Chapter 9
“I’m so excited about your party on Saturday,” Marta said as she unfolded the linen napkin and placed it in her lap. She was so thrilled to have lunch with her friend, Genevieve. It had been weeks since they’d seen each other.
“Yeah, yeah. We’ll get to that. How did your chef-cooked supper go with Trevor?” Her friend leaned in as though she didn’t want to miss a word.
“Wow, has it been that long since we’ve talked?” Marta couldn’t believe how much they had to catch up. Nor could she hold in the huge grin. She gave her friend a play-by-play throughout supper then rolled her eyes. “I must’ve had too much to drink because I invited him to spend the night.”
Genevieve’s eyes went wide, and her hand slapped over her mouth. “Did he stay? Did you…?” She let the question hang.
“No, and no.” Marta leaned in. “But his body was ready and willing.”
“Oh. My. God.” Her friend said from behind her hand before she dropped it to the table. “Trevor is a damn good-looking man. Okay, so you didn’t have sex that night but have you since?”
Marta let out a sigh. “No.” Her brows drew together. “I don’t think he’s ready. I know it’s been over five years since his wife passed away, but I can tell you from experience, moving on is hard.” She didn’t try to hide the pain in her voice.
Genevieve must’ve noticed and changed the subject. “So, have you been out with him since?”
Her broad smile returned. “Every Saturday and sometimes Sundays, too. He had a bit too much to drink at supper with Chef Jorge, so he took an Uber home. At noon the next day, he showed up with a picnic basket with fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, and rolls, the whole meal from that soul food restaurant downtown. The food was outstanding. We’re going to have to go there one day for lunch.
We picnicked on the beach and worked on his board, then surfed for hours.
He kissed me at the door and Christ can that man kiss. ”
She fell quiet for several minutes thinking about their kisses over the past weeks. She wondered if anyone at the office could tell that they were dating on the weekends? They’d both been very careful. They refused to touch each other even in his office behind closed doors.
“Marta. Earth to Marta.”
Blinking at Genevieve calling her name, she looked up and found the waitress staring at her. This was one of her favorite seafood restaurants, so she rattled off her order.
Once the young girl left, Gen asked, “Have you been on more dates since then? Where did you go?”
“The next weekend he rented a convertible, and we drove up Pacific Coast Highway with the top down. We found a little restaurant on the beach in San Clemente then drove up to Dana Point to check out the surf. We liked it so much, we surfed there the next Saturday. The following weekend we went to Point Loma Tide Pools, but they were crowded because it was such a beautiful day. We ended up hiking several of the trails before coming home.” Smiling, she added, “We’ve had a lot of fun. ”
Their meals arrived just as Genevieve opened her mouth to ask another question, so she waited until the server was gone. “Are you telling me that you go on these wonderful outings, he takes you home and does nothing more than kiss you good night at the door?”
Blushing, Marta admitted, “No. The last couple times he’s come inside, and we’ve had wine with whatever we brought home for supper, or beer with pizza.
” Marta looked down at her meal. “I might need to start cooking again. I used to be damn good at it. Now, unless I’m cooking for the Cougar Club, I rarely make a whole meal. ”
“I know what you mean. Cooking for one isn’t fun. After I moved in with Evan in April, I just fell back into the habit of cooking for us both.” Gen grinned. “He learned to cook while we were divorced and at least twice a week he’s in charge of supper.”
Marta made up her mind. “I’m going to cook supper for him this Saturday.”
“No, you’re not.” Genevieve shook her head side to side. “I’m cooking for both of you on Saturday. It’s my birthday party.”
“I almost forgot about that. What do you want me to bring?” Marta started into her lunch.
“Yourself. Early if you don’t mind. I’m usually not worried about throwing a party, but this is a little different; Evan and I are together and it’s at our quarters on base.
We have a lot more space, inside and out, than we ever did at the little house across from the beach.
But when we entertained there, everyone seemed to migrate to the beach.
Here, they’re going to hang around our house. That means more food.”
“I’ll be there for you.” She suddenly brightened.
“I can make crab stuffed mushrooms for an appetizer. That’s what Chef Jorge taught us to make.
He emailed me all the recipes. I can also make this wonderful salmon salad that we can put on little dishes ready to serve.
You’re doing a buffet style, of course.” It was more of a statement than a question.
“I’m not a caterer. They can fix their own damn plates. Evan is going to man the grill. My teaching friend, Valerie Limburg, is making potato salad.”
“Val is coming?” Marta knew her mouth was open.
“Her cheating son of a bitch husband has been invited too, hasn’t he?
” She clenched her teeth. “I tried to get him transferred to the East Coast, but he pulled the kid the card and the Pentagon gave him another tour here. It pisses me off that he lives in a large three-bedroom house on base even though he reneges on his weekends more often than he spends with his own children. He tried to move in some other woman and her kids, but I put a stop to that. Someone anonymously called base housing and said that a woman, not his dependent and not his kids, were living in the house.”
Genevieve smiled ear to ear. “Whoever could that have been?” She took a sip of her lemon infused water.
“Fortunately, Lieutenant Commander Limburg has RSVP’d that he has duty that day.
By the way, did I tell you that Val is dating a commander stationed at WESTPAC?
Evan told me he’s a real up-and-comer. He’s already commanded a ship and will be up for captain in about two years.
Widow. Car accident. Loves her kids. You’ll get to meet him Saturday night. ”
“She deserves a good man after everything that asshole put her through. Something else to look forward to.” Marta would be sure to pull Val off to the side and let her know that her ex had been counseled by Commander Jake Burton, his Team CO.
“Her ex is such a dirtbag. Evan has been doing a good job getting rid of his kind.”
On her drive back to base, Marta wondered if Genevieve’s birthday party might be a good time for her and Trevor to go public.
As far as she was concerned, they were seriously dating.
Or should they wait, until they slept together?
What if they weren’t compatible in bed? It would be easier to stay quiet until they’d taken their relationship to the next step.
An hour later, she was at her desk when she took a phone call from Captain Don Arnold.
“Good afternoon, Ms. Merkel. I need to speak to Vice Admiral Maddox, and before you ask, Homeland Security raided the brothel in Norfolk late Saturday night. They’re issuing arrest warrants for five of my SEALs.
I’m happy to say it wasn’t anywhere near as many as Group 1 had, but we’re farther away from the house they used.
There are plenty of squids in Norfolk who are going to find their asses in the brig, so they didn’t need to focus on our SEALs. ”
“I just notified Vice Admiral Maddox that you’re holding and the reason for the call.
He’s on a videoconference with General Lyon at USSOCOM.
” Marta relaxed a fraction and went digging for details.
“It certainly took them long enough. Director Kam Hood and Commander Gallagher told us nearly a month ago they were going to do this.” Marta wondered why they hesitated.
“I have no idea. When I didn’t hear back from Commander Gallagher, I thought we’d dodged that bullet.” He huffed. “Looks like I was wrong.”
“Captain Arnold, please send me the list of names so we can get them processed. I prefer to do it myself rather than involve my East Coast staff. This needs to stay at the top level until the minute they’re arrested.”
“Thanks. I wasn’t sure exactly how to handle that.” The captain released a long sigh. “Commander Gallagher said that he would come down from Washington and walk me through the rest. He’s been such a huge help already. Hell, just giving us a heads up is much appreciated.”
Marta looked at the message that popped onto her screen.
“He’s available. Putting you through now.
” At least this time she knew exactly what to do.
Kam had helped smooth the path for her dealings with Homeland Security.
Most of those idiots needed to take her class.
Maybe when she retired, she’d offer her services to the government as a contractor.
She enjoyed visiting Washington D.C., she just never wanted to live there.
Ding.
That meant she had a message from Trevor. I need to see you in my office immediately, please.
She closed anything that was security sensitive or confidential before leaving her desk. “Yes, Vice Admiral Maddox. How can I help you?”
As soon as the door clicked closed, he smiled. “You could lock the door, come over here and sit on my lap, and kiss me.”
“I could, in that I’m fully capable, but we both know I can’t, and won’t, do that.” She gave him an exaggerated stern gaze.
“Okay, then, come to Little Creek with me. I need to be at Group 2 when those five SEALs get arrested. I have complete faith that Captain Arnold can handle it, but I want to show every SEAL standing in that formation that their commanding officers have my backing.”