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“Thanks. Ahh, you too.” Daniel looked up briefly, and I knew he saw my grin. He looked away, and I knew he wanted to avoid my big smile at all costs.
Did my son have a girl that I didn’t know about?
Daniel
It was another three weeks before I was back in town again. Zack and I were starving after a crazy training day. Frank was on his way, but we had a few hours until we were to meet on the edge of town.
“After you.” I held the door to the restaurant open for an elderly lady to pass through. As we entered, the smell of fresh bacon hit our noses in that way only bacon can. I breathed it in.
“Patty!” Zack called out to the owner as she rang in a customer. “Please tell me there’s still some bacon left over.”
“It’s one in the afternoon, Zack. Does it figure we’d still have bacon on the grill?” She scowled.
“It’s Montana. Don’t pull lack of pig on me.”
“Come on, Patty,” I chimed in as I took a seat in the back. “You know how this’ll end.”
“It’s true.” Zack pointed at me then gave her the slip and disappeared into the kitchen.
I laughed as the waitress handed me a menu with a grin.
“Table for two, please,” I heard a familiar voice ask at the front of the restaurant. That voice hit me like a sledgehammer, and my heart pounded in my chest.
“They do have bacon!” Zack dropped into the chair next to me and peeled off his coat. “We need a place that has breakfast any time of the day. Patty loves to pull that on us. I mean, it’s break-fast, as in a break for me to eat, and she knows I need my bacon and I need it fast.” He grinned, then studied my face and followed my line of sight. “Well, well, well, what do we have here? Is that your Sue?”
“Yeah.” I sipped my coffee and watched out of the corner of my eye. They sat two tables away. Sue was in hotpants and a white top.
“I see this going two ways. You tell me how you met that little fox, or I call them over and hear it from her.”
I closed my eyes and cursed. I knew he would be relentless if I didn’t tell, and at the same time it was nice feeling a sense of normalcy again.
“All right, all right. We met two days before we left for Nam.” I lowered my voice as he leaned in with a grin. “I’d fallen asleep under a tree on the side of the property when this sweet voice woke me. She was calling for someone. Turned out it was her dog, and when I saw her standing there in that tall grass—” I gave him a deep, girly sigh, and his hand went to his chest. “She was all sun-kissed skin, big bright eyes, and a gorgeous smile.” I wanted to add some drama for him. “It was like I was stuck in a trance as I watched her throw a stick for her dog. She laughed, the most beautiful laugh, as her dog bounced around like a sheep." I stopped to clear my throat dramatically, and he waved for me to go on, but when I didn’t answer, he prompted me.
“Did she freak out when she saw you creepin’ from the under the tree?
“No.” I rolled my eyes, and chuckled.
“So, what, you love this girl? I can hear it in your voice. Oh, Jesus, Mary and Joseph, you have feelings for this girl, don’t you?”
“I don’t know,” I answered honestly.
“From one look, you might love her?” His jaw dropped.
“I can’t explain it.” My voice went serious.
“Try.”
“When she caught sight of me, her smile didn’t fade. It grew. Like she knew there was something there. She felt it, too.”
“What is it with you Logans and finding your soul mates?” He gave a chuckle, but I could see he was happy for me that I actually could still feel something other than pain and loss. “All right, so, you had your moment. Then what happened?”
“I introduced myself, and we spent the next two days together. We walked the fields, swam in the lake, just talked about nothing. You know, normal stuff. I’m not sure why I let my guard down with her, but we had this ease with each other. You know? And when I had to say goodbye, she kissed me. Not a passionate kiss, just a kiss. It was perfect.” I shook my head as I remembered that kiss. “Let’s just say I carried it with me, and it got me through some of the darkest days over there.”
“And you haven’t called her yet?” Zack shook his head. “Logan, come on. She’s gorgeous, easy to talk to, and from what I can see from here, not married.” He smirked when he caught my gaze move to her hands.
“I’ve changed. I’m not going to take her along on this trip.” I pointed to my temple. “My head’s still not on straight. She deserves better.”
“Yeah, that’s a load of crap.” Zack laughed and waved me off as he leaned his head out of our booth. “Are you two meeting anyone?” he called, and I kicked his ankle and made him yelp in pain. He laughed at my murderous expression as Tracy, the girl who faced our direction, spoke up first.
