Danny's War (Rolling Thunder Series Book 3)

by Pj Fiala

  “You look lost in thought.”

  Whipping her head around. Tammy saw Zeke lounging against the frame of her office door.

  “What are you doing here?”

  Pushing off with his shoulder, Zeke sauntered into the room with his hands in the front pockets of his impeccably designed dress pants.

  “That’s hardly the reaction I was hoping for.”

  Closing her eyes and swiftly shaking her head, Tammy opened her eyes and said, “Sorry. I’m just surprised to see you. I thought you went back to Seattle.”

  Sitting in the chair in front of her desk, Zeke crossed his right ankle over his left knee as he settled into the leather. “I did go to Seattle and now I’m back.”

  “For how long?”

  “So, you’re eager to get rid of me then, are you?”

  Taking a deep breath, Tammy sat back into her chair and folded her hands across her stomach. Partly to try and quell the churning and partly to try and match Zeke’s look of being totally comfortable.

  “I simply thought you had finished your due diligence and would certainly need to pull everything together to make your decision.”

  Zeke’s steely gray eyes captured Tammy’s brown one and didn’t waiver. He didn’t even seem to blink. “I have unfinished business here.”

  “There you are; you beat me here this morning. Can I get you anything before we begin?” Sally narrowed her eyes at Tammy before training them on the side of Zeke’s head.

  “If I need anything, I’m certainly capable of getting it myself, Sally.”

  Sally’s voice rose what seemed like an octave as she giggled like a school girl before saying, “Of course you can, I just thought I would offer before I go grab my coffee.”

  Spinning on her heel, Sally all but stomped out of the office. Zeke’s attention never wavered from Tammy.

  Leaning forward Zeke tapped twice on the front of Tammy’s desk with his forefinger then stood. “I’d like a word with you later. First, I have a couple of things to discuss with Sally.”

  Without another word, he sauntered out the door and disappeared in the direction of Sally’s office.

  Tammy sat for a moment staring at the empty doorframe wondering what on earth was up. Glancing at her computer, seeing that it was booted up, she entered her password and immediately upon being granted access, pulled up her internet browser. She typed in ‘Melon Real Estate’. Browsing the site she found the two buildings she’d noticed up the block for sale as well as a couple others. It seemed as though the whole neighborhood was for sale. Pulling her cell phone out of her purse, Tammy entered the number of Melon Real Estate into her phone. Closing down her internet browser, Tammy sent Danny an email.

  From: Tammy Davis

  To: Danny Schaefer

  November 09, 2014, 8:13 a.m.

  Subject: What do you think?

  Hey there, hope you’re having a fantastic day, I missed you last night. On my way to work this morning I noticed a couple of the businesses about a block from here were for sale. I looked up Melon Real Estate and found a few more buildings in this general area for sale. What do you think that means? I wonder if that’s why Mr. Moneybags and his brother are interested in Stateside? See you later?

  Tammy

  From: Danny Schaefer

  To: Tammy Davis

  November 09, 2014, 8:34 a.m.

  Subject: What do you think?

  I missed you last night as well. Did you and Molly have a nice time? You bet I’ll see you tonight. Let’s finally have our date, I believe I’m a couple of weeks behind on that. 6:00?

  I think you should call Melon Real Estate and see if anyone will talk to you about what’s going on. I’ll ask Dog if he’s heard anything.

  Danny

  From: Tammy Davis

  To: Danny Schaefer

  November 09, 2014, 8:57 a.m.

  Subject: What do you think?

  Okay. Mr. Moneybags is back again today. He’s in meeting with Sally right now, but I wasn’t invited in, so I’m not sure what that means. Anyway, I don’t want him to hear me call them, so I’ll do it on my lunch hour.

  6:00 is great, should I come to your place?

  Tammy

  From: Danny Schaefer

  To: Tammy Davis

  November 09, 2014, 9:05 a.m.

  Subject: What do you think?

  Yes, come to my place and we’ll go out. Gotta go, babe, getting busy here. Later.

  Danny

  ***

  Tammy answered a few of her emails, checked in with the nursing staff for updates, checked over the weekly reports in her inbox and worked valiantly to keep her mind on her work and not on what Zeke wanted to talk to her about. At ten forty-five her cell phone belted out “Shake It Off,” her ring tone for Molly.

  “Hey, Mol, so do you have a brother?”

  “I do. Gunnar is my brother. My mom thought he was Keith as soon as she saw him. She said she promised she didn’t tell Joci she was pregnant and begged him not to leave her. Oh my God, Tammy, I have a real life brother. And the best part of it is, I really like him.”

  “Congratulations, Molly. I’m so damn happy for you. Are you guys going to go out and celebrate?”

  “We haven’t discussed that at all. I think we’re all a bit overwhelmed at this revelation. We’ll see.”

  Hearing a knock on her door Tammy looked up to see Zeke standing in the doorway.

  “I’ve gotta go, Mol. I’ll call you later, okay?”

  “Sure. Talk to you later.”

  Tammy tapped the ‘End Call’ icon on her phone and set it aside. Looking up at Zeke she noticed he’d made no move to sit. “How can I help you?” she managed without her voice shaking.

  “Let’s take a walk, shall we?”

  Tammy nodded, hit the ctrl-alt-delete on her computer, clicked once with the mouse and slowly stood. Taking in a deep breath, she rounded her desk and walked toward Zeke, keeping her pace even and steady. As she neared him, she noticed once again the clean scent of his aftershave and the impeccable cut of his suit. The deep blue silk jacket he wore set off the steel blue of his eyes. She saw that his jaw was firmly set and his hands, which were usually in his front pockets, were hanging loosely at his sides. As she neared, he held his hand out toward the hallway, beckoning her to walk into the hall ahead of him.

  He stepped into stride next to her and they slowly traveled down the hall of Stateside. Her strappy black heels lightly clicked on the shiny smooth floors, her knee-length cream skirt whispered against her thighs. She was suddenly warm and pushed at the long sleeves of her black knit shirt. Zeke remained quiet, which made Tammy’s heart begin beating wildly in her chest. Suddenly she wished she’d taken the time to eat something this morning. But, she and Molly had downed a few glasses of wine last night and her head and stomach weren’t one hundred percent this morning.

  Zeke steered them to the front doors of the building and Tammy had to fight the panic rising in her stomach at the thought that he was walking her out. Was she being fired? She braved a look up at him and saw that he’d been watching for her reaction. With a quirk in that arrogant mouth of his he said, “I want to have a private conversation with you and I’ve arranged to use the nursing office.” He nodded at the door of the office, which was just to the right of the front doors. Tammy’s mouth quivered into what she thought might be a smile, but actually looked more like a sneer. Zeke’s brows rose in question.

  Tammy entered the nursing office to find it empty. She walked across the room and stood near the window that looked out over the dining room. She watched as the cleaning staff wiped down the tables from breakfast, getting ready for lunch. Zeke cleared his throat.

  “I wanted to speak with you about your job here. It’s apparent you’re very passionate about Stateside and that it means a great deal to you. Isaiah and I have told you how we feel about the need to be profitable. One of the things we intend to do immediately, even though Stateside isn’t officially ours yet, is to lower
the overhead. That’s where you come in.”

  CHAPTER 26

  “MELON REAL ESTATE, how may I help you?”

  “Hi. My name is Tammy and I’d like to talk to someone who can tell me something about the buildings you have for sale on Washington Street.”

  “Sure. If you can hold, I’ll put Sandra on the line for you.”

  Tammy tapped her turn signal lever to make a right turn while she waited. Navigating the corner, she pulled into the lot in front of the boutique and parked in a spot where she could look at the front of the building. The red brick showed little sign of wear. The building had been there fifty years or so, and the little coffee shop next to it a few years longer. Both were single story buildings, big front windows, perfect for retail type businesses. Traffic on the road in front was busy. What on earth?

  “Hello this is Sandra, how can I help you?”

  “Hi, Sandra, my name is Tammy and I’m calling about the buildings on Washington Street. All of a sudden, there are a few of them for sale and I wondered if you could tell me what’s going on? I checked the tax records today and they’re all different owners.”

  “Well, the recent discussions at the City level of turning this area into a mall have speculators putting their businesses up for sale.”

  “Mall? I hadn’t heard about that. If a developer was coming in to build a mall, the businesses wouldn’t need to put their buildings up for sale, the developer would purchase them anyway.”

  “Correct, however, many of them are hoping to entertain higher offers to bump the price of their buildings so they have negotiation power with the developer.”

  “Okay. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. Is there anything else I can help you with?”

  “No. Thanks. Oh wait! Do you know who the developer is?”

  “I believe the City of Green Bay is talking to several developers and haven’t selected one yet. All developers would have to submit plans and have them approved. The City Council will select the developer based on the plans. From there, the developer will come in and purchase the buildings they need.”

  “Thank you, Sandra.”

  Ending her call Tammy looked at the buildings again. Biting her bottom lip, she put her car into gear and headed toward Danny’s house and their date.

  “Hey there.” Pulling her into a big hug, Danny’s arms encircled Tammy in a cocoon of warmth and comfort. She breathed in deeply and let his scent consume her entire being. She loved the way he smelled. She loved the way he felt. She loved the way she felt in his arms. Sliding her arms around his waist, she pulled him tight to her chest and willed herself to relax.

  “I missed the hell out of you, babe,” Danny said into her hair. Holding her tightly, he could feel her body slowly relax in his arms. Dammit, only one night away from her and he felt like it’d been weeks.

  “I missed you, too. Damn, you feel good,” she said into his chest, her cheek firmly resting over his heart. She could hear and feel the strong steady beat.

  Pulling back a bit, he lifted her chin with his fingers and looked into her eyes. “You okay?”

  “I am now.”

  “Okay. So, that sounds like you had a day. So let’s go to the restaurant and while we wait for our food, we’ll talk. Good?”

  “Yeah? Good.”

  Danny led Tammy to his truck. He opened the passenger door and helped her step up into it. Walking around to the driver’s side, he slid in and looked over at Tammy, a slight frown on his face.

  “Are you sure, babe? You look worried and tired.”

  “I am; both. But I don’t want either of us to have to cook and we’ll talk when we get there, okay?”

  Danny nodded, turned the key in the ignition and pushed the garage door button.

  After ordering their food, the waitress came with their drinks. As she walked away, Danny reached across the table and held Tammy’s hands in his. “Tell me what’s up.”

  “Okay, let’s see, where to begin. Oh…I guess you already know that Gunnar and Molly are brother and sister.”

  “I do. That’s all anyone was talking about today. He’s so damned excited to have a sister. Isn’t that the freakiest thing? To think Joci and Molly were friends only to find out that Molly’s mom was Joci’s friend first. Weird.”

  “Yeah, it sure is. So then, work. Zeke talked to me today. He freaked me out because he wanted to have a ‘private’ conversation with me.” Private in air quotes. “He told me that they need to get the overhead down on Stateside. In order to do that, Sally is done as of tomorrow. She’ll be moving to Seattle to work in the Hamilton corporate office with Isaiah, overseeing their nursing home properties. Apparently, she’ll be making some great money and of course, she’s positively embarrassing over her attraction to Zeke.”

  “Where does that leave you?”

  “I’ll be taking over Sally’s duties, but, they aren’t going to replace me. So, that means, at least for the time being, I’ll be doing double the work, though some duties can be shifted to others.”

  “Wow. So, is this congratulations?”

  “I don’t know Danny. FMS still owns us…Stateside. They had a conference call with us this afternoon and they’re going to sit tight and wait to see if the Hamiltons are ready to move forward with the purchase. They must feel confident that it’ll go through. After that though, my position is a bit uncertain.”

  Danny nodded as his mouth formed a straight line across his face. He didn’t take his eyes from Tammy’s.

  “Okay. So, Dog said the City is planning on tearing down some buildings by Stateside and building a mall.”

  “Yeah. I called Melon on my way to your place. That’s what they said, too. They don’t know who the City will select as the developer, but some of the business owners are speculating that their buildings will be bought out. What do you think the odds are that the Hamiltons are drawing up plans to be the developers?”

  Danny nodded. “That’s what I was thinking.”

  Tammy sat back in her seat and tucked her hair behind her ear. She watched Danny’s eyes focus on her and she couldn’t help but smile. When he smiled back, she leaned forward and once again took his hands.

  “I don’t want to talk about work anymore. How was your day?”

  Danny genuinely smiled again and it was brilliant. “My day was awesome. Dog invited Lex, Coop and Dirks to Green Bay to talk about joining us for the Veteran’s Ride next year. I’ve already called Lex and he’s coming. I’ll call Coop and Dirks later tonight. I’d like to bring them by Stateside to talk to the guys while they’re here, do you think that will be okay?”

  “Oh, my gosh, yes. The guys will absolutely love it. Thanks, Danny, it means so much to them.” Tears welling in her eyes, she wiped the corners with her fingers. “It means so much to me, too. Thank you.”

  Danny reached across the table and smoothed her cheek with the back of his forefinger. “Don’t cry, babe. This is all good.”

  Smiling she put her hand over his. “I know. Too much emotion lately. I never would’ve guessed four weeks ago all that’s gone on. It’s a bit overwhelming. Tell me about Lex, Coop and Dirks.”

  Danny regaled her with stories. “Lex was the first guy I met when I went to Boot Camp. I walked into the receiving room and Lex was already there. He looked up at me with a great big smile on his face and said, ‘Hello. Name’s Charlie.’ His southern drawl brought a smile to my face. He’s exactly what you’d expect of a southern gentleman. I told him my name was Danny and he held out his hand and said, ‘Well, damn, it’s nice to meet you, Danny.’ From that moment on, we were together all the time. We cheered each other on when we needed to. We helped each other when it got rough. We had each other’s backs. We managed to be deployed together, which we were grateful for. When we first got to Afghanistan, we met Coop and Dirks. We’ve been tight since then.”

  Tammy watched the emotion play on his face. When he spoke of his friends, his eyes sparkled, his smile was a sight to behold. B
ut, then, the tough times played across his face, too. “They were with me when I lost my leg. I looked up and Lex was yelling at me, but I couldn’t hear him because of the ringing in my ears. I saw Coop and Dirks standing there covered in blood and dirt. They looked so damn scared, but my brain couldn’t get around why. After I’d been in the hospital in Germany for a couple of weeks, they let me call them. That’s when Lex told me it was the worst thing that’d ever happened to him. He was so damn scared he’d lose me. He said he was yelling at me to get up. To be tough, to make it.”

  Danny wiped the bit of moisture from the corner of his eyes and swallowed several times to get his emotions under control. Smoothing his hand down his face, he smiled slightly at Tammy and croaked out, “He suffers so badly right now from PTSD. That’s why I want him to meet the guys at Stateside.”

  “Aww, that’s so nice of you, Danny, and so sad. I’m sorry he’s suffering right now, but I’ve no doubt that seeing you and spending time with you will help. When he sees how well you’re doing, he’ll know your body is different, but you’re fine, better than fine.”

  “That right? Better than fine?”

  Tammy laughed, “I think you’re better than fine. I think you’re smokin’.”

  Danny burst out laughing. Unable to look away, Tammy sat back in her chair as she feasted her eyes.

  “You ready to get out of here?”

  “Yes. Where are we going?”

  “I thought we could go to The Barn. They have pool tables and Ryder said it’s a great crowd there. Sound good?”

  Tammy nodded and stood up. As they drove to The Barn, she checked her phone and, seeing an alert in her email, her shaking fingers swiped the email open and she gasped at the image on her phone.

  Concerned Danny looked over at her, “Everything okay?”

  Tammy began shaking uncontrollably. “Can we go home?”