Chapter 2
Keel opened his eyes. The sun shining in was a little surprising, but he’d needed the sleep. The sound of the waves crashing against the shore had been relaxing and probably helped with the sleep. Last night notwithstanding, he was glad he had come. He would enjoy his time here at the beach.
He brushed his teeth and drank some water before strapping on his shoes and heading out for a run. He’d just locked the door when the door next to the condo opened. He flinched, hoping it wasn’t Pipsqueak.
His gaze swung to the door, surprise hitting fast. It wasn’t Pipsqueak at all. A woman stood in the doorway, her head tilted down as if her eyes were on the floor. “Um, thank you.”
Her voice was quiet, barely above a whisper. She was about five feet five inches tall. She wore a long-sleeved shirt and a huge hat that made it so he couldn’t see her face.
“You’re welcome. Was he a friend of yours?”
Her snort was derisive. “An ex. He won’t leave me alone.”
“Oh. That sucks.”
His ex was haunting him, not in person, but through videos. He never wanted to see her again. He bet this woman never wanted to see Pipsqueak again.
“I just wanted to say thank you for what you did.”
Keel nodded, wondering what she looked like under that hat and without the long-sleeved hoodie. “If you need anything, I’ll be here for a few days.”
“No, thank you. I’m fine.” She ducked back into the condo and shut the door. The sound of the lock turning was very final.
He shrugged and took off down the stairs, starting his run.
Once he got his rhythm, his mind went to the special place it did when he went for a long run or a ruck.
Thinking happened. His mind wasn’t blank, but it was in a trance state, like meditation, that allowed him to work through problems and heal his soul.
The weather was perfect. The sound of the ocean was loud enough that even when cars streamed past, he could still hear the pounding waves. The sound relaxed him, making this one of his best runs in a while.
When he was almost back to the condo, he spied a coffee shop next to a discount grocery store. The coffee smelled delicious, so he decided he wanted something to eat. He bet the place had a great breakfast sandwich.
He ordered and took his coffee and food outside. The weather was perfect. It wasn’t hot, but it hadn’t cooled off so much that the ocean breeze had a bite to it.
The smooth coffee went down easily, and the sandwich was just right. He was almost done eating when he spied the woman he’d met this morning stepping from the store, reminding him he needed to go grocery shopping. The one bag she carried didn’t seem very full. Maybe she wasn’t staying long.
He watched her walk across the small lot and noticed that when she glanced his way, the sun hit just right so he could see bruises ringing both eyes. There was a mark on her cheek, and he could see something on her neck. He bet that she wore a long-sleeved sweatshirt to hide the marks on her arms.
A shiny sports car sped into the lot and screeched to a stop next to her, almost hitting her. Keel squeezed his fists, anger filling him.
The bastard was out of lockup. They must not have had much to hold him. The woman backed away as she glanced around, probably looking for an escape. The guy started screaming at her before he even got all the way out of the car.
Keel stood, taking the first step her way. He should stay out of this. It wasn’t any of his business what happened between them, but that little jerk had pulled a gun last night. He wasn’t stable, and Keel bet the idiot would attack this woman here in the parking lot, given half a chance.
Pipsqueak reached the woman and shoved her. She went flying, her grocery bag ripping as it hit the broken macadam. Keel growled, maybe a little too loud because the jerk looked up.
Fear flashed across the idiot’s face, and he took a step back. But he didn’t even attempt to pull a gun, so the cops must still have it.
“You should leave,” Keel said as he moved closer.
“Go away,” Pipsqueak said, but his voice lacked force. He’d also taken a few steps back, allowing Keel to step between the woman and this jerk.
“You need to leave. I’m sure the police would love to know that you just attacked this woman.”
Pipsqueak rushed back around his car. For a second, Keel worried that the man would try to run over them, but the dude must have thought better and backed his sports car out into the lane of traffic, earning more than one honk from angry drivers.
Keel turned, noticing the woman trying to gather her groceries that had spilled.
The six-pack of eggs she’d purchased was open, and the yellow yolks were splashed across the cracked parking lot.
He squatted next to her and grabbed the can of beans and a can of corn.
The jar of peanut butter was shattered in one corner and ruined.
The bread bag had ripped, along with a bag of crackers.
Her hat had fallen off, too, allowing him to see the full effect of the bruises and scratches. If that bastard was willing to shove her to the ground in public, how bad was he in private?
He and Shana had fought, especially after what she’d done at his parents’ funeral.
But he’d never hit his ex, never pushed her, never laid hands on her.
Instead, he’d walked away and blown off steam running or working out.
Anger happened, but it was how you dealt with it that showed what kind of man you were.
He’d learned that from his boot camp sergeant. He owed that man a lot.
“Let me help you,” Keel said as softly as he could manage.
“No, it’s okay.”
He reached out and put his hand on her upper arm, noticing how small her arm felt even under the thick sweatshirt. He looked at her, really looked at her, seeing that she didn’t just look thin, she was underweight, like people he saw in awful war zones where governments starved the citizens.
“Hey, this place has great sandwiches and coffee. They also have tea if you don’t drink coffee.”
She shook her head. “No, I can’t afford it.” Her gaze landed on the ruined food around her. “Shit, he ruins everything.”
Keel stood and pulled her up, too. “Please let me buy you breakfast.” He glanced down at her hands, seeing that they were cut up from her fall.
“Your hands are bleeding, and your food is ruined. Please come over to the coffee shop with me, and I’ll buy you some food, and we can talk.
We’re neighbors, at least for this week.
Come on, neighbors are supposed to be good to each other.
” It looked like she was going to say no, so he tossed her a bone.
“Listen, you can pay me back by cooking me dinner one day this week. I’ll buy the ingredients, and you can come over and make something. ”
Her lips thinned as she stared into his eyes. He caught himself before he reached out and pulled her into a hug. This was just him being nice. Nothing more. He didn’t date, even when the woman had beautiful brown eyes that seemed to stare right into his soul.
“Fine. I need to wash my hands anyway.”
“My friends call me Keel. What’s your name?”
She glanced away and then back at him. “Frankie.”
“Nice to meet you,” he said as he helped her clean up the mess, tossing the ruined food into the trash. At some point, he would talk her into going to the big grocery store with him.
While she was in the bathroom, he ordered two sandwiches and a chocolate pastry that he hoped would entice her.
She came out of the bathroom, her eyes down as she walked through the restaurant, shoulders drawn forward like she was trying to make herself as small as possible.
His heart squeezed at the way she was trying to look invisible on her way back to him.
“I got you a caramel macchiato. You seemed like a caramel kind of person.”
“Thank you.”
He almost didn’t hear the words since they were spoken so low. Now that she was close, he saw the thumbprint-shaped bruises on her neck. It was all he could do not to react with anger. If Pipsqueak were still here, he’d do a little rearranging of the man’s face.
Instead of saying what he wanted to about the jerk making her life hell, he took her elbow and led her over to a table in the far corner.
Their coffees and food arrived fast, and he pushed the pastry closer to her. Her eyes flicked up to him and then back to the table.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He had about a hundred questions he wanted to ask, but he felt like she would rabbit out of here if he peppered her with questions.
She picked off a small corner of the sandwich and put it in her mouth, chewing about thirty times before swallowing. When she took a sip of the coffee he’d purchased, she closed her eyes like it was the best thing she’d ever consumed.
It took her more than fifteen minutes to eat a quarter of the sandwich. He thought she might not finish the sandwich, but she took a napkin and wrapped the rest of it up.
“I want to take this back to the condo and save it for lunch. Thank you.”
“You should take the pastry, too.”
Frankie shook her head. “Oh no, I couldn’t. That’s too much.”
“No, it’s not. How about I get a bag so we can take it back to your place? Then we should go to the grocery store and buy some food.”
“No, you’re being too nice.”
She moved to stand, and he put his hand on hers. His hold was light enough that she could pull away if she wanted. Her gaze landed on his, and he saw desperation and worry in those brown depths.
“Frankie, you don’t owe me anything. I just want to help.
When I was at my lowest, someone pulled me up and gave me a chance.
They could have destroyed my life, but they helped me.
Let me help you. And like I said, there are no strings.
I’d still like to do dinner with you later in the week, if you’re still here, but you don’t have to. ”
Her eyes drifted away as tears welled up. He wanted to pull her into his arms and tell her it would be all right, but he didn’t know if it would be okay. That man, whoever he was, didn’t seem to have any boundaries where she was concerned.
“I promise you, this is me just helping you as a friend.”
Her gaze flew to his. “Why?”
He let go of her hand, a chuckle escaping his lips. “Like I said, someone helped me when I was at my lowest. I’ll tell you the story if you go grocery shopping with me. We can go sit on the beach and watch the waves come in while I tell you what happened.”
For a moment, he thought Frankie was going to say no, but she gave a slight nod, which was all the confirmation he needed. This week was shaping up differently than he’d planned, but sometimes the best things that happen aren’t from planned activities.