CHAPTER THREE - CHANCE
I hadn’t realized how long I’d been out of the dating game until I made eye contact with that hot waitress at Harold’s diner. She was the sexiest thing this town had seen in ages, and her name was fitting; she was a dream. A wet one.
As I piddled around my shop and looked over some designs, I couldn’t shake the image of her from my mind. Asking her out had crossed my mind more than once, too, but with Star in my life, and things needing to be stable, I hadn’t let myself get back in the dating arena. A quick fuck was one thing, but an actual relationship was something different, and I’d been married one time too many as it was. I’d joined the US Navy when I was just out of high school at eighteen years old. By the time I was ready for the SEALs, I had met and married Becky, who I thought was the one. I’d wanted to have children with her, to have a family to come back to like all the other men, but she hadn’t wanted to be pregnant while I was on my tour. So she’d promised me that when I returned, we’d settled down and start our family.
I had no reason to think she was cheating on me; she’d been good about hanging with the other navy wives and volunteering for programs that helped servicemen to fill her time.
Once I had my accident and came back home for good, I could tell things had changed. I thought it was me, that my injury was too much for her. The morning sickness had started just a month after I got home. I was certain I’d knocked her up during the welcome home fuck she’d given me my first day back.
I was over the moon. I was finally getting things the way I’d always wanted them, minus one leg, which I wouldn’t let get me down. I was a fighter, not a quitter, and as long as I had her and the kid, I’d be fine. But something wasn’t right. Although she put on a good face, I just didn’t think she was as happy about the baby as me.
The time came to have an ultrasound, and that’s when I realized the math was all wrong. According to how far along she was, she had to have gotten pregnant before I’d come home, and that’s when she broke down and confessed she’d been fucking my so-called college friend Ben.
The phone ringing brought me out of my daydream, and I picked it up to see my buddy, Austin’s ugly mug staring back at me. The guy was the only man from my group of friends in the past that I allowed back into my life, and that was solely because he’d been my brother in arms and we’d shared the hell of that god-forsaken desert for eighteen months. .
“What’s up, man?” I pushed my work aside and leaned back in my chair.
“Hey, Chance, how’s it been? Is that little girl giving you gray hairs yet?” Austin called at least once every other week, and I’d been filling him in on Star’s progress.
“She’s not that high maintenance. What about you? Are you ready for your wedding?”
“That’s three months away, and yes and no. I’m ready to get it over with, but we’re not done spending money yet. Lola has dragged me to every wedding venue and chapel in southern Cali, and I’ve tasted so much cake, that I probably have diabetes.”
“Sounds like a real pain in the ass.”
“Just wait until you find your pain in the ass, you’ll be doing the same thing, buddy.”
“No way, man. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. No more weddings for me, my friend.”
“Well, have you at least met a nice girl in that Podunk town to tug on your willy?” I couldn’t help but laugh. Austin had always had a way with words.
“Actually, I did see a nice piece of ass down at the diner. She’s the hottest thing this town’s got to offer in the way of women. Don’t get me wrong, there are other pretty faces, but most of the women here taste like vanilla if you know what I mean.”
“With that kid around, you better get used to the flavor, Daddy.” He chuckled, using the nickname he’d given me since I’d told him I was bringing Star home.
“Hey now. I’m Uncle Chance. She won’t ever call me ‘daddy’, and I hope she never does.” That title was reserved for my brother and no one else. I’d never disrespect him by taking that from him, even if I had to fill the role.
“So? Are you going to settle down with this one or what?”
“You’re mental, man. I just met her yesterday. She’s a waitress down where I eat; new to town.” Not to mention, a nice girl like her would probably be totally freaked the minute my pants came off and she realized I only had one real leg. That’s how it usually happened. No, I much preferred the girls who didn’t care as long as I could make them come. And I always could.
“Right, I forget you don’t exactly do the whole ‘love’ thing. At least not yet. You’ll change your mind when you find the right girl.”
“There’s no right girl for me, not anymore. I’ve learned to live with it, and if I can provide Star a good home, then that’s all the purpose I’ll need.” If I kept telling myself that, I might actually start to believe it one day.
“Did you get your new designs finished?” he asked, changing the subject when he realized I wouldn’t budge.
“Yes. They look great.” I was really proud of my work and glad I’d put my artistic abilities to use.
“That’s awesome man. I think it’s great you’re able to help others through your work.” I had been designing prosthetics since I’d recovered from losing my leg, and I’d sold a few of my designs to the leading company in the US. It was great money, but that wasn’t my passion. I’d been working on a side project to create an app for phones that would help wounded vets connect to services they needed, and that had been my focus for months, but I had yet to get past the planning and design stage at this point.
Maybe it was fear of failure or rejection that kept me from putting it out in the marketplace, but whatever it was I needed to get the hell over it.
I wandered into the kitchen to see what I had in the fridge to make for dinner. The shelves were bare but for a gallon of milk and a jar of jelly with the pantry just as empty. I would have to go to the store when I picked up Star from school. I grabbed my keys and headed out to my truck. Before I realized what I was doing, I started to drive toward the diner instead of the grocery store.
I sat in the parking lot and looked in through the front windows, watching Dream go from table to table. She really was beautiful, with long dark hair, pale-green eyes, and a smattering of freckles across her creamy skin. She was at least a head shorter than me with ample breasts and curvaceous hips. But there was something more than just her beauty that was drawing me to her. Being a highly trained SEAL, I was good at spotting trouble; and Dream had trouble written all over her. Trouble I didn’t need, and yet here I was, trying to convince my dick not to salute her.
I sighed and walked in, telling myself that I was just there to check on the ad I’d posted before heading to the store to pick up supplies. I went straight to the board and stared at the piece of paper with my name and number on it.
“Can I get you a table?” I turned to see Dream standing just behind me, and I let out a low chuckle. Damn she was beautiful.
“No, thanks. I wondered if anyone has asked about the ad.” Her face fell, and it sent an unexpected shiver through me. Had she been hoping I’d stop in to see her?
“Not that I know of, but it is kind of nice you mention it because I wanted to talk to you about that.” She looked over her shoulder and then leaned forward to talk quietly. “You need a tutor for your little girl, and well, I was an elementary school teacher back in Chicago.”
“You’re from Chicago?” She nodded in response as I looked her up and down. There was an ugly yellow mark on her arm, and I had a feeling I knew where it was from. Five distinct fingerprints marked where a large hand had grabbed her. My gut started to burn.
She noticed me glance at her arm and quickly pulled down her shirt sleeve, her face turning pink. “Uh, yeah, well, if you’re still serious about a tutor for Star, I’d like to help.”
I nodded and stuffed my hands in my pockets, fighting the strange urge to take this woman into my arms and protect her from whoever had given her those ugly bruises. “Yeah, that would be great. Why don’t you give me your number and we can set something up?”
We exchanged numbers and she went to wait on her tables. I went out to my truck and sat for another minute, watching her through the glass. She bent over to clear a table and my dick twitched in my pants. Who in their right mind would ever mistreat a woman? Especially a woman as beautiful as Dream.
I shook my head and started the truck, heading to pick up a few groceries before picking Star up from school. As I waited in the pickup line, I saw her standing with her classmates. Her eyes were cast downward and her shoulders were rounded forward. She was clearly upset and my heart ached for her.
I helped her into the truck and buckled her into her booster seat. “How was your day today, kiddo?” I asked as I pulled out of the line and onto the main street.
She shrugged and stared out the window.
“Come on, Star. You know you can tell me anything. What’s up?” I gently coaxed her.
Finally, she looked at me in the rearview mirror as I drove. “We were reading in class and I’m… I’m not very good,” she said quietly.
My heart ached for her. “It’s going to be okay kiddo,” I reassured her.
“How about I make us some spaghetti for dinner?” I asked, knowing it was her favorite.
She nodded but didn’t smile as I’d expected her to. As soon we got home, I got out my phone and dialed Dream’s number.