No need to sit around obsessing over his lack of writing skills. His message might not be great, but it was definitely an improvement—or at least he hoped so. Couldn’t get much worse, buddy.
* * *
• • •
Sara awoke when something kicked her in the side. “Ouch, what th—?” A moment later she had her answer as she reached out to flip on the bedside lamp and turned to see Kaylee sleeping sideways next to her. “Kaylee Marie,” she grumbled as she moved the little girl’s feet away from her. She was surprised she hadn’t noticed her before now. Probably because you stayed up late checking your e-mail constantly. “It was only a few times,” Sara said under her breath. Then felt insane for arguing with herself. It wasn’t as if her inner Sara didn’t know the score, so lying was kind of useless. A loud snore filled the room, and she smiled. Hard to believe such a tiny thing could make so much noise.
There was over an hour before they had to be up, so she debated going back to sleep. Or you could surf the Internet. Just to kill some time. More denial, but habits were hard to break. Unable to resist the urge, she grabbed her iPad off the nightstand and saw the mail notification on the lock screen. “It’s probably not even from him,” she whispered, and got a snort from Kaylee in response. “Hey, don’t give me that attitude, kid; one day this’ll be you. All tied into knots waiting to hear from some boy.” Another snort sounded, almost as if she were following along with the conversation perfectly. With damp palms and the now familiar hum of anticipation, Sara clicked a few times and there was Gabe’s name, right under a spam message saying she’d won ten million dollars. “And my horoscope said nothing about good fortune.” She deleted it, and moved on to the one she really wanted.
Sara:
I found my dog at a rest area. I left my information on the billboard there, but no one ever contacted me. He ran up to my truck that day and promptly pissed on one of my tires. I told him he was going to be nothing but Trouble, and it stuck. Your kink cannot be staking out military bases, otherwise you’d have been disillusioned about the so-called miracle of camouflage long ago. And I’ve never run from anything in my life, although I should have a few times. I’m not a man who does idle chat well, sorry.
Gabe
Sara grinned, feeling kind of melty inside at his story of how he’d found his dog. Even though his e-mail was brief once again, she still thought it showed more of his personality. Why does he never ask me questions? The hardest part of communicating with a stranger was keeping the conversation ball in the air. And Gabe didn’t make that easy. She hated to rattle on about herself or silly stuff all the time, but he didn’t leave her much choice. If he’d ask about her, it would give her an idea of what he might be curious about and she could expound on it. Otherwise, she’d blurt out whatever came to mind and that could be dangerous. He must like it. He’s still responding. She hoped the radio station had received a lot of letters, so that other deployed military personnel had someone to talk to as well.
Chloe had said to be herself. If her gorgeous cousin thought she was engaging, then maybe Gabe felt the same way. Be fun, Sara. He doesn’t have to know whether that part of you exists beyond the computer. This time, she didn’t even try to talk herself into postponing her reply. It would only lengthen her wait in return. So she settled back against her headboard and began typing.
Gabe:
I loved the story of Trouble, it made me smile. Bet you’ve had to answer the question of his name more than once. You found me out, I have never been on a covert op at a military base. But I’ve checked out my fair share at the neighborhood Walmart. You can rest easy, though, I’ve never tailed any of them home, so you’re safe—for now. Believe it or not, I’m usually a person of few words. Some would say I’m an introvert, except with my niece. She simply won’t allow anything other than full participation when I’m playing Barbie or Minions with her. If you’re impressed by my witty conversation, you’d be spellbound by my voice-over talent. I do a different variation for every stuffed animal the kid has. We get some funny looks out in public when I’m channeling Daddy Pig from Peppa Pig.
What are you doing right now? I’m still in bed. My niece woke me up with a foot to the head. It was a rude awakening, to say the least, but it allowed me to read and respond to your message, so it might be considered a good thing, right? After all, I know you eagerly await my replies as much as I do yours. That last part isn’t a joke in case you’re wondering. I really do look forward to hearing from you each time.
Have a great day, Gabe :)
Sara
After she sent the message, she debated getting up and doing something productive, but she’d likely wake Kaylee up in the process and it didn’t seem worth it. So she snuggled back down into the soft cocoon of her covers and used the remaining time to daydream about a man in Iraq who was occupying more and more of her thoughts. And she wondered—or rather hoped—whether it might be possible that he was experiencing the same thing.
Chapter Five
Gabe was yawning when he jumped the short distance from the Blackhawk helicopter to the ground. He’d spent most of the day at another base meeting with some bigwigs who’d flown in for a brief morale visit. Normally his lieutenant colonel would be along as well, but he’d flown back to the States a few days ago for a couple of weeks. The whole dog and pony show was something he’d never enjoyed. He preferred leaving that to others, but as with most any job, there were politics involved to some degree. And even if nothing ever came of it, he felt strongly that everyone in Washington needed to see the conditions that the troops were forced to deal with at some dangerous locations. No better place for that than Iraq. He’d barely been able to keep a straight face when they took a few bites of the tasteless food. He wondered how they’d feel after eating basically the same menu every week for months. Most deployed soldiers shed any extra pounds pretty damn fast. He was almost certain they weren’t interested in sleeping on a narrow cot in a tent with a dozen other soldiers while hoping the shit air-conditioning kept the temperature inside bearable. Then there were the ever-popular trailers that were made into bathrooms. You quickly lost whatever modesty you might have after a few weeks of doing your business in such close quarters.
He knew it could be a slow process to make improvements to bases in a foreign country. There was likely more red tape involved than even he knew. And the most urgent needs had to be addressed first. But he never passed up an opportunity to point out how even small things, like decent Wi-Fi and hot water, were big morale boosters to the soldiers who spent so much time away from home.
After his demanding day, he wanted nothing more than a shower and bed. He didn’t give a shit if the chlorine was so strong in the water it stung his eyes—as long as it was hot tonight, he’d be happy. Lukewarm water was usually about as much as they could hope for, but you learned to deal with it. Plus, with summer temperatures reaching well over 100 degrees, it didn’t matter much half the year.