Page 39 of Wait For Me
She knew it was coming and had braced herself for the possibility, but it still sank like a heavy stone in the pit of her stomach. Landon wasn’t coming home. She had her answer. It was time to leave. The woman’s soft cries kept her rooted to the spot. “Was your husband on the McKinley too?”
“My fiancé,” the woman laughed bitterly. “I don’t even have an ID card. I don’t belong here.”
“I don’t either.” Tessa turned to go. Something held her back. She knew it was dumb, her kids needed her to hurry, but her heart was stronger than her head. “Do you need help getting somewhere? You said you walked here last night.”
“I’ll be fine.” The words were so defeated and broken that Tessa stepped closer, her hands outstretched as if approaching a wounded bird.
Sunlight filtered through the palm leaves and smoke above, reflecting off her brown sunglasses and highlighting the purple bruising on her left cheekbone. Her soft blond hair was cut in a straight angle that pointed to the woman’s bandaged chin.
“Who did this to you?” Tessa gasped.
“Some jerks that came through my apartment complex.” Her split bottom lip began to quiver. “I’m okay.”
“Like hell you are.” Tessa extended her hand to help her up. “Come on. We need to get you out of here.”
The woman hesitated, looking at Tessa’s outstretched fingers, and she shrank down against the tree. “I don’t need your pity.”
“It isn’t pity.” Tessa wasn’t in the mood to play around. Her kids were waiting for her and she had to finish packing. “I have a truck and can take you wherever you need to go, but I don’t have time to waste. You need to get up.”
The woman pressed herself against the tree, using it for support as she stretched out her legs. Loose gray sweatpants were cinched tightly at the waist and she wore a tank top under the brown trench coat that fell just below her knees. The clothes were a strange choice in the Southern California heat, almost designed to be as ugly as possible. When the woman stood, she was at least a foot taller than Tessa. The clothes. The height. Something clicked.
“Wait. I’ve seen you before.” Except the woman wasn’t dressed like this at all the last time she’d seen her. She had on a navy-blue pencil skirt and white heels that showcased her long and killer legs. Tessa remembered staring at her, feeling jealous and insecure in her simple sundress stained by Emily’s fruit punch juice box.
“At the tarmac the day the guys left. You’re the wife of Gunnery Sergeant Fu… Fi… Fu-Man… Fuyo.” Tessa cringed in embarrassment. “Look, I’m really awful with names but that one just isn’t fair.”
“Fuimaono.” A smile spread across her face and she winced, touching her bottom lip. “And I’m just the fiancé, remember. It’s nice to meet you. My name’s Robin.”
“Tessa.” She shook her hand. A week ago, this would have seemed impossible, standing outside the fence of base in the trash filled weeds with a gunnery sergeant’s fiancé. But apparently a lot can happen in a week and she wasn’t going to stick around to find out how much worse it could get. “We need to get out of here. Where do you live? I’ll give you a ride back home.”