Chapter 13
"We're renting a canoe?" Grace's voice was full of surprise when Damon parked his rental car in front of Bob's Boat Rentals.
"Did you think I was brought you just to sit on the shore?"
She gave a little shrug. "I don't know what I thought."
"Our family has canoes and paddle boards at the cabin." He pointed across the lake that was roughly a mile long and half a mile wide to the cabin that belonged to his mom and her sisters. "But I don’t want to bother Paige and Gabe."
"I'm sure they appreciate that." She chuckled. "There's something to add to your Dumb Things I've Done list. Interrupt your cousin's honeymoon."
"No, that goes on the list of Dumb Ways to Die list, because Paige would kill me."
"Gabe would do the same to me."
She grabbed the handle to open her door, but Damon put a hand on her arm.
"Let me get your door please." He gave her a little wink. "You know, since you're my girlfriend now."
"Girlfriend or not, I'm capable of opening my own door." Despite her words, her lips lifted in a grin.
"I know you're capable of a lot of things, Grace, but my parents raised me to be a gentleman, so please let me be one."
"Fine." She folded her arms. "Be a gentleman."
Damon climbed from the car and hurried around to open her door. When she got out, he stood close, invading her space.
She looked up at him, her face questioning.
"This is the part where I steal a kiss." His words were quiet and teasing.
"Is that how this works?" She wound her arms around his neck. "I should have let you open my door weeks ago."
"Yes, you should have."
He pressed his lips to hers and quickly got lost in the kiss. Holding Grace and kissing her would never get old.
Reluctantly, he let go and led her into the rental shop. Twenty minutes later, they were on the lake, laughing as they struggled to work together to paddle the canoe.
"We're just going in circles." Grace's laughter filled his heart with joy.
"That's because you aren't keeping your paddle straight when you pull it through the water."
"No, it's because you are stronger than I am, and you're pulling harder."
"I swear, I'm trying not to pull too hard."
They finally found a rhythm, and Damon guided them to a little alcove where motorized watercraft were not allowed.
"Let’s take a break." He pulled in his oar and watched as Grace did the same. Then he turned to face her, so their knees touched. He took her hand in his and slowly traced each of the lines across her palm. "How was your mother this morning?"
"Tired." Grace let out a heavy sigh. "She sat up in bed and drank a few swallows of tea, but then she wanted to sleep again."
Damon's heart beat heavy in his chest as he sympathized with Grace. "The wedding festivities really wore her out, didn't they?"
"She was like this after the move. It took her almost two weeks to bounce back."
"Give her time to rest, then I'm sure she'll perk up."
"I just keep thinking that one of these times she won't bounce back." Tears filled Grace's eyes, making Damon's chest tighten. "Is it wrong for me to pray that she can get better or even just keep her strength when I know that's impossible?"
"Not at all. God wants to hear the prayers of our hearts, even when we know He can't answer them the way we want him to."
"I know there will come a time when I'm begging Him to take her because I can't stand to see her suffer anymore, but I'm not there yet." Tears flooded her eyes.
"I don't blame you." He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her.
She sniffled and wiped her eyes. "I feel so silly crying again. After sobbing on your shoulder last night."
"Grief isn't a one-time thing and doesn't have a timetable." He pressed his lips to her temple.
"I'm not sure all these tears are for my mom." She raised watery eyes to him. "I'm really sad you're leaving tonight."
"Me too." He held her a little tighter.
After several long moments, she straightened, pulling away from him. "What's it like where you're going?"
He’d told Grace and his family last week that he’d be going to Iraq, but he’d been vague on the other details, including where exactly in Iraq.
"This time of year, it's still pretty hot and dry. It's always dry. The nights get chilly though."
"Will you have your own room? Tent? I don't even know what the accommodations are.”
“Accommodations?” Damon chuckled as he opened the picnic basket his mom packed for them. "Camp...the place I'm going is more developed than some bases I’ve been to, but it’s not even close to a four-star hotel. The buildings consist mostly of Conex containers."
"Conex?"
"Shipping containers but with windows and a door." Damon handed Grace a sandwich. "I'll share my room with at least three other guys from my unit, possibly even five." He continued to talk between bites. "I hope I don't get stuck bunking with Chevy, Flowers, or Howie."
"Howie." Grace pointed at him. "He's the practical joker, right?"
"That's him."
"Did you tell him you checked off Kiss a Stranger from your bucket list?"
"Not yet."
"Why not?"
"I don't know." Damon shrugged one shoulder. "I guess I just want to keep you to myself for a while longer. Knowing Howie, he'll make a mockery of what has become one of the most important days of my life."
"Mine too." A soft expression filled Grace’s face. "Why don't you want to bunk with Chevy? Is that his real name or are these nicknames?"
"They're nicknames. Howie's full name is Colby Howard. We call Jared Ford Chevy because he hates it." Damon grinned. "He's convinced Ford trucks are the best, so every chance we get, we disagree with him. I don't want to bunk with him, because his feet stink. I mean they reek!"
Grace laughed. "Let me guess...Flowers’ real name is Flores?” When he nodded, she asked, “Why don't you want to share a room with him?"
"We call Lucas Flores Flowers because he's always putting on a nauseating amount of body spray and cologne. It's worse when he bunks with Chevy, because he uses his cologne to mask Chevy's stinky feet."
"Yeah, that sounds like a horrible combination." Grace pulled a face. "Who do you want to bunk with?"
"Timothy McDonald has a contagious grin and curly red hair when it's not buzzed so we call him Ronald. He's one of my closest friends. He's a Christian too. He helped me stay on the right track after I turned my life around."
Damon pulled a container of fruit from the basket and held it and a fork out to Grace.
"Jackson King—a.k.a. King Kong—looks like he repeatedly skipped leg day.
He's very muscular and bulky through the chest and shoulders.
He's quiet and looks grumpy, but he's just a big teddy bear.
Then there's Mateo Romero. We call him Romeo. "
"Romeo?" Grace's brows arched.
"He's a ladies’ man. Has a new girlfriend every month. He's the love 'em and leave 'em type."
Grace wrinkled her nose in that adorable way that Damon had come to love. "What's your nickname?"
His face heated. "Lancelot."
"Ah, the noble knight who stole the heart of Maid Marion. Very fitting, Mr. Knight." Her brow arched again. "Are you sure you're not the love 'em and leave 'em type?"
If Grace knew the kind of man Romero was and the way he used women, she'd never call Damon Romeo.
"I'm nothing like Romeo, I assure you." He set aside the bowl of fruit and took her hand again. "However, I hope I've stolen the heart of Lady Grace."
She looked down and studied their clasped hands for a long moment before raising her eyes again. "Consider me your captive." Then she burst out laughing. "That sounded so cheesy."
"I like cheesy." Damon laughed and planted a quick kiss on her lips.
"But I'm the one who is a captive." He cleared his throat and went on.
"I want to be with you, Grace. Forever." He pulled back and held up a hand.
"I'm not trying to rush things between us, because I know this has all happened really fast, but I'm due to re-up after I return from deployment.
I won't do it if there's a promise of a future for us. "
"You'd leave the Army for me?" Her eyes were wide, skepticism filling her face.
"Yes," he said without hesitation. "I'd never considered settling down and starting a family until recently.
I didn't want to worry about leaving a wife and kids behind every time I deployed.
But since meeting you, I want to settle down.
I want a family. But military life can be rough.
Even if I didn't deploy, I'd likely be re-stationed every few years.
Gabe is your only family. I don't want to take you away from him. "
"I appreciate that. It means a lot, but I would never ask you to do that. I know I'm not as sure about all of this as you are, but I want a future for us too."
Damon's heart swelled in his chest. He claimed her lips in another breathtaking kiss.
He understood Grace's hesitation to jump into a relationship that caught them both by surprise, but he had a feeling her reservations stemmed more from what happened in her past than the speed at which things had developed between them. He wasn't sure how to get her to trust him though.
Maybe I need to confide in her.
"I'm sorry I uh...brushed you off last night after I had that nightmare."
"That's okay." She put her hand on his knee. "I imagine some of the things you've experienced are difficult to talk about."
"They are." Damon slowly nodded. "I don't usually have them—the nightmares—when I'm home, but I think because I'm deploying right after my leave ends, they've started early. They always get worse before we deploy."
"Your buddies have them too?"
"We all have them at one time or another. I used to worry about the guys in my unit when it first started happening to them, but then it happened to me, and I realized it isn't something you can control. And it doesn't mean you're not tough enough or you're doing something wrong.