Meagan's Marine (Halos & Horns)

by Lori Leger

  He nodded. “Very noble of you, but remember that amount of money will be doubled from my own donations.” He strained to hear something she mumbled just under her breath. “Sorry, I didn’t quite catch that.”

  “Nothing.” She pursed her lips.

  “Tell me.”

  “No.”

  “I’m not leaving until you do.”

  “I drove here so I can leave anytime I want to.” She gathered her purse and got up to leave.

  Mitch deposited their trash in the receptacle and pushed the door open for her, deciding it would be best to stick close. He slipped into the front seat beside her.

  “If you don’t tell me what you said under your breath I’m going to stay at your house all afternoon.”

  “Good. Buck will keep you busy enough so that I can get some studying done.”

  “I will never stop bothering you about it. I’ll ask DJ Silver to announce the question tonight at the club and you’ll never get a minute’s peace because then everyone will be asking you.”

  She stared at him for a second before pulling her attention back to her driving. “You’d do that too, wouldn’t you?”

  “Damn straight I would.”

  She gave him a final nod. “Okay, Curious George, word for word, what I said was, ‘You won’t be around that long’.” His silence must have made her think he needed help putting the words into the right context. “You know, you said something about your donation money being added to mi—”

  “—I know what I said. And I know what you meant.” He turned to stare at her profile. “But you’re wrong.”

  “Pfft! I don’t think so, Marine.”

  “Oh I know so. As a matter of fact, you have never been so wrong in your entire life.” A benefit of being a passenger was that he could stare at her profile the entire drive home. He’d take that trade-off any day. Nothing wrong with having a beautiful lady chauffeur him around. He watched the slow rise of blush as it pinked her skin from the base of her collarbone all the way to the tops of cheekbones, and even farther than that. He grinned, wondering how he’d never noticed before how red her ears turned when she blushed. Maybe he hadn’t made her blush before. His mind rolled into overdrive, thinking of all the ways he’d like to make it happen…over and over again.

  Mitchell’s chest rumbled with laughter as his silent meanderings succeeded in making her steal a single, quick, uncomfortable glance in his direction. “What’s so darn funny?”

  “You are, Megs. For thinking you’ll ever be rid of me.”

  CHAPTER 16

  The New Normal

  Niki met them at the door, trying to console a still sniffling Buck. “We’ve had an incident.”

  Meagan’s stiffened posture at her friend’s comment had Mitch wondering if she’d used some kind of code for something serious.

  She lifted her son carefully from Niki’s arms. “Hey buddy. What happened?”

  “My plane is bwoken, Mom.” Buck wiped his tear-streaked cheeks, before burying his face in his mother’s neck.

  Mitch smiled, at once sad for the boy but happy that he thought so much of his gift. “Aw Buckaroo, don’t cry. I’ll get you another plane. Toys break when kids play with them. It’s no big deal.”

  Meagan shot him an appreciative glance before heading inside with her son. “You see? Don’t cry, little man,” she crooned softly as she rubbed his back in slow comforting circles.

  Buck’s head popped up unexpectedly. “I didn’t bwake it, Mitch. I put it in the hangah just like you said. But when I woke up, it was all messed up.”

  Mitch patted the boy’s head comfortingly. “How about if I take a look at it for you, okay? I bet I can fix it.” With the kid’s hopeful gaze fixed on him, he was determined not to fail him. Several seconds later, he realized that no amount of glue or tape…not even man’s most versatile friend, duct tape, could repair the damage to the toy plane.

  “Can you fix it?”

  Mitch smiled at the small face lined with worry, more determined than ever not to disappoint him.

  “Sure I can. I’ll have to take it home, but I can fix it right up for you.”

  Buck scooted down Meagan’s torso to run over and throw his arms around Mitchell’s legs. “Thanks Mitch! You’re my best fwend!”

  Mitch cradled the boy’s head in one hand and met Meagan’s wide-eyed gaze just as a blast of cold air hit him in the face. “Glad to do it, Buck. That’s what buddies do. Now you go on with Niki while your mom and I have a talk.” He practically pushed Buck out the door so he could close it behind him.

  “He’s here, isn’t he?”

  Meagan nodded and answered, her words accompanying a puff of icy vaporized air. “Yes.”

  Mitch walked to the center of the room to face off with the spirit of Meagan’s dead fiancé. “Let’s talk man to man, Chris…or if you prefer, Marine to Marine.”

  “Mitch, no—”

  His hand shot out to stop Meagan’s protest. “It’s okay, Megs. I can see where he’s coming from. He’s lost everything in the world that’s important to him and if he wasn’t dead already, that in itself would be enough to kill a good man. Chris was a very good man, but let’s face reality, Megs. Even good men get angry, especially when they feel helpless…right, Marine?”

  Mitchell threw his arm protectively around Meagan as she gasped at the resounding crack of PFC Christopher Martin’s portrait smashing into the opposite wall.

  “Meagan, you need to leave the room. PFC Martin and I need to exchange some info.” He opened the door and pushed her gently out, closing it on her hesitant protests. Turning his attention to the center of the room, he squared his shoulders and faced off with the frustrated spirit of Chris Martin.

  “I know you’re angry. I know you’re frustrated. I know you’re sad at what you missed out on. But please, Buck’s a great kid and Meagan’s doing a fantastic job raising him. Please don’t take it out on him or his mother. He’s your kid, and nothing will ever change that. Meagan loved you—still—loves you to this day. But she can’t move on, Chris. Neither of them will ever be able to move on as long as you’re here, angry and frustrated.”

  He paced the room trying to choose his words wisely. “You’ve seen Meagan in her best moments, her happiest days with you. Is that what you see in her now? Or do you see the tension, the fear you’ve single-handedly caused in her life?”

  Mitch passed his hand through his thick hair and released a long, drawn out sigh, before turning his attention back to the icy center of the room. “It’s time to Marine up, Private First Class Martin. It’s time to prove you’re more than just a man. You’re a Marine. A Marine would never put the two people he loves through this kind of hell. It’s time to let them, go, Chris. Just let them go.”

  He turned as the door flew open, accompanied by Meagan’s anguished cry.

  “Noooo!” She ran to Mitch and slapped him hard on the face. “You have no right to make that decision! You need to leave—now.”

  Mitch caught her hands as she tried to slap him again. He stared her down as he began to put all the pieces together. “It’s you, Meagan. You’re the one who won’t let go. It’s your conflicted emotions throwing off the balance here. The balance between life and death…peace and dissension…good feelings and bad!”

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about.” She turned her back on him. “And you have no right to be here, in the middle of this. You have no part in this!”

  “Don’t I?”

  She spun around to face him. “No, you don’t.”

  “If that were true, neither you nor Christopher’s ghost or spirit or whatever the hell you want to call it, would be feeling so conflicted right now. It’s not him that needs to Marine up…it’s you, Meagan. And you need to do it before you cause permanent psychological damage to your son.”

  Her arm shot up, finger pointed to the open door. “Get out. Now.”

  Mitch took a step back, then another, before heading out the door, but th
en turned to face her once more.

  “You need to let him go, Meagan, so you and Buck can have a normal life together. This…” He lifted his arms to encompass the room. “This isn’t normal…under any circumstances, and you damn well know it.”

  Tight-jawed and filled with his own frustrated anger, he paused just long enough to address Niki. “Tell Buck I’ll keep the plane at my place from now on, but I’ll bring it by for him to play with it.” She gave him a brief nod before he stormed angrily out the front door.

  ****

  Meagan shut her eyes tightly against the sound of Mitchell’s truck starting and peeling out of her driveway.

  “Mom?”

  She spun around to find her son standing in the doorway, Niki’s hands resting lightly on his shoulders.

  She wiped at the corner of her eyes with her fingertips. “Yeah, buddy?”

  “Whewe’s Mitch? Did he go home to fix my plane?”

  She knelt in front of her son, ruffled her fingers through his dark hair. “Uh, yep. I’m pretty sure that’s where he went.”

  “Is he coming back?”

  Meagan shifted her gaze from her son to Niki, then back to Buck. “Mm, I think so, sweetie.”

  “‘Cuz it sounded like you didn’t want him to. But I like Mitch, Mom, and I want him to come back.” He pulled away from her and stared at the spot on his dresser where the toy plane had been sitting in its box. “Why didn’t he want me to have it?”

  “Who? Mitch? He does want you to have the plane, that’s why he’s going to fix it for you.”

  Buck gave his dark head a shake. “No. The sad man didn’t want me to have it, but I don’t know why.” He turned to face his mother again. “I don’t think the sad man likes Mitch vewy much. And that makes me kinda sad.” He headed out of his room, pausing just long enough to grab his pterodactyl kite.

  “My grandmother had a saying: From a child’s mouth, wisdom rings as clearly as a bell on a still winter’s day.” Niki cracked a huge grin at Meagan, obviously hoping to lighten the mood. “She did that…put her personal stamp on several bible readings. Guess she figured if she was going to plagiarize, she may as well plagiarize the best.”

  Meagan dropped exhaustedly onto Buck’s bed and hid her face in her hands. “Niki, what have I done?” She felt her friend sit beside her and shifted over to make room for her.

  “Well, from what I see you haven’t done much of anything except to try to keep the love of your life alive in some fashion. But you’re a big girl, Meg. You’re smart enough to realize there is no possible future with a dead man.” Niki’s eyes glanced to the center of the room. “Sorry bro, I hate to be the one to point this out to you, but you’re not much good to her dead. If you’re sticking around to send some kind of important message, maybe you should just do it and be on your way—”

  “Niki!”

  “—before they put us all away for conversing with ghosts!” She gave a nervous laugh as she faced Meagan again. “It’s true Meg. Just look at us trying to communicate with a dead man, like this is something people do every day. We’ve become so desensitized by everything that’s been happening that we don’t see how weird it is!”

  “Nik, calm down.”

  “No, Meggie. We’re too calm about this already. What’s next, setting a place at the table for your dead fiancé? Won’t the kids at pre-k have a field day with that when Buck starts up next year? Nothing says outsider quite like having your own resident ghost-dad. We may as well start giving him wedgies, and stuffing him in lockers right now, for chrissakes!”

  The two women stood there staring each other down, in a veritable female face-off. They jumped, breaking eye contact at the sound of Chris’s frame sliding flat on its back.

  Meagan picked it up, examined it carefully. “I think the easel part has had it. I guess it’s time for another frame.”

  Niki approached cautiously to stand beside her. “We may need to go online to find something super heavy duty—”

  “—with some kind of safety glass—”

  “—or Plexiglas—”

  “—or no glass at all.” Meagan caught Niki’s gaze on her, couldn’t keep from cracking a grin at her friend. The grin proved to be contagious and soon they’d both burst into hysterical laughter.

  Niki dabbed impatiently at her tears as she struggled to catch her breath. “Oh God,” she gasped. “We’re 100% certifiable, Meg!” Two deep breaths and one long sigh later, she looked over at her friend. “I’m sorry I yelled at you.”

  Meagan lifted her hand. “Everything you said was the absolute truth, Nik. You were right to yell at me.”

  “I was, wasn’t I?”

  Meagan caught the hint of laughter in her friend’s reply. “You’re such a bitch.”

  “Hey, it takes one to know one, bitchette.”

  Meagan collapsed alongside Niki on top of Buck’s bed, both overtaken by another fit of giggles.

  Meagan’s hand flew to her chest as she coughed, struggling to catch her breath. “Oh God, it feels good to laugh again.”

  “We used to laugh all the time. Buckaroo was always making us laugh at some thing or another. His adorable belly laughs used to crack me up.”

  “And that funny little butt-scoot thing he did before he could walk,” Meagan added.

  “His first steps, his first words—”

  “—how he mispronounced breakfast…” Meagan glanced over at Niki before they both blurted out the same word.

  “Bleck-fuck!”

  They fell back on the bed, chortling gleefully again.

  Buck entered the room carrying his kite. “Hey, what’s goin’ on in hewe? Y’all aw messin’ up my bed!”

  Meagan jumped up, followed by Niki. “Yes sir, you are correct, but we’ll fix it, won’t we Nik?”

  “You betcha, Captain Buck,” she said, helping Meagan to smooth the covers neatly back into place.

  Buck placed his kite back in its designated spot on the toy shelf and left the room, casting a last warning look at the two women.

  “Wow, is he bossy, or what?”

  “Neat freak, just like his daddy,” Meagan stated wistfully before catching her friend’s gaze on her again. “Nik, can you call Elvinia back over here for me? The sooner the better.”

  Niki pulled her phone from the pocket of her jeans and punched in the contact name. Putting the phone on speaker, they waited through three rings before the woman answered. Niki placed a comforting hand on her friend’s arm as Meagan spoke to the psychic.

  “Elvinia, this is Meagan Hutton. Would it be possible for you to come over?”

  Elvinia’s rich voice chuckled through the speaker. “I surely can, Miss Meagan. What time is good for you?”

  “Actually, as soon as you can would be good.”

  “Ahhh…you ready to choose then?” Elvinia crooned.

  “Choose? Choose what?” Meagan didn’t quite know what choice she referred to.

  “To choose the living over the dead, girl—flesh and blood over the ghost of a memory.”

  “O-oh!” she stammered as Niki’s right brow rose in amusement. “I-I-d-don’t…” Her voice trailed off as she sighed. “Just come over as soon as you can, please.” She felt the heat of her blush clear down to the roots of her hair follicles as Elvinia’s chuckle reached her.

  “I’m on my way, child.”

  CHAPTER 17

  Disappointments and Decisions

  “Mommy, somebody’s at the door!”

  Buck’s call from the living room startled Meagan as she stole a quick glance at her watch. It had only been ten minutes since she’d spoken to Elvinia. She hurried to the front door, stepping over Buck as he lay sprawled out on the floor watching his Puss in Boots video for the hundredth time. “Back up, Buck, you’re entirely too close to that screen. You’ll ruin your eyes.” She garnered a giggle from her son by pulling him back by the legs.

  She smiled to herself, remembering how her mother had spoken those same words to her a countles
s number of times over the years. She’d been extremely close to her mother. How had they managed to grow so far apart? Awash in the memories, she opened the door to Elvinia, standing as tall and regal as ever. Before she could speak, Elvinia’s voice reached her.

  “Oh, Miss Meagan! She’ll be a part of your life again. Don’t worry.”

  Meagan stepped aside to let her enter but the woman stood there. “Who will?”

  “Your mother, dear. You were just thinking about her, weren’t you? And you were filled with such melancholy, but there’s no need for that. She will come back into your life when you need her the most.”

  Meagan shook off her shock and snorted lowly. “It’s a little late for that, isn’t it? I’ve already experienced the two most devastating things to happen without my parents’ support. Losing my fiancé and raising a child alone. Not to mention this.” She raised her arms for emphasis.

  Elvinia reached out to place her large, brown hands on Meagan’s cheek and closed her eyes. When she opened them, they had taken on an aura of foreboding. “God finds ways to make us strong, Meagan. Sometimes we don’t like his ways, but he always has good reason for it. Your strength has been tempered, tough as steel, for a difficult time in your near future. It will get you through this time.”

  Meagan’s eyes narrowed. “You must have gotten your wires crossed somewhere along the line. My mother never wants to see me again.”

  Elvinia dropped her hand to give Meagan’s arm a gentle pat. “Things aren’t always as they seem.” She straightened and lowered her gaze to where Buck had hidden himself behind his mother. “Who do we have here?” She squatted, her knees popping and creaking like an antique rocker as she lowered herself to his level.

  “This is my son, Buck. Say hello to Ms. Elvinia, Buck.”

  He stepped out from behind his mom and lifted his hand in greeting. “Hi, I’m Buck.” He held up four fingers on one hand. “I’m gonna be this many soon.”