Danny's War (Rolling Thunder Series Book 3) (22 page)

He kissed the top of her head and gently slipped his arm from under her. Rolling to the edge of the bed and slipping on his prosthetic, shorts and a t-shirt, Danny walked into the bathroom. Washing his hands he slipped out of the bedroom and made his way to the kitchen. He wanted to make his guests a giant breakfast. He saw the two water glasses in the sink and wondered who'd been up during the night. Pulling out a griddle and his mixer, he set about making pancakes and eggs. 

“What’s on the agenda today, Schaefer?”

Danny turned to see Dirks walking into the kitchen, scratching the top of his head. He was wearing shorts and no shirt.

“Dude, go put a shirt on. I don’t want my girl looking at that pale chest of yours.”

Dirks smirked, “Yeah, she’d be running to me in a heartbeat.”

“You wish.”

Dirks turned and walked back upstairs. He was down in a minute donning a shirt and walked to the table where Danny had set a steaming cup of coffee for him.

“You cook now.”

“Yeah. It started as part of my therapy, then it became a challenge. Now I find that I love it and I look forward to spoiling Tammy with great meals when she comes home at night. We’ve not had much time for that, but we will.”

Dirks nodded. “Yeah, there’s time.”

“We’ll go over to Rolling Thunder this morning. Dog wants to meet you guys and we’ve finished modifying my bike. I want to show you guys.”

“That’s really cool, Schaefer.” Taking another sip of coffee he watched Danny cook. His motions smooth and efficient. “You good, Schaefer? I mean really good.”

Danny turned around and looked into Dirks’ baby blues. “Yeah, I’m good. Mostly, my nightmares have gone away. I only have them now and then. Usually when something bad happens. I get around good on my new leg and I have a smokin’ hot girl.” Turning to flip the pancakes on the griddle they were both silent. When he finished he turned back to Dirks. “What about you, Dirks? Are you good?”

“Yeah, I’m good. I see my counselor monthly, work out regularly and eat good. I haven’t had a nightmare in about two months. That’s a first for me.”

“What are you two hens cackling about in here?” Coops’ copper hair was slicked back from the shower. His t-shirt was Army issue, his shorts too. He sauntered over to the coffeepot and pulled a cup from the cupboard. Pouring his coffee, he took a deep breath. “Damn, Schaefer, that smells good. When did you start cooking?”

“A while ago.”

Dirks looked at Coop. “Schaefer’s taking us to Rolling Thunder today to see his bike.”

“Sweet. I bet you’re excited to get her back on the road. Too bad it’s freezing outside.”

“Yeah. It can wait. I’m used to it, living here. But, at least you can see it.”

“Morning. It smells good in here.” Tammy walked into the kitchen, ready for work. She was dressed for comfort today. She wore black dress pants, a red silky tank, red flats and a white flyaway. The flats made her look even smaller than she actually was. She walked over to Danny and had to stand on her toes to give him a peck on the lips. He looked down at her feet and smirked. She slapped his arm as she turned to pull out a coffee cup. She looked back at the guys and saw their cups half empty. Before filling her cup, she took the coffeepot to the table to refill their cups. She refilled Danny’s cup and poured the last little bit into her cup. She set about making another pot of coffee while Danny finished up breakfast.

Danny began carrying food to the table and said, “We’ll eat now and Lex can eat when he gets up.”

“He’ll probably sleep a bit more, he was up during the night,” Tammy said as she set the butter on the table.

Danny stopped carrying food and looked at her. “How do you know?”

“I got up because I couldn’t sleep and he came into the kitchen as I was getting a glass of water. We sat at the table and talked for a while.”

“He okay?” Dirks asked as he sat back in his chair.

Tammy shrugged. “It’s up to him to say something. I just think he needs your support.”

Danny hugged her from behind. He kissed the side of her head. “Thanks for talking to him.”

Tammy smiled. “Of course. Let’s eat; I’ve got to get going.”

WALKING INTO ROLLING THUNDER,
the guys were happy and talking crap with each other. Charles stayed behind to get some work done and allow the guys to have time alone. They walked straight to the back of the shop where Danny’s bike was up on a lift, one of the students wiping it dry after washing it.

“Thanks for taking care of her, Drew.” Danny clapped him on the back and looked at his bike.

Drew’s face flamed a bright red as he nodded, saying nothing in return.

“Holy fuck, Schaefer, she’s a beauty.” Dirks walked around the lift looking at the shiny chrome, gold, and black bike. His low whistle sounded over the shop noises.

“Schaefer, is that a softail slim? No fucking way. You said you were into old bikes, but you never let on you had this in your garage. Lucky bitch.” Coop knelt down to take look at the pipes. “You had the pipes gold-tipped? Shit, Schaefer.”

Danny laughed at his friends and their awe. He scratched the top of his head and ran his hand around and down the nape to his neck. His smile was electric, his dark eyes shined.

Lex walked forward and ran his hand along the painted two-tone shiny black and flat black tank and across the shiny cool leather seat. No front fender, fat front and back tires, gold tips and accents everywhere. “Narly, Schaefer. Fucking narly.”

Drew lowered the lift to the ground and Danny hopped up on the bike. “Wanna hear her?”

“Fuck yeah,” was said in unison by all the guys.

Turning on the ignition switch, he checked the shifter to make sure it was in neutral and hit the starter. She roared to life with a loud crack and the low rumble only a Harley can give. The smile from each and every one of the guys was a sight to behold. He twisted the throttle a few times, making the pipes crack and growl. The guys shook their heads and smiled from ear to ear.

“She sounds perfect.” Jeremiah walked up to the guys, hands in his pockets, a smile on his face.

Danny turned the ignition switch off and dismounted. “She does. I never dreamed I’d hear her again.”

Danny shook Jeremiah’s hand. “Thanks, Dog. Wow, you got her running top notch.”

“Actually, Gunnar and Ryder worked on it last night and this morning. They knew you were bringing your friends around and they wanted you to be able to start it up.”

Danny looked over the shop. “Where are they? I’d like to thank them and introduce them.”

“They’re upstairs. Joci needed them to move things around in the office and I snuck out.” Jeremiah smirked.

Danny shook his head. “She gonna be mad?”

“Naw. I threw you under the bus, saying you were here and I needed to come down and help you with your bike.” His smile broadened.

“She gonna be mad at me?”

Jeremiah shook his head.

Nodding, Danny made introductions. “Dog, these are my friends, Lex, Coop, and Dirks.”

The guys each shook Jeremiah’s hand, commented on the bike and made small talk.

“Why don’t we go upstairs and I’ll tell you what I have in mind for the Veteran’s Ride.”

***

“Hey, girl. I thought I’d pop in and see how you’re doing. You haven’t painted in a while.” Gerry wheeled his chair into Tammy’s office, concern on his face.

Tammy set down the report she was reading and sat back in her chair. She smiled, for the first time since she'd arrived at work today. Her smile faded to a slight frown at the concerned look on Gerry’s face. “Yeah, I want to make sure I do a good job in Sally’s absence and I guess I’ve buried myself in here, pouring over reports and budgets.”

“So, the rumor out there is you’re leaving us, too. That true?”

Tammy’s brows pinched together. “No. It isn’t. Who's spreading that rumor?”

Gerry shrugged. “I don’t know where it started but some of the nurses were overheard saying Mr. Bigshot who took Sally away was trying to steal you too.”

“Oh. Okay. So someone overheard something and decided to spread around what they thought they heard?”

Gerry chuckled. “Something like that.”

Tammy leaned her forearms on the desktop. Smiling broadly at Gerry’s faded blue eyes and lopsided grin, she said, “I’ll tell you what. If I decide to leave here, I’ll tell you second. How about that?”

“Second?”

Tammy laughed. “Danny would be first, Gerry.”

Gerry nodded. “Makes sense. So, is Danny still bringing his friends in on Sunday?”

“He sure is. He’s been telling them all about you guys this week.”

“OKAY, FIRST OF ALL,
there’s something I didn’t tell you about Tammy. She paints. I mean, she’s friggin’ good, too.” Danny smirked as he stood in front of the door to the activities room.

He pushed open the door and led the way into the room, his friends behind him. He waved to the men who'd already gathered around, each drinking coffee or tea and gossiping away. Men were just as big of gossips as women, maybe even more so. But, what caught Danny’s ear froze him.

“She said I’d be second to know if she leaves here. Danny there…” Gerry pointed to Danny, “would be first.”

“What are you talking about, Gerry?”

“Tammy. She told me if Mr. Bigshot steals her away, I’d be the second to know and you’d be the first.”

Danny swallowed. “Have you heard that he’s trying to steal her away?” His heart began thumping away in his chest.

“Oh sure, the rumors are all over the place lately.” Harry waved his wrinkled old hand wide as he said it.

Lex watched Danny’s face grow hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down as he swallowed to calm himself. Giving Danny the time to recover from this shock, Lex stepped forward and shook the hands of the men sitting around the table. Coop and Dirks followed, making their introductions.

Turning around Dirks whistled, “Is this what you were talking about? Tammy paint this?”

Danny slowly turned and mentally shook himself out of his shock. “Yeah.” Clearing the frog from his throat he tried again. “Yes. She painted that. It’s not finished yet.”

They all looked at the far right of the wall where the background was roughed in, but no scenes appeared.

Gerry wheeled forward. “She needs someone to help her with this war. We’ve each spent time in here with her while she paints, explaining what it looked like, what we went through, how we felt.” He wheeled closer to the wall and pointed to the face of one of the men in the mural. “This is Hank’s brother.” Lifting his hand he pointed across the room at a tall lanky man, who was too thin for his size, sitting at the table.

“Yep. That’s Johnny. He died at the beginning of Vietnam. I brought a picture of Johnny in here and Tammy painted his picture into the mural. Now, when I have something to say to Johnny, I come in here and talk to his picture. Every time I come in this room, I feel like he’s here.” Hank’s look was far away, his thin lips formed a faint smile.

The guys stepped closer to the picture and looked at Johnny, staring back at them. Gerry continued, “This here is my Uncle Joe. He died at the end of World War II. I never knew him, but I have the pictures from my dad; I love that Tammy painted him there.”

Wheeling forward a bit more, he swept his hand upward. “This is Phnom Pehn, where I was stationed. It was a beautiful place at one time, I hear it is again. When I was there, it was war-ravaged, but I told Tammy I remembered sitting in those swamps and being quiet and looking around for any movement and I remembered a day I saw those pink flowers peeking up over the swampland. It brought a tear to my eyes to see something pretty in such an ugly world. She painted these for me.”

***

“Hey girl, how are you? I miss you.” Tammy spoke into her phone. She was reclining in Danny’s chair, taking a few moments to call Molly before the guys came back from Stateside.

“Oh, Tam, I miss you, too. How are you?”

Tammy closed her eyes, “I’m good.” Sighing softly she opened her eyes and looked out the window across the fresh snow on the front yard.

“That isn't the sound of someone who's fine. I need to know what’s going on.”

Tammy proceeded to tell Molly about the video. Danny. Danny’s friends, and everything that'd happened recently. Molly shared her life with Ryder and that they were moving in together.

“Oh, Molly, that’s fantastic. We need to get together; maybe we can go pick out a Christmas Tree next Saturday. We'd like to get one put up right after Thanksgiving and that’s next week already.”

“Wait. We?” Molly smiled as she watched a movie play on the television, the sound turned down.

“Danny and I are moving in together. Actually, I’m moving in with him.”

The two friends shared their lives as they were now. Talking to Molly had always soothed Tammy’s nerves. No one was more levelheaded than Molly.

***

The guys rolled in around four-thirty. They were laughing and talking excitedly about the afternoon at Stateside. Charles sat back, a smile on his face as he watched his son talk animatedly for the first time since he'd come back from Afghanistan. Lex laughed and shared with everyone the conversations with the guys. Charles asked questions, they all raced to answer. All except Danny, he was more subdued. He smiled when he was supposed to, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

Tammy asked him if he was okay and he just nodded and kissed the side of her head. She went to the kitchen and grabbed the dishes and silverware to set the dining room table. She'd brought some of her dishes from her place and used the cloth napkins she'd purchased at an estate sale a couple of years ago. She'd made a beautiful roast beef, baked potatoes, and candied carrots for dinner. Homemade buns were in the oven and for dessert she'd made an Oreo Lasagna. It was fun cooking in Danny’s kitchen. It was the first time she had carte blanche to cook and make herself feel at home, wanting this dinner to be special since it was also the first time she'd cooked for Danny.

The men sauntered into the dining room and took their places around the table. “Schaefer, you're a lucky son-of-a-bitch. You have a house, that crazy ass bike, a smoking-hot mama, who paints and cooks. Shit, some guys have all the luck.”