Every Step He Takes

by Shanae Johnson

  "Honey, there you are."

  They came to another halt. This time before the imposing figure of Henry Dumasse.

  "Dad? What are you doing here?"

  "I wouldn’t miss my daughter’s come out ball,” he said. “I’ll take it from here."

  Dumasse gripped Honey’s hand, peeling her fingers from the crook of Mark's elbow. Honey yanked her hand away from her father.

  "Mark is my escort."

  “Oh, yes, yes. Thank you for your service." Dumasse took out a crisp one-hundred dollar bill. "And thank you for your service."

  Honey snatched the bill away and crumpled it in her hand. "You’re being inappropriate and rude."

  Her father frowned down at her, a pulsing vein appearing in his neck. “What’s this? A couple of days living in squalor has done you some good. The humility will be a good look.”

  Honey’s features iced over. Her jaw clenched so hard that Mark worried for her molars.

  “I’ll give you the location you want for your center and a sizable donation to get started,” said Dumasse.

  Mark was slow to drag his gaze from Honey. She was his first concern. It took him a moment to realize Dumasse was addressing him.

  The center? A donation?

  That would be the answer to all of Mark's prayers. He wouldn't have to leave. He could take care of his family. He could still see Honey.

  "Why?" asked Honey, suspicion dripped from her tone.

  "We don't need to discuss this in front of the help,” said her father, indicating Mark.

  “Oh, he’s the help all right," said Honey. "He helped me when you turned your back on me."

  "And now I'm helping him. Beau is interested in you. He came to talk to me after your … mishap. His father is on board with an engagement. A union between our families would be the merger of a generation. All you need to do is be a good girl and accept Beau’s hand and everyone gets what they want.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Honey couldn’t believe it. Here her father was again, forcing her to make another choice that was bound to hurt others while it raised his prospects. Her entire life flashed before her eyes as she gaped at him. What once was black and white was now filled with color. The color she mostly saw was red.

  She remembered back to the time when she was a little girl, and her father had called her and Ginger in the room to make their choice. He’d stood in a corner, smug grin confident on his face. Her mother hadn’t been looking at Honey. She’d been looking down at her hands crossed in her lap. Her mother had known then. She’d known that Honey wouldn’t choose her.

  Even knowing it, her mother had never made Honey feel bad for it. She had never stopped calling. She had never stopped visiting. She’d always held out hope that even if she wasn’t Honey’s choice, she could still get some time with her little girl.

  But Honey hadn’t been mature enough to make any choices. She’d had spent most of her life trying to make sure she was chosen. Chosen by her father. Chosen by the right friends. Chosen by the right man.

  If she allowed her father to make this choice for her, if she allowed Beau to choose her without even asking, she would fail not only her mother again. Honey would fail herself.

  Unfortunately, choices were never that simple. In this scenario that her father laid out, it wasn’t a win-win for everyone involved. Like always, he’d tipped the scales to make sure he would come out ahead, looking the best.

  Sure, her father would have a business deal solidified. He’d be able to brag that his daughter had made the social match of the season. Ha, maybe even the match of the decade.

  Beau might think he was getting a trophy wife, but Honey had discovered that she was so much more than that. In just a matter of a few days on the ranch with Mark, she had seen that there were different sides to her, strengths she didn’t know, abilities she wasn’t aware of. She wanted to explore those.

  Then there was Mark. That’s where Honey got tripped up. If she agreed to her father’s demands, Mark would have everything he needed for the life he wanted. He would get the location for the recruitment center he was so passionate about, along with start-up funds. And he’d get them now instead of a year later.

  When Mark’s needs entered the equation, it should’ve been a no brainer. It was a no brainer. The decision made sense. The problem was her heart.

  Her heart wouldn’t allow her to open her mouth and agree to her father’s scheme. Everyone else would win, but she would lose. She would lose Mark.

  Honey’s heart beat faster as she looked up at Mark. There was clear outrage on his handsome face. He looked as though he wanted to punch her father in the nose. He needn’t trouble himself. She was going to slap her dad; verbally, not physically.

  But before she could say anything, Mark stepped up. He put himself between her and her father. Instead of raising his fist, he turned and spoke directly to her.

  “You should do it,” Mark said.

  Honey gave her head a little shake. Surely, she couldn’t have heard him right. The man who’d nearly kissed her the other day, the man who looked as though he’d wanted to kiss her earlier tonight, didn’t just tell her to take a deal where she married a man she didn’t love for money.

  “This is what you wanted,” Mark continued. “It’s your way back into the place you belong.”

  The place she belonged? Here, in a room filled with dozens of people who didn’t lift a finger during her time of need. Here with a father who cared more about his bottom line than his daughter’s well-being. Here with a man who didn’t know a single thing about her other than her last name.

  “I told you I’d make sure you were taken care of,” Mark was saying. “This is the only way that I can see that you will be cared for in the manner that you’re accustomed to.”

  Honey’s throat constricted. Her lungs burned as though a match was scrubbing them clean. At the same time, she felt like she was drowning. And then there was relief.

  Cool, soft, spicy relief as Mark pulled her to him into a tight embrace. Honey felt his chest rise and fall. Their breaths came into synch as he held her. But this wasn’t a comforting hold. It was a goodbye.

  Mark took a deep breath, stealing her air. With his exhale, Honey felt all the fight go out of her. How could she fight for the two of them when they weren’t even a couple?

  His body went tense around hers. Perhaps he was changing his mind? As she pulled away, she saw that Mark’s attention was no longer on her.

  “I understand why you’re doing this,” Mark said to her father. “You want to be sure your daughter is taken care of. Any father would.”

  Mark got it wrong again. That’s not what her father was doing. This wasn’t about her. It was about him.

  “You’ve raised a strong, resilient, kind-hearted daughter, Mr. Dumasse. Be proud of her. Do right by her. As any father would.”

  The vein in her father’s neck worked. Honey took a step into Mark, certain that at any moment, her father would roar loud enough to shake the chandelier.

  He didn’t. They were out in public. He would never cause a scene around his peers.

  Mark pressed a kiss to Honey’s temple. He gazed down into her eyes with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes or spread far enough to dig into his dimples. He opened his mouth. Then closed it. In the end, he pried her fingers from his and was gone.

  “That’s my girl,” said her father when they stood alone in the crowded room.

  His girl?

  His girl?

  She’d never been his girl. She’d only ever been a prize in his trophy case. Well, no more.

  Honey rounded on him. “I won’t do it. I won’t be a pawn in your game anymore.”

  He stepped into her. The vein pulsing again, but his voice was quiet when he spoke. “Think about your words, little girl.”

  “I’m not a little girl. I’m a grown woman. And you can’t treat people like this, especially not your family.”

  She hadn’t known that before. She ha
dn’t understood the rules of family having been raised by such a callous man. Back on the Purple Heart Ranch, she’d seen people taking care of those who weren’t even their blood. They cooked, cleaned, babysat, and scooped poop for each other just because they cared.

  “He’s not of this world,” said her father. “He could never take care of you the way you need to be cared for. Besides, he was only in it for the money. Why do you think he left so quickly?”

  Honey opened her mouth. But then closed it. Much as Mark had done a moment ago. Her father had a point there. Not that she believed Mark had done it for the money. The kids he worked with, the kids he was trying to lead to a better way of life, they needed that recruitment center for their start.

  Just as he’d promised to get her back to a life she deserved, he’d made the same promise to them. Mark was doing what he thought was right because that’s what you did when you cared about someone you looked at as family.

  “Come back to your world, Honey.”

  The problem was, this world no longer was right for her. It never had been. She’d had to sit silently in it, smile blandly, and never get a speck on her.

  Well, no more.

  She turned to see that the dinner had begun. Her father held out his arm for them to go in. Honey gave the man her back and walked into the room unescorted.

  When she sat at her place, she tossed her napkin to the side. Ignoring the cutlery on the table, she picked up the piece of steak with her fingers and took a bite. Brown sauce dripped down onto her pristine dress as she smiled brightly at the aghast faces.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Mark folded his uniform in crisp, straight lines. He tucked the arms of his shirt in, then brought the collar to meet the shirt tales. Before placing the garment in his bag, he brought the fabric up to his nose and inhaled.

  It was still there. Honey’s scent. He was catching it everywhere that morning. In the bathroom, on the sofa, in the kitchen. She’d been in his life for such a short time, and she’d made a huge impact.

  Honey hadn’t come to retrieve her things last night. She’d probably forgotten about them and already replaced them with what she had back at her father’s house. Or, maybe she’d gotten new things.

  He’d refrained from going into the room she’d claimed to immerse himself in her fragrance. He wasn’t that pathetic. He eyed the door. It was cracked open. At the last second, he turned back to the task at hand.

  Mark shoved the last of his things in his duffel bag. There was plenty of room left in the belly of the bag. He hadn’t had much to begin with.

  He’d be on the night bus across the states in a short time. Headed back to his parents’ two-bedroom apartment in a low-class neighborhood where he belonged.

  He’d tried to make something more of his life with his stint in the military. But it hadn’t worked out the way he’d wanted. Now, he had to return to the real world and be the man his family depended on.

  Because that’s what families did for each other. They made sure that everyone was taken care of. Sacrifices had to be made.

  Although Mark’s parents would’ve never asked him to sacrifice his happiness for their comfort. They wouldn’t have to. Mark could never abide by seeing his family in dire straits. Not when he could do something about it.

  They’d scrimped and saved so that he could go to the military. They’d made do with what he could provide on his government pay. And they’d been proud to do it.

  As any family would, Mark’s parents, his siblings, they all wanted to see him succeed. They wanted him to not only reach for but to grasp his dreams of being in the military. When he’d been medically discharged, they’d mourned the loss of that dream.

  They’d been ready for him to come home and would’ve cared for him themselves if it hadn’t been for the Purple Heart Ranch. This place had become a second home to him. The ranch and its inhabitants had given him a new life. But his time was up here.

  There would come another time when he could give back to his country again. But for now, Mark was going home to contribute to his family’s earnings.

  He wouldn’t take on the sole breadwinner role. They would all work together to lift each other up. That’s what mattered at the end of the day. A man had to take care of his family.

  He zipped up the bag. But the sound of the teeth closing his meager belongings in rattled him. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d left something behind. But the room he’d lived in for the last two months was bare.

  A knock sounded at the front door. He’d already said his goodbyes. The other three members of his unit had tried to pressure him to stay, even offering him the cash his family needed.

  Just as he’d refused Honey’s charity, he’d refused them. He worked for everything he earned.

  Mark opened the door to find Banks standing on the other side. The man’s prosthetic leg gleamed in the sunlight as he leaned against the door frame. His face was serious, like the sergeant he was.

  “They said you were leaving?” said Banks.

  “Yeah,” said Mark. He hadn’t wanted a send-off, and he’d knew that if word got out across the ranch, the wives would all insist on a big to do.

  Banks shook his head. “But your job here is not done, soldier.”

  “Job? What job?”

  “You took over the JROTC for Fran while he’s been away.”

  Mark shrugged. “I was just helping out. Besides, that wasn’t a job. It was a pleasure.” Working with the kids had given him a new purpose while he’d awaited the fate of the recruitment center.

  “Of course, you were helping out,” said Banks. “That’s what we do for each other. We’re a unit; a family.”

  Mark bit at his top lip. In his mind, he was calculating days and bus schedules in his head. “I can stay a couple more days until Fran gets back.”

  It wouldn’t make too much difference. He could spend his evenings calling around his hometown looking for work. Then he could hit the ground running as soon as he stepped off the bus a few days later.

  His only hesitation was Honey. He didn’t want to see her when she came to get her stuff; if she came to get her stuff. He definitely didn’t want to hear any announcement of her marrying Lt. Bryant. That would gut him.

  “I must not have told you that standing in for Fran came with pay,” said Banks. “I assumed you knew.”

  Mark knew what the man was trying to do. He’d pulled this same trick earlier this week with Billy and the shoes. Just like the kid, Mark didn’t want any handouts.

  “I was talking with Fran this morning,” Banks continued. “He said working with the JROTC and the Youth Program was too much. So, I’m looking for a permanent instructor for the JROTC program. I was hoping you might be interested. And when the recruitment center opens, you’re free to do both and have a double salary.”

  Mark’s mouth gaped open. He’d been set to protest this obvious ploy to keep him here and help out his family. The picture Banks painted was a pretty one, one he wanted to hang in his living room. But there was still one problem.

  If he stayed there in town, he’d have to pay for living space. He couldn’t afford that and send money home to his family.

  “Listen,” Mark began. “I appreciate what you’re trying to do here. But I can’t make it work. I only have another month on the ranch before the zoning regulations kick in.”

  “Oh, that,” Banks waved his hand in the air as though he were brushing the nuisance of a thought away like an annoying gnat. “That can be handled.”

  “It can? How?”

  “You know how.”

  Mark sucked in a breath. But when he did, his heart kicked into gear. It pounded a rhythm he could no longer ignore.

  “I can’t,” he said. “She’s going to marry someone else. Someone who’s …”

  Mark was about to say someone who was better for her, but the words wouldn’t pass his throat. Was Beau better for Honey? Would the rich officer get a real smile out of her? Would he ever k
now the real Honey?

  No. No, he wouldn’t. Honey would be trapped behind her facade of fake smiles, fake family, and fake friends for the rest of her life if he didn’t drop everything and go after her.

  “I’ve gotta go and get her back,” he said.

  Mark dropped the duffle bag and rushed down the porch steps. It was time for him to go back and get what he’d almost left behind. Unfortunately, he didn’t get far. His boot caught in a loose floor board of the steps. He tried to wiggle it free, but he was stuck.

  “Can I give you a hand, sir?”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Honey stood off to the corner of the deck as she eyed her handiwork. She’d never held a hammer in her hand a day in her life. Luckily, Dylan had happened by and helped her with her plan to glass-slipper Mark. The sergeant had told her his plan while he’d helped her to enact hers. Mark had fallen for both. Literally.

  “Honey? What are you doing here?”

  Mark squinted as his torso turned to her, as though he couldn’t believe she was actually there. Of course, she was there. This was exactly where she wanted to be. Exactly where she was meant to be. And now she had the man she wanted to start her life with right where she wanted him.

  “I’m here for you. You didn’t think I was going to let you get away that easy?”

  Mark gave his foot a yank, but his leg wouldn’t budge from its place on the floorboards. For a second, Honey worried he might actually hurt himself. She came toward him until she was standing on the step just above him.

  “Like I said, this place gets to you.” Dylan bounded down the steps and made himself scarce.

  Mark slowly extricated his leg from the floorboards and came to stand on the level with Honey. “I was coming for you.”

  “I know.” She rested her hands on his chest. She felt his heart beating through the fabric there. It matched the rhythm of her own heart. “But it was my turn to show up for you. That’s what family does, right?”