Summer Burns (5 page)

"
What for?
"

"
For stirring stuff up.
"
He wiped his mouth and reached for his wallet.
"
I should go.
"

She touched his arm and he froze.
"
You don
'
t have to. It
'
s actually nice to talk to an adult once in a while, and I don
'
t have to cut your hair while I do it.
"
She gestured to her daughter, who
'
d gotten situated in a driving video game.
"
I love her with everything, I do, but it
'
s nice to not be doing everything on a kid level.
"
She picked up the crayons on the table and put them back in the little box.

"
I
'
m sure it
'
s tough.
"

"
I
'
m lucky. I have family all around me. Mine, of course, and Jake
'
s mother is always available for Emma. It
'
s nice. There
'
s always someone who can help me out if I need it.
"

"
Family is important.
"

"
True. Where
'
s your family at?
"

"
Not far. St Louis, Missouri.
"

"
Is that where you moved back in high school?
"

He nodded.
"
Dad got a job, and we had to go.
"

"
Did you move around a lot?
"

"
Yeah. Probably why the military was such a good fit. I
'
m used to moving.
"
His parents followed work all his childhood.

"
I
'
d never moved in my life. I live in the house I grew up in.
"
She smirked.
"
When Jake and I got married, he got transferred to North Carolina. Then Texas. Then back here. Then over there.
"

"
Army makes you a tumbleweed.
"

"
I know, I hated it. I hated not having roots anywhere. I missed my family so much.
"
She shook her head.
"
I
'
m sorry, I
'
m being awfully rude. I shouldn
'
t be saying bad things to you about the military.
"

He smiled.
"
Well, it
'
s not for everyone. Some people thrive there. Others not so much.
"
Yet another reason why he
'
d been hesitant to commit to anyone--the military lifestyle wasn
'
t easy.

He glanced back at the video games, where Emma shoved her quarters in one of those crane machines, and tried for some stuffed animal in it.

Failed miserably.

He smirked.

"
She
'
s been trying for a month for that blue teddy bear. Never gets close.
"

The waitress came by and put the check on the table. Before Summer could grab it, he checked the amount and got out his wallet.

"
What are you doing? You don
'
t have to pay for my dinner.
"
She tried to get the check back.
"
We invited you to join us. I was paying anyway.
"

"
All the more reason for me to pay.
"
He put his cash with the check and tucked it under the edge of the pizza.

"
Really, Hennessey--
"

He met her gaze.
"
Matthew.
"
He
'
d always been Hennessey, no matter where he was. Yet in his gut, he didn
'
t want her calling him that too. She was different.

She nodded.
"
Matthew.
"

He kept his eyes on hers, studying the dark blue edges, and how it faded to a lighter silvery-blue in the center, different from his blue eyes, which had always just been
"
crayon blue
"
as he called it.

Yet he didn
'
t want to break the gaze. He
'
d never been this close to her before. She didn
'
t look away, either. He leaned in just a bit, memories of the past washing over the moment--and not the war-filled one. The one where he watched her at all the wrestling meets, wishing for that chance to
...

"
Thank you sir.
"

Summer broke the stare first, and turned toward the waitress. The waitress walked off with the bill, and his money from the table.
"
What the hell?
"

He grinned.
"
I win.
"

Her cheeks flamed red and she crossed her arms.
"
You
...
That was sneaky.
"

"
Maybe. But you weren
'
t paying for my dinner.
"

"
That wasn
'
t fair.
"

He shrugged.
"
All
'
s fair in love and war.
"

"
So are we in love or in war?
"

"
Well, this sure as hell isn
'
t war.
"

She raised an eyebrow, and he realized what he
'
d just alluded to.

"
I mean
...
Uh
..."

She laughed, and it was this beautiful, peal of laughter that hit him right in the groin. In the good way. The kind of sound that made him want to make her laugh again and again, just so he could hear it.

"
Don
'
t worry about it, Sergeant. I sure don
'
t want to make war with you.
"

"
So what do you want to make?
"
he asked.

She bit her lip and her cheeks turned pink.
"
You are bad, sir,
"
she said as she stood.

Hennessey stood as well.

She gestured to her daughter.
"
She
'
s getting frustrated with the machine. I
'
d better go check on her.
"

Matthew turned and saw, that yes, little Emma was about to--scratch that, she
did
kick the crane machine. And still didn
'
t get her precious prize.

He couldn
'
t help wondering if Summer just used her daughter as an excuse to get away from him.

Was he mad about the prospect?

Not exactly.

More amused than anything. The waitress came back with a to-go box, and boxed up the pizza for them, and she smiled quite a bit at him while she did it.

He looked over his shoulder to see who the waitress grinned at like that.

No one was back there.

He turned back to her, thinking maybe she was a loony. She kept smiling at him.

"
Um,
"
He said, unsure how to respond because he wasn
'
t used to that sort of attention.

"
Thank you for your service,
"
the waitress said, batting her eyes at him.

"
Just doing my job.
"
He turned back to Emma and Summer.

"
Is that your family?
"
the waitress asked.
"
That little girl is cute.
"

"
Yeah she is.
"
He stood, and decided to try Summer
'
s trick of using Emma as an excuse to get away.
"
I should go check on them.
"

"
Sure, right. Have a good night sir.
"
The waitress didn
'
t sound quite as chipper as she had.

In his head, he knew, logically, that she must have been flirting with him, still, it felt so foreign to him, he wasn
'
t sure how to handle it.

He
'
d been home for a while, but certain things still boggled him.

He reached Emma, and discovered that the little girl had roped her mom into her quest for a prize from the crane machine.

"
Oh, man!
"
Emma said.
"
So close Mommy. If you would have moved it this way just a little bit!
"

"
I know,
"
Summer said, with a big sigh. She glanced at Matthew and winked.
"
Better luck next time. Are you ready to go home?
"

"
What are you trying to get out of there?
"
he asked.

"
That blue teddy bear. He
'
s so cute and fluffy. I need to have him so much!
"
Emma ran her hand over the glass.

He patted his pocket and felt change.
"
Well, I can give it a try for you, if you
'
d like.
"

"
Are you any good?
"
Emma asked, hand on her hip.

"
I used to be.
"

"
Well, okay.
"
She didn
'
t seem too impressed with him.
"
I guess you can try.
"

Even when he put the coins in, the little girl seemed to be watching, waiting for him to screw it up.

Maybe that last part was his imagination.

Summer held the pizza box.
"
I think I got it loosened up in there.
"

He smirked.
"
We shall see.
"
With a careful touch, he managed to guide the clamp right over to the teddy bear in question.

"
Just a smidge this way,
"
Emma said, with her face plastered to the side of the box.
"
Just a smidge, Mister Maffew.
"

He tapped the control. The claw barely moved, just swinging in the box.

"
Perfect.
"

"
Do you want to do the honors?
"
he said, pointing to the button.

Emma darted back to the front and slammed her hand on the button to release the claw. The claw went down, opened up, and grabbed the blue teddy bear.

It pulled the bear out of the pile of other stuffies shoved inside the box, and rose in the air.

"
It
'
s almost there!
"
Emma cheered.

And then it fell out of the claw, just hanging on the edge next to the opening.

"
Oh no!
"
shrieked Emma.

"
Wait, I have more quarters,
"
Summer said. She glanced at Matthew.
"
We
'
ve been trying forever for that bear.
"

"
Here, I have it,
"
he said, and shoved one into the machine.

They needed another one.

"
I can
'
t find one,
"
Summer said, shaking her purse.

"
There
'
s gotta be another one, Mommy!
"