I snapped my fingers.
"
Oh yeah! You only went to South for a little while, and your family got transferred?
"
This made him smile.
"
Yes ma
'
am, that
'
s correct.
"
I looked him up and down.
"
You grew,
"
I said, trying to associate the thin young boy I remembered from that year of school to the man sitting across from me.
"
You were skinny, lanky and just awkward,
"
I said. Then slapped my hand over my mouth.
How could I say that?
Oh my God! My cheeks got hot, and I wanted to bury myself in the chair.
"
I
'
m sorry! Oh, I
'
m so sorry!
"
I said through my hand.
"
Sometimes my mouth runs away from my brain.
"
He laughed, and it made his blue eyes sparkle.
"
No big deal. You speak the truth though, ma
'
am.
"
"
Stop calling me that. You
'
re maybe a year older than me. Make me feel so old.
"
Not that I needed any help in that area--I already felt older than dirt every time I saw those grays mixing in with my mousey-blonde hair.
"
Sorry,
"
he said.
"
Thirteen years of training. It
'
s hard to kick the habit.
"
"
It
'
s okay.
"
He
'
d become so different from what I remember back in high school. His complexion warm, his eyes sunk deep. His jaw was hard, and when he didn
'
t smile, his expression took on a deeper, darker cast to it--like someone who
'
d experienced the darkness of the world, and couldn
'
t shake the images.
If he
'
d been in Iraq with Jake, I imagined he had.
While he was clean shaven, there was scruff along his jaw--like no matter how often he shaved, the hair would be back in a blink.
Like my leg hair
...
"
Did you transfer to the base here?
"
I asked. Barrum had a fairly large military base on the southwest corner of the city.
"
I
'
m here for training, actually. Just a few more weeks.
"
When he said the last couple of words, he sounded, well, sort of sad.
I opened my mouth to say how his wife would appreciate him only being gone a few weeks, but I noticed he didn
'
t have a wedding ring.
A knock at the door jarred me.
Winter stuck her head in.
"
Summer, your appointment just pulled in.
"
"
Thanks.
"
I glanced at my watch. If Miss Evelyn was here already, she was early.
I turned back toward Hennessey, but he was standing.
Probably glad to be out of the pink chair.
I stood as well.
"
Thank you, ma
'
am.
"
Then for a second, he grinned, like he
'
d said that on purpose.
"
You
'
re ornery,
"
I said as I smiled.
"
I should let you get back to work.
"
He took a step toward me.
"
Please know that I deeply respected your husband, and if you need anything please ask.
"
There was something about the way he looked at me, his eyes very serious and dark, that I knew he truly meant what he said.
I nodded, feeling a bit like an idiot because he left me so dumbfounded, but I wasn
'
t sure what else to do. This strange sensation flooded me, and I was certain that if I asked for anything, he would be there without hesitation.
And I wasn
'
t sure how I felt about that. Another Army man wasn
'
t what I wanted in life. I was quite happy with my roots planted firmly in Kansas.
Chapter Two
Matthew Hennessey walked toward the door of Celestial Springs Salon, happy to be out of the pink consultation room. What did they need consultations for at a hair salon? Hair cuts?
A girly thing he
'
d never understand.
Not that it mattered, he hadn
'
t come here to understand girly things.
For a second, he glanced at Summer Bettes and a wave of memories hit him. From a time so far away from who he was now, he wondered if they were his own imagination or if they really happened.
Back then, she was Summer Jones. She hadn
'
t changed much since they
'
d gone to school together for a semester, well, her hair was a little shorter now.
It didn
'
t surprise him that she didn
'
t remember him right away. Why would she? He was there so briefly--the fact that she remembered him at all surprised him.
He
'
d met her his first day at Barrum South. He
'
d started there a week after school started, and found the size of the school intimidating--most of the schools he
'
d attended had been small, 3A or 4A, at the biggest. Then came Barrum, a 6A school, with triple the square footage and triple the students, or so it had felt at the time.
And he
'
d been lost.
She
'
d stopped and helped him, with a smile on her face, and bouncy blonde ponytails that screamed cheerleader. Come to find out, she was anything but a cheerleader. Sweet, smart, and dating his rival in the wrestling room.
She
'
d left an impression, that much was certain. He could still remember her there, sitting next to the coach on the floor, recording his every point in his matches.
And she
'
d give him this tiny little smirky-smile when he
'
d win.
He loved those little smiles.
Even now, almost fifteen years later, she still left an impression. One he felt rather guilty about having, but it was there. He wasn
'
t sure he
'
d be able to talk to her, knot in his gut left his lunch not sitting well. Just being around her, though, that feeling fell away. She soothed him. Like she always did, even in high school.
She had crossed to the front desk, looking at the computer with the receptionist and another woman with short, dark hair. They all had their attention on the machine, though from the expression on Summer
'
s face, she looked ready to hit it.
He paused.
"
Is everything okay?
"
he asked.
She glanced at him.
"
Fine, just this dumb program
'
s acting up again.
"
She squared her shoulders and a smile passed over her face, one that didn
'
t quite reach her eyes.
"
It happens. Technology is a pain in the butt.
"
"
That it is.
"
He took a step toward the desk.
"
Do you need some help? I
'
m pretty good with computers.
"
That was one thing he did feel comfortable with.
This time, when she smiled, she just barely blushed. Not enough that most would notice it, but her cheeks got just a bit pinker, and she had a hard time meeting his gaze.
"
Thank you, but we
'
ll figure it out.
"
"
It
'
s an ancient system,
"
the brunette said, waving her arm in the air.
"
If Mom would buy a new one, we
'
d be fine.
"
"
You know that
'
s not going to happen,
"
Summer said.
"
Mom loves her things.
"
He raised an eyebrow.
"
You two are sisters?
"
He didn
'
t realize that Summer had a sister.
"
Yeah,
"
Summer said, fidgeting with something on the desk.
"
Sorry, I should have introduced you. Sergeant Hennessey, this is my sister, Winter Duncan.
"
He shook her hand.
"
Pleasure.
"
He could certainly see the sisterly resemblance. They both had the same face shape, though Winter seemed stiffer.
"
Nice to meet you,
"
she said. As she spoke, her gaze darted to the door behind him.
He turned--an elderly lady hunched over a walker approached the salon
'
s entrance.
Without thinking, he headed to the door and held it for her. The day
'
s heat hit him hard as he inhaled a breath of the scorching heat.
"
Thank you sonny,
"
she said as she carefully guided and still hit the door
'
s threshold. Her walker clattered against the glass door, making him shudder.
"
Welcome Miss Evelyn,
"
Winter said, her hand on the edge of the walker, and she guided her through the door.
"
Who
'
s this fine whipper-snapper?
"
she asked, gesturing to Hennessey.
"
A friend of mine,
"
Summer said as she joined the elderly lady on the other side.
"
Why, don
'
t you look peppy today, Miss Evelyn.
"
"
Pssh
...
I
'
m hot as a hog on a spit. You
'
d better use the cold water today to wash this.
"
She raised a hand curved from arthritis and patted at the poodle mess on her head.
"
Of course,
"
Summer said. Her gaze darted to his.
"
See you later, Summer,
"
he said.
She smiled.
"
Sure. See you around, Sergeant.
"
And her attention was turned back to the elderly lady she helped through the salon.
Effectively dismissed.
Well, that was a lot nicer than her kicking him out.
He walked out of the salon and checked the time. He
'
d came on his lunch break, just in case he needed a reason to make a quick exit.
But going back to work didn
'
t hold a lot of appeal now that he
'
d seen Summer again.
Even if she barely remember him.
Chapter Three
I got the last of Miss Evelyn
'
s rollers in, and thought maybe I
'
d be able to get through the rest of the day without the inquisition about Sergeant Hennessey.
Matthew.
I smiled, thinking about his real name. Even when we were in school, he
'
d been Hennessey--I couldn
'
t remember ever calling him anything but that. But that was high school wrestling--everyone went by their last name.
"
So are you looking for another military man,
"
Miss Evelyn asked me.
I blinked.
"
Pardon?
"
"
That boy in uniform. You looking to get back to the military life?
"
I shook my head, my cheeks warm.
"
Oh no, Miss Evelyn. He was, uh, just a friend.
"