Come and Talk to Me (5 page)

“W
HAT
D
O
Y
OU
M
EAN
they’re shipping you out? I thought you were here for two years?” They had been together for six months and things had been absolute heaven between them. Once Van was able to knock down her wall, Reggie became the lovesick female she vowed she’d never be. With her past, she thought she’d never have her fairy tale life. She thought she was on her way to it when he broke the news. He was at her place, still in his uniform. He rushed over as soon as he had been told.

“Normally yes, but that doesn’t mean anything. I’m at their beck and call, babe.”

“When do you leave?” she asked, biting back tears.

“A month and a half.”

She walked to the lanai and leaned on the railing. He came up behind her and held her tight. “Marry me.”

“Are you serious?” She spun around and faced him.

“As I’ve ever been in my life about anything. I want you to come with me. If we get married now, they have to ship me as married. We’d be a package deal. They’ll ship you and your stuff and we’ll get a place for two.”

“I don’t want you to marry me because it’s convenient and they have to buy my ticket, Van.”

“Me either. I want you to marry me because I love you and I don’t want to leave here without you.”

She turned away and faced the ocean again. She never thought about leaving the islands before. “Where are they sending you?”

“Would it matter?”

She turned back around. “Not really.”

“It could be Puerto Rico…it could be California. It could be any hellhole. I know I can do it if you’re with me, but can you? Will you marry me and everything that comes with me, Reggie?”

He held out his hand. On his pinky was a plastic pink dinosaur ring with a tuff of hair like a troll doll.

She looked down at it and smiled. “That’s my engagement ring?”

“I ran straight here from the station. That’s the best the ABC store had to offer.”

She took it off his pinky and put it on. “Then I accept.” He picked her up and swung her around. “We’re crazy, you know.”

“Not as crazy as you were for saying yes to that ring. Now I don’t need to give you this one.” He held out a small box and opened it, revealing a half carat round diamond with six smaller diamonds on one side. In another slot was the wedding band that would connect with it with six more stones, completing the circle. He removed the plastic ring from her left hand, placed it on her right hand, then put the diamond on her ring finger and gave her hand a strong kiss. “How fast can you pull together a wedding reception? I want to get married right away.”

“Can we just get Troy and Bri and go to the court house then do something at their place? I don’t want anything big.”

“You don’t want your parents here?”

“I’ll call them after the fact. I can’t imagine bells and whistles for me getting married after six months of dating. They’ll think I’m nuts and try to talk me out of it.”

“You are nuts for loving me,” he said with a kiss. “That’s beside the point. Are you sure that’s all you want?”

“I’m sure.”

“Tomorrow is Saturday so we can’t do anything until Monday. Marry me on Monday, my love.” He went down on bended knee.

She said, “Yes,” before throwing her arms around his neck as she joined him on the floor. They shared a passionate kiss before Reggie’s heart skipped a beat at a realization. She let go of Van and stood. Turning away from him, she leaned against the wall. “Crap.”

“Changed your mind already?”

“I need a blood test after we apply for a license. It’ll take three days to get the results.” He never questioned why she knew that.

“So marry me Thursday.” He stood up and gave her another kiss. “I gotta get back. Technically I’m AWOL right now.” She walked him to the door and they kissed goodbye. “I want a half a dozen kids…all girls…and I want them all to look exactly like their mom.”

As soon as Van left, she collapsed against the door in tears. When she gathered herself twenty minutes later, packing a suitcase and getting away were her only objectives. Not being able to face Van to return the rings, Reggie drove to Sabrina’s. Troy answered the door.

“Hey, Reg.” He gave her a hug that lifted her off the ground. “I hear congratulations are in order.”

She could only answer by holding up a small white bag that held the rings. “Would you do me a favor and give this to Van?”

He accepted it with a raised eyebrow. “I was kind of hoping you guys would come over for champagne tonight. That’s what Bri went to pick up.”

“Sorry. I can’t. I’ll see you later, okay?” She hurried to her car and drove away before he could ask any more questions.

~*~

Troy noticed the suitcase in the backseat and groaned. “Oh shit.” He opened the bag. When he saw the ring box, he ran for his truck, setting a record for driving the two miles to the station. Knowing Reggie too well, he knew what this meant. Spotting Van talking to a couple of tourists at the front door, he shouted for him to come over.

“What’s up, boss-man?” Van asked, leaning on the passenger window. Troy tossed him the bag. Van chuckled as he caught it, clearly not understanding what it held; he was still high on the news. Troy hated to be the one to burst his bubble. Van’s smile instantly faded as he looked in and saw the box. “What the…why? What is this shit, Troy?” He reached in and pulled out the box. His hands trembled as he opened it, as if he couldn’t believe what they held. “Fuck!” Van crumpled the bag and slapped the side of the truck.

“Take it easy, man.”

“Take it easy? Why the fuck do you have these?” Troy had never seen Van so angry. His nostrils flared as he spoke.

“Don’t shoot the messenger. Get in. I’m taking you to her. I have an idea of what she’s doing.”

After jumping into the truck, Van slammed the door. Troy cringed, waiting for more yelling.

“What the hell, Troy? Why would she change her mind like that so fast?” Again Van opened up the bag in disbelief.

“I have a feeling, but you need to talk with her.” Van smacked his hand flat against the dashboard, causing Troy to jump. “Settle down. Stop taking it out on my truck. It’ll be okay. You two just need to talk.”

“Where are we headed?”

“I’m pretty sure she’s going to the airport. I saw a suitcase.”

“Shit!” Van ran his fingers through his hair. It was something he did a lot but this time, Troy noticed a lot more force behind it.

“It’ll be okay, buddy. We’ll catch her. I’m taking sugar cane roads. Don’t split a vein on this. You’ll fix it.”

“What’s going on, Troy?”

“She needs to tell you that, buddy. It ain’t my place.”

~*~

They did beat her to the airport. By the time she was pulling into parking and getting a ticket, Van was running over to her car. She cursed then pulled the car into the first open spot and climbed out.

“Where are you going? Why did you give me this back?” Van held up the bag. “What happed in less than an hour that changed your mind, Reg?”

“I just can’t marry you, Van. I’m sorry. It was silly to think I could. I…I got carried away.”

“I’ll carry you away.” He picked her up, hurrying toward Troy’s truck as she squirmed to be released.

“Put me down!”

“Not until you tell me what the hell happened.” He walked her over to the truck and put her down by the driver’s side door. “One of you is going to tell me what the hell is going on!”

Troy climbed out of the truck. “I’m going to get a soda. You two can talk in the truck.” Stopping in front of her, he whispered. “Tell him, Reggie. He deserves a chance to make up his own mind.”

They climbed in the truck and sat sideways facing each other. “What is it?” Van asked. “Why won’t you marry me?”

She exhaled. “I’ve been married before, Van.”

He was only slightly taken aback. “So. Are you divorced?”

His reply shocked her. She managed a soft, “Yes.”

“So what’s the problem?”

She had a hard time forming the words but they finally came pelting out. “I can’t have kids, Van. I can’t. You want kids and I can’t give them to you. Okay? Is that what you wanted to hear? I’m not marrying you. I’m not going to marry you or anyone…ever.” She grasped the handle of the door to try to escape, but he removed her hand from it.

“That’s it? You’re leaving me because you’re afraid I want kids more than I want you? You couldn’t be more wrong, Reggie.”

“But when you left…you said…” She began to cry.

He pulled her tight to his chest. “I know what I said. I was caught up in the whole moment. I wasn’t thinking. I said what I thought you wanted to hear. You know? You’re gorgeous and you said you’d be mine. I guess I went crazy.”

“But you want kids and I can’t give them to you.”

Van found some napkins in the pocket of the truck’s door and offered them to her. “I’ve never really thought about it, Reg. Honest. I want you. That much I do know. I don’t know about feedings and diapers. I do know I’ll go insane if I don’t have you.”

“You say that now.”

“No. I mean that now and always.” He held out the ring. “Put it back on, Reggie. Please.”

She glanced down at it then looked back up at him. “I want the dinosaur one.”

“God, I love you,” he said as he brought her close. “Where were you going anyway?”

“Wherever the next flight was heading.”

“I have next weekend off. Do you think you can wait until we can honeymoon; maybe on Kauai?”

“I think I can wait,” she said with a smile.

They drove back to Troy and Sabrina’s at a more reasonable pace. Van drove Reggie in her car as they followed Troy. Sabrina was waiting with champagne. She looped her arm through Van’s and said she wanted to hear everything about how he proposed. Troy held Reggie back for a minute.

“Did you tell him?”

“I told him enough.”

“It’ll only make it harder on you later, Reg.”

“He knows I can’t have kids, Troy. Amazingly, he still wants to marry me. Let’s go with that for now, okay? Promise me you won’t tell him.”

“He’ll ask me someday. I won’t be able to lie.”

“You can and you will. Please? Promise me you won’t ever tell him.”

“All right,” he said, pulling her in a hug. “I promise.” They walked outside and he told Van. “Florida Keys.”

“Florida Keys what?”

“That’s where they’re sending you. A station in Marathon.”

Van stood and walked over to Reggie. “You’ll still be surrounded by ocean, baby. It’ll just be a different one.”

“It doesn’t matter. I’ll be with you.”

~*~

The government paid for the rent on the house they shared in the Keys. That was about the best thing that could be said about it. The closest base was Key West. Everyone stationed in Marathon lived in rented townhouses or homes. Van and Reggie were right off a golf course with a canal off the backyard. It was a great location; the house was in a desperate state of neglect, though. The middle of it was almost a whole foot lower that the edges. They couldn’t help but to laugh the first time they laid eyes on the bedroom doorframe; it looked like a funhouse door. Reggie laughed to tears when she placed a deck of cards on the kitchen counter and it spread down to the other end. She thought about buying a slinky just to see what it would do. They didn’t care; it was their first home and they were together. Van teased that the crooked walls might help him by adding more traction. They wasted no time testing his theory out.

Van’s schedule had him overnight two nights at the station then home the next two. It wasn’t too bad of a deal. Sometimes she wished she was allowed to go to the station, but it was probably best that she didn’t. They were still very much at the ‘can’t keep our hands off each other’ stage, even several months into the marriage.

Regina accepted a part-time job at the small lumberyard in town. Scotty’s was a chain of stores throughout the Keys. She was hired on the spot once the manager learned of her background. It wasn’t as demanding as her last job. New homes weren’t built with the vengeance that they were on Maui, but it kept her in the same field and she welcomed the familiarity. On occasion, she was asked to help inventory on Islamorada or in Key West; she loved that aspect of the job. Even a trip an hour up or down the small chain of islands was a fun getaway. They had gone to Miami once, but she didn’t care for the rushed pace. It was worse than Oahu and that was always too much for her.

Even though Marathon was a very demanding station, Van rarely discussed work when he was home. Drug trafficking was extremely high in the Keys and that kept them constantly busy. Only when Reggie read something about the largest cocaine bust in history in the paper and asked him about it, did he fess up to being a part of it. There was an occasional rescue at sea and, of course, the patrolling to keep the beaches free from rowdy spring breakers at the numerous bikini contests. All he had to say about that was about helping a twelve-year-old girl remove a thorn from her foot. He was afraid she had become smitten with the uniform; the poor girl would probably chase sailors in her teens. He also reminisced on their first thorn, which she thought was silly, but she did love the kitty earrings he brought her as a gift for the ‘thorniversary.’

“I saw these and thought how great they’d look on you.”

“I love them!” she squealed. Reggie loved the cats she saw all over Key West, nicknamed ‘Hemingways.’ They had six toes or more on each front paw. “Can we get a cat?”

He dropped his head down. “I was afraid you’d ask that. I should have gone with the Dalmatians. No, we can’t.”

“Why not? Aren’t we allowed one in housing? ’Cause that’s stupid. This should be treated as our house.”

“No. I just hate ’em. Besides, I’m allergic.”

“But I want one.” She closed the gap between them and stroked his chest with the open palm of her hand.

“I’d give you the moon if I could, babe, but we can’t get a cat.”

“I don’t want the moon, I want a kitten.” She added her second hand to his chest and looked up with pouty eyes.

“Not gonna work. I’m sorry. We really can’t get one.”

“This sucks.” She swung away from him and was about to storm off.