meant that comment to come out as a joke, but the tone of my voice made it sound serious. I looked away out the window, but suddenly felt Darren gently pressing my hand. I look
ed over and gave him a slight smile, then put the car in drive and headed toward the first customer’s house. Inadvertently, I’d made the first move, giving Darren the first real signal that I was interested. Now the ball was in his court.

  CHAPTER 20

  ———

  2:30 PM came sooner than I expected, but fortunately we’d made all our deliveries and our customers were extremely satisfied with both the service and the food. Back at the shop, Betsy and I calculated our profits, including the generous tips that had been given to us for working on the holiday. We’d taken in $4,760 in the course of one day, and after all our expenses, we came out with over $2,000 in profits.

  My girls would all be paid overtime, but I gave each of them a crisp $100 bill to say an extra “thank you” for their hard work. They’d come through for me, sacrificing time with their families to come help me out on Thanksgiving. I wanted them to go home and have something to show for it.

  “Go buy yourselves some champagne, ladies. You deserve it.”

  “Thanks, Lauren. You were awesome today.”

  “Alright, now go home and see your families. We’re all taking tomorrow off.”

  And with that Darren and I left the shop. In the car I turned to him again and squealed with delight.

  “Can you believe it? All this money. Wow, this is like three times what we make in a normal day.”

  “The girls were right, you were awesome in there. You’d never done any kind of catering before, and here you are on Thanksgiving and you absolutely killed it. I told you I knew you’d be successful.”

  Darren smiled warmly at me and I returned the favor.

  “We’re going to get some champagne, too. We’ll pick it up after we go to see your sister.”

  “Damn. I forgot. I thought work was over, but it looks like it’s just about to start.”

  “Oh, it won’t be that bad. We’ll stay for one drink, watch a little football, and then be out of there.”

  “Alright. If you say so.”

  Darren texted his sister to let her know we were on our way and about twenty minutes later we were pulling into the apartment complex.

  “I think he’s in 208, but it could be 206. I don’t know, it’s been awhile,” said Darren as we walked up the stairs of the first building in the complex.

  We rang to doorbell and Donnie answered, inviting us into the kitchen where Angie was cooking.

  “Damn, Darren. Haven’t seen you in… I dunno how long. How’s the fucking Middle East?” asked Donnie loudly, slapping Darren on the back. He jarred Darren’s injured arm and I saw a slight grimace come to Darren’s face momentarily, but he didn’t say a single word about it.

  “It’s still a hell hole. But we’re making progress. Angie, how are you kid?”

  Darren’s sister came over and gave him a big hug. “Glad you’re home, bro. Are you going to be staying for dinner?”

  “Oh, no, we just figured we’d come over for a drink or two then head back to Lauren’s. I’m still pretty exhausted from the surgery, so I want to go home and rest.”

  “Oh, that’s too bad! We wish you could stay!” said his sister with exaggerated disappointment.

  I knew Darren was lying. He was completely fine, he was just trying to be polite and avoid any sort of confrontation. I think Angie had some idea about how he felt about her boyfriend, but he was careful never to come out and say anything cruel about him directly.

  “Yeah, I know. I wish I was feeling more active, let’s have us a few drinks though. Can you step away from the food for a bit?”

  “Yes. I just put the turkey in the oven so I’m gonna take a break for a little while. Any good games on TV?”

  “Lions are playing the Packers,” said Donnie. “Not the best, but not the worst either.”

  “I like the way Rodgers plays, let’s turn that on,” said Darren.

  We all headed into the living room where Donnie turned on his flat screen TV and surround sound system; a pretty nice set up for a guy without a job, I thought to myself.

  It was just past 3 PM at this point. The game was at the start of the fourth quarter and the Packers were up 24-16, a closer game than I’d expected, having heard Darren talking about the matchup earlier as he watched the kick off at the shop. Darren and I decided we should stay until the end of the game and then head back to my place. That would be a nice, natural break that would allow us to politely take our leave.

  I grabbed a seat next to Darren on the couch and Angie asked everyone what they wanted to drink.

  “I’ll take a Jack and Diet Coke,” I said.

  “What do you have for beer?”

  “Donnie has some microbrews. But I knew you were coming so I picked up some Coors Light, too. Your favorite.”

  “I dunno how you can drink that piss-water, man. Why don’t you drink a beer with some real flavor?” asked Donnie, half-jokingly, half-threateningly.

  I could tell that he was already getting on Darren’s nerves; I could even feel him tense up next to be, so I put my hand on his arm.

  “An ice-cold Coors would really hit the spot, right Darren?” I said, looking at him and telling him with my eyes that his best move was to just let it slide.

  “Sure, yeah. Bring me a Coors, please. Thanks, sis.”

  As soon as Darren took a sip of the cold beer I saw him loosen up. Actually, thinking about it now, it was the first beer he’d had since being back. His first couple of days he’d had to forgo all alcohol because of the medication he was taking to fight off potential infections. I’d felt so guilty as I sipped my nightly wine in front of him. But right now I could see that he was happy, sipping a beer and watching football. Noticing the stark contrast between those first few hours in the hospital and the present moment, I took a mental picture wanting to remember it for a long time to come. Finally, it seemed like things were completely normal again. Everything seemed good and right with the world.

  The visit, as it turned out, was a relative success. The Lions scored a touchdown. Now down 24-22, they went for a two-point conversion to tie up the game at 24 with under two minutes left. The Packers had no time outs, so the Lions just had to stop them from driving down the field to take it to overtime. After three incomplete passes, the quarterback hit a man 30-yards down the field on fourth down. The receiver was tackled in bounds, so the team hustled to the line of scrimmage to spike the ball and set up their kicker for a 60 yard field goal.

  With just five seconds left the two teams lined up. The center hiked the ball and the kicker got his kick off just in time, but the wind blew it wide right, sending the game into overtime. Angie got up to get us each a refill on drinks. Even though we’d planned on leaving after the 4th quarter, Darren didn’t want to miss the rest of the game, so we decided to extend our stay slightly.

  This was when things took a turn for the worse. I didn’t realize quite how drunk Donnie was until part way through overtime. Before I knew it, Darren and Donnie were going at it. It started with a little bit of good-natured ribbing, but soon turned nasty.

  “So, tough guy, how many civilians you blow up over in Afghanistan?” asked Donnie, sarcastically.

  “Donnie, be quiet. Don’t talk to my brother like that,” said Angie, trying to be the mediator.

  “No, really. It’s a valid question. You know these Army guys, can’t control their tempers. I hear it’s even worse with the Marines. Ain’t that the truth, Dare?”

  I leaned into Darren, grabbing his arm, trying to pin him down, but knowing I was completely powerless to stop him if he got up to give Donnie the punch in the mouth he very obviously deserved.

  “He’s not worth it, Darren,” I whispered into his ear. “Let’s just get out of here.”

  We got up from the couch to leave. The game was still in overtime, but it didn’t matter. As we headed toward the door, Darren took a detour to where Donnie was lounging lazily in an easy chair. He grabbed him by the collar and pulled him up to face him, his face less than a foot away as he spoke
these next words:

  “A real soldier can control his temper. And you’re damn lucky that’s the case, because if I couldn’t, you’d be eating your Thanksgiving meal through a straw in the hospital.”

  Then he walked out, grabbing me by the hand and pulling me along with him.

  Angie followed us out and closed the door behind her.

  “Darren, I’m sorry. He’s had a lot to drink today. That’s not who he is. He didn’t mean those things.”

  “Angie, that’s a boy in there, not a man. I’ve held my tongue about him for as long as you two have been dating, but I’m not doing it anymore. He’s disrespectful of everyone he comes across and if you’re thinking about a life with him I think you’re setting yourself up for misery. You deserve better, and I’m not going to watch you settle for someone like that.”

  “Darren, it’s not that easy. Everything isn’t just black and white.”

  “I know it’s not, but this is: the kid is a dirtbag. And you better get him out of your life unless you want me out of it instead. Come on, Lauren, let’s get out of here.”

  I smiled awkwardly at Angie, as if to apologize. In reality, I agreed with Darren. I’d never met Donnie before tonight, but I was shocked that someone could act that way towards a service member, especially one home from a recent deployment, and a seriously injured one at that.

  Darren was hurt more than he was letting on. I remembered back to his letters when he said one of the toughest parts of being overseas was knowing that a lot of people back home didn’t appreciate the sacrifices he was making. For someone like Donnie to go after like Darren like that made me want to hit him myself.