Page 25 of Healing Home
“Thank you,” Mary said moving to the fridge. “We bought it about five years ago, before our youngest son was born.”
BB watched her lean into the depths of the fridge. “Can I help you with something?”
Mary appeared holding a beautifully decorated cake.
“Black tries to make me skip his birthday every year, but I won’t do it. Every single one is precious to me, so we celebrate them.”
“I think that’s incredibly sweet.”
Mary set the plate on the island and began trying to get off the clear plastic lid. It popped free, clearing the icing. “Wow, that’s beautiful. In a very military way,” she laughed.
The cake had been painted camo colors. It should have seemed harsh, but it was actually very pretty.
“We have a local lady that does them for us. She’s the wife of a fellow sailor and she’s trying to make a go of her bakery business.”
“That’s wonderful. What a way to support her.”
Mary nodded, leaning against the island. “We try to do that. All of those women and kids out there are my family as completely as Justin and the boys. As completely as the boys rely on each other in Afghanistan or Iraq or wherever they are, the wives sometimes have to do the same. We all pitch in for car pooling or child care. Pet care. We’ll shop for groceries if someone is running short.”
“That’s such a community thing to do,” BB told her. “I wish I had people around me like that. I was an Army brat so I was used to having people around us all the time growing up, but when I got out of college I got a job in New York. It took a while to get used to having so many people around unwilling to do anything for you. I mean, I’ve seen crowds of people watch a man get hit on the streets then lay there. Once I got my own career going I knew I wanted solitude, because I’d never had it before. But I remember how supportive people could be the you needed them on base.”
Mary nodded, a slight smile curling her lips. “Army brat, huh? I thought you might have had some kind of military in you.”
“Both of my parents, and later one of my brothers.”
The other woman nodded, looking out the window. She started to say something, then stopped, changing direction. “Link looks happy. Happier than I’ve seen him in a long time.”
BB wondered if that were true. He appeared to be happy, but…
“Well,” she said carefully, “good food and comfortable company can do that, I suppose.”
“And good loving,” Mary said softly.
BB laughed uncomfortably. “Mm.”
“Don’t deny it. I can see how the two of you look at each other. If I can say anything, you have my complete support. Lincoln is a total sweetheart, but he’s had it hard for a long time. His ex really did a number on him.”
BB hated being curious, but she was. “Why do you say that?”
Mary looked out the window over the sink to the back yard. “She was just very self-motivated. And she was very adept at manipulating men. It was how she’d gotten through her first twenty-four, twenty-five years. She latched her little claws into Link and said everything right, did everything right, but there was something in her eyes… none of the wives liked her, and we couldn’t pinpoint why. It was like she was too perfect. If we even mentioned needing to do something she would be right there. We eventually realized she was doing stuff for us so that she could report back to Link that she was so helpful and everyone loved her.” Mary sighed. “They came back from deployment in Fifteen and she hit him hard. I think she told him she was pregnant, but I’m not sure. But Link was hooked. Within a couple weeks they were planning a little wedding.”
“She sounds like a self-centered little twit,” BB said at one point, then snapped her mouth shut. Damn, that was a harsh.
“She was,” Mary agreed, giving her a look. “Unfortunately Link didn’t figure that out until he came back from another deployment early and found her living with another man. She gave him the same sob story I’ve heard so many times from women. ‘Oh, baby, you were gone so long and I was so lonely’. It’s such bullshit. If you love someone you wait for them. Period. Or you go to them. Period.”
BB totally agreed with what Mary was saying. Her heart ached for Link. With what she knew of his background it sounded like he’d just wanted someone of his own to come home to, and he’d taken what little support was offered.
He was so big and strong. It was odd to think of him as vulnerable to a predatory woman like that.
“So, they divorced?”
“Yes,” Mary sighed. “She took half of everything he had. We only found out later that she’d been married two other times, to other military.”
“Damn,” BB breathed.
“He hasn’t been willing to go on blind dates or anything, but we thought if we hired a service it would be different. I think you’re more awesome than he expected, though.”
“He’s more awesome than I expected,” BB admitted before she could think better of it.