Brand Page 7

  “Carly, what do you do on a Saturday?”

  She stopped. “Laundry, groceries, clean the apartment, read a good book, or get together with my friends. It’s getting warmer weather. We sometimes go to the park or find a café where we can have a late lunch or early dinner and sit on the patio and talk. Why?”

  “What do you want to do today?”

  She took a deep breath. “Well. There isn’t much to do around here today because I cleaned yesterday. I had only one small load of laundry left to do today. If you want to get out of here this afternoon, only the residents know about a rooftop garden spot. We could take our food up there and eat.”

  He nodded. “Do you like movies?”

  “Of course. Who doesn’t?” She grinned. “I like action-adventure, comedy, drama, as well as the chick-flicks guys hate. So if you want to rent something or check out what’s free over the internet via Amazon or Netflix, I’ll show you how to log in.”

  “Okay. We can do that later.” He nodded. “And dinner on the roof sounds good too. I could sear a couple of steaks for us.”

  “Steaks?”

  “Oh yeah. I got steaks today. There was this markdown section in the meat department. I was browsing when the meat counter employee came out with a tray of marked down packages of cuts. I couldn’t believe the choice pieces. I put a few in your freezer, but left a pack in the fridge for later.”

  She grinned. “You don’t shop much do you?”

  His enthusiasm slowly faded. “This wasn’t a surprise to you, was it?”

  “No. Smart shoppers look for bargains like the quick sale markdown section in the meat department. Just like clipping coupons and signing up for stores’ reward cards to get additional discounts. And even shopping more than one store to get weekly sales.”

  “In the military, you have the PX.”

  “And what about since you’ve been out?”

  “I’ve been in Eagle Rock, Montana, and it’s a small town. Shopping is limited. Usually, if I want steak, I find out when Cookie is grilling them up at the Brighter Days Rehab Ranch and pop in there for a home cooked meal.”

  “Cookie?”

  “Carl Fite. He’s the cook over there. Brighter Days is a rehabilitation ranch for ex-military who need extra help recuperating. Sometimes they need help dealing after leaving Walter Reed or other military hospitals. It also is a rehabilitation ranch for horses. Some come there because humans have physically abused them. Others have been starved nearly to death and would otherwise be euthanized. Sometimes the horses are homeless because their owners die. The purpose of the ranch is to give ex-military men and women who are coping with their own shortcomings because of injuries in combat a new meaning in life while helping these animals. It’s a great program. As a PTSD patient, Wyatt spent time there adjusting to life and learning to work with his service dog, Ruby. That is why Hawkeye, I mean, Commander Burns, assigned him to your friend Colleen. The trauma of the attack will leave her with similar PTSD symptoms that Wyatt can help her deal with in the next several weeks.”

  “Hawkeye? … Was Commander Burns former military?” Carly asked.

  Brand nodded. “Former SEAL. He wasn’t DEVGRU like me, but he went through the same training unit class as I did. In the end, we got assigned to different areas.”

  “DEV—”

  “DEVGRU. It’s the elite of the SEALS. You don’t hear talk about us much. We’re deep six because we have more clearance than other SEALS. I’m telling you this because I want you to understand that I have the power to protect you in every way possible, Carly. If the gang comes after you physically, I can take them out with my body. If they try to come after you through hacking into your computer or electronics, I’ve got the skill set to stop them. Even if it isn’t the gang doing it, but your ex-husband doing it, I will take him down. I’m your man, Carly.”

  She swallowed, looking overloaded by all he told her. “Thank you for your service, Brand, and for what you are willing to do for me. I had better go get my basket. The clothes should be ready for us to get out of the dryer.”

  “Okay.”

  While she was gone, he wondered if he’d told her too much, but dismissed the thought. She needed to know he could protect her no matter what. He believed she was more afraid of what Justin Porter might do than the gang members would attempt and that really pissed him off. It should be the other way around. Justin wouldn’t get his hands dirty trying to kill her, but the gang member wouldn’t think twice about putting a bullet in her head. But how could he make her see that without coming across as a brute?

  Carly came out and they went down to the laundry room. They retrieved the dry clothes, folded and put them in the basket before returning upstairs. She was very quiet, not saying more than a few words to him the whole time. He figured she was still thinking about what he’d said. She was headed to her room when she stopped and turned to him.

  “I have a drawer I can empty for you to put your things in and anything that needs to hang, I will be happy to make room in the closet for you,” Carly offered.

  He hesitated before he accepted the offer. “Thanks. I guess that would be better than my duffle bag lying in your living room with clothes in it.”

  He grabbed the bag from the floor and followed her into her bedroom. Setting his basket and bag on her bed, he walked over to the window and looked out, seeing that Ragsdale was still sitting in his car, watching the place. He made a throaty growl sound.

  Carly giggled. “What is it?”

  “That P.I. is still down there. I told him this morning to get lost or I’d call the cops. He left, but as you saw when we returned, he was back and he hasn’t left.”

  “So what. Let Justin Porter waste his money on some private dick watching my apartment building; let him get his thrills. I’m not going to worry about it. What can he do to me when I’ve got you, right?”

  Brand slowly grinned at her words and the new-found confidence he heard in her voice. “Right.”

  “Okay. I’ve cleared out this drawer for you. What you can’t get in here, we’ll just hang. I have more room in the closet anyway. I took most of my swankier clothes to consignment when we first separated.”

  “Why didn’t you take what you’re wearing today?” he asked before he thought.

  “What did you say?” She looked at him and then at herself in the mirror. “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?”

  “That blouse looks like something my granny used to wear.”

  “It does?”

  He nodded.

  “Well. My mom bought it for me. The last thing she gave me before things went sour between us. I guess I chose to wear it today because I needed her near me right now, but I can’t reach out to her.”

  “Sorry.”

  “No. You’re right. It does make me look like a schoolmarm or something.” Carly walked to her closet and swung open the doors. She immediately began sorting through the clothes, taking one top after another out and putting it back in before she settled on one. Then she pushed her clothes to one side of the closet to make room for his clothes. “There should be plenty of hangers in there for you. If not, we’ll…uh…you can go get some.”

  Without another word, she went into the bathroom and shut the door. She was torn by what he’d said about the blouse and her appearance. He felt like an ass for bringing it up, but it had slipped out when she talked about taking clothes to the consignment store. He should have kept his mouth shut.

  He hurried and hung his things in the closet and put the clothes in the drawer she had cleared for him before leaving the duffle in the stacked laundry baskets on the bottom of the closet floor. He closed the closet doors, then went back to the living room. It was almost four so he took out the package of steaks from the fridge and washed his hands before beginning to prepare dinner.

  Carly was wearing a pair of leggings with the top she changed into when she emerged from her bedroom. She’d changed her hairstyle and jewelry as well.

&nbs
p; “Do you want a salad with the steaks?” Brand asked.

  “Do you?”

  “If you do.”

  She sighed. “I’d be just as happy with green beans, garlic mashed potatoes, and a hot roll.”

  “Then fix that.”

  In a flash, she had a pot out of the cabinet and on the stove. After slicing off two pats of butter to melt, she opened and drained most of the liquid off a mason jar of green beans. Then she added them to the pot. She ran water into a large glass measuring bowl and stuck it into the microwave for five minutes. Turning on the oven, she got out a round pan that she put four Hawaiian rolls in and stuck it in to warm as the oven heated.

  “How much longer until the steaks are done?” she asked.

  “Depends on how you like yours?”

  “Medium well.”

  “Two minutes more on each side.”

  “Perfect.”

  When the microwave dinged, she got the measuring bowl out. She dumped in a package of instant garlic potatoes, stirring. “Do you like cheese in your potatoes and sour cream?”

  “Sure.”

  She got both from the fridge and added them to the potatoes. Then she turned off the oven and removed the rolls. Finally, she stirred the green beans and turned the eye off as well. “I think we are ready to eat if your steaks are done.”

  He stood back in amazement. “Is this how you always cook?”

  She shook her head. “Since my divorce, I’ve learned I can cut corners and still eat the way I like without all the work.”

  Taking down dinner plates, Brand noticed they didn’t match, but he didn’t say a word.

  “I got these at a tag sale down the street for a quarter each. Can you believe that?”

  “That’s great. I don’t see a nick or chip.”

  “Right. They were odds and ends that belonged to the woman’s aunt who had passed. I didn’t care. I needed something to eat off of and since I couldn’t take anything from the house when I left, these would do nicely.”

  “The small plates we used this morning matched.”

  “Yep. I was lucky there. She had a set of four of those for fifty cents.”

  “Carly, I hear the pride in your voice for being able to furnish your place with these dishes so cheaply, but your story is making my stomach clench because I want to go over to your old address and beat that SOB piece of shit within an inch of his life for treating you the way he did.”

  He saw the glistening of moisture in her eyes right before she set the plates on the counter and hugged him. The action was unexpected. It stunned him for a split second, but then he wrapped his arms around her and held her for a moment.

  “Thank you, Brand. You don’t know what it means to me to hear another man say that. If I could have had my own father stand up for me when I was going through the divorce, it would have meant the world to me, but he wasn’t there for me. He was on Justin Porter’s side. Both my parents were. I’ve been so alone in this other than Jules, Simone, and Colleen. If it wasn’t for them, I don’t know where I would have been.”

  Holding her against his chest felt nice and his anger at Porter subsided a little. He focused the emotion back on Carly and taking care of her needs and protecting her. He knew he should say something, but what. Your parents should have their asses kicked for turning their backs on you. That wasn’t comforting.

  “I’d never treat my own daughter that way.”

  Carly broke their embrace and stepped away from him. “Do you have a wife and a daughter?”

  He shook his head. “No. I’m single. Never married. No children. I was speaking figuratively.”

  “Then you don’t know how you’d handle a situation like this. In a different set of circumstances, you might feel differently.”

  “No.” His voice was strong when he spoke. “I don’t think I’d ever side with anyone other than my own flesh and blood. No matter what the circumstances.”

  She smiled. “You’re a good man, Brand. Rough around the edges. Blunt to a fault. But a good man. We better eat before the food gets cold. You still want to go up on the roof?”

  He nodded thinking about what she’d just said. Rough around the edges. Blunt to a fault. But a good man.

  Carly sat back on the cushioned bench, sipping her tea, and watched Brand finish his food. “Do you want me to run back down and get more food for you?” she asked.

  He shook his head. “I’m good.”

  “That was a good steak. What did you put on it? More than salt and pepper. Did I taste garlic?”

  “Yes, but it was hard to tell with the garlic mashed potatoes.”

  She stacked the empty dishes. “Would you like to take a walk and see the garden spot fully?”

  He stood. “Are there table and benches at every large planter box like this one?”

  “No. There are only two more up here like that. Then there is the fire pit in the center with chairs around it.”

  “Clearly I was wrong about this being just a respectable hole in the wall place to live.”

  Carly giggled. “No, you’re right. The residents before me got together and made this a place to come to make it worth living here. Local businesses donated materials and one of the tenants is a carpenter, so he made the planter boxes, benches, the chairs, and tables. Another tenant works at a greenery and he got a deal on the trees, shrubs and flowering plants.”

  “The owner of the building didn’t object?”

  “He was all for it. It has brought more tenants to the building because of this spot.”

  “A win-win then without the owner having to fork over a penny.”

  “But you are wrong there. The owner did chip in on the plants and the décor. There is even covers for the furnishings to protect from the elements I’m told.”

  “I stand corrected.”

  Carly reached for his hand and led him over to her favorite reading spot, a bamboo oversized cushioned chair with an umbrella stand beside it. “Sometimes it is good just to come up here and hang out instead of going out.”

  “Like we’re doing.”

  “Exactly.”

  A couple teens came out the roof door with a radio. The door opened again and a few more teens appeared carrying food and drinks. Carly dropped his hand. “Looks like they’re going to have a party. Maybe we should go back downstairs.”

  “Sure. Whatever you say.”

  They got their dishes and went back downstairs to the apartment. Carly unlocked the door. “I’ll clean up.”

  “I don’t mind helping.”

  “You cooked and did the dishes this morning. Plus, you did the shopping. I’ll do tonight.”

  “Okay. I’ll grab a shower then.”

  “Towels and wash cloths are in the cabinet under the sink.”

  “Thanks.”

  Carly was glad to have the kitchen to herself. She wasn’t sure what had caused her to grab Brand’s hand up on the roof. It had felt really nice in her hand. Like hugging him had in the kitchen after he’d said he’d like nothing better than to go beat the shit out of Justin Porter. Words like that could make her insides melt into molten lava if she wasn’t careful. He was here to protect her, nothing more. He’d be going away soon enough and she had to remember that. He was a temporary fixture in her life. She reached for her phone and found her favorite playlist, hoping to take her mind off Brand while she cleaned the kitchen.

  She was doing well until a soul remake of an eighties tune Killing me Softly came on, which made her very aware of the water running in the bathroom and Brand standing under the shower head. The beatbox rhythm made her begin to sway and before she knew it she was dancing and singing along with the soloist, lost in the song and the feel of the tune. She hit replay on her phone and went to her room, not realizing the water had stopped running or that Brand would be in there with only a towel wrapped around his waist, still dripping wet.

  “Oh my God. I’m sorry.”

  Rushing back into the living room, she collapsed on the
sofa, trying not to laugh at her reaction and the surprised look on his face when she opened the bedroom door singing at the top of her lungs. There was a reason she didn’t make a glee club in high school. It’s a wonder he hadn’t rushed her, thinking she was crying for help.

  Chapter 8

  The next few days seemed to go off without a hitch in Carly’s mind. She didn’t do anything to cause Brand to get upset with her which gave him no reason to be a “hard ass” in Simone’s words about everything. He did keep a watch on the surveillance car that came and went. He called Commander Burns on Monday and had a patrol car come around and give the man a ticket. That kept him away for a whole twenty-four hours before he returned. Brand even helped her prepare for her pending interview. She thought that was above and beyond his reason for being there. Yet, she appreciated every minute he spent with her making her feel ready for the appointed time.

  But that didn’t make her feel less shaky now that the morning had arrived. She drank a little coffee trying to calm her nerves but found it did little to soothe her tummy. All she really wanted was to get in the SUV waiting on them downstairs and get the interview over.

  “Okay, Carly, I have the all clear from Hawkeye. The patrol unit has checked out the address where you’ll be interviewing. It looks safe for us to arrive at your appointment time. How are you feeling?” Brand asked, coming out of the bathroom wearing his new black suit purchased for the occasion. He’d even picked up a decent looking briefcase at a thrift store to pull off the look.

  She found it hard to form her words as she felt her jittery butterflies turn into those of blatant desire. She silently groaned forcing, herself to focus on his questions about how she felt, finally getting her words out. “N-nervous. I haven’t been on a job interview since college. That was before I found out Justin Porter didn’t want me working outside the home once we married. He conveniently waited until after we said ‘I do’ and returned from the honeymoon to spring that on me. So, I had to turn down excellent job offers. Stab one at my ego.”

  “No talking about him today. Clean slate, remember? This is all about you and your new world. Minus what happened at the Pied Piper.”