Judy Christenberry - A Soldier's Return

“Fine. We’ll have coffee waiting for you,” Will promised.

It was the “we” that bothered Jim. He liked Will Greenfield. But Carrie… There was something there when he looked at her. Something that made him want to run in the other direction. He should run in the other direction he told himself. He didn’t want to hurt her. And that was all he’d bring Carrie. Or any woman.

He dressed in black slacks and a royal-blue dress shirt. After all, he was no longer a soldier. When he looked in the mirror, it was strange to see himself in anything but khaki-green. Hoping he hadn’t made a mistake in leaving the service, he picked up his billfold and his room key and headed for the coffee shop to face Will and Carrie.

When he entered the coffee shop, he looked around for Will Greenfield. But all he saw was Carrie Rand in a bright red suit, sitting in a booth. He frowned. He hadn’t planned on a breakfast alone with Carrie. The less time he spent with her the better everything would be.

He considered returning to his room, but he’d agreed to breakfast. Reluctantly he walked over to the booth.

Carrie glanced up and gasped. “Jim! You’re not wearing your uniform.”

“No. I’m a civilian now,” he said.

“But yesterday—” Carrie began.

“Was my last day in the military. I was traveling and it was easier to do so in uniform. Where’s Will?”

“Um, he had an emergency call he had to take. Please sit down, Jim. He should be back shortly.” Carrie signaled the waitress, who came to the table with a pot of coffee.

“Here’s a hungry man,” Carrie said with a smile. “Please pour him some coffee and maybe he’ll be ready to order in a minute.”

“I can order now, if you’re ready,” Jim said quietly.

“We’ve already ordered. I asked our waitress to hold our order until you got here. Will said for us to go ahead and not wait for him.”

“I’ll take two eggs over easy, bacon, wheat toast and a short stack of pancakes.”

“You certainly seem to know your mind, Jim. Will likes that.”

“It’s a habit the marines encourage,” Jim said with a nod.

“I bet you were a fast learner, too,” Carrie said, hoping to see Jim smile. She was sure a smile would increase his handsome quotient tremendously. Which was pretty incredible since she’d thought his stern appearance would be hard to beat.

Jim said, “Yeah.”

He took a sip of his coffee. Then he noticed Carrie was drinking some kind of cola. “You don’t drink coffee?” he asked.

“No. Diet Coke has caffeine, too. I drink it in the morning.”

“I can see that in the summer, but in winter? Don’t you want something hot?”

“If I feel cold, I drink hot tea,” Carrie admitted. “I’ve got all the stuff for hot tea at the office. Sometimes I drink it there.”

Jim looked at Carrie, puzzling over her relationship with Will. If Will hadn’t shown how much he loved his wife and son, Jim might’ve thought they were having an affair. But Will seemed to act like a father to Carrie.

“So you like working for Will?”

“Yes, of course,” Carrie said at once.

The waitress delivered their breakfasts and silence reigned as they ate. Then, with a second cup of coffee in front of him, Jim looked at Carrie. “I’m still not sure if Will really has a job open or he’s simply doing what Vivian wants him to do.”

“Surely you don’t believe—”

“Why else would he offer a job to a stranger?” Jim challenged her.

“You’re not a stranger, Jim.” Carrie nodded as Jim’s gaze narrowed. “When Vivian first asked Will to find Vanessa’s siblings, he warned her that they might not be the kind of people she would want Vanessa to know.” She grinned. “Even he will admit he had low expectations of the rich. He figured Vivian thought Vanessa’s siblings would be wealthy, like her.”

“And they weren’t?”

“We found Rebecca first, in Arkansas. She was a single mother with no help from her adoptive parents. They wouldn’t even speak to her. She was providing for her son and continuing her college classes at night.”

“So he invited her to Texas for a visit?” Jim asked.

“Not on your life. He wouldn’t do that until he had figured out what was going on in her life. He went to Arkansas so he could interview her in person.”

“That sounds safe.”

“It was—until Vivian insisted on going with him. He told her she could go on the condition that she didn’t reveal her identity. He told Rebecca she was his assistant.”

“And she bought that?”

“She did until Vivian told her differently. Once Vivian met her, she insisted she come back to Dallas to meet her sister.” Carrie smiled. “You see, Vivian sees with her heart, not her head. She’s different from most rich people, and that’s how she raised Vanessa, too.”

“Is that when Will fell for her?” Jim asked, doubt in his voice.

“I don’t think it was that fast. Will had been married before to a lady who wanted money, however she could get it. She divorced Will to marry a man almost twenty years older than her because he was wealthy.”

“It makes it seem unlikely that he’d fall for Vivian, then.”

Carrie chuckled. “He was a goner when he saw Vivian’s generosity to Rebecca, offering her a home, helping her return to school full-time, becoming Joey’s grandma. That’s how she convinced Will without even trying. He realized she was different from the rich women he’d met in the past.” Carrie paused, then gauging Jim’s expression, said, “All of which is a long explanation so you’ll understand that we know a great deal about you.”

He looked confused. “I don’t see how Will’s love life explains why you already know a lot about me.”

“It explains how Will wouldn’t invite you to come meet your family unless he believed you wouldn’t disappoint Vivian and your sisters. We’ve talked to many of your superior officers. We know about your returning to college to get a degree and moving up in the officer ranks. We’ve talked to men who served under you.” Carrie stopped talking because of the frown on Jim’s face.

“And what did you find that made you think I’d be a good P.I.?” he demanded.

“You’re smart, decisive, caring, honest,” Carrie said. “You can handle yourself in a fight, you majored in computer science and you’re a good friend.”

“You already knew about my degree when Will asked about my computer skills?” Jim asked, one eyebrow raised.

Carrie had the grace to look a little embarrassed. “Yes. We weren’t sure how you’d feel about having been investigated.”

“I don’t like it one damn bit!”

Carrie kept her gaze fixed on her plate, pretending to ignore Jim’s glare.

“If someone you loved wanted to find a stranger, wouldn’t you investigate the person before you introduced them?” Carrie asked gently.

After a moment of silence, Jim said, “Yeah, I would. But that doesn’t mean I want to work as a P.I.”

“Never said it did,” Will agreed, suddenly appearing at the table. “But I hope Carrie explained everything to you. We need some help. If you don’t agree to work for me, I’ll have to find someone else.” Will sat at the table and waved for the waitress to bring his breakfast.

“Tell me about the work.”

Will began to tell him about cases they had pending, between bites, pointing out that most of their cases involved investigating people trying to trick the insurance companies. “Occasionally, we take cases that the police have given up on. Or cases like Vivian’s.”

“No divorce cases? No tailing cheating husbands?”

“I try to avoid them.”

Jim looked at Carrie. “What do you do?”