Page 27 of The Matchmaker and the Marine

Adam pretended to wipe sweat from his brow. His smile crinkled his eyes. “Whew. I wouldn’t want to have to suffer through that twice.” He opened the cover on the grill. “How do you want your burger?”

Melinda gave him a sidelong glance. “Remember rare.”

She watched as he moved the buns over the flame to give them a quick toast. She laid out the plates, silverware and tossed the salad. “Adam?”

He seemed distracted as he carefully stacked the burgers on the buns and didn’t look up. “Hm?”

“Is there something you’re not telling me? Something I need to know to help you find the right woman?”

His back went rigid. “What do you mean?”

“I’m not sure. It’s just that, well, I’m surprised you’re not more excited about meeting Beth.” Melinda glanced at her pale pink nail polish. “Do you think that I can’t help you meet someone?”

He turned and took a step toward her, setting the plate of burgers on the table. He ran his finger lightly down her arm. She looked up at him as a long dormant sensation slipped over her. It reminded her of how good it felt to be touched.

He said, “Absolutely not. Susan was a fluke. Some people don’t take this as seriously as they should. How can you weed out all the bad apples? You’re not a mind reader.”

“It is my specialty to be able to cut through the BS.”

Adam guided Melinda to a chair and sat down opposite from her. He moved the folder to one side. “How about we enjoy dinner?”

Melinda felt herself relax. She picked up the ketchup bottle and covered her burger. She grinned. “While we do, will you tell me what it’s like to be a Marine?” She took a bite and juice ran down her chin.

With a slow shake of his head, he said, “If you don’t mind, can we talk about something else?” He jabbed a forkful of salad. “It’s not that interesting.”

Melinda wiped her face with a napkin. “Does that mean you don’t want to talk about your time in the service?”

Adam gave a shrug and, looking resigned, said, “I enlisted after I graduated from college, went in as an officer with a degree in civil engineering. My father and grandfather had both served before me.” He took a sip of his beer and said, “I guess it was a part of my DNA.”

“I had no idea you were an engineer.” She toyed with her salad. “So why are you a handyman?”

“While on my third tour, I was on a routine mission. There was an incident. I was hospitalized. During my recovery I had a lot of time to think about what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. Building roads, tunnels and bridges just didn’t hold any appeal. I wanted to be on my schedule, not someone else’s.”

He attacked the burger with gusto while Melinda mulled over what he said. Something didn’t add up. “I thought you were a career Marine. Couldn’t you go back to a different job?”

“No. They retired me.”

Melinda was surprised at his matter-of-fact answer. She sensed there was a lot of emotion simmering under the surface. There was more to this story, she was sure of it. But for tonight she was going to put it aside. “So tell me, how did you meet Will?”

Adam’s face visibly relaxed. “In boot camp. I’m not sure what made him decide to join, but we became fast friends. We were lucky to follow each other around for the next eight years. After our first tour he didn’t re-up. He moved home. By that time we had become like brothers.”

They finished their dinner over stories of Will and Adam’s escapades.

Melinda laughed. “I’m surprised you two didn’t get kicked out of the Marines.”

With a sneaky grin, Adam said, “Nothing can happen if you don’t get caught.”

“So how did you end up in Chester? You could have gone anywhere after you retired.”

With a shrug he said, “I don’t have much family left except for Will, and now Stacey. When he heard I was getting out, he suggested I hang my hat here, permanently or until I figured out what I wanted to do next.” He held up his beer. “So here I am.”

Melinda took a sip of her wine. “And I’m glad you did.” She looked around her backyard. “If you hadn’t, I probably would never have taken the plunge with the pergola.”

“I’m sure you would have, once you found the right contractor.”

“No, I don’t think so. I had talked to other companies, but there was something about the way you knew exactly what I had in mind.”

Adam smiled. “Great minds think alike.”

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