Page 47 of Very Special Forces

"Thatsounds lovely," I said. "A great way to meet new people, and whodoesn't appreciate a sleep-in?"

"Sheasked the cooks if the food was organic."

"Shetold our drill sergeant he would be cute if he smiled once in awhile."

"Ooh,"cooed Lily. "What happened when she said that?"

"I thinkshe made out with him the following Saturday night," saidKafsky.

Heatrose to my cheeks. No one was supposed to know aboutthat!

"Remember when she got everyone punished and we had to spendall night marching in the rain?"

"Not aswell as I remember cutting the lawn outside the main office withnail scissors."

"Shesounds a nightmare," said Lily. "Did you make hersuffer?"

"Never,"said Harris. "She was too damn nice."

"Nice?Really?" asked Lily. She darted a disappointed glance at me. Ishrugged.

"Verynice. Sweet, actually. She kept us all motivated and she stuck upfor her fellow cadets. She probably would have been a good soldierif she'd stayed around," said Kafsky.

"Yeah,she still holds the record for fastest assault course completionfor a cadet," said Harris. “I suppose throwing her over that wallhelped.” Harris and Kafsky high-fived each other.

"I do? Imean, she does?" I asked, surprised and also, a little touched bytheir kind remarks.

"Shesure had guts," added Kafsky.

"Pink,glittery guts with bows on," said Harris.

"Likeher boots. She tied them with the neatest bows."

"And shegot us out of that sticky situation when we went night venturingand Kafsky fell in the ditch and broke his arm in two places. Shesplinted it for him."

"Andthat final exercise we did to capture the flag from the otherteam..."

"Couldn't have done it without her," agreedHarris.

"So whatyou're saying is... this female cadet was actually pretty good?"asked Lily.

Harrislooked up at me and fixed me with a long look. "She was thebest."

"We missher," said Kafsky.

"But wedon't miss the time where she wanted to jazz up the jackets withappliques. That was just wrong." Then they all laughed again and Istepped back, radiant warmth filling me. I had no idea they thoughtso fondly of me. More than ever, I wanted to repay them for theirfriendship and kindness in those dark days by finding their tank inthe coming days.

"Nextround is on me," I said and they all cheered.

ChapterTwelve

"Hey,Garrett," I chirped, sounding brighter than I felt. I got homearound one am, climbed into bed beside a sleeping Solomon and aroseat eight, after he'd gone. Now it was mid morning, I had a strongblack coffee in front of me on my desk and a half eaten cherrymuffin.

"Hi,sis," said Garrett, sounding as distracted as usual. "I'm takingTraci away for the weekend without the kids. There's the choicebetween New York with a Broadway show and galleries and fancystuff. Or a bed and breakfast place called the Blackberry Inn insome sleepy little town in the middle of nowhere called Calendar.That involves antiquing, country walks, and romantic dining. Or Icould take her to Lake Pierce and get a cabin. What do youthink?"

"You cango to Lake Pierce any time. You've been to New York a bunch oftimes so I say go for the romantic bed and breakfast."

"Goodchoice. It looks pretty. She will love it."

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