Page 25 of Until Joy

“Good God,” he moaned. “Didn’t you hear I helped out Miss Laverne? Don’t I deserve a break?”

“You’re tough, you can handle it.”

I loved it when he laughed.

“Okay, go for it.”

“You mentioned once that you were in the military. What branch?”

“The Navy.”

“What did you do in the Navy?”

“Logistics and training.”

“Were you ever deployed overseas?”

“Yeah.”

“How cool.” I looked up. I knew my eyes were wide. I loved the idea of travelling. “I got to work in London for a while. I really wanted to see more of the world. Where did you get to go?”

“Mostly places in the Middle East. Sometimes in Eastern Europe. What did you do when you were in London?”

“I worked as an au pair. That’s a fancy way of saying I was a babysitter,” I laughed.

“Did you like it?”

I didn’t want to lie, so I told him what I said to everyone. “It had its ups and downs.”

I saw his look of curiosity, but before he could say anything, I asked him another question. “Did you like what you did?”

“It had its ups and downs,” he said abruptly.

I cringed. “I sure understand that answer. I’m guessing you don’t want to talk about it?”

Graham winced. “I’m sorry, Doll. Not right now,” he admitted slowly.

“Me neither.” I thought for a second. “We could talk about favorite movies and songs and stuff. How about that? Or our families. I have funny stories. What about you?”

“Yeah, my mom and dad could really be a hoot,” he said with a small smile.

“Could be?” I asked softly.

“My mom passed eight years ago while I was deployed.” I saw his eyes fill with sorrow.

“I’m sorry, Graham.”

“That’s one of my major regrets about being in the Navy. That I didn’t spend as much time with her as I could have. I always thought there would be a later, you know?”

I squeezed his hand, and he tangled his fingers with mine. “I know.”

He waited a beat then gave me a small smile. I asked him if he was done with his food. He nodded.

I got up and picked up the plates. “Can you open the door?” I indicated the sliding glass door with my chin.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m on clean-up duty. Isn’t that how we roll?”