Love Survives (Love's Suicide #2)(66)

Chapter 32


The next morning I was high on life. I’d been up for a couple hours, and my whistling was beginning to get on everyone’s nerves. They couldn’t understand what it felt like to be this close to heaven. I was so excited about spending the whole afternoon with my girls. This time I was going to take them on a tour of the base. I wanted Kat to know that B would be safe when she was with me overnight. If I needed help, I’d have it. This was all going to be okay.

When my phone started to ring in my pocket I put it up to my ear before answering.

“Sergeant Valentine speaking.”

I heard her laughing right away. Apparently she got a kick out of me being professional. “Hey, it’s me, Katy.”

“You don’t have to say your name. I don’t have a slew of women calling me on this number.” I didn’t mean it to be anything more than a joke, but when the line remained quiet I wondered if she was considering that I did.

“Oh. Well, I’m calling to tell you that today won’t be good to come over. Bobby made plans, and I didn’t know about it.”

This was terrible news. My day was ruined. How was I going to be able to make it another day without them?

“Man, I got off early in hopes to spend extra time there.” I paused and tried to be nice about it. “It’s cool. I’ll figure out something else to do. I guess I can always start looking for places. My roommate in the barracks isn’t going to want me bringing a kid to spend the night.”

“I’m sorry, Brooks. I don’t want you to feel like I’m keeping her from you. I’d never do that.”

“It’s fine. I know you wouldn’t keep her from me.” Kat sounded weird. It got me wondering if something else was going on.

“So, I better get going. It’s early and I need to get B ready for Sunday school.”

“Can you take a picture and send it to this number? I’d love to be able to show the guys.” I was hoping the picture would be one with her in it too. Married or not, she was still the mother of my child. Our child. God, I loved the sound of it.

“Sure.”

“So, I guess I need to hang up now?” I could have spent the whole day talking to her like teenagers do.

“What do you do on your days off?” Her question made me really worry. She didn’t want to stop talking, which could only mean one of two things. Either she missed me already, or someone was putting her up to cancelling our play date.

I decided to give her something to be jealous about, only because I loved hearing her react. Yeah, it was wrong. She needed to stay focused on her husband, but I knew what buttons to push, and still felt like I had some pent up anger lingering toward her. I mean, she did keep my child from me. Making her jealous was a good payback because I knew how mad she’d get at me for doing it. That also meant more phone time for me while she tried to figure out if I was telling the truth or not. “I hook up with random chicks that love a man in a uniform.” Then I realized just how naughty I was being. It was important for me to be a friend to her, not get my jollies over her making her freak out. We weren’t teenagers anymore. I had to act like a grown-up would. “I’m kidding, Kat. Although, there are women that would pretty much do anything for a man in fatigues, I only have eyes for one girl.”

“Stop it, Brooks. Today is not a good day to joke around.” She was so short, almost rude. I’d hit a nerve.

“Sorry. Are you alright? You seem kind of snappy. Did your being with me last night cause problems with you and your husband? Was it what you said last night?”

The line got quiet. I almost started to ask if she was still on the other end of the call. “Talk to me. Am I overstepping? If I’m causing you problems, we can make other arrangements. I mean, I’ll miss being able to see you, but I understand.”

“I’m fine.” That answer was way too short.

“I know it’s been a while, but I’m pretty sure there’s something you’re not telling me.”

I waited for her to tell the truth, but she refused by simply pretending I hadn’t asked.

“Would it be okay if we just talked tomorrow? I’ve got to go get ready for church.”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll call you in the morning.”

It was pretty upsetting for me to end the call when all I wanted to do was hold on for as long as possible.

I’d no sooner got up to refill my coffee and spoke to petty officer about paperwork when my cell phone started ringing in my office. I rushed inside to pick it up, noticing the same number calling again.

I answered it formally to get a laugh out of her.



“Sergeant Valentine.”

Kat was crying as she spoke my name. “Brooks.”

“Kat? What’s wrong?”

Her voice was so shaky. Right away I was worried something was terribly wrong. My mind went back to when Mullins was explaining how he woke up and his daughter was dead in the bed beside him. I didn’t know anything about SIDS, but wondered if this call was going to be the nail in my coffin. I couldn’t handle losing what I just been given.

Kat’s response left me relieved, but also concerned at the same time. “If something happens to me, I want you to take her far away from here.”

“What are you talking about?” She needed to explain what was going on.