AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What about you? You haven’t told me much about Mariana’s mother.”
Wow, she went from staying at arms-length to digging right in to the tough stuff. But he wasn’t complaining, since she was relaxed enough to want to know more about his family. He held out the bottle. “I think that calls for more wine.”
She offered her cup and he refilled it, then his own.
“Valentina had a seizure and died when Mariana was five. I was on deployment.”
Cameron gasped.
“She didn’t want me to go on my last trip. Her mother always said she had a sixth sense about things and she was afraid for me. Turns out, she was the one we should have been concerned about. I’ll never forget when my CO called me into his office and told me that Valentina had died. I was frantic. I was immediately issued compassionate leave and headed for the States, but it took almost three days to get home. Three days of grief and fear for how Mariana was holding up while my parents rushed into town to comfort a heartbroken five-year-old.”
“That sounds awful.” Cameron’s eyes conveyed a compassion he wasn’t sure he deserved.
He hadn’t listened to Valentina’s concerns. Had put them off because he was doing his duty. “I came home to a little girl who was mourning her mother and I didn’t know what to do. I got a crash course in being a single parent. It was too much, so my parents moved to town to help. She stayed with them during my deployments. I hated leaving them when we moved here, but by taking this assignment at Ft. Dunwoody, I can give Mariana stability. My new job is non-deployable, which was why I applied for the position.”
“Is that what you want, to put down roots here?”
He couldn’t mistake the hope in her voice, but he had to be honest with Cameron. “I think so. I can’t deny that I miss the brotherhood with my old unit, the bonding that you have when you put your lives into each other’s hands. But this is the right decision for Mariana, and what’s best for her has to come first right now.”
“You’ve done a great job with her. She’s been a good friend to Lizzie—”
“And Lizzie has been wonderful to Mariana. It was so hard for her to be the new girl yet again, but since we’re near Ft. Dunwoody, I guess the kids around here are used to it. It seems, too, that our girls have gotten the idea that they’d benefit if the two of us spent time together.” He waved his hand over their picnic.
Cameron laughed. “Or the movies. Or the unplanned dinner. I’ve got to have another talk with Lizzie, because clearly the first one didn’t stick. These tricks need to stop.”
He linked his fingers with hers and held his breath. “As long as you agree that you’ll keep spending time with me. Without the girls’ meddling.”
She sighed. “I don’t know. I just don’t know.”
She may not be sure yet, but he was, and that was good enough for now. He extended the wine bottle again. “How about you have another glass of wine while we talk about how I can change that I don’t know to a yes?”
A bright light shone between them. “Evening, folks. What are we doing here tonight?”
He turned to see uniformed Park Police, two of them, towering over them. He leapt to his feet, Cameron right behind him. “Having a picnic, officer.”
“Is that a bottle of wine?”
Okay, so he looked young for his age, but was this guy really asking if he was old enough to drink? “I’m much older than twenty-one, officer. So is she.”
“Are you aware that it’s illegal to possess or consume alcohol on National Park land?”
Alex emptied his cup onto the grass behind him. “I wasn’t aware of that, no sir.”
He could see it now, being summoned into his CO’s office after getting a ticket for drinking on the National Mall. He’d never live it down. As the new guy, they were always looking for ways to tease him. It was all in good fun and expected when he transferred units, but this would feed the joke pool for weeks. Months, even.
Cameron’s expression remained neutral. It would be nice if she would join him on Freak-Out Street right about now, but she’d gone so calm he couldn’t tell if she was concerned about the officers glaring down at them.
The other officer scanned their picnic blanket. “Are those sandwiches with the crusts cut off and potato chips?”
Cameron finally jumped in. “Well, you see, officer—”
The officer held up his hand and gestured for Alex to lean in. “Just a little hint… if you want to romance a woman, you need to step up your game.”
The two officers laughed as they sauntered away. “Get rid of the wine… and have a nice evening.”
When Alex turned back around, Cameron was wiping tears from her eyes. Oh, shoot, she was upset, after all. He rushed to put his arms around her, but she pushed him away.
“Oh, honey. It’s all right. You don’t need to cry.”
