Page 21 of Something Borrowed

Chapter Eight

Jaxon couldn’t helpbut smile as he watched the sun go down on the far side of the flat terrain. Sundown meant it was late enough in the U.S. to call Adrianna, and he was more than ready for their first video call – more than excited to hear her voice on something that wasn’t an uploaded video on the news page. He’d deny watching them if she ever asked, but every so often he’d pull one up before or after emailing her. It helped him to feel just a little bit closer to her, and there was nothing wrong with that in hisbook.

All that was left was for Micaylab to relieve him from duty so he could finally talk to her. Six weeks into the deployment and they’d only exchanged emails – and a handwritten letter he’d sent for her birthday. There weren’t many liberty days, and when there had been one, memories of his past had kept him from leaving the base camp. There were only so many times one could play with fate, and he didn’t feel like checking his card justyet.

The days had been long, hot and thankfully uneventful since the random assault a few weeks prior. Jaxon had fallen into a simple routine, but it made the days go by. Colors had already come and gone, and that always made things move that much faster because he was fortunate enough not to have a night watch.

“It’s beautiful, sometimes, ya know?” Caster asked, standing about two hundred feet from him on the other side of the entrance.

Looking around he tried to figure out what Caster was looking at, unable to find anything of any beauty around them. Turning behind him, he quickly dismissed the base setup because it was horrible and Caster was facing outright. Glancing at the sky proved to be short lived as the bright burst of light from the setting sun resulted in him quickly glancingdown.

“What is?” he shifted his gaze to the other man, wondering just what had prompted such a comment.

“Caster lifted his arm and pointed toward the desert just outside the village they were near. “The world over here. I think we all get so caught up in the hatred that surrounds this place that we forget to see the beauty.”

Jaxon looked out at the desert as night began to touch it. He saw fissures in the sandy ground, sparse plants and no animals anywhere around them. What he didn’t see was anything beautiful.

“What’s in that canteen? Nothing regulation I’m guessing.” He said with a smirk and a chuckle.

Caster grunted. “Amusing. Don’t forget; I’m from Arizona. The desert just appeals to me I guess.”

He didn’t get a chance to respond. Macaylab and Barrister walked up, guns at the ready and eyes straight ahead. The debrief was short, as it typically was, and he was more than ready to get on with his night as the duty sections swapped. Grinning as he secured his weapon in the armory area, he turned to Caster.

“You got to look at something beautiful tonight, and so willI.”

Caster chuckled. “Skype call with that reporter girlfriend?”

“Anchor,” he said with a smirk. “I hear that makes her more important.”

Both men laughed but said nothing more as they went their separate ways. When he walked back toward his modest cot space, there was an extra spring in his step. His fingers seemed too large to be efficient as he quickly attempted to undo his uniform buttons, fumbling every other button it seemed. Tugging the top off, he folded it and set it in the sack hamper at the foot his bed before sitting down to tug his boots off. They had to remain in uniform, but he didn’t want to call her wearing sweat slicked clothing. Either she’d see the sweat stains or he’d wind up having an itch in an unfortunate place.

Sliding off his belt he made quick work of his pants, folding and placing them in the hamper as well. They each had a small foot locker, and his was under the cot. Yanking it out without getting off the bed, he twisted the numbers on the combination lock and flipped the lid. Grabbing out a fresh uniform he closed, locked and replaced it under thebed.

“Going somewhere that you changed?” Pollack asked from where he lay, hands under his head, on his cot across theway.

“Just a date with someone special.”

“Well go, get ‘em!” Pollack chuckled and closed hiseyes.

Getting dressed he couldn’t help but wonder how tonight would go. They hadn’t spoken at all since the deployment began and he didn’t know if she would be as excited to hear his voice as he was to hear hers. He could feel the extra pep in his step as he walked to the computer. The computer room had a door, should people need to discuss sensitive subjects, but he’d always wondered if couples used it for . . . other things.

“Okay, here we go,” he said with a smile as he brought up Skype and selectedher.

A few moments of a grainy picture and tinny-sounding dialing tone greeted him until her face popped up. The image was pixelated, but it did nothing to stop her from taking his breathaway.

“You’re as beautiful as I remember,” he breathed, feeling like a tool the moment he saidit.

Her chuckle was bright, and she grinned. “You don’t look too bad yourself. Hi there.”

“Hi. I don’t know about you, but I’ve been waiting for this allday.”

Again she laughed, her smile brightening his mood even more. “Well it’s morning here, but I’ve been waiting for this for nearly two months.”

It was his to turn laugh, and it was damn good to be smiling and laughing because ofher.

“How have you been?” he asked, realizing he suddenly felt awkward aroundher.

“Bored. There seems to be a certain someone in my life that takes up a lot of my free time.” She flushed slightly. “I’ve found myself waiting around for emails when I probably shouldn’tbe.”

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