Chapter 6 #2
Kenna brought the phone closer. He looked tired in the photo, but she couldn’t deny that Marshall was hot in full gear and a beard. She handed the phone back. “I like the beard, but I think I like you clean shaven better.”
“Me too,” he agreed immediately. “Having a beard honestly reminds me too much of the things I’ve seen and done while deployed.”
“I can see that. I haven’t said it before, but thank you for your service. For all you’ve done.”
Marshall nodded and pocketed his phone. “You ready?”
“Yup.”
“I have to warn you,” Marshall said as they walked around his Jeep. “I don’t know how exciting this tour will be.”
“I’ve never been on a military base, so for me, this is cool.”
He smiled at her as he opened the passenger door.
Kenna got in and was surprised when Marshall handed her the seat belt. She clicked it on as he shut her door. He walked around and climbed into the driver’s side.
“Go ahead and get your ID out. I’ll need to show it when we go through the gate.”
Kenna dug in her purse and grabbed her driver’s license.
“I thought I’d start out by showing you Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, then we’ll head over to Ford Island. I want to show you one of my favorite places over there.”
“Awesome,” Kenna replied. She hadn’t really thought too much about what they were going to do while on the base, she was just excited to see Marshall again and spend time with him.
Going through the gate was uneventful, then Marshall began driving around. He first took her through one of the housing sections, and she was suitably impressed by how clean everything looked.
“Do you live on base?” she asked.
“No.”
She waited for more explanation, but when there wasn’t any, she asked, “Is it because you’re single?”
“Not really. I mean, yes, single sailors don’t live here in these larger houses, they’re reserved for families, but I like living off base. It somehow makes me feel as if I have a life.” He chuckled. “That’s not the best explanation, sorry.”
“No, it makes sense. I guess it would be like if I lived in the Outrigger hotel connected to Duke’s. It would feel too much like I was at work every second of every day.”
“Exactly,” Marshall said with a small smile. “So…where do you live?”
His question wasn’t exactly subtle, but she gave him a pass.
“In a small apartment complex not that far from Waikiki. It’s on the other side of the Ala Wai Canal, but close enough that I can get to work without having to get on the Interstate.
And before you get too excited, it’s just a two-level building, and no, I can’t see the ocean from my apartment. ”
“I wasn’t going to ask about that,” he said.
“It’s usually the first thing people from back home want to know. ‘You live in Hawaii? Can you see the ocean from your apartment?’ As if everyone who lives here has a perfect ocean view.” She rolled her eyes. “But I’ve got a great landlord and my neighbors are pretty cool.”
“That’s good,” Marshall said.
Kenna thought it somewhat odd that he dropped the subject, but he probably remembered her being cautious about telling him where she lived. Which seemed silly now. She suddenly wished she’d let him pick her up, it would’ve given her more time with him.
They drove past a dog park and an elementary school.
He showed her the commissary and the BX, the base exchange…
basically like a big-box store that sold everything from snacks to clothes to tools.
They drove farther onto the base and Marshall pointed out the building he worked in.
He apologized for not being able to take her on a tour of any of the ships that were in port, though Kenna was still fascinated by the sight of them.
“The base isn’t as big as I imagined it’d be,” she told him.
“Well, the Navy doesn’t need a huge post like the Army does,” Marshall explained. “Our playground, so-to-speak, is the ocean.”
“Yeah, that makes sense. It’s not like you need a huge amount of land to drive tanks around on and stuff.”
“Yup. You ready to head over to Ford Island?”
Kenna had no idea how the base was laid out and didn’t know what was on the island compared to where they were now, but she nodded anyway.
Marshall smiled, as if he knew she was clueless, but he was a gentleman and didn’t comment on it. They drove back through the gates, past the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center and onto a bridge. She had to show her ID again at another checkpoint, but soon they were on their way once more.
“I feel as if I’m getting some super-top-secret tour,” Kenna told him.
Marshall chuckled. “It feels that way, but honestly, the base is a lot like any other neighborhood.”
Kenna wasn’t sure about that, but she didn’t comment.
Marshall drove through another residential area, smaller than the one on the main part of the base.
They passed a hotel for military personnel, another dog park, and then Marshall pulled into a small parking lot for the USS Utah memorial.
He parked and met her at the back of his Jeep.
He reached for her hand and they walked down the memorial walkway that extended into the harbor.
At the end, there was a plaque describing what happened to the ship during the attack on Pearl Harbor in World War Two, and she could see the hulking remnants of the ship in the water.
There was only one other couple there, but they left soon after Marshall and Kenna arrived.
It was quiet and serene, and Kenna took the time to reflect on the fifty-four men who’d lost their lives and who were still entombed on the ship under the water.
Being there made her really think about Marshall and what he did.
He was a SEAL. He wasn’t sitting behind a desk, safe here in Hawaii.
She had no idea where he was sent or even exactly what he did, but it hit home that he definitely didn’t have a safe job.
She stepped closer and leaned into him, resting her head on his arm.
“You okay?” Marshall asked quietly.
It seemed proper to whisper here. In the shadow of the ship where sailors like Marshall had lost their lives.
“I learned about the attack on Pearl Harbor in school,” Kenna said.
“And the Holocaust. And the Vietnam War, and other major conflicts around the world. But they were always just words on a page. Details to memorize for a test. Standing here, seeing the rusting hull of this ship, it’s so real.
And now knowing you, and what you do, it just seems more… personal.”
“I didn’t bring you here to make you sad,” Marshall said.
“I know. And I’m not sad…exactly,” Kenna said, struggling to explain how she felt.
“It’s only been a week since I’ve met you, and I’m not even sure our relationship is really defined yet, but standing here, reading the info on what happened and seeing the names of the men who died, it makes me worry about you all the more. ”
Marshall put his arm around her shoulder and held her against him.
“The circumstances are very different,” he told her.
“Pearl Harbor was attacked without notice. The men on the ships weren’t able to do much to protect themselves.
My team and I don’t go into any situation without having first researched the hell out of it. ”
“That doesn’t mean something can’t go wrong,” Kenna protested.
“You’re right. It doesn’t. But we plan for every contingency we can think of.
And, not to be flip about what I do, but you could be killed driving down the street.
I don’t take my life for granted, and I’m as careful as I can be, but shit happens.
Freak accidents, heart attacks, being struck by lightning.
There are a hundred different ways you and I could die walking down the street.
I’m probably safer with my team on the other side of the world tracking down a terrorist than you are going to work at Duke’s. ”
Kenna snorted. “I’m not so sure about that, but you have a point.”
“I know.”
Kenna rolled her eyes and turned so she could meet Marshall’s gaze. “Sorry for being a downer.”
“You aren’t a downer. And to address something else you said…it’s okay if you’re not sure yet, but as far as I’m concerned, we’re dating.”
Kenna’s stomach flipped. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” he said with a smile. “I already can’t wait for lunchtime so I can call and hear your voice.
I’m constantly checking my phone to see if you’ve messaged and the guys have been giving me shit about it…
but I don’t care. I don’t even think about sleeping until you text me to let me know that you’re home safe and sound after work. ”
Kenna loved all of that. Freaking loved it. “I’ve never dated a military guy before,” she admitted. “And since we’re being honest, you being a SEAL scares me. Now I can’t stop thinking about the dangerous things you do.”
“I can’t do anything about that, except to tell you that my team and I don’t take risks. Especially now that Mustang is married and Midas has Lexie. When we get sent out, I won’t be able to tell you where we’re going or when we’ll be back. Is that a deal breaker?”
Kenna thought about it for a long moment. Intellectually, she knew that he couldn’t tell her about his missions, but emotionally it was a harder concept to swallow.
But then she thought about the last week.
How much she’d laughed while talking to Marshall.
How he’d made her feel special even though they hadn’t seen each other.
How nice it was to have someone worried about her well-being and someone who got irritated on her behalf when she had asshole customers to deal with.
He had a good point about the dangers of everyday life.
Marshall loved what he did, that was obvious.
And she had to guess he was good at it. Not only that, but as he said, his SEAL team was prepared when they were deployed.
That didn’t mean they couldn’t be shot, or blown up by one of those rocket things… but she just had to have faith.
“No,” she said, answering his question.