“Comes with the territory.” Brad switched on another lamp and sat across from him. “I had the pleasure of memorizing E.T. when Harry and Barry were her age.”
“That movie was made before they were born.”
“I think you’re right, but we had a video of it. Marla and Charlene used to hold the twins on their laps and watch it over and over. I doubt the boys would admit it, but they probably have a DVD of it to this day.”
“Would you care for a soft drink?”
“No thanks, Brad.”
They sat in silence for a while. Then, no longer able to put off the question, Dwayne asked, “When are you expecting Marla to return?”
“I picked her up at LAX this afternoon and dropped her at home.”
Heart pounding, blood rushing in his ears, Dwayne took a breath. “Do you think she’d…?”
Brad raised a hand and shook his head. “Not if you value your life. She’s in the anger and fury stage. She actually hurled some curse words on the drive home. I’ve never seen her in such a state.” He nodded and twisted his lips into an ironic smile. “She’ll be fine. Give her time. But I doubt she’ll give you another chance if you mess up again.”
Brad thought she might give him another chance? Hope warmed his chest. Now what? How long should he wait before attempting to talk to her? Then sadness and guilt made an unexpected appearance, and he was full of doubt. He’d relived his outburst so many times, remembered the words he’d hurled at Charlene, but meant for Marla. Why would she even think of forgiving him, let alone allow him to touch her?
The front door opened. Brad rose. “Sounds like the girls are back.”
They met Silvia and Amber in the hallway. Amber wore yet another Cinderella T-shirt. Dwayne shook his head and grinned. “Hey, squirt. Looks like Mrs. Dahaner took you shopping at the Disney store. Did you have fun?”
Silvia nodded. “We both had fun. I forgot what it was like pretending to be a kid again.” She kissed Brad on the cheek. “How was your afternoon and evening? Did everything go as planned?”
“As planned.” He hugged her to his side. “Dwayne knows.”
“Knows what, Daddy?”
“I know lots of things. Now, it’s time to thank Silvia for your fun time and get home to bed. School starts day after tomorrow.”
They said their goodbyes, picked up the shopping bag Amber had set by the front door, and went into the warm September evening. All during the drive home his mind raced. He envisioned a hundred different scenarios in his head. How to approach Marla, what to do first, and when to do it.
Amber squirmed in her seat. “This isn’t the way home, Daddy. Where are we going?”
He snapped to attention and realized he’d turned into the development where Marla lived. “Whoa, I must have been on auto-pilot.” He chuckled and made a U-turn.
“This is where Marla lives.”
“Yeah, I was thinking about her. That’s why I took a wrong turn.”
“When is she coming home?”
“She got back today.”
Excitement in her voice she said, “Let’s go see her then.”
He shook his head and sighed. “Not yet, she’s still mad at me. We have to make a plan.”
“I know what to do.”
“What’s that, smarty pants?”
“Tell her you’re sorry and you’ll never yell at her again.”
He put his big hand on top of her head. Kids. Everything so simple to them. “How did you get to be such an old soul?”
“I don’t know what that is, but Grammakat told me I take after her.”
“As usual, she’s right.” Thank God she didn’t have his hair-trigger temperament. It hadn’t done him any favors.
For an active duty Marine, a hair-trigger temper could be put to good use in a combat situation. A soldier forgot his fear and focused on what needed to be done, no matter how perilous.
“She told me grammas know everything. Maybe you should ask her to help us make a plan.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Dwayne picked up the phone in his warehouse office. He dialed the local florist. “I want a dozen American Beauty roses delivered to Marla Danaher at Spring Grove Real Estate.” It was safer at this point than delivering them in person. The most he could lose was eighty bucks, not his front teeth. He’d read somewhere that women loved to show off flowers delivered to their place of work.
This afternoon he had to take Amber school shopping. As usual he’d put it off until the day before school started. She’d made a list of the supplies she needed, and her legs had grown too long for last year’s uniforms. “Thank goodness for school uniforms.” At least he didn’t have to try to figure out what trendy clothes to buy for a girl going into second grade.
Cluny dropped by with his final receipts and invoices for the storage facility job they’d finished over a month ago.
“Must be nice to have so much dough lying around that you don’t have to bill me for weeks.” He smiled at Cluny’s dog Queen, a magnificent Belgian Malinois. “Come here, Queenie, you beauty.” He grinned at Cluny. “How’s she doing?”
Queen wore her service vest today. Cluny had acquired the retired Navy SEAL dog for help with his infrequent bouts of PTS.
“She’s doing great. We completed her training a few days ago. I’ve never known a dog as smart as her. She’s sensitive to the least change in my mood.”
“How does she react?”
“She leans on me or nudges me. Sometimes she whines. Mostly she stares into my eyes with a get-a-grip expression on her muzzle.”
“I hope you’re sleeping better.” Dwayne was well aware of his buddy’s on and off struggles ever since they’d been hit by the RPG, the same one that blew off his left foot. Very few people ever
