Two Weeks With a SEAL (The Wakefield Romance Series) (2 page)

Since that day, my
mother had been a broken shell of herself, becoming a ghost of her once
beautiful care-free soul. She rarely left the house, except to go to the local
liquor store. I had to drop out of Law school to help pay the bills, working a
seven to five job at Victoria’s Secret in the Patrick Henry Mall[ an hour away]
as Assistant Manager. The doctors prescribed her anti-depressants and at first
they seemed to help, but then she started to drink again. Her longtime friend
and Chad’s mother, Dana Payne, had tried to help, but my mother never tried to
help herself. My only saving grace was Dana and my Sunday dinners with her at
her home that Chad had purchased for her, dinners which we had done since I was
sixteen. After Randy’s death, my mother always used the excuse that she was too
tired to go, so it was just Dana and me, and sometimes Chad via webcam.

I work Monday through
Thursday at Victoria’s Secret, driving home to work the nine to two shift at
the local hot-spot bar, Muncy’s Pub, on Thursday through Saturday. It’s the
place where everyone in town gathers to drink away their weekly stress, gossip
about others and hit on each other. Kendall tends bar with me, whereas her day
job is managing and styling at her mom’s salon. Coming home from the bar at two
in the morning to find my mom face down on the living room floor was horrible,
the blood coming from her nose and ears making it worse. She was cold and had
no pulse, and I had vomited in the bushes outside the front door as I waited in
the cold night for the ambulance. The coroner had showed up only seconds before
Dana Payne, the flashing lights of the ambulance reminding me of the night my
father had beaten my mom. My mom had suffered a brain hemorrhage, the
combination of Prozac, Oxycontin and alcohol in her system being a deadly
cocktail.

Having her cremated per
her request, I spent my birthday and Christmas day in a zombie like haze,
surrounded by friends. Dana is an angel; she has saved me along with Kendall’s
help. “You ready,” came Kendall’s soft voice, snapping me from my daydreaming
into the snow. Turning, I see that she looks great, her tall thin figure
adorned in black pants and a red silk shirt. I myself am wearing a red sweater
dress because my mother loved the color red and I know she wouldn’t want us
wearing all black, since black is boring according to her. Tears well in my
eyes again and I smile at Kendall, nodding my head slightly, grabbing my jacket
from the back of the couch and pulling it on.

“As ready as I’ll ever
be,” I say, Kendall giving me a sweet smile, her hands on my shoulders. She is
so beautiful, her long blonde hair straight as always, hanging to the middle of
her back. Her tanned skin works well with her light brown eyes, her makeup
accentuating both. As always she’s in heels and her nails are done with white
tips, and I weave my fingers into hers and lock up my front door, the large wet
snowflakes pelting the side of my face. Getting into the passenger seat of Dana’s
brand new Chevy Malibu, I accept a one armed hug and a kiss on the cheek, a
tear escaping down as I try to smile at her.

Grabbing my hand, she
gives me a second to compose myself as I wipe at my cheeks. “You’ll be okay
honey,” she says, and I can see tears on the edge of her lashes, her bright
blue eyes irritated red. I nod my head, wiping at my cheeks the tears flowing
as we turn out of my driveway, our destination the Spratley Cemetery. There
were a number of people there, all dressed in either all black or black and red
[everyone knew my mom was a red woman]. Songs were played, prayers were issued
and roses were laid, all while the snow rained down on our little Virginia
town, covering the ground.

Everyone was leaving,
the grounds keepers lowering my mother’s ashes into their hole because I had no
reason to keep them, and I just stood there, my face down turned looking at my
feet. I didn’t care what people thought of me any longer, so I let the tears
stream down my cheeks, the sniffles filling my chest as I scrubbed at my face
with the sleeve of my jacket. Putting my left hand on the top of Randy’s head
stone, over the Navy SEAL Trident, my right hand on the edge of my mother’s
rose colored stone, I turned my face to the sky letting the snow melt on my
skin.

“I miss you so much,” I
whispered, squeezing my fingers around the cold stones. Kissing each set of my
fingers I press them back to the stones, “I love you,” I issue, turning and
leaving them, holding my head high.

Three weeks later:
January 16, 2012

"Ugghhh," I
mumbled to myself, alone in my little office in the back room of the Victoria's
Secret that I worked at. The door was cracked open, the plaque stating 'Rhea
Griggs-Asst. Manager' was slightly swinging in the breeze that always came in
through the stock room, hanging on by one nail. I rubbed my hand across my
forehead, frustrated beyond belief at the mess that our new cash office manager
had left me with, calling in sick today of all days. It had been three weeks
since I buried my mom and today was my first day back at work and our manager
wasn't due in for another three hours, making me sigh deeply again. It was a
good thing that I had some people I could trust manning the front of the store
because if I had to keep going out there for little things, I'd probably have a
mental breakdown.

I slam the books shut,
pushing them across my desk to sit up against the pink cement wall. I'm not a
big pink person, but again, I work at Victoria's Secret, pink comes with the
job. Leaning back in my overly squeaky roller chair, I rock back and forth,
tapping my pen on my computer keyboard. Running my hands over my black dress
pants, I resolve to go get some lunch and tackle the books after I've had some
food. "Ray," the loud crackle of the pager on my phone breaks the
eerie silence, making me jump a little in my seat as I reach to pick up the
receiver. "Yeah Shannie," I say, the astonishment notable in my voice
and I hear the cashier giggle to herself.

"There's a woman on
line one for you," the giggles are still mingling with her words and it
makes me smile at how fast my heart is still beating from the slight shock.

"Okay," I
laugh, hanging up with her and pausing for a second to compose myself. Normally
I had the radio on back here, the volume low tuned into the local country
station, but today I had been too frazzled by the call off of the cash office
woman so I guess I had forgot to turn it on. I flick the switch to my small red
clock radio on, turning the volume to a light tone, putting the phone back to
my ear. Maybe next time they page me, the white noise of the radio will keep me
from having a heart attack.

"Thank you for
calling the Patrick Henry Mall Victoria's Secret, this is Rhea, how can I help
you," the greeting rolled off of my tongue, having to answer it the same
way every time in case it was a big-wig in the company. Wouldn't want to piss
anyone off today.

"Ray," Dana
Payne's voice came through the phone, excitement plain and simple in her tone
bringing a smile to my lips. I owed that woman a lot, she had been there to
help me through whatever I went through in the last year when my mother was too
depressed to.

"Hey Dana, what's
up," her good vibes seem to flow through the phone because I feel better
already, leaning on the edge of my desk top.

"Chad's comin' home
for two weeks today," the giddiness was over flowing, her happy little
giggles spilling out. I was shocked, my heart beating fast like it did every
time someone mentioned Chad's name. Pictures flooded my mind of the two times
him and I had had sex. The look of his body, the feel of his touch, the taste
of his lips, it all made my palms sweaty and my legs tremble, gripping the
phone tighter to my ear. "Can you come over tonight and have dinner with
us, I'm gonna make his favorite roast chicken," she asked, hopefulness in
her plea.

"Ah, um," I
mumbled, not sure at first if I was emotionally ready to see this man that I
was in love with, but I resolved, "of course. I'll be there around
six-thirty, is that okay?" My mind raced at what I was going to change
into when I raced the hour car drive home from work at five, my fingers tapping
nervously on the metal top of my office desk.

"Of course
honey," she said, and I could swear if she was standing before me, she'd
have a sly smile on her lips. I know she probably can sense that I'm holding a
candle for Chad. A very long burning, triple wicked candle. Mothers could
always tell when their children were in love is what my mom use to say, and I
was hoping in that minute that Dana was blind to this notion. "I'll see
you then."

"Okay, see you
then," I replied, hanging the phone up after I hear the ending click on
her side. "Great," I mumbled to myself, hanging my head in my hands,
my legs shaking nervously like they always did when I was anxious. I really
needed to eat something now before I started to dry heave from my nerves
getting the best of me. It had been a year and a half since I had seen Chad but
it felt like his touch still lingered on my skin, the smell of his aftershave
coming to my senses.

Chadwick was six foot
three, his muscular build only growing after he and Randy had joined the Navy.
He had broad shoulders and massive arms, a defined chest, abs and muscular
legs. Closing my eyes I could see his light blue ones staring back at me, his
crooked smile on his lips. His brown hair, that was streaked with grey,
naturally wavy and hitting just above his shoulders when down, was pulled back
into a short ponytail at the back of his skull. His answer to why he kept his
hair longer was that his Team needed someone to play the 'badass redneck', so
it would be him. His facial hair was scruffy, dotted with grey as well, and it
had tickled my skin as he kissed my neck the last time we had seen each other,
the thought of it making delightful shivers run through my body. He had the
slight southern drawl that everyone carried in their voice around here, his
tone smooth and slightly deep. He had the tendency to use dip, Skoal
wintergreen pouches as his poison, but he knew to get rid of it every time I
was around. His Pepsi spit can would disappear and he would hide away to rinse
his mouth out, knowing how much I despised the idea of kissing someone with
chew in their mouth.

He also despised the guy
who had always had his eyes on me, local bad boy, Duke Orr. Hopefully Duke
wouldn't show up at my house tonight like he had the last couple of nights,
drunk and wanting to come in. I had had to call his friend Harlan Dow to come
get him, pulling him away swearing and kicking. Sure, I had slept with Duke
once or twice, but it had been drunk interludes when loneliness sets in. The
last time had been last month and it hadn't even really been sex because he
passed out on the bed as I was taking his pants off. I had left him there, his
jeans around his ankles with his boots still on and had Harlan drive me home. I
was in no way intending to get serious with the man who had slept with pretty
much every girl in town, no thanks. Duke was cute, but he also had a temper
that reminded me of my father, and there was no way in hell I was willing to go
down that road.

My heart seemed to lift
my feet off of the ground for the rest of the afternoon, my lunch time spent
more daydreaming than eating, my Chinese food cold and still sitting in front
of me as my Manager walked in. She leaned over my shoulder, trying to help me
with these damn books, snagging a piece of my egg roll as we put our minds
together. "I'm real sorry bout your mama," she said, giving me a one
armed hug.

"Thanks," I
smile, trying not to think of it too much. My manager, fifty-something, plump
and curvy Jenna Kyle, figured out the issues with the books, finally settling
the balances right before five o'clock. Grabbing my light jacket because it was
a little above forty degrees today, my little kitten heels clicked on the
cement floor as I walked to the front of the store to say goodbye to the floor
associates, making sure they were all okay before I locked up my office. Making
sure I had everything, I grabbed my purse and Chinese leftovers, heading out
the back door through the stock room, my rust bucket of a truck sticking out
like a sore thumb in the employee parking.

My '95 Silverado was old
and loud, but it ran like a champ and it's heat only took minutes to kick in as
I headed out of Newport News on the 258 South. Turning off of General Malone
Highway I hit Main Street then take a right on State Route 620, skirting
Wildcat Swamp as I turned onto my dead end street, Lanier Drive.

Lanier was a short
street filled with double-wide homes like mine, and I spotted people out taking
down their Christmas lights as I drove to our lot. My family home sat at the
very end of the street, occupying the last lot, facing down the road to see
everyone approaching. The vinyl siding was light blue and I noticed as I pulled
in the half circle gravel driveway at six after six that I should probably
paint it this summer. It was faded. The truck door made its familiar creak and
slam as I made my away around the bed, bounding up the wooden porch steps and
unlocking the heavy storm door with the screen door leaning against my back,
the heat hitting my face as I stepped inside. The furnace was cranking away,
bringing the temperature up to sixty-five inside as I shed my jacket and put my
lunch in the fridge.

"What to wear, what
to wear," I mumbled to myself, tossing my heels off to the side as I make
my way down the hall, past all of the boxes and garbage bags, entering my newly
occupied master bedroom. The three weeks of my bereavement vacation had been
spent cleaning the home, getting rid of the junk, donating some clothes and my
mom's old bedroom set, painting the bedrooms and moving all of my stuff into
the master room. Dana and Kendall had helped me when they could, but I had done
a lot of it on my own, taking truckloads of items to the local Goodwill and
Salvation Army stores. My mother's insurance had issued a payment of $300,000,
and after paying off all of the funeral expenses I had used the rest to pay off
the mortgage, taxes and buy myself a new bedroom set. I painted the bedroom a
dark blue and I ran my fingers on the new paint as I stared into my still messy
closet.