“You’re joking.”
I shook my head. “No.”
I hated talking about this and regretted even telling him. What did it matter?
“I thought Miranda was your best friend,” he said.
“She is. Now. We became close after our divorces. This was someone else.”
“I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “That is seriously messed up.”
I plastered on another smile. “Yes, well it’s also in the past. I’m better off without him. He sucked in the bedroom anyway.”
Why did I just say that?
He smiled a huge, genuine smile. “Is that so?”
“Yep.”
“And I don’t?”
I bit the inside of my cheek and shook my head. “Oh, hell no.”
The server brought our food and thankfully, the conversation turned to other things, like his job and people he had met on the base.
***
A hazy yellow light was seeping in through the hotel room’s curtains we had forgot to close the night before. I opened my eyes to see Riley’s smiling face looking down on me. I squinted and blinked a few times, then smiled.
“Good morning,” I whispered.
He smoothed my hair back away from my face. “Happy birthday, beautiful.”
I smiled slightly. “Ah. So it is.”
He leaned down and kissed my nose. “Sit up,” he said, pulling me into a sitting position. His eyes raked down to my chest, where my silk nightie had come down and was partially exposing me.
I looked down and adjusted it. “Oops.”
He grinned. “I didn’t mind.”
“I’m sure.”
He grabbed my hand and placed something in it.
I looked into his mischievous eyes then to the package in my hands. It was a small white box with a pink bow around it and it definitely looked like jewelry. I panicked a little bit, his words from two nights ago flitting through my mind, Cara, oh, baby, I love you so much, and I tried to control my breathing.
I gingerly plucked the bow apart and the pink ribbon fluttered to the bed. Then I opened it with a creak and stared at the beautiful white-gold chain that held a pendant, three cascading diamonds on its simple but beautiful design. I brushed my index finger over the necklace and fought to keep my eyes from watering up.
“Oh, Riley, it’s gorgeous,” I said as I looked up at him.
“I saw it and it reminded me of you,” he replied, still smiling.
“Really? How so?” I asked, looking back down and rubbing the smooth diamonds with my fingertip again.
He gently took the box from me and plucked the necklace out, unclasping it. “Because there are three diamonds on it and they remind me of the three qualities I love about you. Your strength, your beauty, and your transparency.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Well, nobody’s ever accused me of being transparent before. Actually, quite the opposite.”
He placed the necklace around my neck and his hands felt warm and soft as he did. “You can be very closed off, and I know it’s because of what you’ve been through. But you have let me see parts of you that I’m sure you haven’t shown anyone else. And I am grateful for that.”
I touched the necklace once more now that it was on me, and I leaned over and kissed him. “Thank you. I love it. I really do.”
“Happy birthday, beautiful,” he said, kissing me back. He pushed me down onto my back and hovered over me, his hands clasped in mine, pinning me to the bed. He broke the kiss and stared into my eyes for a long moment, then kissed me again, all sexy and warm. He made love to me as I still wore the necklace and it was sweet and gentle, yet urgent and frenzied.
Best. Birthday. Ever.
***
Riley surprised me by taking me to a somewhat casual steakhouse for dinner, which I loved, except when he told the staff it was my birthday and they all sang to me – I hated that! I may be a Leo, but I do not like being the center of attention.
After that, he found a country bar and took me dancing. This was the first time I’d been out to any sort of bar or club with him since the night we met and it was interesting to watch him. He was again very curious, looking around, but I never caught him blatantly looking at other women. If he did, he didn’t stare long enough for me to catch him. I don’t know why I even made myself pay attention to this, as he’d be gone soon and I’d have no control over anything he did. Not that I did now. I sighed.
“Having a good time?” he asked me as he brought me a vodka and cranberry from the bar.
I nodded as I took a long pull from the straw. “Yes. This is a fun place.”
It looked like your typical country bar, large dance floor, dark corners, tables everywhere, and country music posters on the walls. The bar was a bit on the small side, only two bartenders behind it. The club itself did not look much like Cowboys, but a bit more authentic and rustic, like it had been there a long time.
We danced to a few slow songs, drank a couple more drinks, and chatted. About an hour later, our attention was turned towards shouting as we saw two guys throwing punches at each other. A table was knocked over, and then some chairs, and I heard a glass bottle break and saw another fight break out right next to the one we’d just seen.
“Time to go,” Riley said, grabbing my drink and setting it on a nearby table. He grasped my hand and led me towards the door, which unfortunately was blocked by the fights. “Damn,” he muttered.
Security soon came and began to try to break up the fights, and Riley attempted to snake us through the melee and out the door, but was blocked by a large guy in a cowboy hat. He had a huge wad of dip in his bottom lip and he was taller than Riley by a good four inches.
Riley fixed the guy with a hard stare. “Excuse us.” I could see his jaw clenching and I knew he was trying to keep his cool.
“You with these guys?” the big guy asked, pointing towards the now dispersing fighters.
“No, man.”
The cowboy looked Riley up and down. “You sure look like it.”
I glanced over once more to the fighters and just now noticed they all looked like military guys, all had similar haircuts to Riley’s.
“He’s been with me the whole time,” I interjected. “We don’t know those guys at all.”
The guy laughed at me then looked at Riley. “Your bitch do all your speakin’ for you?”
Riley reared back his arm and punched the guy square in the jaw. He stumbled backward a few steps before tripping on a downed chair, landing flat on his ass.
I stood there in shock, staring at the guy, then back at Riley. His eyes were swimming in fury and his jaw was still clenching. He shook his hand out and growled, “Let’s go.”
He yanked my hand harder than necessary and I followed him out of the bar. We walked quickly to my car and got in with him driving, and when I looked behind me, I couldn’t see the guy he’d punched, only police cars arriving and a chaotic mess of people.
I turned to look at him. “Why did you hit him?”
He shot me a sideways glance. “He called you a bitch. In fact, he insulted us both in that one sentence. I don’t handle disrespect well.”
I grinned. “Well, I’m sure he’ll think twice next time he opens his big, ugly maw.” And after what I’d just seen, I was sure of it.
Once we got back to the room and Riley had calmed down, I thanked him for his chivalrous actions with my mouth.
CHAPTER 12
“Oh, my God, how was Reno?” I heard Miranda’s voice squealing at me through the phone I wearily held against my ear. It was Monday morning, and way too early for her chipper ass.
I smiled weakly. “It was awesome.”
“Well, we’re taking a long lunch today, since I didn’t get to take you out on your birthday.”
“Um, okay.”
“Meet me in the parking lot at eleven!”
“See you then,” I replied, and then hung up. I had a mountain of paperwork sitting on my desk but I didn’t feel
like doing any of it. I made some coffee and sipped it, staring into my computer screen when I heard a knock on the door. I looked to the door’s window and motioned in the female inmate.
“Anderson, what can I do for you?” I asked without affect.
She took a seat in the vacant chair next to my desk, her green khaki shirt and pants muted against the brown chair. She brushed a strand of long brown hair behind her ear and put her hands in her lap. “Ms. Reid, I didn’t know who else to talk to.”
Oh, great, gonna have to call the psych or the chaplain, I thought.
Inmates often came in just to talk, which I did not have time for, nor was I paid for, but still I listened when I could, because most of the time, the problems were petty. There were times, however, when they weren’t, and if they were serious, I had to report it. Most of the time, they just wanted to tell on each other. Females are famous for this. You’ll never catch the male inmates snitching on each other. Ever.
“Go on,” I told her.
She wrung her hands together. “Well, three of the girls in my room work out on the base, you know, cleanin’ the Army workers’ offices, and paintin’ curbs and stuff… well I heard them talkin’ about how they were, um, doing stuff to the Army guys under their desks and stuff.” She then went on to describe details about what her cellmates were talking about, locations, and a few dirty details I really didn’t need to know.
I raised a pale eyebrow. “Really now? Care to give me their names?”
“Which ones? My roommates or the Army guys?”
I smiled. “Either. Or both.”
She shook her head. “I don’t know the guys’ names. And I’m in a four-man room so you really don’t need me to give you names, do you?”
“Ah, I didn’t know you had one of the coveted four-man rooms. Enough said. Thanks for the info, Anderson.”
She nodded, stood up, and let herself out. I sat back in my chair and tapped my pen against the desk, contemplating the problem. I quickly jotted down inmate Anderson’s full name and register number and tried to decide how I was going to formulate my memo to our internal investigators. I also planned on doing my own little probing… starting with talking to Riley. I bet he knew something.
Female inmates and young military men – I mean, that’s just a recipe for disaster. Yet, the need for cheap labor on the bases outweighs the disastrous mix of female inmates starved of male attention and horny, young soldiers who are most likely far from home or just starting out in life and have trouble saying “no.”
Sex with inmates is a big no-no for the staff. It’s drilled into us, we’re trained and frightened with horror stories of those who have gone before us and done it and got caught, humiliated, fired, and sometimes became inmates themselves. But these military men don’t get this training. They get a quick, “Stay away from them and keep your dick in your pants” speech and that’s it.
Oh yeah, I’ll be talking to Riley later to get his take on it. I bet he’s seen plenty go on.
Oh, God I hope he’s not one of the ones Inmate Anderson was talking about!
***
“Get in!” Miranda called from the red Civic. I hopped in and she drove quickly off base, pulling up at a Chili’s restaurant.
After we were seated and placed our drink orders, she handed me a fat envelope. “Happy Birthday!”
I smiled and opened it. It was a cute card depicting friends drinking wine together and talked about how we’ll reminisce about all our past escapades when we’re old. Inside was a gift card to Victoria’s Secret.
“Oh, my God, thanks!” I hugged her.
She grinned. “You go buy your hot soldier man some sexy shit. It’s so fun to wear that stuff.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I bet. I didn’t really wear it much with the ex.”
“Girl, one time, when I was in San Diego,” she said (and most of her stories started off with that sentence), “my boyfriend, Chris, he stripped me naked and poured champagne on my body and licked it off. It was so hot!”
Laughing, I asked, “What does this have to do with lingerie?”
“Oh yeah! Well, I was wearing this little sailor outfit and it was actually lingerie. Before he poured champagne on me, he said, ‘That needs to come off.’ It was hot!”
I shook my head and laughed. “Yeah, I can only imagine.”
“So tell me about Reno! What did you do besides screw?”
I smacked her arm. “Miranda! Be quiet.” I was laughing now.
“Well, I was just asking!”
“It was pretty low-key. I hocked my wedding ring and got a hundred and twenty-five bucks for it.”
Her eyes got big as she sipped her water. “No way.”
“Yes way. Then he got me this,” I said, pulling the necklace out from under my shirt. If I hadn’t been wearing a shirt that buttoned all the way up, I wouldn’t have worn it. I normally don’t wear much jewelry to work, but I didn’t want to take it off just yet.
Miranda’s eyes got huge and she reached over and touched it. “Jewelry? Diamonds even? This is getting serious. Oh, my God!”
I nodded. “Oh! And then on my birthday, Riley took me to that country bar – remember the one we went to when we were there? What was it called?”
She nodded. “Yeah, I remember the club. But wasn’t it called the rose something?”
“I think so. Anyway, a huge bar fight broke out with some military guys and who knows what else. This huge oaf in a cowboy hat thought Riley was one of them and wouldn’t let us leave. He lost it when the asshole called me a ‘bitch’ and cold-cocked him. It was awesome.”
“Wow, drama! That’s what I’m talkin’ about!” She flipped her thick, straight blonde hair behind her shoulder and looked down at her phone as it buzzed on the table.
I lifted my water glass to my lips and jutted my chin toward her phone. “Is that your homerun honey?”
Her fingers danced over the screen and she smiled. “Yup.”
“Where is he this week?” I asked.
She hit one final button and set the phone on the tabletop. “He’s home. Can’t you tell by the satisfied smile on my face?”
“You are too much.”
The server brought us our salads and we dug in.
“So when is Riley leaving?” she asked.
I shrugged and swallowed down a bite. “I don’t know,” I answered casually. “He doesn’t know, either. Probably right after Labor Day.”
“Well, that sucks, but it’s the way it is with them. Always a new place, a different city, another assignment… it’s never ending, girl.”
I nodded. “Yup.”
She measured me with a serious stare from her amber-colored eyes. “Are you going to be okay?”
I forced a smile. “Of course. It’s just a summer thing. We both know that.”
She nodded and smiled, pointing at the necklace. “It’s more than that, and you know it.”
Somehow I think she could tell I was only half serious. She was my best friend, after all. I could only fool her as long as I could fool myself.
***
The week passed quickly and by Friday, I was more than ready to see Riley. We didn’t get to see each other during the week very much, but sometimes I’d sneak over to his side of the base and say hi. I tried not to intervene in his military job, but I just missed him sometimes and wanted to see him.
We decided to go see some military movie, a Hollywood version of things that went on during the Iraq war. It wasn’t my first choice but I never paid attention to what movies were out so it’s not like I could suggest anything. We arrived at the eight o’clock show and settled in with popcorn and sodas. Riley held my hand and kissed it as the previews began to play and I smiled at him warmly. God, he was so good-looking I couldn’t stand it. I wanted to stare at him all night and not watch the movie. But that would be creepy so I didn’t.
The movie was okay, kind of heart-wrenching and sad – and gory in some spots, but I noticed Riley’s demeanor change d
uring it. He was in a great mood when the movie started, but by the time it was done, he was not talking at all, and had an expression on his face that bordered somewhere between worried and sad.
The car ride home was quiet and I was wondering if I had said or done something. When we reached my house it was late, but Riley said he wanted to take a shower. He smelled like he had already taken one when I picked him up, so I wasn’t sure what was going on.
“Sure. Knock yourself out,” I said.
He began to strip off his clothes and I stood there unabashedly watching him strip as I sipped my soda.
He was down to his boxers when he looked at me. “Why are you still dressed?” Stepping to the shower, he reached in and turned it on.
I didn’t move. “Are you gonna tell me why you’re being so quiet?”
He paused in his removal of his shorts and I was mad at myself for not waiting until they were all the way off before I asked. “Nothing’s wrong.”
I rolled my eyes. “Okay, Riley, if you don’t want to talk about it, then whatever.”
He grabbed my drink and set it on the bathroom counter and grabbed my T-shirt and pulled it over my head. “I said, get your fine ass in the shower. Now.”
My eyes got big and I swallowed hard. “Uh, okay.” Because really, who’s going to say no to that?
He got in and I was right behind him. He put some soap on a sponge and began lathering up my body.
“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong now?” I asked as he scrubbed me.
He shook his head. “It’s nothing, Cara. I probably just should have picked a different movie. A comedy or something. It’s hard to watch that stuff. I’m fine though. I just don’t want to talk about it.”
He had told me in an earlier conversation some weeks ago that he had done a year in Iraq when he first joined the military, so I have no doubt that movie brought out some painful memories he probably had wanted to forget. It made me sad to think a movie had brought him pain.
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