CHAPTER 23
“Thanks for letting my kids and me crash your Thanksgiving,” Cora told Denise as she scooped out a second helping of sweet potatoes.
“Don’t be silly. We loved having you for Christmas last year, and you’re Lainey’s family, which makes you ours,” Denise said as she sliced a pumpkin pie into eight equal portions. “Will you and the boys be here for Christmas again this year?”
Cora moved on to the green beans. “No. They’ll be with my ex-husband. We switch holidays every year. I had them last year at Christmas. He gets them this year,” she said somberly.
“You could still come by yourself if you wanted?” Lainey said. “It could be just us girls on Christmas morning.”
“I could,” Cora shrugged, “but I don’t want to be far from the boys if they need me.
Last year Dylan got the flu on Thanksgiving, and I picked him up and dealt with it.
” She rolled her eyes. “My ex is clueless and totally hands-off when it comes to fevers, puke, poop or any inconvenience for that matter.”
“Well, you’re always welcome, dear,” Denise smiled and started cutting into a cheesecake.
“Robert could have come today too, Lainey,” Lillian said, popping a small sliver of turkey into her mouth.
Lainey noticed Lillian ignoring her mother’s silent but lethal glare. “Thanks, but he’s not even able to attend his own family’s dinner. He’s covering for the other drill sergeants. Robert’s the only one not married, so...” she shrugged.
“You could pack up some leftovers for him,” Lillian said. “Nothing beats Mom’s cheesecake.”
Lainey heard Denise’s small huff of disdain. But Denise didn’t look up from slicing said delectable cheesecake.
Lainey smiled, “Maybe I’ll do that,” taunting Denise.
Cora made eyes at Lainey, both feeling her mother-in-law’s contempt, imagining Robert eating her precious cheese cake.
* * *
It was evening by the time Cora and Lainey returned to her house with their children. “Baths, and pajamas, kids,” Cora instructed when they got everyone inside. “Then we’ll make some popcorn and watch the Honey Bee movie.”
“Mom, you said we’d watch the Dinosaur movie,” Lennon objected.
“We will. But after the Honey Bee movie. We’re sleeping in tomorrow, so we’ll watch both,” Cora said, shooing them down the hall.
Cora shook her head. “I can’t get anything past him,” she told Lainey helping her carry the leftovers from Thanksgiving dinner into the kitchen.
“I should be home by four tomorrow,” Lainey said. “But you know where the tree is in the garage, so you and the kids can start without me.” Lainey was opening the bank tomorrow, and Cora was watching the kids until she got home.
It was a family tradition their late mother had started with them. They hung up the Christmas decorations the day after Thanksgiving. It was a tradition they’d kept up with their own kids, whether or not they were together for the occasion.
“Sounds like a plan. I should be able to handle the tree assembly,” Cora said. “Are you ever tempted to get a real tree like when we were kids? They make the house smell so good.”
“I don’t have a cat, but after that fiasco with Roxy...
no way,” Lainey was referring to the incident when she was twelve and Cora was ten.
Their pet cat Roxie had gotten spooked by a battery-operated twirling Santa their mother had purchased.
The cat jumped as high as it could into the tree, knocking it over.
Busted glass balls, tinsel and pine needles splayed across the living room carpet.
Embedded pine needles impaled the bottoms of their feet for the next two months before they stopped walking barefoot in the living room.
Cora grimaced. “Yes, I still get freaked out walking barefoot not knowing what may lie beneath.”
Lainey organized the leftovers in the refrigerator.
“I take it Denise isn’t keen on Robert?” Cora asked.
Lainey rolled her eyes. “I get it. It’s hard for her to see me with someone else. But she met him the one time and for like two seconds.”
“You haven’t had Robert around Geoff’s parents since Halloween?”
“I haven’t seen him myself since Halloween.”
“Seriously?”
Lainey sighed. “It’s his schedule.” She glanced at the kitchen clock. “He’ll text me tonight when he gets home to see if I’m up and wanna chat.”
“It’s nearly nine now. What time will he get home?”
“Maybe ten, or eleven. With the holiday, he said he didn’t have CQ duty tonight. That’s Charge of Quarters, but had to wait for another DS to relieve him.”
Cora sarcastically gasped, “Look at you with all your acronyms and lingo. DS, CQ.” Cora clicked her tongue. “You sound like YOU’RE in the Army.”
“Ha ha,” Lainey said, unamused. “I guess I’ve learned a thing or two.” She thought back to one of their first dates and doing an internet search that very night when she returned home. Now she just asked him when he says something she doesn’t understand.
“You know what? I think you should go see him tonight,” Cora said, finding a big bowl in the cupboard for popcorn.
“It’s too late,” Lainey waved off her suggestion.
“Not if you pack an overnight bag and go straight to work from there in the morning,” Cora said.
Lainey thought about it. “I was planning on taking him leftovers tomorrow on my lunch break, but...”
“But nothing. Go. You haven’t seen him in ages, and you can surprise him,” she winked. “I got the kids.”
“What should I tell Vivian?”
“Tell her you’re taking Robert leftovers and you won’t be back until after she goes to bed. Then I’ll tell her you already left for work in the morning when she gets up. It’s fine. I’ll manage your integrity in front of Viv.”
Lainey really wanted to go. But would Robert be okay with it? Maybe he’d be tired and not want her company. But maybe he WOULD be okay with it. Simply lying beside him while he slept seemed luxurious at this point. “Okay. I’m going.”
* * *
Lainey wished the young gate guards a Happy Thanksgiving after they let her on base.
She assumed they didn’t get to spend the holiday with their loved ones either.
She let herself into Robert’s apartment and placed the leftovers in the fridge as she’d done a dozen plus times before, but never this late at night.
She’d taken a quick shower before she’d left her house and put on a pair of burgundy lace panties she’d bought off a sale’s rack last week on a whim. It came with a matching satin camisole too.
Impulsively, she’d thrown four tea light candles into her overnight bag before leaving her house and now realized she didn’t pack a lighter.
She started opening drawers in the kitchen, searching for matches, anything.
Robert smoked sometimes, but not habitually.
You’d think he’d have a lighter somewhere, though.
She went into his bedroom, finding one on the dresser next to a pocket knife and loose change. She placed a candle on the coffee table, another on the kitchen counter and the other two in the bedroom. One of the dresser and the other on the nightstand.
She turned the lights off and glanced at the clock. It was half past ten-pm. She expected him any moment.
She stepped out of her jeans and sweatshirt, uncovering the lingerie set beneath. She pulled back the covers of his bed, and his scent in the sheets made her stomach topsy-turvy.
Maybe she should’ve texted him, warned him, asked him if it was okay to be here. But Cora suggested surprising him, and she went along with it.
Was she being over the top here? She had a notion to blow out the candles and leave before making a complete fool of herself, but then she heard his keys in the door.
She moved quickly, positioning herself on the bed. She listened as the front door softly swooshed open.
Robert noticed a lit candle on the kitchen counter immediately. At first, he questioned whether he’d entered the correct apartment. His tired brain finally told him his key wouldn’t have worked in any other lock.
He noticed the candle on his coffee table too. He smelled her perfume as he dropped his keys on the counter. He was beat, but his senses instantly roused. She was silent, but she was here somewhere, waiting for him.
This was a fantasy come true, but better. The candles set an ambiance he hadn’t imagined. He remained silent as he removed his boots and stepped towards the bedroom. He discovered the soft glow of another candle on top of his dresser, then froze in the doorway, taking in the sight.
On his bed was an amorous feline. The dark red satin draping her body gleamed in the candlelight. His breath caught when he saw the faint line of lace panties on the rise of her hip. His heart began hammering, and he leaned back against the doorjamb to stable himself. He smirked.
“Hey stranger,” she said in the sexiest voice he’d ever heard. A hot tremor rushed up his spine. It took every inch of his willpower not to go to her right then.
“Don’t move,” he instructed, taking a few seconds to store this picture into his memory bank.
When Lainey saw the corners of his mouth upturn, she could finally exhale. He liked what he saw and didn’t mind the surprise. It helped her garner the much needed confidence to see this through.
“I’ll be right back,” he said and disappeared back into the main space of the apartment.
She wasn’t sure where he’d gone until she heard the shower turn on. Of course. He’d been at work all day and needed to shower.
Seeing him consume the doorway with his massive body when he’d found her, made her hum now with anticipation. She wanted to jump up and join him in the shower, but she waited. After all, he’d told her, Don’t move.
The shower turned off, and he reappeared with only a towel wrapped around his waist. His damp skin glistened in the candles’ glow, highlighting every sculpted muscle as he entered the bedroom.
Her heart gave a wild kick when he knelt on the bed, closing the space between them. He circled an arm around her, pulling her closer until she was beneath him.