Giving It All (9 page)

“Figures.”

“Didn’t J.T. go into the military after high school? Why did he come back to Dale? His dad isn’t the pastor anymore, right?”

“Oh, no, you remember he left shortly after Nadya and her momma left. As to why J.T. came back, well, you’d have to ask him. He’s a police officer here in town and it looks like he may become chief when Chief Birch retires.”

“Maybe I will.” It wouldn’t hurt to make contact with another vet. They didn’t have to share war stories or anything, but having someone around who actually
got it
wouldn’t suck. “Tell you what, let me take a shower, and I’ll drive your cakes and Ellie’s cookies to the library.” That would give Ellie and his mom a break, killing two birds with one stone, so to speak.

“I’m sure Ellie would appreciate it. This is her busiest time of year, but are you sure you want to do that? Everyone will be there and, well, you only just got home.”

“I have to face everyone sometime. Might as well get it over with now.” Putting it off wouldn’t make it go away. Better to face everyone and their questions and move on. Shit, if Nadya Sarov could come back after everything she’d gone through, he could face some nosy biddies asking him about his divorce and his missing leg.

“I’ll call Ellie and let her know you offered to take her things too.”

“Thanks, I’ll hit the shower so I’m presentable for the good folks of Dale.”

“I’m not as worried about you being presentable as I am about your odor. Deodorant is a wonderful invention, son,” his mom teased.

“Again, harsh, Mom. Old age is making you mean.” He ran from the kitchen before she could hit him with a wooden spoon like she used to when he was a kid.

Chapter Nine

So close. She’d been so close to having a nap. When Mrs. Anderson had called to say Grant would take her cookies to the bake sale, it had been like a gift from God. Not having to go to the library and be social for a while before coming home would literally have saved her hours. Instead, she was going to have to cover two hours behind the sales table because Mrs. Campbell had an emergency and had to run into Canton.

“Her Botox probably failed and her face fell into her lap,” Ellie muttered as she wrestled six dozen cookies down the stairs.

“That’s a word picture I could have done without,” Grant said, taking the cookies from her. “Whose face is now decorating her lap?”

“Did I say that out loud?”
Duh, obviously or he wouldn’t have heard you. Idiot.
“Ignore me. I’m just tired and cranky and thinking uncharitable thoughts, apparently aloud.”

“I thought it was funny, but then again, no one has accused me of being all that charitable.” He loaded the cookies into the trunk of the Camry before Ellie could stop him.

“Wait, I’ll take those in my car. I can take your mom’s cakes too. No reason for us both to go to the library.”

“What do you mean? I was going to take them so you could get a nap. Didn’t Mom tell you?”

“Yes, but that was before I got roped into covering the sales table. My nap will have to wait.”

“Couldn’t you have said no? I’m sure there are other people who could cover.”

“You’d think. Regardless, I can’t leave them in the lurch. Mrs. Thompson, you remember her, the librarian, has helped me so much over the years, the least I can do is help her get a new printer for the library.” If it wasn’t for the computers at the library, Ellie wouldn’t have been able to do half of her course work in college. She hadn’t been able to buy a computer of her own until grad school, and that one had been an outdated laptop with no battery life or Wi-Fi capabilities. Mrs. Thompson had been the one to help her get that laptop. Ellie couldn’t let her down now just because she was tired. She yawned a huge jaw cracker of a yawn just thinking about her lack of sleep. “Excuse me. I think I’d better stop at the store and get a cup of coffee or I’ll be falling asleep in the cash box.”

“C’mon. I’ll take you. It’s the least I can do.”

“Oh, no. You don’t want to do that. Then you’ll be stuck there until my shift is over. I’m fine. Lack of sleep never killed anyone. Heck, you had even less than I did.” And he didn’t look the least bit worse for wear. How’d he manage that?

“But I’m trained for it. Get in. I don’t want to worry about you driving into a tree.”

“Are you sure? The whole town is going to stop by once word gets out that you’re there.”

“Then I’ll have you to protect me. Besides, how bad can it be?”

Ellie didn’t try to explain that it wouldn’t be bad for him. Every woman in Dale would be there to get a look at him. By the time they left the bake sale, he’d have forgotten their heated kiss that morning in the mountain of invitations he’d get from all the available—and half the unavailable—women in town.

Grant had already slammed the lid of the trunk closed and climbed into the driver’s seat, leaving her little choice but to join him. She could follow him in her own car if she really wanted, but that seemed petty in the face of his offer.

“Do you remember how to get to the library?” she asked as she climbed into the car.

“Absolutely. Dale really hasn’t changed all that much.”

“You’d be surprised. For a while, I thought Dale was going to be paved over and turned into a strip mall.”

“Why?”

“There was talk of a housing project going in off of Deer Creek Road. Luckily, it got shot down.”

“I think I remember Dad mentioning that the last time they were out to see me. Something about the builder couldn’t get any street frontage or something.”

“Yup. The developer needed Nadya Sarov’s land and she wouldn’t sell, so the whole project got tabled.”

“Here we are,” he said as they pulled into the library’s tiny parking lot. Mrs. Thompson was there with Mary Ellen Michaels setting up tables of baked goods.

As soon as Grant stepped out of the car, Mary Ellen and Mrs. Thompson—who was seventy if she was a day—stopped dead in their tracks.

“Grant Anderson, as I live and breathe, you look better now than you did when you were in high school. Come here and give an old married lady a hug,” Mary Ellen said, dropping a platter like it was on fire. She bustled around the table and ran up to him.

“Old lady? I don’t see any old ladies here.” He had to practically bend in half to hug the tiny Mary Ellen. “You were only a year ahead of me in school, if you’re old, what does that make me?”

“Younger than me. Look at you, still handsome as the devil. It’s so good to see you here, even if it took your daddy getting sick to bring you back.”

“You leave that boy alone, Mary Ellen. If it was up to you, no one would leave Dale. There’s a whole big world out there.” Mrs. Thompson stepped forward for a hug of her own. “It is good to have you back though. Did you bring your momma’s cakes?”

“I sure did, and Ellie’s cookies too.”

“Where do you want me to put them?” Ellie asked, her arms full of cookies.

Mary Ellen turned around, as if looking to see where Ellie had come from. “Put one plate of them over there with the other cookies and save the rest for when we start to run out. I can’t thank you enough for covering for Orleane. I’d do it myself, but I have to be at the store. It’s Rosa’s day off.”

“No problem. Glad I could help. Grant is going to stay as well, so you get two for the price of one.”

“Heck, I should just close the store then. It’s not like I’ll have any business once word gets out that the Viking is at the bake sale. Mrs. Thompson, that fancy printer is as good as bought now.”

Ellie laughed quietly to herself and headed to the tables to do as Mary Ellen directed. Mrs. Thompson and Mary Ellen were firing questions at Grant as fast as he could answer them, so Ellie finished setting out the rest of the baked goods and returned to the car to get Mrs. Anderson’s coffee cakes.

By the time Mary Ellen rushed off, Ellie had the display arrayed with more expensive items grouped together and cheaper items close to the cash box.

“She hasn’t changed a bit. Does she ever give a person a chance to get a word in edgewise?” Grant asked, joining Ellie behind the tables.

“Not that I can tell,” Mrs. Thompson said. “Ellie, I’ll be back as soon as I can to relieve you, but if I’m not back before four thirty, Opal Miller will be here. Thanks again for pitching in. I know this is a busy time for you.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Ellie said with a smile. The librarian had helped her fill out college applications and proofed her college essays. Spending two hours selling cookies was the least she could do.

“You’re a good girl.”

“What about me? I’m helping too,” Grant asked, grinning mischievously.

“You’ve never been a good boy, but thank you anyway.”

Ellie glanced at her watch, noting the time. It would take Mary Ellen roughly five minutes to get to the store, if she waited that long to start the gossip lines buzzing. Cell service was excellent in Dale since they’d had the cell tower put in years ago. So, five minutes, give or take, to get the word out, another twenty minutes or so to allow for primping, and maybe five more minutes of drive time before the nearest of the ladies could get here.

She should have close to half an hour before the onslaught began. Plenty of time for Peter to bring her a coffee. Ellie shot him a text message and sat in a folding chair set up in the shade under a tree.

“Hey, don’t you have to man your post?” Grant asked, strolling over to her.

Good Lord, but he was gorgeous. The blue T-shirt he wore stretched at the sleeves, outlining his biceps, and his faded jeans fit him like a second skin. Her mouth literally watered as he approached.

“I figure I have a half hour or so before people start coming.”

“The sign says the bake sale starts at two.”

“But no one comes right away. They’ll start arriving in droves as soon as word gets out that you’re here.”

“Great. Maybe I should have worn shorts so everyone could see my leg and get it over with,” he said grimly.

“That’s not why they’re coming. At least not all of them. I imagine there are some folks who are coming just to see if you’re horribly disfigured or something, but the majority will be here because they want to see the hometown hero.”

“I’m no hero. I lost my leg when an IED blew up during a routine patrol, not during a mission.”

“You served our country with honor. That makes you a hero to me, and to most of the town too.”

Grant looked away, not saying anything for a minute. “There were some great guys, real heroes, who lost their lives over there.”

“And I pray for them and their families every night. But just because you survived doesn’t make you less of a hero.”

Before he could say anything else, Peter’s car pulled into the lot.

“Looks like you were wrong, here’s our first customer.”

“Nope, this is my own personal delivery boy.” Ellie laughed as Peter made a face.

“Delivery
man
, if you please. Here you go, one large iced coffee, light and sweet.” Peter handed her the sweating plastic cup with a flourish.

“You are a man among men, and a life saver. How much do I owe you?”

“I’ll put it on your tab.” He turned to Grant, who was watching their exchange with a considering look on his face. “Good to see you again, Anderson. Are you ready for the mob?”

“I’m not quite sure I believe there’s going to be a mob, but I’ve got Ellie here to protect me.”

“Trust me, every female within city limits will be here in less than twenty minutes. Ellie and I are the only two people in Dale to have seen you besides your folks. The gossips will be knocking each other down to get the scoop first.”

“Mary Ellen and Mrs. Thompson were here when we arrived.”

“Well then, I’m changing my estimate to ten minutes as word has already gone out on the Dale grapevine.”

“I figure fifteen. You need to allow time for primping.” Ellie slipped out from under Grant’s arm and headed to the table. She really wished Grant would stop saying she could protect him. Didn’t he remember anything about high school? People would be fawning all over him, and she’d get shoved to the background. She’d be lucky if she didn’t get trampled, forget about offering him any protection.

Grant frowned as Ellie slipped away. It was like she was retreating into herself and he couldn’t figure out why.

“You know, if you want to make this less painful, I can run a story on you in the
Dale Weekly
. You can tell everyone about your service, your injury and what you’ve been doing for the last ten years all in one shot instead of repeating it over and over again,” Wells said.

“I’m not much for media attention.” That was putting it mildly. He and every other SEAL he knew avoided it like the plague.

“Consider it a public service then. A lot of these folks donated money to help pay for your parents’ flights. This would be a good way to say thanks.”

“What’s your angle in all of this?” Grant didn’t like the slick newspaperman telling him he should be grateful. He was, but hearing someone talk about it made him uncomfortable.

“Hello? Captain Obvious? My sales will go through the roof. But beyond that, I’ve come to know the folks of Dale, and overall, they’re a pretty decent bunch of people. Sure, there are some bad apples, but for the most part, they’re a caring group who love their own. And when one of them gets hurt, they pull together for him. I wasn’t here at the time, but did you know they held candlelight vigils for you?”

Guilt took a huge bite out of his attitude. He’d been so wrapped up in thinking about how people were going to point and stare that he totally forgot all the people who just wanted to see him after his ten-year absence. Damn it, he should know better.

“I didn’t know that, no. But you’ve made your point. Give me a call later on this week and we’ll set something up.”

“Great. I go to print on Monday, so it’ll have to be in next week’s issue. That will give me time to do some research. Where in Afghanistan were you stationed?”

“I got injured outside of Combat Outpost Zerok, in the Paktika province.” Grant bit back anything else he was going to say. Sweat dripped down his back and his mouth got dry just thinking about that hell on Earth.

“Darn it, Peter, you were right. Here they come,” Ellie called out as a pickup truck, two minivans and a brand new Mercedes pulled into the lot.

“There’s Pansy Campbell. Good luck dealing with that one. You may wish you kept some of your body armor.” Peter clapped him on the shoulder before heading to Ellie.

Grant followed more slowly, pulling himself together and mentally preparing for all the questions that were headed his way. He didn’t know which would be worse, questions about his injury or the ones about Chastity. His gut churned as he got closer to where the women were gathering at the tables.

What the fuck
? Had he become such a pussy that the thought of dealing with a bunch of well-meaning housewives got him nervous? He’d fought against the fucking Taliban. He could handle a bake sale. Plastering on a smile, he stepped next to Ellie and prepared to be charming.