A Soldier for Christmas (7 page)

He considered her side of things. It sounded as if she’d been alone for most of her formative years. And just when she thought she’d found a place to belong and someone to love, it had been ripped from her.

Pretty devastating. No wonder Kelly had given up on dating. On trying to find love again. No wonder the friendship-only thing was so important. He could understand that. He knew what deep losses could do to a person. Closing your heart off kept you from getting too close and feeling too much. It was easier.

But it was no way to live.

Plus the tangled-up emotion in his chest had little to do with friendship feelings. Tonight he’d really felt at home on the couch beside her, with his feet up on the coffee table. He’d enjoyed the simplicity of sitting at her side, and it had felt right. He’d like to spend a lot more evenings just like that. But not as just her friend.

As the highway unrolled before the reach of the Jeep’s headlight, Mitch thought how life resembled his limited view. You just couldn’t see what was up ahead. Life came with risks and love did, too. You had to give with your whole heart, but you were really just driving in the dark. The turns and obstacles ahead were a mystery, veiled in the night, and you just couldn’t know how things would work out.

All you could do was to walk in faith and not hold back.

D
oom.

Kelly looked up from her textbook and rubbed her tired eyes. The living room came slowly into focus. Two hours of struggling with the mysteries of algebra, mysteries which she had purposefully forgotten over the years, and the truth, as solid as ever, stared her right in the face. The final regular test of the summer quarter was getting closer and she wasn’t going to pull an A. She’d be lucky to get a C the way she was going, and that would pull down her entire average.

Definitely doom.

Mitch’s kindly spoken words echoed through her mind and right into her heart.
If I hear you had trouble and you didn’t ask me for help, I’m gonna be pretty mad at you.

Since it was a bright late-Monday afternoon, and Mitch was probably out pick-axing his way up a glacier, she opted for an e-mail instead of calling.

It took just a second to type up an outgoing message to the address he’d given her, as it was only one word: Help! She signed off, including her cell number since she was scheduled to babysit tonight.

The twists God put in a man’s path were an amazing thing, Mitch thought as he dialed Kelly’s cell number. It had to be no coincidence that he loved math—always had—and that he was in the position to offer her the one thing she’d accept from him—help for her upcoming test. Proof that he was on the right path.

After the third ring, her voice filled the line, dulcet and low as a whisper. “Mitch?”

“Hey, I got your SOS. I would have called you sooner, but we just got in.”

“You’ve been out all day? It’s nine o’clock.”

“I don’t work banker’s hours. I’m just lucky I don’t have to sleep on the ground tonight. Mountainsides are generally rocky. Not so comfortable. Where are you?”

“Babysitting. Actually, the kids are asleep and so I’m studying, but it’s a disaster.”

“You’ve got the right man.” He intended to show her that. “What’s the problem?”

“If only it were that uncomplicated. I have a test in a week, the last one before finals and it’s a big part of my grade. I’m not getting what to do with quadratic equations. It’s eluding me.”

“Sounds like you’re in need of a tutor.”

“I am. What are your rates?”

“Barbecue a couple of hot dogs on your hibachi and we’ll call it even.”

“That’s what I had planned for Saturday’s dinner.”

“I’ll come early, we’ll get your math crisis figured out before dinner. Sound like a deal?”

“A very good one. How was the ice-climbing?”

“Cold.” His chuckle was cut short. There was some noise going on in the background. “Oh, I’ve gotta go. We’ve got a surprise field exercise.”

“It’s almost ten at night.”

“Welcome to my world. I’ll be at your place, uh, around four-thirty. See ya.” The line disconnected.

Kelly sat alone in Amy’s living room and stared at the phone, his voice, his words echoing in her head.
Why does he affect me so strongly, Lord?

No answer came. The brightness Mitch brought to her spirit faded in slow increments with each breath.

And only shadows remained.

Mitch. She couldn’t help thinking of him throughout the week. Things would happen that brought him to the forefront of her mind. Driving to work and seeing the highest snowcapped peaks of the Rockies rimming the northwestern horizon, and those glaciers glinting in the hot late-August sun made her wonder if Mitch was out on a snowy peak like those, climbing to his heart’s content.

Every time she cracked open her math book or sat in the auditorium class: while she wasn’t looking forward to facing a tutoring session, she was glad about her tutor.

Who would have guessed all those years ago that the shy, out-of-place foster girl and the smart, awkward math geek from a middle-class life would wind up being friends? Or that he would be helping her once again?

God worked in funny ways. But she wasn’t going to question it. She knew the Lord’s hand had been gently guiding them together. Why else would her heart come back to life a little? Why else was she starting to feel a brightness inside her, after Joe’s loss had taken it all?

During her shift at the bookstore today, both Katherine and Spence had asked her how things were going with the soldier. Really, they had it all wrong, but when each had asked about him, she started thinking about him all over again. How funny he could be, and how his chuckle rolled like warm joy, low and deep, just the way a friend’s laugh should be.

The best part was that she was going to see him in a few minutes. She was running a little early, so she’d have time to get some iced tea made before he came. In a hurry, she whipped into one of the several parking spots in front of her staircase.

Her soul stirred. Strange. She squinted through the windshield to the top landing above. And there, through the shield of poplars swaying in the wind was a silhouette, tall and dependable and waiting for her. Her shining knight—er, tutor.

Like the sunshine streaming through the flickering leaves, her day brightened. She hopped out of the car, bringing her backpack and keys with her. “Hey, stranger. You’re early.”

“Better than being late.” He braced his hands on the rail and leaned, gazing down at her. His smile was wide and friendly, and she knew his eyes were too, behind those aviator sunglasses he wore. He was dressed in jeans again, and a navy-blue T-shirt. “I’ve only been waiting a few minutes. Are you ready to be put through your paces?”

“Ugh. I knew I was going to regret this. I’ve been putting off even dealing with anything mathematical all week. It’s going to be torture, isn’t it?”

“Well, I am a marine. We show no mercy.”

“Just my luck.” She climbed upward, feeling as light as air. “Lexie wanted me to ask. What movie did you bring?”

“No way. Homework first. Then we’ll talk movies.”

“Whew, you are demanding.” She was close enough to see that there was a military logo on the chest of his T-shirt, and the deep-navy color made his eyes a dark, fathomless green.

Not that she was noticing. “Hey, when you had to get off the phone when we were talking last week—did everything turn out okay?”

“Our CO—commanding officer—thought it would be funny to order us out on a midnight climb.”

“In the dark?”

“Well, when you’re doing what I do, they don’t want you seen. It kind of interferes with the stealthy part of the job. We do a lot of training stuff at night because we do a lot of our missions through the night.”

“Missions. That’s like what, hanging off cliffs and crossing glaciers? Do you know what?” She unlocked her front door. “I’m starting to suspect that you aren’t a normal soldier.”

“I told you. I’m like a scout. I do reconnaissance.”

“
Like
a scout.” Yeah, that was so revealing—not. She opened the door and led the way to the kitchen. “Okay, you keep saying that. You’re
like
a scout, but what do you do, exactly? You climb mountains, scuba dive, do amphibious stuff. You’re not like Special Forces, are you?”

She feared she knew the answer already.

He shrugged one muscled shoulder, as if it were no big deal. “I’m a Force Recon marine.”

Oh, the humble thing was so appealing. Kelly tried to keep her heart still as she took out two cans of soda from the fridge and handed him one. “I don’t know what that is. Explain, please.”

“Thanks.” He popped the top of the can. “We’re the elite of the elite. Force Recon is basically the on-the-ground eyes. We patrol enemy territory and act as scouts so our guys know what they’re getting into.”

“Enemy territory? Like you scout out enemy soldiers?” She took a sip of the icy bubbling cola. It kept her from saying that he looked pretty sane for a crazy person. She tried to imagine how dangerous that had to be. “You need to ice-climb
just
to find out the other side’s position? No, you do more than scout, don’t you?”

“Yeah. We’re pretty big and bad.” He shrugged that shoulder again. Apparently that was all he was saying. “Ready to get to it?”

“Math? Sure.” Her backpack was still hanging from her shoulder. “We can stay in here, where the air conditioning is, I can turn it up. Sorry.” She headed toward the thermostat and adjusted the dial. “Or we can sit outside. Oh, and there’s a park a few blocks down.”

“The deck is good. I don’t want to get too far away from the food.”

“I get the hint. Hungry?”

“I could be.”

“That’s just a hungry man’s way of being polite.” She grabbed a bag of chips and handed it to him. “Do you like French onion or ranch?”

“Yes.”

“I should’ve known.” She grabbed both dip tubs from the fridge and followed him out onto the deck. “Appetizers.”

“There’s no better.” He opened the bag. “Are you ready?”

She tugged her math book out of her pack. It had been a long time since she’d been this happy at heart, especially when it came to algebra.

Mitch’s friendship was turning out to be a true blessing in her life.

As Mitch knelt on the deck boards to turn the franks grilling on the hibachi, he could see Kelly’s reflection in the large window. She was leaning forward over her plate to scoop her chip through the dip. Her face was turned in profile as she talked with her roommate.

When it came to Kelly, there couldn’t be a prettier woman on earth. Not in his opinion. Her golden hair was down today, rippling in the warm breeze and caressing the creamy curves of her face. She wore a sleeveless blouse the exact blue of her eyes, and a black pair of walking shorts and matching shoes. She looked casual and wholesome and womanly all at once.

It really wasn’t fair that he was at such a disadvantage.

I hope You know where You’re leading me, Lord, because I’m in over my head.
He cared for her more than he felt safe admitting, even to himself. He tonged the hot dogs from the grill and onto a plate. “Seconds?”

“It’s nice having such first-rate service, thanks.” Kelly smiled up at him as she swiped mustard on a bun. “You have great grill skills.”

“I’ve put in a lot of hard practice at the barbecue.”

He slid a beef frank onto Lexie’s plate before he added the last two to his. Across the table, Kelly was pushing the relish and mustard in his direction. Her fingers were long, slender and delicate, like the rest of her. Her short nails were painted a light pink.

Lexie shoved the tub of deli potato salad closer. “So, Mitch, tell us exactly why you aren’t married.”

“Because I spend pretty much most of my time on a mission or on standby prepared to head out. It doesn’t leave a lot of time for finding a nice lady to marry.” He cast a glance sideways at Kelly. “This free time I have—real weekends—is a luxury.”

Lexie persisted. “Yeah, but you’d like to get married one day, right?”

“Sure. I just haven’t slowed down enough to let a woman catch me and shackle me into matrimony. Yet.”

“Shackle?” Kelly questioned with the cute little crinkle at the bridge of her nose.

“That’s a totally typical man’s answer.” Lexie didn’t seem too happy with him.

He shrugged, running a line of mustard along both hot dogs. “Apparently a guy should never joke about the seriousness of marriage in front of women.”

“Ya think?” Lexie frowned at him, but her eyes said something different. Like she was on to him.

“Let me try again.” He set down the mustard bottle so he could concentrate. He didn’t want to get it wrong this time. “I’d like to get married one day. I’m taking my time because I want to find the real thing.”

“Real love.” Lexie nodded her tentative approval. “Don’t we all want to find that?”

I think I already have, he thought. All he had to do was to look at Kelly and his heart did funny things, leaving him feeling exposed and vulnerable.

That just couldn’t be good. “Is this how you two spend every Saturday evening?”

“Just about,” Kelly answered between dainty bites. “Unless I have a babysitting job.”

“But mostly it’s a budget meal and a rented movie,” Lexie concluded.

“The reality of putting yourself through college.” Kelly didn’t seem to mind. “On the Saturdays after payday, we splurge and order a pizza.”

“You live large. I’m guilty of the same kind of lifestyle.” Mitch stole more chips from the bag in the center of the table.

“We’re flush. Lexie, remember last January? We were both flat-broke from paying tuition, I’d lost my retail job due to layoffs after Christmas, and we couldn’t scrape enough money together between the two of us for rent.”

“My dad’s check was lost in the mail, it really was, and he was out of the country,” Lexie explained, “so we were, like, digging out the pennies from the bottoms of our book bags and purses.”

“And on the floor of the car,” Kelly added. “Sure, it’s funny now, but let’s just say there was a big sale on cases of those cups of instant noodles at the discount grocery. It’s practically all we ate for three weeks.”

“So,” Mitch guessed, “you’re telling me not to take you out for noodles?”

“Exactly.” She laughed. “I’m definitely noodled out.”

Her laughter lightened his world. His voice didn’t sound like his own as he made a suggestion. “I saw that a couple of good movies were playing down at the old theater. I thought I’d treat you girls to popcorn and a movie. Interested?”

Kelly’s gaze met his, and, like a spark to kindling, he felt the impact.

“That would be very nice,” she said and her smile moved like sunlight through him.

He had to admit that he cared for her. It wasn’t a conscious decision and there wasn’t much he could do about it.

With the warm still air and star-studded ebony sky, the August evening felt like a dream. Or, Kelly conceded, maybe it was the man she was walking with. Something about being with Mitch made her world better.

“Are you sure we shouldn’t have waited for your roommate?” Mitch asked. “It’s dark and she shouldn’t be walking alone.”

“I have a feeling that guy she ran into at the concession stand has been wanting to date her for a long time. I bet he’ll give her a ride home.” It was nice of him to be concerned, though, Kelly thought. See? It just went to show what a thoughtful guy he was. “What you did this evening, helping me figure out my math, is a big deal to me. You may have saved my grade point average.”