by Pj Fiala
Gerry chuckled. “I’m good, real good. I’ve noticed you haven’t been working on the mural. Are you stuck?”
A faint upturn of her lips was the only visible sign of pleasure in her features. Usually when Tammy saw Gerry, he raised her spirits immeasurably. Today, however, it would be a monumental task to cheer her up. Her heart was heavy.
“Yeah. Stuck. I guess I needed a break from it.” Tammy sighed. “You know how we artists are. Moody.” A genuine smile formed for the first time in days.
“I’d never say that about you, girl. You’re never moody. Now…” Leaning forward so as not to be overheard, he said, “That Gladys in three sixteen, she’s a moody one. OooWee, she’s moody.”
Tammy genuinely laughed. “Don’t let her get you down, Gerry. She’s having a difficult time. There aren’t many women here and she’s still new. Getting to know people can be a challenge. Especially when you’re dealing with so many other issues. Cut her some slack; you may find she can be a true friend. Maybe just go sit and talk to her.” Tammy froze as the last of her words fell from her lips. Straightening her spine, she realized, for the first time in days, that she should take her own advice.
Chuckling, Gerry spun around in his chair. With a quick wave, he said, “Okay, girl. You have a good night. I’ll see if I can get the old bat to speak to me.”
Tammy watched as Gerry rolled down the hall and turned right, out of sight. Pursing her lips, she nodded once and turned toward the exit door, resolved to lighten the burden on her heavy heart.
CHAPTER 12
WHILE WALKING TO HER CAR, Tammy’s phone rang. Digging it out of her purse, she tapped the connect call icon and answered. “Hello.”
Clearing his throat, Danny said. “Hi. Um, I wondered if we could talk.” Rushing before she could tell him off, he said, “I’m sorry. I had no right…I shouldn’t have…It’s…not…” Huffing out a breath, Danny said. “I’m sorry. I’d like to tell you in person. Will you talk to me?”
Tammy leaned against her car, back to the driver’s door, staring down at her nude heels. Her ‘pity purchase’ from yesterday to try and cheer herself up. It worked for about fifteen minutes. “Yeah. I’ll talk to you. I’m just leaving work. Should I run by your house?”
Quickly looking around to see that things were mostly in order, Danny said, “Yeah. That’d be good. I’m making lasagna. Will you eat with me?”
Tammy smiled. “Yeah. Eating’s good.” Turning and opening her car door, Tammy slid into the driver’s seat and inserted the key in the ignition. “I’ll be there in about twenty minutes.”
“Yeah. Good. Okay, see you then.”
Danny tapped his phone screen to end the call. He finished sprinkling the cheese on the lasagna he’d been preparing in hopes Tammy would come over and have dinner with him. Danny had honed his cooking skills since he’d been home. His counselor had encouraged him to try new recipes and play with his cooking. Every time he made something he enjoyed gave him a sense of accomplishment. This was the first time making this recipe, but so far it smelled amazing. His mouth watered as the aroma of garlic-laced marinara sauce wafted up to his nostrils. Sliding the pan into the oven, Danny began cleaning up the dirty dishes.
Drying the last dish, he heard the knock on his door. Neatly folding the towel in his hands, he laid it on the counter and went to open the door. Taking in a deep breath, he opened the door to the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen. Tammy stood in an unbuttoned, long brown leather jacket, showing him a cream pencil dress hugging her body masterfully. The thin brown belt at the waist only accentuated how tiny she was. A breeze lifted her brown curls, making Danny realize he was staring and it was cool outside.
Quickly stepping back, Danny held the door open, “Hi. Come in.”
Tammy smiled as she stepped through the door. Seeing him again made her stomach quiver. On the ride over she’d been nervous. What would she say? How would she say it? She held the strap of her purse like it was a lifeline.
“Can I get you something to drink? I have water, tea, wine and a couple types of sodas. What would you like?”
“Supper smells amazing. Since we’re having lasagna, I’ll have a glass of wine, if you’re joining me.”
Danny smiled, running his hands down his thighs. “Yeah. I’ll join you. Red or white?”
Walking to the cupboard in the kitchen, Danny pulled two wine glasses off a shelf. Turning to look at Tammy, he watched as she pulled her coat off her shoulders. Danny shook his head. “Sorry. I’ve forgotten my manners.” He swiftly walked toward her and helped her remove her coat. “Let me pour our wine and we can sit in the living room and talk for a few minutes.”
He hung her coat on the coatrack and went to pull a bottle of wine from the cupboard. “You didn’t answer. Red okay?”
A sweet smile spread her kissable lips and Danny was transfixed. “Yeah. Red is good.”
Their eyes locked for several moments before Danny nodded once and tore his eyes away from hers. Pulling a bottle of red from the wine rack and keeping his hands busy opening the bottle helped to calm him a bit. He poured their wine and turned to hand Tammy her glass. Their fingers brushed and both felt the shock of contact.
“Thank you,” she said, voice quivering, still unsure of what to do and where to start. The tension in the room was tightening the muscles in her neck.
Danny held out his hand in a gesture for her to precede him into the living room. She walked ahead of him, taking in every detail. The far side of the room had the doorway to Danny’s new bedroom cut in it, but the door and trim hadn’t been put in yet. From what she could see, the painting had been completed, but the room was still bare. No carpeting on the floor, but it’d been swept and was as clean as a construction zone could be. His living room was the same. A few things sitting around from the construction, but they were all neatly placed against the wall. It seemed Danny liked things neat and tidy.
Taking a seat on the end of the sofa, Tammy leaned forward to set her wine glass on the coffee table. Smoothing her dress with her hands she looked up at Danny. He leaned forward and set his glass on the table next to hers. He reached forward and took her hands in his. Looking straight into her eyes, he said, “I’m very sorry. I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions. If you haven’t noticed, I’m still dealing with…things.” He looked down at his leg. “It’s been…difficult.”
He smiled at her and she felt her core tighten and her panties dampen. Damn, the man was simply gorgeous. Breathtaking. Mesmerized by the sight before her, all Tammy could do was stare. Danny gently squeezed her hands, waiting for her response.
Her lips quivered into a soft smile. Tammy said, “I’m sure it has.” Moistening her lips with her tongue, she continued. “I think it’s fair to say I overreacted a little. I’m sorry, too.”
Nodding, Danny said, “Great.” He continued, “Okay.” Releasing a long-held breath, he said. “So, a couple weeks after I came home…like this.” Looking at his leg again, “My girlfriend broke up with me. She said we’d just grown apart, but I know differently. I don’t think she could handle me like this. Handle being with me…like this. It’s shaken my confidence. All of this has.”
“I’m sorry you were with a shallow, selfish woman. Believe me, I’ve been there. Not with a woman, I mean with someone who’s shallow and selfish. It can be devastating. It’s …” Huffing out her own breath, Tammy said, “Is it fair to say we both have scars? Some outside, some inside?”
“Definitely fair to say.”
Never taking his eyes from hers, Danny’s heart pounded in his chest. He could feel his pants tighten as his nervousness ebbed and desire flowed. He stared into her eyes. The deep brown had little flecks of gold which held his attention. He leaned forward an inch, waiting for her to react. He needed to kiss her, he’d thought of it so many times over this past week. When she inched forward he made his move.
Their lips touched and a fire raged through his body, instant, and consuming. The softness of her
lips touching his was everything and more than he’d imagined. Releasing her hands, Danny held her head between his hands, his thumbs gently rubbing her cheeks. He deepened the kiss, allowing his tongue to explore her mouth, taste her, feel her warmth. She sighed and he breathed it in like she was breathing life into him. His heart hammered in his chest and his breathing quickened. Needing air he pulled away and touched his forehead to hers. He heard her whisper, “Wow.”
He smiled. “Yeah.”
Tammy placed her hands over his, still holding her head. His skin was warm, the slight roughness of his hands felt fabulous under hers. She rubbed up and down enjoying the texture of his skin against hers. After a few moments Danny pulled away and looked into her eyes. He opened his mouth to say something when the oven timer went off.
His smile grew. “I guess the oven’s telling us supper’s ready. Are you hungry?”
Unable to speak just yet, Tammy nodded, enjoying the beautiful cocoa of his eyes. He had full, long, absolutely envious lashes. Noticing for the first time the soft lines around his eyes, a smile formed on her lips.
“Tell me what you’re smiling at,” he said, teasing slightly.
“Your face holds so much character and all of my girlfriends will be positively jealous of your eyelashes.”
He shook his head and stood, holding his hand out to her. She grabbed his hand and he led her to the kitchen.
He stopped behind a chair and pulled it out for her. “Sit here and let me pull the lasagna out. Do you need anything else?”
“No. Thank you.”
Danny busied himself cutting the lasagna while the bread was in the oven. He used the time to get his emotions and his penis under control. The girl had a way of making his body hard at the sight of her. Interesting.
As they ate, Danny broached the subject that’d started this crazy argument in the first place. “Are you interested in telling me about your job?”
Tammy watched his eyes for signs this could go bad. He looked into her eyes from across the table. When he sensed her hesitation, he smirked. Tammy visibly relaxed.
“I work for the director, Sally, as her assistant. I’m involved in the day-to-day management of the home and Sally is grooming me to replace her when she retires in a couple of months. We’re privately owned by a small company out of Texas, FMS. Recently, we’ve lost some of our funding from the government and we’re in the process of finding a benefactor to keep us afloat. There are several residents I enjoy speaking to and I’ve been painting a mural in the activity room for the past year and a half. That’s the fifty-cent version.”
“How did that come about, you painting the mural?”
Tammy set her fork down and dabbed her lips with her napkin. A soft smile spread her lips as she remembered. “I’ve always loved drawing and painting, since I was a little girl. One day, about a year after coming to work at Stateside, I was sitting in the activity room eating my lunch. The wall across the room was blank, dull, unexciting. I always have a tablet with me, so I started drawing pictures of soldiers and scenes. Gerry, one of my favorite residents, rolled over in his wheelchair to see what I was doing. He looked at my drawing and we started discussing it. He pointed out a couple of things from the war he’d been in. He left and at the end of the day he came to the office and showed me some pictures he had from his days in Vietnam. He said I could borrow them, but instead, I made copies of them and spent the next couple of nights drawing out my mural. Word spread through the residents and a couple others stopped by the office here and there with pictures or drawings or ideas. That’s how the idea popped into my head of the mural depicting war through the years. It begins with the war of 1812 and travels through Desert Storm, now, but someday, will travel through to Operation Enduring Freedom.”
Danny reached across the table and rested his hands over Tammy’s. He needed to touch her. Looking into each other’s eyes, both felt the stirrings of desire, the previous tension having vanished.
“That’s…” his voice cracking, he cleared his throat and tried again. “That’s amazing.”
She saw the moisture gather in his eyes as he swallowed several times. Turning her hand over so their palms were touching, she curled her fingers around his hand.
“We don’t have to talk about this if it’s painful.” A faint smile formed on her lips.
“No. It’s…fine.” Wiping his eyes with his other hand caused Tammy to squeeze the one she held.
When he had composed himself a bit more he said, “I’m supposed to talk about it. My counselor said I should. Doesn’t make it easy. He also said that. It’s just imagining all that war on the wall so soon…” He swallowed. “It’s tough.”
Tammy nodded slowly; choosing her words carefully, she said softly, “It is. It’s brought me to tears more than once as the guys…and ladies, tell me about their experiences. So many have lost friends and family. So many have lost parts of themselves. Physically and emotionally. I debated for a long time on whether it was the right thing to paint on the wall, but Gerry told me it was so much better to honor what they’ve all done than to pretend it never happened. Many of the others agreed and were excited to share their experiences. Sometimes they’ll sit in the room with me while I paint and tell me their stories. Sometimes, I go into the room and see them sitting there staring at the mural, lost in the memories of the days and years they served. It feels good. They tell me it’s good for them to see it memorialized. I’ve painted the faces of some of their lost friends in the mural. To honor them. So they aren’t forgotten.”
“That’s incredible. What you’re doing is incredible. What do the veterans there do for counseling?”
“We have counselors come in. But mostly they talk to each other. That seems to help the most, talking to other veterans. You should come and talk to them. They don’t have anyone from this current war to talk to and it would help. It would help you too, Danny.”
Danny stared into Tammy’s eyes. Who was this woman? She hadn’t seen the brutality of war, yet she felt it. She had the compassion of a woman who’d lost so much, yet she didn’t have the crusty shell one erects to protect herself from the ravages of life. She was warm and beautiful and absolutely was stealing his heart.
The thought jolted him. He quickly pulled his hand away. Busying himself with the dirty dishes he jumped up. “Can I get you anything? More wine?”
Tammy, shocked by the sudden change in atmosphere shook her head quickly, forcing her mind to catch up with the dizzying pace of this evening. “No. I’m fine. Thank you.”
She stood and carried her plate to the dishwasher, placing it inside as Danny packaged up the leftover lasagna.
Not sure what to do or what’d just happened, Tammy continued clearing the table. When she finished she looked over at Danny, who’d stopped placing the lasagna in a plastic container and stood staring down at the empty pan before him. His breathing was ragged and his shoulders bunched and stiff.
Nervously, she said, “Well, I’ll go then. Thank you for supper. It was delicious.”
CHAPTER 13
DANNY LOOKED OVER at her and saw the nervousness in her face. Her posture was rigid and her jaw tight. He stepped towards her and saw her lips quiver. Taking another step, he stood directly in front of her. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him. The feeling of her body pressed tightly to his sent a shiver up his spine. He slid his hand into her hair and reveled in the feel of it between his fingers. Soft and silky yet thick and full. The color of the richest light oak. The curls catching the light and showing off the multi-colored highlights in a kaleidoscope of color. Sexy!
He felt her nipples pucker through her little dress and push against his chest. He claimed her mouth with full force. Her moans rippled through him, creating riotous emotions deep inside. His dick hardened, his breathing shuddered through his body and his knees weakened. He couldn’t think of a time in his life when he’d felt like this about a woman before. Scary!
His tongue explored her mout
h and dueled with hers. She was giving as good as she was getting. One of his hands skimmed along her back and rested on her ass, pulling her tight to him. When her body created a fabulous pressure against his hard-on he grunted and thrust forward, showing her what she was doing to him. The response was Tammy wrapping her arms around his waist and squeezing him tighter to her. She rotated her hips against him and he tore his lips away from hers. “Fuck…that feels good.”
Tammy’s lips didn’t stop. She rained kisses around his neck and, up the side of his jaw, until she reached his earlobe, which she sucked into her mouth and then nipped with her teeth. She heard him rasp out, “Jesus.” She released his earlobe but laid her head on his shoulder, breathing in his scent. Her heart was hammering away in her chest and her nipples were puckered so tight they hurt. The wetness and throbbing between her legs increased when Danny thrust his hips into her another time. Wow.
She felt his cheek rubbing back and forth into her hair and she heard him sniff and then felt him kiss the top of her head. She could feel him shaking, his heartbeat strong and rapid. The heat emanating from him felt cozy and safe.
“Tammy. Do you know what you’re getting with me?” He spoke into her hair, his voice lightly shaking.
Tammy pulled away to look up at him. Their eyes locked as she spoke. “I do. I’m getting a fabulous man who’s served his country with honor. A man who loves his family and obviously has a community who loves him as well. A man who is strong, incredibly sexy and…” taking a deep breath, she said, “Smells fabulous.”
Danny chuckled which made Tammy chuckle in return. “I smell fabulous?”
“Did you hear the incredibly sexy part?”
She felt the rumbling in his chest as he growled out, “Yeah. I heard that, too. You haven’t seen me naked.”
“Yeah, about that. When do we get to that part?”