Love of a Marine (The Wounded Warriors Series Book 2) Read online

  * * *

  Friday morning

  “We’re running a little late, Santos. Finish your oatmeal and bring your toast with you.”

  “Why do I have to go to Grampa’s house? Why can’t I come with you today?”

  “I told you I have some errands to run after I close the studio. I’m going to shop for a dress and you’d be bored silly. You’d distract me to the point where it would take twice as long. Just put on a happy face and spend the day with your grandparents, please.” She jingled her car keys.

  What she didn’t say was the reason why she wanted to go shopping after work. She wanted to find something new to wear to the barbecue on the 4th. Cluny would be introducing her to his friends. It was silly, sure, because she had clothes she could wear to the party, and he’d never seen any of them, but all the same. She’d dress up for him next week; make him glad he’d invited her. And Santos, of course. He’d invited both of them.

  “Bring your new mitt. You and Earl can practice. He’ll help you get ready for the baseball team.”

  “OK.” He sighed reluctantly and went to his bedroom.

  Her gaze followed him. She loved him so much, but she had to face facts—he spent far too much time with her. He needed more male companionship. She was so glad Earl had agreed to shuttle him to the park league in Spring Grove three days a week. She’d go to the games on Saturday afternoons and drive him home, but the other two afternoons he’d be with his grandfather and Cluny at the park. It was a good plan for both of them.

  The day at Rio Samba dragged for her even though she’d enjoyed the classes and had a great idea to add a costume design contest for her summer students, young and old. Santos suggested a mini “Carnival at Rio Samba” in September before the start of school. Her students were on board and excited about the project. It would be a lot of work, but a lot of fun too.

  At three thirty she locked the door and climbed into her car. First stop Macy’s.

  An hour later she nearly headed back to Chatsworth, not having found anything to her liking within her budget. Instead she paused for an Orange Julius and then drove the short distance to Nordstrom’s Rack. Later she would swear she saw the dress from across the big sales floor the second she’d entered the store. It called to her like a homing beacon broadcasting in her head. It was perfect. She could afford it!

  Graciella rushed to the fitting rooms and waited impatiently for one to become available.

  “Let me know if you need any help,” a store employee said. “Different size or anything.”

  “Oh, thanks. This one is a ten. I think it’ll fit.”

  “I don’t know. You look more like an eight to me. There’s a smaller one on the return rack. It’s the same dress, but slightly different colors. I’ll get it.”

  The woman was right. The dress was a little roomy around the waist. Frowning, she hoped the other one would fit her and she’d like it as much.

  A light rap on the door, then, “Here’s the size eight. This label tends to run larger.” She laughed. “I guess they want all their customers to feel good. I’ll hang it over the door for you.”

  The dress fluttered over the door, and Graciella’s breath caught. The colors were perfect. Shades of rose, claret, and amethyst flowers splashed over a pale lavender background. “Oh this is lovely. I hope it fits.”

  The size was perfect. The strapless sundress with modest tucking of the bodice and full skirt set her figure off to the nth degree. “Oh, wow. I love this.”

  “Can I tell you something, honey?” The saleswoman tapped lightly on the door again. When Graciella opened it, she stood back and gave her two thumbs up. “It was made for you.” She reached forward and picked up the hem. “See this tiny spot of lipstick?” she whispered. “I never said this, but if you complain about it at the register, they’ll give you another ten percent off.”

  Graciella gasped. “I never would have seen it if you hadn’t pointed it out to me. Thank you so much.” She tilted her head. “What have you got behind your back?”

  The smiling lady held up a pair of glittery summer sandals covered with fake gems the same colors as the flowers in the dress. “Size ten. Am I right?” She handed them over. “Originally ninety bucks. I just marked them down to fifteen. They’re last season’s overstock of larger sizes. Want to try them on?”

  Graciella stepped into the sandals and did a happy pirouette. “I’ll never complain about big feet again.”

  “I don’t know who the lucky man is, but when he sees you in this outfit he’ll probably fall to his knees. Enjoy the moment, sweetie.” She winked and approached another customer.

  Sure enough, they took off another ten percent. She walked out of the store on a cloud of euphoria, realizing that’s just what she wanted to do—bring the man who’d shown up so late on her doorstep to kiss her goodnight to his knees. No, not really, but it would be nice. That thought filled her with happiness all the way home.

  * * *

  “OK, Queen, just like yesterday, it’s time to kiss my girl goodnight.” Cluny hung up the dishtowel, grabbed his wallet and keys, and they left through the door between the kitchen and garage. He grinned while the door rolled up, tapping his fingertips impatiently against the steering wheel.

  All the way to Chatsworth he vibrated with anticipation, probably making Queen wonder if he was all there. He grinned and rubbed her ear when they got off the freeway. She perked up, now familiar with the route.

  “Yep, almost there, girl.” He turned on her street and pulled into the parking lot. He bounded up the steps when he saw lights on in their apartment, and his blood ran hot, his body hummed.

  He knocked on her door. Waited. Santos opened it. Dammit!

  “Macfearsome!”

  “Up late, aren’t you, pal?”

  “Sometimes I get to stay up late on Friday night.” He stepped back and yelled, “Mama! Macfearsome’s here to kiss you goodnight again.”

  That declaration knocked him for a loop. Unable to move, he stood there shocked by the boy. Had he been awake last night? Did Graciella tell him? Before he had time to give it much more thought, she was standing in front of him with a big smile on her face.

  “Are you planning on making a habit of this, Cluny?” Her laughing face had to be the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen. His heart thudded against his ribs, hands itched to touch her.

  Instead of answering the question, he opened his arms, and she stepped into them. He kissed her soundly, stepped back and nodded. “I am.” He ran a hand down her cheek. “See you tomorrow night, baby.” He turned to leave. “You too, Santos.”

  “’Night, Macfearsome!”

  He grinned all the way home. Queen was happy because he scratched her neck and ears while he drove. Maybe he couldn’t spend every waking moment with Graciella, but for the time being he’d waste some gas and an hour or less every night making the trip to Chatsworth to kiss her goodnight. It was turning into a playful game they both enjoyed.

  * * *

  Graciella giggled and leaned back against her front door for a few seconds after Cluny left. She rejoined Santos at the kitchen table where they had been in the middle of a game of gin rummy. Earl taught him to play, and she had to concentrate because he’d become very good at it. They used beans to bet with. His beans were brown and hers white. His jar held more than her jar and way too many of them were white.

  “Do you like Macfearsome?” he asked and picked up his cards.

  “Yes. Do you mind?” She had no idea what her son felt about her interest in a man. All these years, there’d been just to two of them. She’d not had so much as a date. Well, not a real date. She’d had lunch with a man a few times and her friends and students were endlessly pressing to fix her up with somebody. But she’d never been interested until they’d met Cluny McPherson at the beach a mere two weeks ago. There was such a strong masculine presence about him. A gentleness and playful nature with the children that she found deeply compelling and attractive in the m
an.

  “No. I like him too. He’d make a good dad. I wonder why he isn’t one.”

  She made a non-committal humming sound and drew a card. She had an idea, but it was far too early to truly know that much about him. Meeting his friends next week would give her more insight. “Gin!”

  “What? You only picked up one card!” Santos squinted in disbelief when she laid down her hand.

  She laughed and picked up her soda. “You dealt them, so don’t blame me.”

  He screwed up his face then cracked a smile. “I guess I have to let you win once in a while. Or you won’t want to play anymore.”

  “Let me win? Just for that, you can load the dessert dishes in the dishwasher and go to bed. I’m not sure it’s such a good idea to let you stay up this late.”

  “At least I got to see Macfearsome kiss you.” He artfully dodged her playful smack. Giggling, he carried the two small plates and forks to the sink. “Mama has a boyfriend, Mama has a boyfriend,” he sang in a rusty tenor, then dropped the dishes in the sink and ran down the hall barely missing her reach.

  Graciella lowered her head in her hand and rolled it from side to side. Having a nine-year-old child definitely complicated a single mother’s life. She loved him so much her heart ached. Did she really have room there for anyone else? This entire business, friendship, whatever it was with Cluny might be a short-lived episode. She’d be foolish to think it could amount to anything more than a playful flirtation.

  If that was the case, she’d enjoy it while it lasted.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Saturday, Rio Samba

  “Mr. Ramos was a no-show for his private lesson again.” Graciella sighed with resignation. She could have put another private customer in his time slot. “I’m going to have to speak with him, tell him he has to pay whether he comes or not.”

  Santos nodded, a wise and thoughtful expression on his young face. “You could do like the doctor’s office. If you don’t give twenty-four hours notice, you have to pay.”

  “Good idea. Let’s get to work.” Saturday was the day she and Santos cleaned the studio after the last morning class. “Soon we’ll have to adjust our studio cleaning schedule because you’ll be playing baseball every Saturday, starting in a week. I don’t plan to be slaving around here and miss any of your games.” Maybe she’d consider hiring a cleaning service for the summer. She’d signed up several new students since Easter and had a little extra money in the bank.

  “You could hire somebody to clean for you, Mama.”

  She laughed and ran her fingers through his longish mop of tight brown curls. “Were you reading my mind by any chance?”

  He glanced in one of the floor-to-ceiling studio mirrors. “I need a haircut.”

  There—he’d read her mind again! “Go to the barbershop and see if Rusty is still in. He’s usually open until three on Saturday. I’ll finish up and meet you there.”

  Her cell phone played a samba tune as the door closed behind Santos. She rushed to the back of the studio and dug it out of her purse. MCPHERSON appeared on the screen. Cluny had programmed it into her contact list that day at the beach.

  “Hello?”

  “Hello, gorgeous. How about I take you and Santos for pizza and a movie tonight?”

  “Who is this?”

  “Uh-oh, I have competition. How many other guys call you gorgeous?”

  She giggled softly. “Nobody but a tall, dark and handsome, blue-eyed plumber I know who lives in Spring Grove.” The man who made her heart flutter like a wounded bird.

  “Is that right? You scared me there for a minute. So? Wanna do it?”

  “I don’t have a date tonight and as far as I know Santos doesn’t either, so yes.”

  “I’ll pick you up at your apartment at five thirty?”

  “Sounds good. I’ll tell him. He’ll be so excited.”

  “Will his mother be excited?”

  “No question about it. She hasn’t been on a date in ten years and is afraid she won’t know how to behave. It is a date, isn’t it, even though she’ll be accompanied by her nine-year-old resident acompanhante?”

  “Even though. Just so you know,” Cluny said, “I don’t plan on letting him sit between us at the movies.”

  She heard a loud ring and shout on Cluny’s end.

  “Gotta go, sweetheart. The delivery I’ve been waiting for just got here. I’ll see you in a couple of hours.”

  “Bye.” Heart tripping, she clicked off and dropped the phone in her shoulder bag, locked the door, and walked with trembling knees to the end of the strip mall to meet Santos at the barbershop, her smile growing wider with every step.

  * * *

  Simi Valley warehouse

  “Whew,” Cluny sighed at the rush he got whenever he heard Graciella’s voice. Last night’s kiss has been the best yet. His lips buzzed at the memory. “OK, get back to work, McPherson.” He approached the delivery truck, clipboard in hand.

  “Where do you want this?” the burly driver asked.

  “If you can back the truck further into the warehouse it will be easier to unload. I’d like the boxes lined up next to the far wall so I can check them off my order form.”

  The man nodded. “Gotcha.” He waved at the truck. “Doug! Move to the driver’s side and I’ll direct you where to back up.” An annoying loud beeping filled the warehouse when the truck backed into the wide aisle. Once in place, the two men unloaded the dozen large boxes.

  Cluny checked them off his inventory sheet and signed the bill of lading. The entire operation took less than half an hour. “Come on, Queenie, we’ve got to get ready for our big date.” He locked up the shop and warehouse and headed home to shower and change.

  At five thirty on the dot he parked in front of the stairs leading to the Jefferson apartment. Queen waited for him in the car. He’d barely pressed the doorbell when Santos pulled it open for him.

  “Hi, Macfearsome.” The handsome boy wore jeans and a long-sleeved plaid shirt nearly identical to Cluny’s outfit.

  “Hey, sailor, I see you got a haircut. Lookin’ good.”

  “You look like twins,” Graciella remarked.

  “I got the memo.” Cluny winked.

  “What memo?” Santos looked from his mother to Cluny, his face screwed up with confusion.

  Graciella put her arm around her son’s shoulder and pulled him close. “Cluny’s joking, because you and he dressed alike. Didn’t you notice?”

  Santos stared at Cluny and grinned. “Oh, yeah. I got the memo too.”

  Cluny clamped his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “You ready? I picked out a great movie tonight. It’s in Imax at the Regal Sixteen.”

  “We’re ready.” Graciella grabbed their sweaters off the back of her couch.

  “I’m starving, Macfearsome. Where we gonna eat?”

  “Palermo Pizzeria, not far from where I live.”

  “Pizza! My favorite.”

  Queen, ears perked, stood and pawed the windshield when she spotted Santos.

  “Is Queen going with us?” Santos did a double take.

  Cluny opened the passenger door, shooed Queen to the back and brushed off the seat for Graciella. “No, I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone. We’ll drop her off at my house on the way and you’ll see how to find me tomorrow for our Brazilian cooking lesson.”

  Twenty minutes later Cluny drove down a tree-lined street. “That’s Spring Grove Park.” He pulled into his long driveway. “As you can see, I don’t have far to go to coach the baseball team.”

  Graciella nodded. “We’ll have no trouble finding you.”

  He hopped out of the car and called to Queen. “I’ll be right back.” He patted his leg and walked the dog to his front door, opened it and let her in. When he got back, Santos leaned forward.

  “What if she has to go while we’re gone?”

  “No sweat, she’s got a doggy door. After the movie tonight, we’ll stop and pick her up before I take you home.” The boy’s
concern and affection for Queen warmed Cluny’s chest. He looked at Graciella and was puzzled by her expression. “What?”

  “I’m surprised at the size of this place. I don’t know why, but I imagined you lived in a small house on a busy residential street. This area is beautiful, and very countrified. How long have you owned the place? Do you own it?” Her cheeks pinked. “Am I too nosy?”

  He squeezed her hand. “No, you’re not. I’m glad you’re interested.”

  “Tell me about this interesting house, Cluny.”

  “It’s over forty years old. I bought it five years ago, before the park was developed. Dempsey and I did a lot of renovations right after I closed the deal. We gutted and re-did the bathrooms, then all new oak floors, new roof, modern kitchen, and painted it inside and out. I love the place.”

  “It’s beautiful, but it’s so large. You and Queen must rattle around in there all by yourselves.”

  “It’s lonesome sometimes, and I only have half the place furnished. I’ve got four bedrooms, two are empty. No dining room furniture, a lot of bookshelves, and a monster, man-sized TV. You’ll see it tomorrow.”

  Santos piped up from the back. “Is it a man cave, Macfearsome?”

  Graciella and Cluny erupted with laughter.

  “You might say that, pal.” He backed out of the driveway. “Pizza, here we come.”

  It didn’t take more than ten minutes to get to the restaurant. The stand-alone pizzeria had a large parking lot filled with cars.

  “It looks crowded,” Graciella said, as they walked to the non-descript entrance.

  “We won’t have to wait long.” He pulled open the entry door for them.

  Quickly seated, they ordered soft drinks and studied the menu.