One Night In Reno

by Brewer, Rogenna

  The man disappeared behind the dividing door. Her eyes swelled with tears. He thought she was a good mom. After everything he’d done for them, she felt most grateful for that compliment.

  The thought of Garrett not being around after tomorrow left her panicked. Could she find a weekly motel for the amount she had left? Less, they had to eat. She hadn’t been able to get hold of her friend, Debbie.

  Which wasn’t all that unusual. Deb kept odd hours. She’d landed in Reno a couple years ago, after a quickie divorce and never left. Broke and alone, she’d started stripping in local clubs to make ends meet.

  Now she only stripped because she wanted to, at least that’s what she said--that she made, decent money in Reno, but flew into Vegas for the occasional weekend of stripping to keep her in style for a month. Sometimes she’d hire out for private parties and be set for the year.

  Deb traveled in a world full of wealthy men and had offered to show Jenny the ropes if she wanted to make some quick cash to get back on her feet. But she’d also warned that stripping, and the money earned from it, was addictive. Jenny would do anything to provide a more secure future for her son? But could she do that?

  She’d asked Garrett to pick up an application for the hotel when they’d checked in. At least she was qualified and it was a place to start. But was it enough? Would it ever be enough?

  How desperate was she to even be thinking about taking her clothes off for a living? What were the alternatives? Harvesting her ovaries? Stealing money from a man who’d been more than kind to them?

  She glanced at Garrett’s wallet on the nightstand.

  You can trust me. I trust you.

  Well maybe he shouldn’t.

  Once he was done with his shower, he’d be back for his wallet and keys. He’d head out for a night on the town in ‘the biggest little city in the world,’ maybe even stop by one of those strip clubs to ogle the girls the way she’d ogled him by the pool.

  And then what?

  Jenny got up from the bed with the intention of running her bath water. She wanted to sooth away her worries as soon as Garrett got out of her hair. Except she didn’t want him out of her hair. Without his calming influence how would she push aside her troubled thoughts long enough to think clearly? If only she could lean on his broad shoulders awhile longer.

  The shower next door stopped and her heart hammered her chest. He’d be leaving soon. She had to find a way to make him stay. Because that’s what she really wanted wasn’t it?

  Jenny caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She couldn’t even meet her own gaze because of what she was thinking. Her son slept soundly as she slipped next door and inside Garrett’s steamy bathroom.

  Wrapped in a bath towel, with a razor in his hand and the remnants of shaving cream still on his face, Garrett looked surprised, but not shocked to see her. “Is everything all right?”

  Jenny didn’t answer. She couldn’t.

  The sound of his disposable razor hitting the sink and bouncing off the porcelain seemed as far away as her body at that moment. She hadn’t even realized she’d unbuttoned her dress and let it slip to the floor until he choked out her name. “Jen--”

  After swimming, she’d changed out of her two piece and into her best bra and panties, a long ago splurge from Victoria’s Secret. She moved right up against his naked chest in her lacy underwear. “I was thinking maybe you’d want to stay in tonight--”

  He smelled so clean and wonderful. She still smelled of chlorine from the pool.

  Maybe she’d try to coax him into taking another shower with her.

  “Jenny,” he admonished. “Put your clothes back on.” He held her at arms length while he picked up her discarded dress and covered everything except her humiliation. “I know you’re scared--”

  His kindness was her undoing. Her tears fell in earnest.

  “I’m not just going to leave you on the street to fend for yourself. Tomorrow I’ll take you to a shelter where you and Josh can get the help you need.”

  Jenny clutched at her dress, feeling more naked and exposed than any stripper.

  “You don’t want to go down that road,” he said. Things will look brighter tomorrow after a good night’s sleep, you'll see. Meanwhile,” he cleared his throat, “we’ll forget this ever happened.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  But Garrett couldn’t forget. Her desperation haunted him as he wandered aimlessly from casino to casino. He couldn't even bring himself to lose more than twenty bucks at the blackjack tables. And blackjack was his game. All he could think about was the shame of it all. A sweet girl like Jenny, desperate enough to barter her body and here he was throwing his money around. When all he really wanted to do was give her everything he owned.

  He wasn’t the kind of guy to take advantage of a single mom. He had to figure out how to help her in a way that allowed her to salvage her pride.

  Maybe he’d tell her he had a good night at the tables and get her to take a couple hundred dollars that way. But lack of money wasn’t her only problem--she lacked resources--support of a family, friends.

  He had no delusions about why she’d come on to him. She was scared of the direction her life had taken. There had been something a bit naive about her seduction. She was desperate for someone to take care of her--or maybe just to care--that could be a powerful aphrodisiac for the wrong man.

  Even for the right one.

  #

  Garrett knocked on Jenny’s door the following morning half expecting they’d fled during the night. A solemn woman, child and dog greeted him.

  After loading up his Bronco again, he treated them to breakfast. Josh had a resigned look on his face as he picked at his pancakes. Very different from the happy go lucky kid who’d chowed down on a banana yesterday.

  Jenny wouldn’t even meet Garrett’s gaze.

  He glanced at the dog tied up outside before returning his attention to the woman. “I called a women's shelter not far from here,” he said. “They’re expecting you. They have a job placement program and can help you get Josh enrolled in school this fall.”

  “I don’t want to go to school,” Josh said, stubbornly.

  “Of course you do,” Jenny said without conviction.

  “I want to go with Garrett!”

  Jenny shook her head in an unspoken signal to her son. “Thank you Mr. Erickson,” she said. “We appreciate all you’ve done for us.”

  “Thank you.” Josh echoed dutifully.

  “If you ever need anything, call me.” Garrett dug into his wallet and handed Josh his card. “Deal?”

  Josh handled the card as if it were embossed in gold. “Deal.”

  Garrett reached over and mussed the boy’s hair. “Take care of your mom, okay?”

  Josh nodded.

  “You’ll let me know when you get settled?” Garrett held Jenny’s gaze until she nodded in agreement. He wished he could be sure she meant it. They finished the rest of their meal in tension filled silence. He didn’t have to check in back at base until next Monday. He’d love noting better than to spend another day or two, or a week, splashing around in the pool with Josh and Jenny.

  The single mom and her son stirred something inside him that had been dormant far too long. Because of his physical reaction to her attempted seduction last night, he knew he had to put some distance between them.

  Those tiny scraps of silk and lace, generous breasts and warm, summer scented skin had him wanting to drop his towel along with her dress, and not just to kiss away her worries.

  After he paid the bill, they left. Garrett couldn't figure out how to give Jenny money without embarrassing them both. So he’d tucked everything he had into her purse while they were settling into the booth and hoped it wouldn’t be lost or stolen before she found it.

  They drove the short distance to the shelter. He wasn’t allowed beyond the front desk because the place was specifically for battered women and children. He didn’t know Jenny’s whole story, but enough to suspect
she was running from someone or something, most likely a man.

  He had to fight his natural instinct to make sure Jenny and Josh were settled before their goodbyes. His gut felt like yesterday’s peanut butter sat there in one big clump.

  “Looks like a nice place,” he said, inanely for lack of anything better to say. He could think of a lot nicer places. Like the desert hovels, or jungle hells where he’d confronted terrorists. Jenny would be eaten alive in a place like this.

  “I’m sorry,” the director said as way of greeting. “We don’t allow dogs. We simply don’t have the means to keep them.”

  Josh turned a panic stricken face toward his mother.

  “She can be placed at the animal shelter down the street,” the woman continued. “They’ll find a good home--”

  “No, no! Buster’s my dog! She has a home. I want to go home!” Josh started to cry.

  “I know honey, I’m sorry. We can’t--” Jenny fought back her own tears. “Buster--” she couldn’t even get the lie past her lips and Garret couldn’t blame her.

  “What if I took her?” he found himself volunteering. “Just until you and your mom get settled?”

  “You’d give her back?” Josh asked.

  Garrett hunkered down to the boy’s level and handed him a tissue he’d plucked from a nearby box. “I sure will.”

  Jenny shot him a grateful look.

  “Cross my heart. You’ve got my number, right? San Diego's not all that far.” Five hundred miles never seemed farther. “And I’ll want to see your new place and hear all about your new school. Maybe your mom would even invite me over for dinner. Is she a good cook?” The boy nodded. “Apple pie is a favorite of mine. Will you remind her for me?”

  “Mine too,” Josh agreed. He dried his tears, but clung to Buster like a kid who wasn’t quite sure he could trust adults. “Okay,” he agreed, leading the beagle back to the car as reluctantly as if he were leading her to the animal shelter. Josh wrapped his arms around the dog again. “You be good for Mr. Erickson. Don’t pee on his carpet. Or throw up in his new car--”

  The water works started again and Jenny had to pry the boy and dog apart. Garrett loaded an unsuspecting Buster to the back of his Bronco. The beagle pressed her nose against the rear window, pawing the glass and whining once she realized her boy wasn’t coming along for the ride.

  #

  Garrett wasn’t the impulsive sort, then again maybe he was, because a mile up the road with the beagle howling as if her heart were broken, he turned the Bronco around. He couldn’t leave Jenny and Josh in that place any more than the dog could.

  He strode in like Richard Gear at the end of his mother’s favorite movie, An Officer And A Gentleman. Along with clapping, threats to call the police followed him.

  He didn’t carry out the girl. She ran head long toward him, along with her boy and everything the two of them could carry. They didn’t even look back to see if they were leaving anything behind.

  “Come on we’re getting out of here,” he said.

  Josh jumped up and down. “We’re going to San Diego with Garrett!”

  Garrett hadn’t been thinking that far ahead. Sure, why not. San Diego, California was as good a place as any.

  They piled into his car to Buster’s excited, happy barks, which were just as loud and annoying as her unhappy barks. This time Garrett turned the car back toward the heart of the gambling town. He pulled into the parking lot of the first wedding chapel he spotted--which just happened to be called Last Chance.

  “Josh stay in the car while I talk to your mom for a minute.” Garrett slammed his door and walked around to the passenger side.

  “You can’t be serious,” she said, already out of the car and grasping his intent even before he fully comprehended the situation himself. “You don’t have to marry me. Why would you even want to?”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  “Hear me out.” Garrett held onto the door she kept between them. “If you and Josh are coming to San Diego, I’m not going to have you afraid of me. This is probably not the proposal every girl dreams of, but I’m offering you a temporary arrangement. My protection, my name. A chance to get back on your feet.” He didn’t want to spook her so he made it measurable. “Say a year.

  “Marriage is the practical solution. And I’m a practical man. If I’m going to be responsible for you and the boy, then I owe it to the three of us to make you my legal dependents. It’s not going to be easy living with a Navy SEAL. You can ask me all the questions you want about my job, but I won’t be able to answer them. I’m gone three hundred days a year. You’ll never know where I’ve been or where I’m going. Or when I’m coming home.”

  He left out the “if” he came home, because there was always the possibility of being killed in action.

  “I’ve got some money saved and some burning a hole in my pocked right now, but I’m not a rich man. The Navy will increase my allowance from that of a bachelor to a married man--not much--a couple hundred dollars a month. Which I’ll put into a checking account in your name. When you get a job you’ll be able to add to it, save for your future. You’d be able to take classes, go on to college if you want. Then there’s the matter of medical and dental--if there’s an emergency--and I’m not saying there will be, but if there is, we’ll be covered. Boys break things, arms and teeth. We can think of this marriage as our insurance policy.”

  “You want me to marry you for medical and dental?”

  “No, I want you to marry me because...” Because she needed him and he wanted to be needed. With a gut aching certainty, he knew the three of them—make that four—belonged together. He swallowed hard. “...I’m the best option you have right now.”

  #

  As far as proposals went this one was at the very least honest. Jenny realized she could fall in love with someone like Garrett Erickson. Not with someone like him, with him. For that reason alone, his self-sacrificing proposal deserved a refusal. “I can’t marry you, Mr. Erickson.”

  “Officers are misters. I’m just plain Chief Petty Officer Garrett “Itch” Erickson. I don’t expect anything from you, Jenny. This doesn’t have to be a real marriage.”

  Josh pressed his face against the backseat window. No mistaking where he stood in all this. For Josh she could do this. She should do this. Because if anything happened to her there’d be no one to care for him. But it was also up to her to protect her son and too many questions remained unanswered.

  “Why?” she asked simply. “I mean I can see what Josh and I are getting out of this, but what about you?”

  “What about me?” he shrugged off her question. “I knew a woman in your situation once.” He raked a hand through his hair. “Got pregnant in high school, never finished her education--no help from the baby’s father or her parents, thought she could make it on her own. She never did get on her feet. She wound up on the streets and her son in foster care.”

  That sounded too close to the truth of her situation. Still, she didn’t want to believe it. “I can make it on my own--”

  “I know you can,” he said, matter-of-factly. “I just want to give you that chance.”

  Like the twelve hundred dollars she’d found in her purse and had no intention of keeping. Money wasn’t the answer, was marriage?

  She didn’t know which way to turn, but Garrett, being Garrett, knew exactly what to do. He stepped around to her side of the door and held her while she cried tears that soaked his shirt. The easy part would be leaning on his broad shoulders. The hard part would come later when she had to let him go. When she and Josh had to let him go.

  “What happened to the son?” she asked, even though she already knew.

  “He ran away from the system at fourteen. Wound up in and out of juvie before the McCaffrey’s took him in and helped straighten his sorry ass out. After he graduated from high school, he enlisted in the Navy.” He held her away from him to meet her drying eyes. “I’m not perfect, Jenny. But I won’t let you down.”

/>   She stole a glance at her son’s anxious face and smiled a reassuring smile. No Garrett Erickson wouldn’t let them down. What he was offering her might be temporary, but what he was offering Josh would last a lifetime. Even when the marriage ended, she knew in her heart he wouldn’t be abandoning her son. For Jenny, that was a good enough reason to accept his offer. “Yes, Garrett “Itch” Erickson, I’ll marry you for a year. If you tell me what Itch stands for?”

  “My specialty in the Navy is communications and computers. Information Systems Technician, IT.”

  “I get it--IT Chief--Itch.”

  “That and the Team likes to think of me as their conscience--only more annoying—like an itch that needs scratching.”

  She wasn’t surprised his team turned to him for guidance. He was one amazing man.

  “Oh, boy, oh boy!” Josh crawled over the front seat and out the open passenger door. “We’re getting married!

  #

  The ceremony was as simple as the band he placed on her finger. Garrett went ringless, which Jenny found bothered her more than it should have. Josh, on the other hand, was ecstatic.

  Garrett stopped just outside the chapel door and nodded toward the phone booth at the side of the building. “Excuse me while I make a call?”

  “For a guy who carries a pager, a cell phone and even has a CB in his Bronco you sure use a lot of phone booths, Superman.”

  “Security habit.” He looked like he wanted to say more, but then changed his mind. “Privacy,” he admitted.

  “Meaning, mind my own business. Is there anything else I should know about you, other than you rescue people and they call you Itch?”

  “There’ll be plenty of time to get to know each other.”

  His words sent a little thrill through her. A year wouldn’t be enough. Why wasn’t he already spoken for? Who said he wasn’t? “Is there a Lois Lane?”

  “I really should make that call.” He’d just confirmed her suspicions. But he wasn’t the only gambler in this town playing his hand close to his chest. She hadn’t laid all her cards out on the table either.