Page 18 of Treasured
She’d worn her hair down this evening, and her skin had a nicer glow without the makeup and glitter from our first meeting. I handed her the tea, and she said, “Thank you for this.”
I sat across from her and folded my hands on the table. “No problem. So, tell me more about you, Mary.”
She sucked in her bottom lip and shook her head. Then she pushed her hair behind her ears as her face turned red, and she finally said, “I don’t like talking about myself. Why don’t you go first?”
My nerves weren’t good. I used to be a charmer, but with Mary, it was like I was free to be honest. “After my brother died—“
She covered her lips, and her face went white. “I’m sorry about that.”
I reached out and patted her arm. “It was ten years ago, but thanks.”
Her blush went down her neck, but her lips curled higher as she asked, “What were you going to say?”
The gleam in her eyes somehow invited me into her world, and I hadn’t been expecting this sense of awe. “I joined the SEALs, just like he did.”
Her eyebrows rose. “You were a Navy SEAL.”
“Yes.” I picked up my coffee and sipped it. “Been serving my country for a while now.”
She sat back, and her shoulders slumped as if she were relaxed. “This explains… you and maybe why I feel safe with you.”
I leaned closer and asked, “You do?”
She finished her tea and then perused my muscles. Then she leaned closer and said, “Well, you’re sort of shaped like my cousin, who’s a professional wrestler, but you don’t seem competitive. You seem calm and sure of yourself, but I’m not a good judge of character, and I’ve not dated anyone in a long time.”
“I’m honored,” I said, and our knees brushed under the table, but my mind buzzed. I’d watched wrestling on TV—all that fake fighting. “Who’s your wrestling cousin?”
“Stone Steel. He just started.”
I’d read an article. Her cousin was supposed to have competed in the Olympics. I smiled and said, “I’ve seen him. Are you related to the singer too?”
She let out a long sigh and then said, “Another cousin. They’re the talented ones.”
Mary was strong too. I stood up and tossed our cups and waved for us to leave for that walk. “That’s more than talent. Seems to me your family has drive.”
She fixed her jacket and walked beside me as she said, “They do. Not me, though.”
I held the door open for her. Once we were outside with the fresh air hitting our faces, I pressed my arm into hers gently and said, “You’re… tell me about you now and how I got so lucky that you’re not with your son’s father.”
She let me push the stroller and crossed her arms like she wished to hide but then said, “Fine, but that’s not a happy story.”
With one hand, I massaged her shoulder and hoped she trusted me as we entered the park path near the reservoir. “Sharing our past is a good way to start, and I want to know everything there is to know about you.”
She blinked and stared up at me. For a few moments, I wasn’t sure she’d speak at all, but then she said, “You make it easier to talk. My ex, Arthur… he was my one and only, until you.”
I was honored, but I asked in a low voice, “Are you wanting him back?”
“Absolutely not.” She lowered her arms, and her face became red like she was angry now, and she said, “He beat me. He almost killed Bruce when I came home from the hospital.”
“You’re stronger now.” I curled my hands tighter around the handles of the stroller.
She swallowed then said, “I don’t always feel that, but I have full legal custody, and he’s gone from our lives now, though he’s threatened to sue me.”
She took the stroller back, but I stayed beside her, and as night birds sang around us, I said, “I’m glad you told me. I hope you know you can trust me.”
She slowed, let out a sigh, and then said, “I… last night when you called, he came to my apartment, uninvited—“
“Did he hurt or threaten you?” Tension raced up my spine. If she was in danger, I’d help. No one would ever get to her again if I was there.
