Page 13 of Be With Me
“We’re all over off Morganton right? So maybe… Kickback Jack’s?” he suggested as he opened a new text.
“They’ve got some great beers on tap. Works for me. Seriously?” Mackey slammed on the brakes. Mooney braced on the dash as they came to a stop.
“What the fuck?” Danny asked.
“Looks like an accident. Should we help out?” Mackey suggested. It’s not like he could just turn off his training when he wasn’t in uniform, his inner cop showed up. Before either Mackey or Danny could answer, sirens and lights came from behind them. “Troopers are here. I think they’ll get everything under control. Back to Kevin, Jack’s in an hour.” He typed on his screen and then put down the phone to watch the scene as they passed it. “Don’t see anyone bleeding from here. Two troopers moving between the cars. They don’t need us.” Abinghad him checking his phone. “Kevin’ll meet us there.”
§ § §
“Cupcake?” Her uncle sat down next to her on the couch and put his arms on his knees, looking at the floor and not her. Not great. He always sat like that when he thought she wasn’t doing what she should.
“Did I leave something in the truck?” Oh yeah, she was avoiding whatever he wanted to talk about.
“Nice try. Do you think you’re in the right place to start something with a soldier?”
Okay, wow. She wasn’t sure what she thought he was going to say but that wasn’t it. “Did Rafe do something to offend you?” There was no way he did but she had to ask. “Mackey or Danny?”
He shook his head. “They were polite and respectful. I just don’t think that going into your final year is the time to let your hormones control you?”
Debbie sat there blinking. Did her uncle really think she was thinking with her libido? She waited a minute to see if he was going to add anything…he didn’t. Okay, how to address this?
“Uncle Buddy, you’ve been there for me since Daddy died. Going to father-daughter dances. Threatening the boyfriends. Teaching me to fish. Listening when I needed to cry about mom or the unfairness of the try-outs. I don’t know what I’d have done without you but in this?” She paused and blew out a breath. “Butt out. I mean no disrespect even though it sounds it. I’m not thinking with a sex-addled brain. Rafe and I haven’t even—” She stopped abruptly, not sure she wanted to go there with her uncle.
“Debra, I don’t want to know.” Her uncle was looking everywhere but at her.
“Let’s leave it at, I feel something for Rafe and he’s not putting any pressure on me. Will it go somewhere? Maybe. But right now, he understands that I’m focused on finishing my degree and finding a job.”
Uncle Buddy stood and held out his arms. Debbie shot up and hugged him hard.
“Love you, cupcake.”
§ § §
Debbie threw herself on the couch and closed her eyes. Everything was unpacked and in some order, maybe. A few more pairs of scrubs wouldn’t be a bad idea and finding her stethoscope was a priority. She knew she put it somewhere safe at the end of last semester. Now she needed to remember where that was.
A dip in the cushions shook her right before Stacy asked, “So where’d you find the hot soldiers?”
“At the food truck this summer. Curly fries and limeade. Didn’t you know that’s how to attract the hot ones?” she teased.
“Let me get this straight. You complained for the last month of the semester constantly that youhadto help out your uncle all summer. Then you find not one, not two, but three hot guys?”
“Four actually. Kevin wasn’t with Rafe, Mackey and Danny this weekend.” Debbie waited for Stacy’s reaction and she didn’t have to wait long.
“Four?!? You had a ménage this summer?” Stacy sounded shocked and Debbie let her stew for a minute before she couldn’t hold in her laughter.
“Think about that for a minute, Stac. You’ve known me since freshman year. Have I ever given you any hints that I was into more than one guy at a time? More to the point, how many guys have I dated?” Debbie turned to look at her friend.
Stacy raised her hand and counted off Debbie’s dating track record on her fingers. “Don, Mike, and Toby. Wait does Toby even count since you didn’t even last an hour on your date with him before calling me to rescue you?”
“For the sake of this argument, we’ll give Toby credit. I’m sure that one day he’ll find someone that loves spiders as much as he does. Who would’ve thought you could carry a spider in a petri dish?”
“More importantly, who would’ve thought it was a good idea to bring a spider on a first date?” Stacy pointed out. “Three in three years. Granted I know that our course load is unbelievable but even I’ve dated more often.”
Debbie got quiet as she thought back over the previous semesters. Okay, Stacy did have a point. “I guess you’re right but look at what waiting got me?”
“You didn’t tell me which one you were claiming and if the others are available.”
“Rafe. We went out for breakfast before Uncle Buddy moved the truck to Pineville and we’ve been talking and texting like crazy.”
