Away From You (Back To You Book 2) (6 page)

“They
certainly look more comfortable than mine.” I allowed with a grin.

Matt and
Spencer both greeted the pretty blonde woman warmly but with respect, calling
her Corporal Wheeler. She introduced herself to us as Jordan, or Jo, for short.
I liked her immediately. There was just something about how she carried herself
with an easy confidence that commanded respect. It must be hard to be a woman
in such a man’s world sometimes. Jo seemed to handle it well, though.

Her date, an
attractive man in a perfectly tailored grey suit, seemed very out of sorts. I
couldn’t tell if he was intimidated by all of Marines in the room or if he was
just socially inept. Either way, I kind of wished that he would go play a slot
machine or something rather than just stand at our table with an awkward
expression on his face. Matt and Spencer were deep in conversation with Jo and
some other Marines that had wandered over, so I decided to engage with the
Barney Stinson lookalike.

“So, what do
you do, Paul?” I prayed that I’d remembered his name correctly.

“I’m a court
reporter.”

“Oh, that’s
cool! I know a few lawyers. My friend over here used to date one and he told us
about a lot of interesting cases he’d worked on. Do you have any exciting
stories?”

He shrugged.
“Not really.”

Well,
clearly he lacked the charm and wit of Barney Stinson. I tried again, but only
because it would have been worse to just let the conversation die off right
there.

“That still
sounds like a cool job, though. How did you get into it?”

He shrugged
again. How annoying. “I dunno. It seemed like a cool job.”

Yikes. Abort
mission! I had no idea what a confident and outgoing girl like Jo saw in this
guy, other than his great sense of style. I caught Ellie’s eye across the table
and realized that she’d witnessed that whole exchange and was about to crack
up. I tilted my head toward the bathroom and she took the hint.

“We’ll be
back.” She kissed Spencer on the cheek and we made a beeline for the ladies’
room. We started laughing before we were even out of earshot.

“He is so
awkward!” Ellie giggled.

“You’re
telling me! I didn’t know you were listening; why didn’t you didn’t jump in to
save me?”

She waved a
hand. “I thought you were doing a great job all by yourself.”

“Oh,
clearly
.”

I pushed
open the heavy, wooden door to the expansive restroom. There was a beautifully
dressed woman at every sink touching up her make-up or primping her hair. We
squeezed into an open spot at the mirror to do the same.

“So, has
Spencer seemed off to you tonight?” Ellie asked as she powdered her nose.

Alarm bells
immediately went off in my mind. Of course he was ‘off.’ He was planning to
propose to her tonight. I’d been watching him like a hawk – no pun
intended – wondering when the big moment was going to come.

“No, why?” I
took the compact that she handed me and touched up my own face.

“I don’t
know. I can’t explain it. He just seems… off.”

She looked
genuinely concerned. I hated that she was jumping to the wrong conclusions, but
I couldn’t exactly tell her that he was just nervous because he was about to
take a hugely important step in their relationship. I closed the compact and handed
it back to her so she could tuck it in her clutch.

“I’m sure
he’s fine. Matt said something about it being awkward to drink with all of
their superiors because there’s a fine line between getting drunk and getting
stupid. It’s probably just that.”

Ellie nodded
thoughtfully. “Yeah, probably.”

I saw
Catherine enter the bathroom behind us in the reflection of the mirror. She was
wearing a long black dress with an insanely low neckline and a slit that came
way too high up her thigh. My first instinct was to cringe, but I kept my face
even as I reached into my bejeweled clutch for my lipstick.

She
approached the mirror next to us and smiled cattily. “Ladies.”

“Hey,” Ellie
greeted her with a polite disinterest. I admired her restraint and forced a
similar expression.

“I love your
dress, Olivia,” she said, sarcasm not hidden at all. “That blue is great with
your eyes.”

Since my
eyes were brown and the color didn’t compliment them in any particularly
noticeable way, her comment annoyed me. Though, I’m sure anything she said
would have annoyed me.

“Thanks.”

“No problem.
So, I saw you guys talking to that female Marine. Is she as bitchy as she
looks?”

Ellie and I
looked at each other with matched confusion.

“She’s
actually really nice,” I answered. “Besides, I try not to judge a book by its
cover. Some people look really nice, but wind up being really snotty.”

A corner of
her mouth quirked slightly and she made her way to an empty stall without
another word. I stared after her with a bewildered expression. In high school,
there were a few girls that I made it a point to steer clear of, but this girl
was ridiculous. Why did she even bother to talk to us? There was nothing
productive about that conversation whatsoever.

“Is this
real life?” I asked Ellie.

“Unfortunately.”

*

In the
ballroom, large round tables were scattered along the walls with the dance
floor in the middle and a stage at one end. Each table had an elaborate
centerpiece of red roses and candles. The place settings were formal, and I
balked when I saw the number of utensils next to my plate. I remembered reading
once that you’re supposed to work your way from the outside in, so I hoped that
it was as simple as that.

Once the
hoards of Marines and their dates had found their seats, the ceremony began. It
was long, but while I noticed Paul squirming in his seat, I was riveted the
whole time. There was something so inspiring about the traditions that the
Marine Corps has kept during more than two centuries of its existence.

A server
came around to collect our dishes after the meal, and I turned to Matt with a
pleading look. He hadn’t told me of Spencer’s exact proposal plans, and it was
killing me. I assumed that he didn’t want me to react right when he was about
to do it, which was a valid concern.

Matt leaned
over and kissed my cheek. “You really do look amazing, babe.”

“Thank you.”

“What do you
say we skip the dancing and just go upstairs?”

I feigned
horror at his suggestion. “You’re kidding, right?”

“If the
answer is no, then yes, I’m kidding.”

I smirked at
him.

He looked
over my shoulder at Ellie to make sure she wasn’t listening to us. “Hawk told
Ellie ahead of time the day I proposed.”

“Really?”

Matt nodded.
“Yep.”

“That was a
great day.” I couldn’t help but smile just thinking about it. I’d never forget
the way he’d looked when he was down on one knee by the water. I was so nervous
and overwhelmed in that moment. Try as I might, I couldn’t remember the exact
words that he spoke. All I knew was that it was the sweetest thing I’d ever
heard and it had ended in a question. I felt slightly guilty about not
remembering, but for all I knew he didn’t remember either.

Couples were
starting to dance, and I watched as Spencer and Ellie immediately got up from
our table to join them. Matt wasn’t much of a dancer, I knew, so I settled back
in my chair to watch. Shockingly, his open hand appeared in front of me. I
looked at it, and then at him, bemused.

“Oh, come
on,” he groaned. “It shouldn’t be that surprising that I would ask you to
dance. We danced at prom!”

“Yes, we
did, but I practically forced you.”

He chuckled
sheepishly. “True, but don’t hold that against me now.”

I took his
hand with a laugh and let him lead me to the dance floor. He semi-gracefully
twirled me into his arms and began to move to the music. I wasn’t sure if it
was the five glasses of champagne that I’d had so far, or if I was just very in
love, but my world seemed to be alight in that moment. I stared up at my
handsome husband and reveled in the sweetness I saw in his dark green eyes.

We didn’t
talk for the rest of the dance, just alternated between looking into each
other’s eyes and holding each other close. He would be leaving soon. I wanted
to lose myself in the feel of his arms around me and never let go. The slow
song ended much too soon and we broke apart. Out of the corner of my eye, I
caught sight of Ellie following Spencer out onto the terrace. My gaze flew up
to meet Matt’s and he winked.

Matt

“Merry Christmas, babe.” I held the
small box out to my wife, eagerly awaiting her reaction. I’d purchased her gift
when I went with Spencer to ring shop for Ellie and keeping it from her since
then had been nothing short of a miracle. I kept waiting for her to stumble
across it while she was organizing or whatever it was that she did.

Olivia took
the box from my hand and gingerly untied the red ribbon before opening the lid.
Inside there was a silver bracelet with three small beads threaded on it. The
first bead was a snowflake because her favorite season was winter. Not that we
ever got a real winter in San Diego, but who was I to judge? The second bead
was a yellow ribbon to represent my upcoming deployment, and the third bead was
a nurse’s cap to represent her journey in nursing school. It was a pretty
perfect gift for her, if I didn’t say so myself.

Her eyes
sparkled as she fingered each bead and gazed up at me.
Nailed it.

“Thank you
so much,” she whispered. “I love it.”

I took the
box back from her and removed the bracelet from the pieces of white elastic
keeping it in place. She held out her arm and I fastened it on. She shook her
wrist to let it fall into place and took a deep breath, smiling. Olivia wasn’t
hard to please with gifts, but I always knew when a present really meant
something to her. Her favorites were always the ones that showed how well I
knew her.

We were
spending our first Christmas morning together in our own home and while I was
used to waking up on Christmas morning with my family, this was much better.
Olivia had made coffee with peppermint mocha creamer to get us in the spirit
and we were opening presents under the immaculately decorated tree that she’d
spent way too much money on. Not that I’d have it any other way, of course.
Happy wife, happy life.

“Okay, now
open yours.” Olivia excitedly handed me a big bag with tons of red tissue paper
stuck in the top. I pulled out the paper, wadded it into a hard ball, and
tossed it at her, almost causing her to spill her coffee. “Jerk!”

“Hey! You
want me to take that bracelet back? That’s what a real jerk would do!”

She clutched
her wrist to her chest and shook her head, then leaned over to kiss me. She
tasted like peppermint chocolate and I contemplated taking her back to bed and
forfeiting any other presents. She caught the gleam in my eye and wagged her
finger at me, so I sighed and reached in the gift bag.

I pulled out
a wrapped box and arched a brow. “You wrapped this and then put it in more
wrapping?”

She nodded.
“Yeah, and that’s not the only one.”

Curious, I
peered into the bag and saw a pile of small, wrapped presents. It was like that
Russian doll thing that you opened only to find more things to open. Women. She
probably did that on purpose just to annoy me. Olivia loved doing stuff like
that. It was adorable how funny she thought she was.

I unwrapped
the first box and found a handheld video game console. “Thanks babe! This is
going to keep me busy on the boat.”

“That’s what
I figured.”

I shook my
head at her. “Never thought you would get me something that would make playing
video games all the time even easier.”

She snorted.
“I won’t be around to get annoyed about it so as long as you don’t have it
glued to your hand when you get back we should be fine.”

“Don’t
worry, I’m sure it’ll be busted from overuse before the deployment’s over.”

“Money well
spent, I guess.”

Next, there
were two video games to go with the console, headphones, a carrying case to
store it all in, and finally, a can of whipped cream.

“What’s the
whipped cream for?” I asked, confused.

She just
smiled coyly at me and took off for the stairs. I sat there for only a moment
before my tired brain caught on and I sprinted after her, presents forgotten.

*

Later, at my
parents’ house, everyone was peppering me with questions about the deployment.
All I wanted to do was have a good time with my friends and family before I had
to leave. Unfortunately for me, all they wanted to do was talk about it. They
wanted to hear how I
felt
. Seriously?
How do you think I feel about it? Instead of being rude, I lied. Yes, I’m
looking forward to seeing the world. Yes, I think it will be really cool to
experience other cultures. No, I’m not worried about leaving my wife behind for
nearly a year.