Escape To Sunset - Sharon Hamilton Page 0,35
spur him on to pay attention.
There was now more to live for.
Chapter 10
Aimee and Martel took Kiley shopping where she bought two more cheap prepaid cell phones and some groceries. They visited a bookstore Martel wanted to check out. Aimee stopped by a local hardware store and picked up paint she’d ordered, along with some painter’s tape and extra rollers. Afterward, they had lunch together at a tiny brewhouse down by the beach.
Breathing in the fresh gulf air was the best medicine in the world for Kiley. Today was windy, and several large dragon kites were flying high, soaring and diving in the fall wind.
“Are your guys nervous?” Aimee asked.
Martel shrugged. “I can never tell anymore. It’s like they train them how to talk to us. You couldn’t get a thing out of them they don’t want to tell us. But he did tell me Africa.”
“That’s what Jason said too.” Kiley was enjoying the camaraderie with the two SEAL wives. “Are you going out to San Diego at Christmas break, Martel?” she asked.
“Yup. I’m taking an extra week, so I’ll be there almost a month. I’m hoping to spend enough time there to get pregnant. That’s the plan, anyway.”
“Oh! That’s exciting!” said Aimee. “But aren’t you going to stay teaching here?”
Martel smiled. “I think so. But if the timing works, I might be able to take maternity leave and have the baby in San Diego, which would be way better. We’ll only have a year left on his enlistment after that, so we’ll see.”
Kiley asked, “Why doesn’t he transfer to an East Coast team?”
“He might,” Martel returned. “If he stays in, he could join Andy maybe on Team 4. Maybe if Jason transfers, too, well, they’d all be together. But we have to wait to see. A lot can happen in the next year plus. First, we gotta get pregnant. I can teach anywhere but I love my school, and this is now more my home than San Diego. But we’ll see.”
“I guess you have to stay flexible,” Kiley added, watching the two kites nearly collide.
Aimee nodded. “Way better than regular Navy where they’re stationed all over the world or gone for huge blocks of time. I can’t complain, really. As long as Andy is happy. So far, he’s gotten along well with the Team 4 guys he’s met.”
“When does he start?” Kiley asked.
“Twenty-one days. We’ve been doing a big push to get the house finished before he has to leave again.”
Both the wives looked at Kiley. Martel spoke up first.
“You can ask us anything you want to know, Kiley. Lots of times, the ladies have questions.”
Kiley appreciated their kindness but had found herself distracted by the screams from a child who had fallen in the surf and was brought up sputtering by one arm, his mother wrapping him safely in a huge beach towel to quell his sobbing. That also reminded her of the phone call she was going to make to Carmen this afternoon, and her stomach lurched. “I’m not sure we’re there yet. What a sweet guy. If only we had more time before he left.” She knew it probably wasn’t a very good lie, but wasn’t going to make all her feeling public. Not yet.
“He’s so wonderful, Kiley. Not a big partygoer and just a solid guy. All the Team guys like him,” said Aimee.
Martel agreed.
“Well, we’ve really just met.” Kiley hoped they would drop the subject. “Like you, Martel, we’ll have to just see how it goes. It’s going to be hard to maintain a relationship with someone when we’re both so dug into our jobs.”
“I enjoyed being up there.” Martel reached for another French fry and dipped it in catsup. “Portland is a great city. But I can’t see a Hawaiian boy living in the dreary rainy winters in Oregon,” she added. “Florida would be a much better fit.”
“San Diego,” said Kiley. “I think that’s where he wants to be. He has to be near the beach.”
Martel agreed.
Aimee’s eyes sparkled. “I think the two of you make a cute couple. I can see you living here. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for both of you,” she continued. “I’m hoping Team 4 is in your future! Yours too, Martel.”
“Amen to that,” Martel said as they toasted their white wine.
Kiley liked the idea more than she wanted to let on.
Aimee drove them back to her house where Kiley said her good-byes and walked along the beach until she came to the access path that led to