Page 34 of Not Faking it with the Colonel

Abigail sniffed, but Noelle kept a tight hold on the leash, maintaining their distance.

Erin straightened. “Nice to meet you both. I hope to see you around again.”

Noelle looked Erin over in a way that made Graham envisionwe’ll seein a thought bubble over his neighbor’s head before she led the dog away for a walk.

He walked Erin to his house and held the screen door for her.

“Was it just me or was that a chilly reception?” she asked once they were inside.

“It’s not you.”

“I guess I understand if she was friends with Bethann.”

“More like acquaintances. Which was a little strange because everyone loved her.” That Erin brought up his late wife put him more at ease as often people weren’t comfortable mentioning his wife’s name in his presence. He was all too conscious of this being the home they’d shared, even if only for a year as he led Erin to the kitchen where she set the bag on the counter and started unloading the food.

“I need a medium-sized saucepan with a lid.”

He opened the cabinet under the island. “Will this work?” He produced a pot.

“Perfect. Measuring cups?”

“Check that drawer.” He pointed to the one at her hip.

In minutes, she had the water boiling for the rice pilaf and the oven preheating. She removed the tops from glass containers she’d brought.

“That looks fancy.”

“Whipped sweet potatoes and pecan-crusted salmon. It’s one of my specialties. I’m not a gourmet cook, but this is something I make to impress people.”

He liked that she’d gone to some trouble for him. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“I already made the glaze. I just need to put these in the oven. We’ll need plates and utensils.”

“That I can do. The kitchen was Bethann’s domain. I make sandwiches and man the grill.”

“The USO has a cooking class date night coming up. I volunteered to do registration. Would you like to come as my date?”

“I would love to come as your date.” Her inviting him gave him more reasons to hope this arrangement would work.

“Great. There are still some slots if you want to invite anyone. Maybe not Noelle and her husband.” She poured the rice and seasoning mix into the pot.

“Noted.” Graham laughed. “Pete’s a good soldier, and Noelle is a good Army wife—and driven to see him make brigadier general. She wants the prestige and to mingle in the circles of the Pentagon elites.”

“What about you? Is that what you want? To make general or spend time at the Pentagon?”

“I did my two years at the Pentagon as a major. We were happy to leave D.C. for Fort Lewis. Brigadier general? I don’t know. It involves more politics than I want to deal with.”

The oven beeped. She put the dishes in, then set the timer.

“Speaking of the general. He stopped by to see me this morning.”

“And . . .”

“I told him we’ve been going out for a few weeks.” He didn’t relay to Erin that McKittrick implied he’d expected somebody different. Mainly younger rather than his own age. But he’d seemed happy about the fact Graham was dating. “Then I brought up my plans to have you observe one of the teams. He liked that idea to increase our visibility, so he green-lighted setting that up.” Way easier than Graham had expected. “Are you free next week?”

“I can be.” She didn’t move, but her face lit up. “Which day?”

“I’ll start you out on Monday morning. If you pass muster with Captain Bryson, you can continue as long as you need throughout the week.” Even though the general was right about it increasing visibility, Graham wouldn’t let Erin’s presence interfere with the men’s operations and training.

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