He nodded. “I tend to eat alone most of the time.”
“What will you do now?” she asked curiously.
“I’m not sure,” he said. “Like a lot of the guys in my career situation, we’re at a crossroads, trying to figure out what we’re supposed to do next.”
“You have options though, right?”
“Yes,” he said. “Lots of options. I just haven’t necessarily pinpointed what I want to do, as in a second career.”
“You’re really good with Shambhala, so you could always do something with dogs. It might be good for her too.”
“I think her working days are over,” he said, as he put a hand down to the dog, who was ever hopeful and settled at his feet. “She’s a music lover apparently. When we get her settled, we’ll have to find out what kind of music she likes.”
“She’s certainly suffered physically, hasn’t she?” She studied the poor dog, looking far more battle-scarred than others she’d seen on TV. “She deserves a few years of good rest.”
“That is exactly why the government’s been checking into making sure these animals are doing okay.”
“That is so great. Do you have any new skills or training you picked up while you were in the navy?”
“Lots of them,” he said with half a smile. “But not exactly the kind that can land me a job.”
“So you didn’t pick up any tradesmen certifications or a university degree or anything like that?”
“Lock Picking 101, for example?” He smiled.
She shrugged. “As I don’t know exactly what you did in the military …”
“Secret operations. Usually black ops. Learning to jump out of a plane in the middle of the night and not get fired on was always a popular course.”
She laughed and then realized he was serious. She leaned forward. “Wow, you’re lucky you’re not in the same shape as Shambhala.”
“Well, I’m not all that much better,” he said. “I was injured pretty badly myself, which is how I ended up retired from active service.”
She nodded, wishing she could ask more questions but not wanting to get too personal. “Is there money for retraining?”
“There is. Yes,” he said cautiously. “But it still needs to be something I want to do.”
“Well, there are things that you want to do, and then there are things that you may need to do while you figure it out,” she said humorously.
He shrugged. “I had a few things I was thinking about. I’ve just come from a center where a bunch of guys like me came together and created a security company, but they’re also helping a lot of vets reenter the workforce.”
“That’s awesome,” she said. “I really like the idea of people who’ve been through something themselves being the ones to help someone else get back into life.”
“I volunteered for this job with the dog because I was bored,” he said. “I was doing a variety of jobs with them but nothing too major, while I figured out what I wanted to do. Not to worry,” he said. “I’ll figure it out.”
She nodded and didn’t say anything.
“Are you looking for support?” he asked abruptly.
She stared at him in surprise and then shook her head. “If you mean, child support, no. I adopted Sari, fully aware of what it would take to raise a child.”
“Fully aware as somebody who doesn’t have a child could be?” he said gently, and she flushed and nodded.
“That sounded kind of arrogant, didn’t it? At the time, it hadn’t become clear that Charlie’s days were numbered, and things hadn’t gone south yet. But back to your question. No, I’m not looking to you to support me or Sari.”
“But, on the other hand, why shouldn’t I help?” he murmured. He studied the little girl, who smiled up at him.
She was still working on her dinner, which, at the moment, appeared to be mashed carrots. She was working the spoon with a great deal of enthusiasm and not a whole lot of efficiency and splattering carrots all over the floor.
“You almost need a water hose for her, don’t you?”
Daniela laughed. “Normally I just feed her and don’t give her too much time to play with it,” she said. “But we were talking, and she was having fun, so it seemed like a good idea to let her just run with it.”
“I’m all for that.” Then a particular piece of carrot landed close by, and he said, “But we’re getting into the danger zone now.”
Still chuckling, Daniela grabbed a wet paper towel and removed the plate and the fork from Sari’s reach. “You, young lady, are obviously full, if you are throwing your food around.”
Sari giggled.
Daniela wiped her down, then lifted her from the high chair and let her run free. She ran right over to Shambhala, tripped and fell over the dog, landing on her belly. Shambhala gently nuzzled Sari’s face, then lay back down again.
“I still can’t believe how well the two of them get along,” Daniela exclaimed.
“I know,” he said. “It really restores faith in the bond, doesn’t it?”
“Is it hard to figure out what you want to do next?” she asked curiously.
He looked at her smile and saw she was sincere. “For some guys, yes. Most of us think our future, whatever it will be after our service, is down the road much later,” he said calmly. “So I wasn’t prepared for an accident with an injury that sidelined me long before I started planning my next career move.” He showed her half a smile.
She nodded slowly. “Any clue what you want to do?”
“Maybe security,” he said. “It’s something I certainly know.”
“Like a security guard?” That seemed so wrong to her because it seemed like he could do so much more.
He just smiled and said, “That’s one aspect to it, but I’m pretty good with computers. I was thinking about setting up a cybersecurity company maybe. I’m not sure yet.”
She stared at him, surprised. “That’s a huge field, isn’t it?”
“It is,” he said with
