Corpsman and the Nerd (3 page)

“
Easy, KC,” he said and
reached across the table to take her hand. Then, shaking his head,
he stood up, maneuvered around the table, and folded her in his
arms. She went willingly. KC needed to feel like everything was in
control, even if the feeling was fleeting. Inside Max’s arms was
the safest place she had ever found.

“
Ryan and I already worked
all this out,” Max said above her and KC’s heart sputtered, then
beat frantically while she processed his words.

“
What?” She pulled away to
peek at his face. He looked like he meant that statement.
Goosebumps peppered her arms and she shivered.

Max shrugged. “Ryan and I have all
that taken care of,” he repeated, and quirked a black eyebrow at
her.

“
What have you worked out?”
KC was hesitant to welcome the small, sunlit glimmer of hope, since
looming over the horizon was a huge black cloud of dread and
doubt.

Max grinned. “We talked this morning.
He said you told him you had to go away, so he informed me how he
and Spuds will be coming to live with me until you come
home.”

“
Ryan told you he was coming
to your house?” she asked weakly, but an answering grin tugged at
her own lips.

“
Yep.” Max’s face set into
serious lines. “It’s your best solution. I certainly don’t have a
problem with him staying with me. I’ll actually enjoy the time with
Ryan.”

“
I know that, but,
Max
, I can’t ask you to
disrupt your whole life for me,” KC objected as confusion and
elation battled for dominance in her beleaguered mind. Ryan did,
indeed, have the perfect solution in mind.
What a smart kid
. But how on earth
could she ask so much of Max?

“
Why not? KC, I can easily
keep him. And goodness knows if I need to go somewhere on business,
I have two hundred immediate family members waiting in line to keep
him. All of whom he knows. I’ve got a hundred nieces and nephews he
can play with, and does now. At least half are at my house often
anyway. It’s the perfect solution. I love Ryan, you know that.” He
brushed the wisp of hair that kept tickling her nose off her
face.

KC stared up at him, thankful he was
her best friend. “Oh, Max, how can I thank you?”

“
You already have by being
willing to go and serve. Maybe you won’t be fighting, but you’ll be
healing those who are, so you’re just as important. You don’t see
me out there volunteering to go, do you?” A faint smile stretched
his lips.

“
I guess not. Someone has to
stay home and keep the fires burning.”

“
Exactly
. And someone has to go. You’ve got the official orders. I
don’t. That’s not for me. But I can, and really want to care for
your son.” He said it so firmly she had no doubt he meant every
word. That thought set her free of the worry and guilt plaguing
her.

“
Thank you,” she whispered
into his chest.

He hauled her back in for a hug she
thought maybe both of them needed.

“
Sure. Now let’s go tell the
kid I convinced you he could stay with me.” Max tugged on her hand.
Laughing, relieved, she followed him.

*****

Later that night at home KC stared at
the notice in her hand. Whoops. In the chaos created by her looming
deployment she forgot about the more mundane details of life. She
glanced at the phone and debated for about a minute before she
picked it up and dialed.

Max answered on the second
ring.

“
Morrison.” He sounded
distracted, a usual occurrence for him.

“
Hey, it’s me. I’ve got a
problem.”

“
Hey, you. What’s the
problem?” KC estimated she had about half of his
attention.

“
I just got notification
that my lease on my apartment is up at the end of the month. I have
to decide whether I want to sign on for another year or not.” She
stared at the paper in her hand. With no thoughts of what she
should do swirling in her head. It crammed in with everything else,
vying for her attention.

“
Seems silly to sign a lease
when you know you’re going to be gone for at least the next eight
months.”

“
My thoughts
exactly.”

“
But...?” he
asked.

“
How did you know there was
a
but
?” Max knew
her too well if he could read her scattered thoughts.

“
There’s always a
but
, so what is
it?”

“
What am I supposed to do
with my stuff? How am I going to find time to pack up this
apartment? Provided I find another place for my things?” She ran an
agitated hand through her hair. Like being deployed wasn’t bad
enough, now was she supposed to deal with all the at-home things
before she shipped out?

“
Relax. The packing part is
easy. You either hire movers or you call my mom, which is pretty
much the same thing.” She heard something being shuffled in the
background. “Where to move your stuff? You’ve got several options.”
A crackling noise filtered through the phone and KC decided he must
be opening a package or envelope.

She waited.

“
I’ve got the barn out back,
which has nothing but the lawn mower and some of my relative’s
vehicles in it. That’s option number one. If you don’t like that
one, there’re lots of storage units, but you’d have to pay up front
for one, since you won’t be here to pay monthly. And you probably
want to pay for it for at least a year, in case you’re gone that
long.

“
That’s option two. The
other options are all the Morrison family storage areas. We could
move your stuff into a cottage. Which wouldn’t be bad, because most
of the attics don’t have much in them. Will’s closet alone could
use a pile of stuff so I’ll stop getting nieces and
nephews.”

“
Wait a second.” KC stopped
him. She had seen that infamous closet at Will and Rachel’s summer
cottage at the lake. Family legend was that all of Max’s sister
Laurie and her husband, Greg’s, children had been conceived in that
very large, comfortable walk-in linen closet. Apparently, all of
the siblings and various partners, as well as many of the cousins
had been discovered making out in there at one time or
another.

“
What?” Max
asked.

“
Who’s the newest couple to
be caught in there?” KC asked in interest.

“
Mitch and Lainy. She’s
pregnant, by the way.” She could hear the proud brother in his
voice.

KC gasped.
“
Are you serious
?
They’ve only been married, what, four months?”

“
I just got off the phone
with her. She’s so excited - I could barely get the news out of
her. Mitch was a lost cause. He was just this proud, blubbering
idiot. Well, they actually passed the phone back and forth so I
could get the news. It was an interesting call,” Max said and she
could hear his grin.

She didn’t doubt that, but she was
surprised Lainy hadn’t called her as well. KC fumbled with her cell
phone and glanced at the screen. There it was, the call she missed
from Lainy. She switched the phone back to ring mode. Who knew what
other important calls she might have missed?

“
Max, that is fantastic
news. They must be so excited. I’d better call her.” Then in a less
gleeful voice, “This baby wasn’t planned, though,
right?”

“
Nope. But see, they spent
time in that closet,” Max patiently explained.

“
I see. So you’d like to see
my stuff crammed into it so no more of your siblings and their
spouses can use the closet for its
other
purpose?” KC tried to keep the
utter amusement out of her voice.

“
Doesn’t that sound like the
ideal solution?”

“
Unh-unh.” Her negative was
emphatic.

“
Chicken. Oh, I would like
to take all of Ryan’s stuff and move it into the room he’ll have
here at the house. And, if you don’t mind, your dining room table
and chairs. Actually, you know what, KC, why don’t we just move all
your stuff into my place? I could use it until you return, and it’d
make Ryan feel more comfortable here. Then, you can leave from and
return to here, and you won’t have to go to a hotel or
anything.”

She could tell he was sincere. “Max,
that’s so much to ask of you.” KC bit her lip.

“
How is it too much to ask?
I’ve got bare spots all over the place. No table, a ratty old sofa
I’d love to throw out, but don’t have anything to replace it, and I
don’t want to take the time right now to look for a new one.
Besides, like I said, Ryan would feel more at home with familiar
things around him, especially if the two of you came to live here
before you leave.” His firm voice meant she probably wouldn’t be
able to talk him out of his plans.

This was good, because right now, she
needed someone she trusted to take over a few key aspects of her
life. And finding a place for her things was something she didn’t
want to deal with. Ryan was her main priority and it did make sense
for them to live with Max for a little while before she left. That
would make Ryan feel more at home, even though she doubted he would
have problems. He had stayed with Max before when she had to go
away on business. Plus there were the many times the Morrisons had
something going on, and invited him along.

Ryan was used to the chaos of the
Morrison family. He’d visited the lake with Max countless times and
played with the Morrison offspring enough that he knew all their
names and preferences. (He didn’t enjoy playing with most of the
girls, but did great in the company of the Morrison boys his own
age.)

He would be fine. Max would also make
certain Ryan spent a little time with her parents, but not too
much, which was perfect. He had a good feel for that situation, and
she trusted him to do what was right.

In fact, she completely trusted Max,
which was more than she could say for her own family. Because she
probably could never trust her brother. And her parents... Since
she had tuned into reality at around the age of six, she realized
they were different than other people. Aliens, is how she tended to
describe them and their set to her closest friends. Only interested
in perching at the top of the social rung, with all the right
friends, possessions and memberships, her parents moved in circles
KC could have entered but saw nothing there to entice her. Give her
a Morrison family picnic any day.

“
All right. I think your
idea is the best one I’ve heard so far. The important person here
is Ryan. You and I will adjust easily enough, but with me gone for
so long, I don’t know.” She bit her lip again. This was so much to
ask.

“
He doesn’t understand that
you’ll be gone for eight months, but we’ll help him through it. And
Lainy’s already working on new phones for us to keep in contact. I
don’t know when they’ll be ready. She thinks it’s important for
Ryan to talk to you as often as possible, and I agree. She’s been
through this, so she’ll be a big help.”

“
Bless her,” KC said
wholeheartedly. KC had every confidence things would work as best
as Lainy, an electronics expert, could manage. Plus, she had
endured a year of being parted from Mitch, whom she got to know
when she took in his dog. [The Nerd and the Marine – Book 1] They
came to love one another over that year long span and exchanged
marriage vows soon after he returned to the United States. So yes,
Lainy would know.

“
Yeah, she’s pretty decent,
for a sister,” Max said, but KC heard the love in his tone and not
for the first time, wished she could have a family as large and
loving as Max enjoyed.

“
I’ll be sure to tell her
that. Okay, now, I’ve got to get off the phone.” She studied the
living room, dreading all the work she saw in just this modest
space.

“
Don’t panic, I’ll call Mom.
Let her worry about the packing. She likes this sort of thing, and
she and some of the aunts are bored. I heard her say so the other
day. She’ll love the packing project,” Max assured her, and the
funny thing was, she believed him.

“
Thanks, Max,” she said, but
he had already said goodbye and hung up. His amazing mind probably
already working on the next problem.

*****

“
Max, slow down a second and
run all this by me again. Your dad’s talking on one side, you on
the other, and I’m not following either,” his mom said the next
morning when he remembered to call her. He heard her tell his dad
to pipe down a second. The familiar masculine rumble in the
background ceased and his mom came back on the line. Max
grinned.

“
Okay, run that by me
again?”

First things first. “You know KC got
called up to go overseas?” Thinking if he gave her the whole scoop,
hopefully he wouldn’t have to repeat anything.

“
Yes. Lands, you told me
that days ago. You’re keeping her son, which I think is just
wonderful, Max. We’ll have to have a welcoming party for Ryan.” His
mother launched into detail with all her ideas, speaking eighty
miles an hour, as usual.