Nerd and the Marine (24 page)

Thank you for doing this
for me. I appreciate your willingness to help. I should have
authorized you earlier. They’ll be expecting you. You’ll need to
take at least two forms of I.D. and this letter.

Yours,

Mitch

Lainy noticed he had included a bill
that appeared to have been missed. He also included the name of his
storage unit and let her know which locker was his with a key so
she could access his things if need be. Staring in awe at the key,
she couldn’t believe he’d so freely offer her these privileges. It
was one thing to come from a huge family, you just understood there
was nothing sacred. Everything you owned was available for sharing
with anyone in the family.

But to be independent and make
anything he owned available to her, made her feel like Mitch’s
wife. And a lot less apprehensive about adding him to the family.
If he already felt so free with her, chances were good he’d feel
the same way soon enough with her family. He was a Marine. He’d
have to be adaptable.

He was entrusting her with his worldly
possessions. Shouldn’t she trust him?

Staring at the letter in her hand,
Lainy brought it up and pressed the precious handwritten note to
her breast. Right next to her heart. She now knew what his
handwriting looked like. She loved knowing he trusted her. He’d
asked her to take care of business for him. Her brothers wouldn’t
let their wives anywhere near some of their business interests, and
yet Mitch had asked her to take care of his.

Enjoying the feeling, she floated to
her phone and made arrangements to take care of his problem. He
trusted her, at least with his business stuff. What an overwhelming
and precious gift.

*****

To:
[email protected]

From:
[email protected]

Re:Re:Subject: My
self-esteem

>> I don't date
because the two times I did so I got really
burned.>>

>Why?

Hello Mitch,

I won’t lie to you and
tell you this is an easy question to answer. Because it’s not. This
is one of the hardest things I’ve ever written, actually. Maybe
it’s a better conversation to hold in person. I don’t
know.

What I do know is I fail
at relationships. Seems that unlike my family, I’m really bad at
them. Point – my first ever boyfriend happened because of a bet.
His buddies bet him he couldn’t date me for three weeks. He took
the wager. He was smart and handsome, and what any girl would want.
I was sure no one perceived me as a nerd anymore, but that I must
be part of the “in” crowd.

Except that’s not what
happened. Two and a half weeks into the “relationship” I overheard
them talking about me. They were also discussing the other three
girls he was dating at the time, and his Prep school girlfriend.
He’d been dating at least four other females. I was his “bet”
girlfriend. I broke it off with him, so he didn’t get the money,
but I was humiliated and rejected. They called me his “nerd”
girlfriend.

That was high school. In
college, my junior year, I decided to try dating again. This guy
was quiet and studious like me. I was comfortable around him. When
he asked me out, I couldn’t believe my luck. We dated for a few
weeks, and I thought, “Hey I do know how to do this dating thing.”
Wrong.

He wanted to move our
relationship to the next level. I didn’t. But it was all he talked
about and it upset me, but he didn’t seem to take my feelings into
consideration. I was his girlfriend so he said it was my job to
take care of his needs. (I don’t remember him ever taking care of
mine, in hindsight.)

After a party one night,
we returned to his apartment, because I’d left my bag there. He’d
had too much to drink and grabbed me, telling me he knew why I’d
come back with him. He ripped my shirt and bruised me pretty badly.
In the end, I was glad he’d had so much to drink. He finally passed
out and I fled. I’m certain he would have raped me if he hadn’t
passed out.

I remember a feeling like
there were bugs crawling all over my skin. I hated the kissing,
even. It was all slobbery and nasty. After that night, it was all I
could do to say hello to him. I guess it was my fault he’d
practically raped me. That’s what he said. And I didn’t fulfill his
needs... I took at least three showers that night. And I almost dry
heave every time I think about kisses.

I later heard him brag to
his fraternity brothers how he’d “had” the biggest nerd on campus.
He told them “she’s far from hot, but hey, she’s a chick.” I threw
up after I heard that. I don’t remember being “had”, more almost
raped.

But I don’t understand how
intimacy can be so awful if my family is constantly spending time
in Will’s closet? I don’t get it. I guess I must not be meant for
love.

NONE of my family knows
about this. No one. I couldn’t bear to tell them. I feel like such
a failure, and I didn’t want them to know I’d managed to screw up
something perfectly natural and normal. At least for all of them.
How do you explain something like that to people who do it right
all the time?

Enough of that subject - I
can’t bear to think about it. I took care of your bills. I’m glad
you trusted me to do this. So I thought I should trust you,
too.

Your credit union was so
friendly, I've decided to switch to them. Such a pleasure to work
with. I had no difficulties, even with the billing company. Once I
explained you were deployed overseas in Kuwait with the Marine
Corps, the woman promptly waived the late fees and I paid the
bill.

No problems. I also spoke
with your assistant, Carla, at your civilian job and she’s going to
forward your mail to me. I’ll take care of anything else while
you’re away.

Incidentally, she told me
a story I hadn’t heard from you. She mentioned Bentley and wondered
where he’d gone. I told her I had him and she cried?! I didn’t know
what to do and asked her what was wrong. Feeling more than a bit
alarmed, I might add. She laughed and told me she was being
stupid.

Then, she explained to me
about your former boss and his wife’s deaths and how Bentley had
been theirs. She said you were like a son to them and that you’d
found a father figure in the man. Carla mentioned how close the two
of you were and how when they were killed in a car accident, you
picked up Bentley first thing.

Your thought was to keep
him until the will was read and you’d give him to whichever family
member they’d wished him to go. Only to discover you were their
only heir and they’d made provision that Bentley would go to
you.

I told this story to
Melly, and she wasn’t surprised. She said you were upset about
having to give up Bentley and now I finally know why. (And I didn’t
hear the story from you.) Giving him up meant giving up your last
hold on Russ and Wendy Fandrich, two people who were the closest to
parents you’ve ever had. I really enjoyed hearing this story. I’d
love more details, please.

No wonder Bentley means so
much to you. It was an incredible story and you know, I cried right
along with Carla. We were both laughing by the time we hung up,
calling ourselves all kinds of idiots, but I really liked her. She
reminds me of my Aunt Emma. All no nonsense with the biggest heart
you’ll ever find.

There’s the hint of fall
in the air now. (It took your letter nearly a month to arrive.)
It’s still hot, but the nights are cool. (Probably not as hot as
you’re experiencing, but hot for Hershey, anyway.) September is
right around the corner. Hopefully you’ll be back to the base
soon.

I’m not going to lie and
tell you I don’t miss you, because I do. (But I’m scared about all
I told you. I hope this doesn’t change how you feel about me. I
couldn’t bear if you hated me because of how I manage to mess up my
relationships.)

Without communicating with
you I feel empty. It’s strange. At least I have Bentley to keep me
company and I’m certainly enjoying him. But I miss you. I hope you
come home soon. Please.

All for now. I don’t want
to overwhelm you with e-mails. Let me know the minute you’re
back.

Yours,

Lainy

P.S. I broke my camera, so
I’m in the process of looking for another one. Actually, Will, my
brother, ran over it. (No, it wasn’t on the ground, but it’s a long
story.

Think mountain bike,
picnic table, overzealous, clueless brother, and you’ll about have
the full picture.)

My little camera is
totaled though. I’m picky about them, so I’m still looking into all
my options. I know you’d think a computer geek like me would have a
backup, but in this case, I don’t. I loved that camera, but not
even I can fix it. So, I’ll have to break down and buy a new one.
Pictures next time, I promise. Maybe that’ll light a fire under my
fanny to buy another one soon. Sometimes I spend too much time on
research.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Mitch and his platoon rolled in late
on the last day of September. Every bone and muscle in his body
ached. They’d taken a pounding when a detonator exploded
unexpectedly and started a landslide. Several rocks and a boulder
or two had knocked him over. He was bruised in places he hadn’t
known could bruise. He hadn’t lost any men and only one other man
had been injured. Thank goodness.

Still, it hurt to walk, it hurt to
sleep, it hurt to eat, it even hurt to breathe. All he wanted was a
hot shower, a true luxury after three months with minimal
facilities, a cookie, and to go to bed. He desperately wanted to
check e-mail, but was too tired. Besides, he doubted he could sit
in a chair that long. At least one good thing about the laptop was
that after he downloaded his mail, he could read and reply to his
messages from his cot.

A groan slipped out as he slid out of
the humvee and gritted his teeth. Pain ratcheted through his body
as his feet hit the ground more soundly than he’d intended.
Supplementary spasms coiled after the initial pain faded and Mitch
didn’t even try to hide the fact he limped. Oh well. It was almost
midnight and he still had to find the energy to shower.

Granted, this would be a fast shower,
even through the pain, but he carried too much dust and sand with
him to not clean up.

Somehow, he’d taken the worst of the
rock slide, for which he was grateful. If anyone slapped him on the
back, he’d have to break their arm, though. He gritted his teeth
again and removed the bag slung over his shoulder. He kicked it
under his cot, deciding to deal with the contents in the morning.
He couldn’t bend now if he tried, anyway.

Mitch found fresh toiletries in his
footlocker and some clean clothes and carried them with him. He
took a shower, tepid, but better than nothing and cleaned three
months of dirt from his pores. They’d bathed but nothing compared
to an actual shower. He shaved so he wouldn’t need to in the
morning and fell into his bed.

As usual, he dreamed of
Lainy.

The next morning he felt more alive.
He’d have to report to his commander and he wanted food. And lots
of it. He’d lost weight on this project. Some of which he probably
couldn’t afford. His uniforms now hung on him.

After breakfast, he spent the next
hour and a half with his boss. Upon hearing of the defective
detonator, and the consequent rockslide, he was placed on immediate
medical leave for the next few days. Of course, he couldn’t go
anywhere and still return in the allotted time, but Mitch figured
he and his cot would become better acquainted. His boss also sent
him to the infirmary for a thorough exam.

He checked snail mail and found
several packages waiting. All from Lainy’s family. His stomach
growling, he hoped the bakers had sent him the usual amount and
selection of cookies.

When he entered his quarters, he saw
they’d added another cot. Squeezed the guy in, which was fine. So
long as he had room for his cookies and computer, Mitch didn’t much
care. Without difficulty but some pain, he pried the package open
and removed the largest container of cookies yet. Almost tearing
up, he ripped off the lid and selected one at random. Four cookies
later, he finally booted up his computer and opened his other
packages.

He received more toiletries, a package
of brownies from Lainy’s mother, he felt much joy at that
discovery, more crayoned pictures and real pictures of the lake and
Bentley and hungrily, he saw, Lainy. There were more cartridges for
his Game Boy, compliments of Laurie and her son, Steve. And some
duplicates and an interesting device called a Game Link, Steve
wrote, so he could hook up to Al’s Game Boy and they could play
each other.

Stuffing brownies into his mouth, but
savoring the chocolate like he never had before, he stared at all
the pictures, wishing he could hold Lainy. When he’d taken his fill
of the pictures, he moved to his laptop.

He’d had the foresight to
download the messages while he waded through the pictures and saw
he had close to fifty waiting.
Probably
all of them from Lainy and her family
, he
thought with happiness. He unplugged his computer and carried the
machine to his cot. There, he managed to prop himself to minimize
the pain.