Heart of a Marine (The Wounded Warrior Series Book 1) (12 page)

Marla pointed. “That’s Char’s car. I don’t see them, do you?” She leaned forward and craned her neck.

“They’re at the picnic table at the edge of the old lemon grove.” He tilted his head. “Over there.”

“Oh, good, they’re in the shade.”

He suspected the relief in her voice had more to do with the fact her sister and his brother were already here and less to do with the shade. “I’m going to park at the end. It’s a bit of a walk, but by the time we leave, this part of the lot will be in the direct sun. The seats will get hotter than a griddle.”

“Ah, good thinking.”

He parked and lifted Amber out of the backseat, then handed the sandwich box to Marla. “Hold on to that critter, squirt. He’s itchin’ to join those other dogs behind the fence.” Carrying the cooler in the direction of the tables, he reached for Amber’s hand and led the way.

“Wait, Dwayne.”

He stopped and looked over his shoulder. “What? Did we forget something?”

“No. I’m going to let Amber take Skip inside. I need to show her how to work the gate.” She motioned for Amber to join her at the fence.

Marla pointed. “See this thing? It’s the dog park tag scanner. You need to hold Skip still in front of it for a second and the gate will unlock. See? When you go in and out you must be very careful that no other dog gets out. As soon as you’re inside, make sure it latches, then let Skipper off the leash. He’ll run and join the other dogs, but soon as he works off some of his excitement, he’ll come back to play with you. OK?”

Dwayne watched Amber nod her understanding of Marla’s instructions. His kid was smart and eager to please. He didn’t doubt she’d follow them to the letter. He couldn’t look at her without a big swell of love in his heart. God, she was beautiful, and she was his daughter.

“Have fun,” he said, “and come to the table when you get hungry.”

“OK, Daddy.” She shut the gate tight and let the dog go.

Marla joined him. “You have a very special little girl.” She bit her cheek to suppress her smile. “Hard to believe you’re her father.”

He grabbed his chest. “That hurts.”

“Uh, oh,” Marla said. “Do you see what I see?”

“If you’re referring to the unmistakable afterglow of great sex on both their faces, then yes, I see it.”

“I was afraid that would happen. Charlene is relentless when she sets her sights on a good-looking man. Poor Donovan.”

“Why poor Donovan? He looks like a satisfied and happy man to me. Why not poor Charlene?”

Marla sighed. “She tends to love ’em and leave ’em. I’d feel bad if Donovan expected her to stick.”

“Give it a rest, willya? He’s a twenty-nine year old Marine combat veteran. She’s the one you should worry about, if that’s something you feel you need to do. Why not just smile and be happy they had a great time in the sack, which it’s obvious they did?”

“Go to hell, Dempsey.” She bumped his shoulder and stormed ahead of him.

“Most likely.” He shook his head. He’d managed to get her Irish up again. He couldn’t say anything without making her mad, but he was right, damn it. She should mind her own business. As adults, Charlene and Donovan were fully capable of making their own decisions.

They reached the table to the smiles and waves of Marla’s sister and his little brother. Dwayne set down the cooler and fist-bumped Donovan. “I’m hungry, how about you guys?”

His eyes bored into Donovan’s. Dwayne tilted his head and raised his eyebrows. His brother answered the unspoken question with a barely perceptible head-shake. No sign of Francine.

Charlene grinned from ear to ear and leaned into Donovan’s shoulder. “I’m starved. We thought you’d never get here, huh, Donnie?” She gazed into his eyes and without a hint of shyness. Donovan bent to kiss her.

“Yeah,” he said when he came up for air, “we’re starved.” He gave her a squeeze and grinned at Dwayne and Marla.

Dwayne got the full meaning of his brother’s grin. “
Look what I bagged, bro.”
He took the sandwich box from Marla, set it on the table, and whispered in her ear, “If anyone other than your sister called him Donnie, they’d get knocked on their ass.” Then is a normal voice, he said, “Let’s eat, Red. What have you got to drink?”

He popped open the lid of the cooler. Two cans of Dr. Pepper. She cared enough to go out and buy them especially for him. Promising.

He lifted one of the cans. “Thanks, Red, very thoughtful.” Under the table he put his hand on her thigh and squeezed, then silently laughed at the blush blooming on her cheeks.

“Y-you’re welcome,” she stuttered. “I had some in the refrigerator.”

Like hell you did, gorgeous.

He left his palm on her leg. She shoved it away. He put it back.

She stood and said, “I have to check on Skipper.”

Charlene grinned at Dwayne when her sister walked away. “Don’t ever find yourself drowning alongside that dog, because you’d be second in line for Marla to save.”

“I get the picture.”

* * *

Grateful for Charlene’s endless chatter, Marla worked to relax, if that was even possible with Dempsey’s big warm hand on her leg. She reached under the table again and lifted it away. He squeezed her fingers and let go. She couldn’t look at him, so she nodded wide-eyed at Charlene, pretending to be interested in what she had to say.

“Then when we got to my apartment, I couldn’t find my keys. It’s not possible to lose keys between turning off the ignition of my car and walking to my front door, which can’t be more than fifteen feet from the curb, but that’s exactly what I did. You should have seen us crawling around the grass in the dark looking for them.” She giggled and gazed into Donovan’s eyes. “Right, Donnie?”

“Right, sugar.” He kissed her again.

Marla cleared her throat. “Should Dwayne and I move to another table? I get the feeling we’re intruding on a very intimate moment here.”

“Oh, lord, Marla. Don’t be a sourpuss.”

She was about to respond to her sister’s insult when Dwayne put his hand back on her leg. The retort got firmly stuck in her throat.

“Hey, why don’t we change the subject?” Dwayne suggested. “Donovan, I’m taking Amber and Miss Emmaline up to Wyoming to spend the summer at Mom’s place. I was thinking you might want to drive up with us if you have enough leave time. I know she’d love to see you.”

“It takes two days to drive each way, so I’ll have to pass. I only have three more days leave. I’ll visit the ranch this summer though. I’ve already talked to Mom about it. It’ll be great with Miss Emmaline and Amber there too. How long are you planning to stay?”

The look of relief on Char’s face when she heard him say he wouldn’t be leaving Spring Grove surprised Marla. Was it possible she cared about Donovan that much? The next few days promised to be interesting.

“That’s good you’re planning to visit this summer. It’s about time you got back on a horse. I’m only staying a couple of days myself. I’ll spend more time at the end of summer when Marla’s construction job is put to bed.”

She swallowed and tried to will the heat of a blush away at the word “bed.” Again she reached under the table and pushed Dwayne’s hand off her leg and scooted a few inches away from him. “Uh, you’re leaving right away?”

“Tomorrow afternoon, soon as school’s out.” The wry twist on his lips infuriated and unsettled her.

She knew he’d put her on edge deliberately, and there didn’t seem to be anything she could do about it. She threw her leg over the bench and stood. “I’m going to check on Amber and Skip.”

Dwayne got up. “I’ll go with you.”

She walked fast in hopes he’d have trouble keeping up with her. He caught up, darn him. “What did you think you were doing back there, Dempsey?”

“Feeling up your leg, Danaher.” He chuckled. “Felt good too, all that feminine softness and heat.”

She stopped and slammed her hands on her hips. “I asked you not to do that. Did your hearing get damaged in the war too?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact it did, but there’s nothing wrong with my instincts, and I know you enjoyed it.”

“You’re a bonehead. How and why would I enjoy being touched by somebody who’s always teasing me about my weight?”

“I have never once teased you about your weight.” He rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Let me make myself clear. You’re. Not. Fat. Your weight is perfect. In fact, I’d love to get my hands on every single sexy ounce of you, Marla Danaher.” He threw up his arms and stalked away.

Charlene called, “Marla, Donovan and I are leaving.”

She returned to the table. “We just got here twenty minutes ago. What’s your hurry?”

“You and Dwayne are at each other’s throats. You’re putting a damper on our good mood, so we’re going to go back to my place and work on improving it.” She picked up their blanket and handed it to Donovan. “We’ll see you later at Mt. Fuji.”

“What? Mt. Fuji? What are you talking about, Charlene?”

“Did you already forget that we’re meeting Sil and Dadley there for dinner tonight?” She shook her head and sighed. “Yes, I can see you forgot. Be there by seven.” She took Donovan’s hand. “Come on, honey. Let’s see if we can work up an appetite for dinner.”

He grinned and definitely would have panted if he’d been a dog. “Oohrah. You don’t have to ask me twice, sweet thing.”

Marla’s face burned with embarrassment at her sister’s blatant innuendos. They wasted no time getting to Char’s car.

Great, just great! Now she was stuck here with Dwayne. He was her ride home. Five miles was too far to walk in this heat, poor Skip would expire. Face it, Marla, she told herself. Be the grownup in the room. Forget what he said and what he did. Pretend it never happened.

But he said he liked her body. He thought she was sexy.

* * *

Dwayne clasped his hands and leaned on the top rail of the fence. He watched Amber and a few other kids gamboling around the large grassy area, playing with dogs of various sizes and breeds. He gritted his teeth and dragged a hand through his hair. He shouldn’t push Marla for more than friendship yet. He had a potentially serious problem to ward off with Francine. The timing with Marla was all wrong.

Amber ran to him and gripped the fence. “Hi, Daddy. Want to come in and play with us?”

He put his arm over the top and ruffled her hair. “Not now. Why don’t you come out for a few minutes and chow down on the great-looking sandwich Marla packed for you. She also put ice-cold milk in the cooler. Just the way you like it.”

“OK. I’m rill pooped anyhow. Should I get Skipper?”

“Nah. He’s having fun. Come on, I’ll unlatch the gate for you.” He was about to walk to the gate when she ran off.

“I can do it.” Of course she could. She was growing up way too fast.

In seconds she joined him. He threw her in the air and caught her while she squealed and laughed, then he set her on his shoulders and returned to the picnic bench.

Marla strolled between the rows of lemon trees beyond the table. She looked up and smiled at Amber.

“Here you go.” Dwayne put the bagged sandwich in front of Amber, opened the milk, and poured some into a paper cup. “Wipe your hands with one of these things.” He tugged a hand wipe from the plastic container Marla had put in with the sandwiches.

He glanced quickly around the park for any sign of Francine. “You eat all of it now. I need to go talk to Marla for a minute, OK?”

“Mmm hmm,” she mumbled through a big bite of peanut butter and jelly on thick, squishy white bread.

“That’s my girl.”

He ambled to the lemon trees. They’d been planted in Spring Grove generations ago, and hadn’t been harvested since the big Sunkist co-op had closed in the 70’s. He, his brothers, and other boys had played in the abandoned processing plant often, crawling over and under the rusted equipment, playing war, playing power rangers or having a light-saber fight with Darth Vader. Good memories.

He stopped in front of Marla. “Hey, Danaher.”

“Hey, Dempsey.”

“Truce?”

He held out his hand. She was unpredictable. Would she take it?

She took it.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Marla groaned and shook her head at Dwayne’s haphazard filing. It had been two days since he’d left. It seemed longer. She dug through the stack of invoices. When she couldn’t find the one she wanted, she shuffled them and began to categorize them by material, price, order date, and delivery date.

The door banged open hard enough to shake the trailer, and a woman marched straight to the table. She slapped a paper on the surface. “Where is he?”

Marla bolted back in Dwayne’s chair and took a breath to calm her shattered nerves. “Excuse me?”

“I said where is he?”

She stared at the woman, took another breath, and laid the invoices down. “Where is who?”

“Don’t play games with me.”

Cluny McPherson tromped up the steps and through the open door. “What do you want, Francine?”

Oh! Now she recognized the petite woman. Dwayne’s ex-wife. Amber’s mother.

Francine’s face twisted in an ugly scowl as she whirled on Cluny. “Mind your own business, Cluny!”

“This jobsite is my business. I’m acting supervisor. What do you want here?” He crossed his arms and widened his stance.

“I’m serving a summons on that sneaky bastard, Dwayne Dempsey.”

He snorted. “You’re out of luck. He’s not here.”

“Where is he?”

Marla’s heart pounded. Glued to her chair with trepidation, she watched their exchange. Cluny knew Dwayne’s ex-wife. He also had a hair-trigger temper, and Marla crossed her fingers in her lap, hoping their confrontation wouldn’t get ugly. She had no idea what to do.

Cluny scowled. “He’s out of town. He took his daughter to Florida for a Disney Cruise vacation. He won’t be back here for a couple of weeks, so take your summons and clear out.”

“You mean
my
daughter.” Francine crossed her arms and looked daggers at Cluny. The woman wasn’t going anywhere.

He shook his head and sneered. “Your daughter? That’s a laugh. Where do you get the nerve to show up after all these years and demand access to ‘
the kid’
you deserted six years ago? You always were a nasty piece of work.” His deep disgust hung in the air like a thick fog.