Summer Kisses (75 page)

By the time Matt finished dressing and got to the kitchen, his son was just finishing his breakfast. Matt rubbed the child’s shoulders. “Don’t forget to drink your milk, Buddy.”

“Do ya know what?”

“What?” He took a mug out of the cupboard and poured himself some coffee.

“Mommy says Uncle Rob is gonna take us to Disney World.”

World? Apparently his son was confused and meant Disneyland.

Matt forced a smile to his mouth. “That’s great, you should have fun. Send me a postcard with Mickey Mouse on it.”

“Don’t you wanna come, too?”

Abby chuckled, clearing their son’s empty plate from the table. “No, Sweetie, Mac is leaving as soon as he finishes painting.”

“No-o.” The child shook his head. “I don’t want him to.”

Matt rested his hand on Tommy’s shoulder. “I have to, Buddy. I need to get a job and a place of my own.”

“Why can’t ya just live here?”

Abby’s face tightened into a tense mask.

“Because I can’t. Don’t worry. You and I will still be best buddies, and you can come visit me. After your mom and Uncle Rob get married, he’s going to come live with you.”

Tommy looked up at Abby. “Is he, Mom?”

“Yes. I thought you understood that. When people get married they live and sleep together.”

“I forgot.” The child shrugged. “Why can’t you marry Mac and sleep with him, instead? Then he could live with us.”

Abby avoided Matt’s gaze and sighed. “Because people don’t get married unless they’re in love. You like your Uncle Rob, don’t you?”

Tommy frowned and stared at his plate as if trying to work out another solution.

Matt ruffled his hair. “You’d better hurry and get your shoes on, or you’ll miss the bus.”

Once his son skipped from the room, Matt tipped Abby’s bruised face toward him. “Damn it. I really hurt you last night, didn’t I?”

She poured more pancake batter onto the griddle. “It’s nothing. I’m fine.”

Tommy returned ready for school a few moments later, and Matt scooped up his son’s lunch box. “I’ll walk him to the bus.”

“But your pancakes will get cold.”

“They’ll be okay. I want to go with Tommy.”

His son continued to gripe all the way to the corner about not wanting his Uncle Rob to live with him. Matt mussed Tommy’s hair. “Come on, Buddy, what’s so bad about him?”

The little boy pouted. “Nothing, but I’d rather have you live with us. You read to me, and ya play ball with me, and ya let me paint. Uncle Rob never takes me to the school bus. He never does nothin’ with me.”

“Maybe he hasn’t had the chance to walk you to the bus.”

“Uh-huh. He comes to see Mommy in the morning lots of times. He just eats breakfast while she brings me.”

Matt hugged him. “Don’t you want your mom to be happy?”

His son scraped the toe of his sneaker against the pavement and hung his head. “Yeah.”

“Okay, then give your Uncle Rob a chance, and some afternoon, I’ll take you and Royce fishing.”

“Really?” Tommy saw Royce coming up the street with Lucy and raced off to tell his friend about the fishing trip.

Lucy waved and smiled. “Hi, Mac, I’ll stay with them.”

“Thanks.” He squatted down and gave both boys hugs. “You two have a good day. When you get home this afternoon, put your painting clothes on. I’ve got work for my two helpers.”

On Matt’s return to the house, Robert’s car was parked in the driveway. Tommy had given it to him straight. He slipped in the back door and found the dentist eating a stack of pancakes.

“I gave Rob your breakfast.” Abby smiled apologetically. “I figured I’d mix up another batch and make you hot ones.”

“No, don’t go to all that trouble. I have to get moving if I’m going to the employment agencies.”

“But you can’t go to interviews on an empty stomach.”

She had no concept of the profound hunger he’d endured and how trivial one missed meal seemed by comparison. “I don’t think going hungry for one more morning is going to kill me.”

~*~

Abby sat in Rob’s lap while he nuzzled her neck. Mac cleared his throat in the archway to the kitchen, and she jumped up, feeling guilty.

He wore the charcoal suit she’d helped him pick out and looked every bit the successful executive. “I should probably be back by lunchtime to paint.”

Stepping close, she straightened Mac’s slate blue tie. “You look very handsome.” She handed him a paper napkin with a warm cinnamon roll from the day before. “Eat this on the way.”

“Thanks, you’re a sweetheart.”

Rob scowled and crossed his arms over his chest. “So how long do you think the painting will take you?”

Mac chewed and swallowed. “A lot depends on the weather. If we get the rain they’re forecasting, it’ll slow me down. The house needs to dry out after a storm or the paint will peel. I also have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow.”

Abby frowned. “Don’t you feel well?”

“I’m fine. It’s just a follow-up at the VA hospital.”

She dug her keys out of her purse and handed them to him. “Take my car. You’ll get all messed up riding the motorcycle.”

“Thanks. I appreciate it.” He turned to leave, but she grabbed his arm.

Standing on her tiptoes, she laid a peck on his cheek. “For luck.”

Mac walked out the door with Robert glaring at his back.

“What’s the matter?” she asked.

“You’re getting awfully chummy. What’s with the kiss?”

“I like Mac. He’s a nice guy. You should see how great he is with the boys. He really seems to enjoy their company.”

“That’s not what concerns me. What I want to know is how much you enjoy him.”

“I thought the other night you decided Mac was an over-the-hill scarecrow, and you didn’t need to be jealous.”

“The other night, you weren’t warming up sweet rolls for the scarecrow and lending him your car. And you weren’t kissing him good-bye. You may not mean anything by it, Abby, but it’s going to give him ideas. I don’t like him staying here.”

“Well, that’s too bad. He has nowhere else to go.”

Rob pulled her back down on his lap. “Just make sure you get rid of him as soon as he’s done painting.”

“Not until he has someplace to go, and if you don’t like—”

“Wonderful. We could be celebrating our golden anniversary by the time he moves out. You still didn’t tell me how you got that bruise.”

She couldn’t tell Rob the truth. Nonetheless, she also didn’t want to lie. “I just banged it in the middle of the night.”

“You need to be more careful. I don’t want my bride walking down the aisle black and blue.” He pushed her up and stood to leave. “How about an invite for dinner tonight?”

“Sure, that’d be great.” She tipped her face up for his kiss. “You really do need to spend some time with Tommy. He’s a little worried about you coming to live with us.”

“He’s worried? Or you are? Kids are resilient. He’ll adjust in no time at all.”

She watched Rob walk out and thought about how their lives would change once he moved in. Her stomach gurgled with anxiety. She wished she could label what she was feeling as just a little worried.

Oh, well. She sighed. A smidgen of terror was probably good for the soul.

Since Matt had Abby’s car, he made his first destination the Department of Motor Vehicles. Even with the letter Major Jensen had written to verify Matt had been out of the country for over half a decade, he still had to go ten rounds with the supervisor before the man agreed to give Matt a road test and reissue his expired license. Then his only problem was his lack of an address. In the end, he reluctantly gave them Abby’s.

After stopping at an insurance agency to take out a policy on the Harley, he visited two employment agencies, which eventually landed him in Malcolm Carlisle’s office.

The balding job consultant wore a dark brown toupee that looked as if some critter had curled up and died on his head. He made little humming noises while he perused Matt’s application. Finally, Mr. Carlisle peered at him over his reading glasses. “Do you have a résumé?”

“Not yet, but I’m working on one. As you can see, I’ve only been back in the country about a week. To be truthful, I’m flat broke, so any job will do for now.

“Well, Mr. Foster, we don’t want to place you somewhere you don’t intend to stay. We won’t receive our commission if you quit right away.”

“I’m willing to guarantee at least nine months at whatever job I’m offered. I just need something to get me started.”

The man pushed his reading glasses up on his nose and studied Matt’s application again. “You’re twenty-nine, and you’ve never been employed full-time. In the years since you graduated college, you’ve never used your education.”

With his credentials put that way, Matt sounded absolutely worthless. If the man represented him to prospective employers with this much enthusiasm, Matt would never get hired.

Mr. Carlisle took off his glasses. “Exactly what sort of job were you hoping we could find for you?”

“An entry level position in the electronics field. I’m an engineer for crying out loud. Ohm’s law is still Ohm’s law, and current will always equal voltage over resistance. I’m sure that hasn’t changed.”

“You’re a little over-qualified for an entry level position.” Carlisle sniffed. “I’ll make some phone calls. In the meantime, you’ll need to write up a résumé.” He handed him a business card. “If you’d like it prepared professionally, this person freelances and gives our clients a substantial discount. I’ll contact you once I’ve set up some interviews.”

“Look, when you call, it’s important you ask for me as Mac McCartney. Otherwise you’ll be told I’m deceased.”

The man’s eyes became two suspicious slivers. “You wouldn’t by any chance be trying to steal a dead man’s credentials?”

“Get real, Mr. Carlisle.” Matt snorted. “If I had the balls to rip off some stiff’s identity, don’t you think I’d also be shrewd enough to choose someone with a helluva lot more going for him than Matthew T. Foster?”

~*~

Abby finished filling out the last wedding invitation and smiled at Mac trudging in the back door. “So how’d it go?”

“Don’t ask.” He tugged off his tie, dragging his feet into the bedroom, his shoulders sagging.

Mac didn’t qualify as particularly lighthearted to begin with. The last thing he needed was something more to bring him down. She followed him to the guest room and pushed in his partly open door at the same moment he stepped out of his trousers.

“Oops, sorry.” She turned her head.

“Don’t worry, I’m not stripping. Tommy treated you to a whole lot more than my underwear yesterday.” Mac pulled on the clothes he’d worn to paint the previous day.

“Don’t you think you’d feel better if you talked about it?”

“No, I don’t. There’re only two things that would make me feel better right now.” He cocked his head and smirked. “And the first one would get my face slapped.”

“So what’s the second thing?”

“To be given back the years stolen from me. Today just confirmed how much of my life was actually taken. Charlie didn’t just rob me of my dignity and my freedom. They stole my whole freaking career. No one wants to hire a man my age who’s been rotting in a cell for years.”

“I’m sure you’ll find something. This was only your first day looking.”

“Right. Tell that to all the vets who’re living on the streets.” He finished buttoning his paint-speckled shirt and slumped on the bed. “There’s not much call for experience picking maggots out of rice. I’m about as employable as an ex-con, and the only thing I ever did wrong was serve my country.”

A country which, she had to admit, had turned its back on its soldiers.

“So why don’t you go back to school and take a few refresher courses or get another degree in a different field,” she suggested. “Are you interested in anything besides engineering?”

Mac shrugged. “I seem to know quite a bit about biology and anatomy. I think I must’ve had a little medical training at some point, because I took care of some of the wounded prisoners. A bunch of them called me Doc.”

She did a double take, amazed by the similarities in his and Matt’s interests. “That’s a coincidence. My husband once told me he’d thought about becoming a doctor. In fact, he started out in the Army training for the Medical Service Corps. He was designated for assignment to a combat battalion aid station. But halfway through the program, the Army decided they didn’t need another junior officer in that position, so they reclassified him as a Signal Officer.”

“That sounds like the military. So why did your hubby change his mind about being a doctor?”

“While he was in high school, Matt was working nearly full-time to help his family out, so it affected his grades. He didn’t think his GPA would ever get him accepted at a med school. When he finally had the time to study in college and was carrying a 4.0 average, he was already enrolled in the engineering program.” She glanced at Mac askance. “If you’re interested in medicine, why don’t
you
go to med school?”

“
Yeah, right
. At my age?”

“Sure.”

“And how do you suggest I pay for it?”

“What about your GI benefits? I heard last year they increased the education assistance for Vietnam vets.” When he released a discouraged sigh, she sank next to him and slid her arm around his shoulder. “You’re feeling sorry for yourself.”

“You’re damn straight I am. You don’t understand. You’re getting married. You’ve got a great son, a nice house, and a car that runs. On top of that, you’re not a
man
. You aren’t capable of understanding how I feel.”

Turning his face, she gazed into his eyes. “Try me.”

“I’m all alone, I have no job, and I’m flat broke. So it looks as if I’m going to remain that way for a good long time. I have nothing to offer a woman, so how can I ever have the family and kids I want?”

She and Matt had wanted lots of kids, too. Even after all this time, she still had trouble accepting life wasn’t always kind.

Mac stood and hung his suit in the closet. “I have a college degree that I might as well use as toilet paper for all the good it does landing me a job.