Letters to Her Soldier (8 page)

Samson smiled
and strolled over to his sister.
 
When he
got the thumbs-up, he went back inside and straight to the kitchen.
 
At the door, he paused at the sight before him.
 
His mother was laughing, and a man Caleb
didn’t know was chuckling as he talked.
 
Bianca glared at the guy, her nose scrunched
up and her mouth pouting.
 
Caleb listened.

“I’ve never had
to keep a straight face for so long in front of a patient.
 
Bianca was so good.
 
She didn’t even react when she was smacked on
the bum and told to ‘keep them coming, baby. ’”

His mother
doubled over with laughter, and Bianca pointed a flour-covered finger at them.
 
“He was a critically ill teenager.
 
I couldn’t tell him off.
 
And no one told me he had a crush on me.
 
Mathew”—she pointed the guy—“and all the
nurses thought it would be funny to give him one of his wishes.
Which, apparently, was to feel me up.
Dr.
 
Smooth over there didn’t even do anything about
it.
 
He came in to do a check up on the
kid.
Pfft
.
 
I know he was in on it. ”

The doctor
looked at Bianca, and Caleb saw he was well on the way to being in love with
her.
 
He looked at his competition and swore.
 
He’d been picturing a guy older than him,
maybe a little white hair. But no, this guy was probably a good couple of years
younger than him, fit, and, he reluctantly admitted, not bad looking.
 
He just had to make this guy believe he had no
chance.

He straightened
his shoulders, walked into the room, wrapped his arms around Bianca who almost
jumped out of her skin, and kissed her neck and shoulder.
 
“Hey, beautiful, I wondered where you’d gotten
to
. ”

He looked up in
time to see his mother’s eyes widen and a fleeting glance of unease cross the
doctor’s face.

His mother
seemed to snap out of her shock quickly.
 
“Mathew, I’d like you to meet my son Caleb.
 
He just got back from Afghanistan last week. He
has some leave, and then he’s going to stick around and teach at the base. ”

As soon as his
mother explained who he was, the guy relaxed.

“Caleb’s known
Bianca since she was little.
 
She’s like
a sister to him. ”

Bianca was stiff
as a board against him until his mother told Mathew she was like a sister to
him.
 
Her body shook, and she used her
arms to wipe her eyes.
 
He gave his
mother the best evil eye, thinking she’d made Bianca cry.
 

“Oh God, I hope
he doesn’t see me as that
. ”
Then she seemed to go
into hysterical giggles.

His mother eyed
Bianca like she’d lost it.
 
He cleared
his throat as the oven timer went off, but they all seemed to be in a stare-off.
Bianca calmed down and maneuvered out of his hold before walking to the oven.
 
She put on the oven mitts and opened the door.
 
While she got everything out, she
ignored them.
 

“That’s
everything.
 
Dinner’s ready.
 
If your Dad’s done with the steaks and
sausages, we’re ready to go. ”

Bianca’s tactic
seemed to work as she walked out of the room, her hands full of hot food.
 
His mother rushed to help which left him alone
with the doctor.
 
They eyed each other.
 
“She’s never mentioned you
. ”

Mathew shrugged.
 
“Bianca never said anything about you
either
. ”

Caleb clenched
his fist.
 
“She’s going to marry me
. ”

Mathew raised
his eyebrow at him.
 
“She didn’t have a
ring on her finger, and didn’t your mother say you only returned a week ago?”
He walked past him, grabbed a salad bowl, and, without waiting for his answer, left
the room.

Caleb gritted
his teeth, picked up some bowls filled with food, and stormed out to his party.
 
His sister breezed by him, and he shot
her a glare as she went to the kitchen.

As he reached
outside, he noticed some extra friends had arrived and his mother’s Delta
friends and their daughters.
 
Great, just great.
More drama to add to
this already brilliant birthday party.

He searched the
tables for Bianca to see her sitting at the main one with the doctor on one
side and his father on the other.
 

His sister came
up beside him and whispered, “Mum meant well.
 
She didn’t know how you felt about Bianca.
 
She wouldn’t have invited Mathew if she knew. ”

“Why didn’t Dad
say anything?”

“Ha, our Dad
learnt long ago not to interfere when Mum’s plotting
. ”

“You didn’t tell
me he’s younger than me and looks like that
. ”

Greta bumped him
with her hip.
 
“Oh, must have slipped my
mind.
 
Don’t sweat it, bro.
 
She’s loved you forever. ”

As Greta said
this, Bianca sent a beaming smile to the doc and laughed.
 

His brother came
up beside him and whacked him on the back.
 
“Sorry I’m late, got stuck with paperwork on a
DMV.
 
Looks like I got here at just the
right time.
 
The food looks great.
 
Hey, isn’t that your woman laughing over there
with that man?”

“Shut the fuck
up, Gavin
. ”

“Ah, I see.
 
You’re still too scared to claim her.
 
Well, it looks like someone else isn’t. ”

Letting his
anger free, Caleb punched his brother, and because he knew his brother so well,
he dodged the hit that came back at him.
 

“What the hell
was that for?”

“I told you to
shut up
. ”

Caleb looked
around to see everyone staring at him.
 
His mother was rushing toward him with a
worried look in her eyes, but he couldn’t keep his eyes off Bianca.
 
She said something to Mathew, stood up, and
almost jogged to him.

His mother
turned to everyone.
 
“Sorry, folks, just
some silly sibling rivalry
. ”
She snatched the dish
from him, placed it on the table, and walked inside.
 

Sighing, he
followed his mother to the back family room.
 
His mother glared at Greta, Gavin, and him.

“I want to know
what on earth is happening.
 
And I want
to know now. ”

“Nothing, Mum.
Everything’s all good.
 
I said something I shouldn’t to the
birthday boy.
 
It’s all sorted now. ”
Gavin went to walk away, but his mother shook her head.

“It doesn’t look
sorted.
 
I want to know now what’s going
on, or I’ll volunteer you for a romantic weekend getaway instead of a date
night in my charity ball. ”

Caleb growled as
his brother couldn’t blab fast enough.
 
“Caleb’s sulking because he missed his chance
with Bianca because he’s scared she’ll reject him. Now Bianca has some guy all
over her, so he took his anger out on me. ”

Bianca came in
and stood with her arms crossed over her chest, staring at him.
 
She looked so hot.
 
Her hazel eyes shone with anger, and her arms
pushed her breasts up like an offering.

“Well, that explains
what happened in the kitchen
, ”
his mother said.

Caleb needed to
hold Bianca.
 
Walking past his mother as
she talked, he pulled Bianca into the room and into his arms.

“When did this
happen? Why haven’t you said anything to me?” his mother asked.

“Oh, he’s been
in love with her for years, Mum.
 
Only just noticed it himself a couple of years ago, though.
”

His mother gave
a shut-up look to Gavin.
 
“You can go now,
Gavin.
 
I think I’ve heard enough from
you. ”

His traitor of a
brother strolled out of the room.
 
Greta
went to join him, but his mother grabbed her hand.
 
“Not so fast, missy.
 
How long have you known?”

“Not long.
 
Dad knew way before me. ” And with that, his
sister shocked his mother and got away.

“How?” his
mother asked.

“Letters.
 
Bianca sent me letters every week, sometimes
twice a week.
 
She kept me sane. ”

Tears rolled
down his mother’s cheeks as she said, “You wrote to my boy every week
. ”

Bianca fidgeted
in his arms and croaked out, “Yes
. ”

“What did you
say in the letters?”

He felt Bianca’s
shoulder lift.
 
“Nothing
really.
I told him about the silly dramas at school, the antics Gavin
got up to, or about me and Greta.
 
Sometimes I just sent him new recipes I made, and
if I could, I’d send him samples. ”

“Why didn’t you
tell me you did this? I thought I was like a mother to you. ”

“I don’t know.
 
It never came up.
 
It started the last year of school right after
I turned eighteen. ”

“Are you two
together? When did you start?”

He could see his
mum was upset. The room seemed filled with emotion.
 
“Mum, we would have told you.
 
It’s new.
 
I saw her at the airport and made my move. ”

His mother
nodded.
 
“How does your father know?”

Now it was his
turn to be uncomfortable.
 
Bianca touched
his arm and stepped forward to give his mum a hug.

“Give us a
little time.
 
I promise if things work
out, then you will be the first to know. ”

 
He sighed in relief and hugged the women he
loved.

****

The rest of the
afternoon had been uneventful.
 
Mathew
left straight after they ate. Bianca pulled him aside and told him that she was
with Caleb
now, that
he’d asked her to marry him and
she was going to say yes.
 
He had given
her a sad smile, thanked her, and congratulated her on her engagement.
 

She and Caleb
arrived home late.
 
As they went up to their
room, she remembered his birthday present.
 
After the night’s events, she was one hundred
percent sure she wanted to give it to him.
 
As he got naked for bed, she sat and watched
him.
 

“You’re so yummy
. ”
She stood up, hid the present behind her back, and
trailed her fingers down his perfect rock-hard, six-pack stomach.
 
“I have a present for you.
 
Sit down, and I’ll give it to you.”

Caleb grinned
down at her and sat on the edge of the bed.
 
She straddled his lap and kissed his chest.
 
“Happy birthday
. ”
Bianca
placed the small box in his hands.
 

His brow
furrowed and he muttered, “You didn’t have to get me anything.
 
I’m happy with what you gave me earlier. ”

She laughed and
hugged him close.
 
“I wanted to.
 
Open it. ”

She moved back
so she could watch his face.
 
He undid
the box and paused as he opened it.
 
Slowly he lifted the gold dog tag and read it.
 

“To the love of
my life, the man I will always love until my dying day, happy birthday from
your wife Bianca
. ”
Caleb paused for a moment and cleared
his throat.

“You wrote ‘wife,
’” Caleb whispered.

She bit her lip,
unsure of herself now.
 
“Ah, I can get
you something else if you don’t like the tag.
 
I know you said a couple of weeks, but this
week has been perfect.
 
And…well, I
just—”

He cut her off
as his mouth captured hers.
 
His dick
rubbed against her pussy.