Page 17 of Be With Me
Chapter 8
Debbie knew she was so out of her depth. What did she know about a military ball? About the military for that matter? She was from a small town outside of Asheville. Only time she dressed up was her prom and she certainly hadn’t had a date as breathtaking as Rafe. When he’d put on his jacket and turned to her with his arms out? She’d had trouble inhaling.
They left the hotel room and walked to the elevator. As they waited another soldier with a date approached.
“Sergeant Luna,” the soldier said. Okay, she’d admit it, she had no idea what rank this guy was. The woman next to him, looked on the younger side as did the soldier. Not that Debbie was that old herself.
“Private Johnson,” Rafe said with a nod. “Glad you could make it. And this is…” Rafe trailed off, obviously cluing the soldier in to introduce his date.
The soldier blushed. “This is my wife, sergeant. Claire? This is Staff Sergeant Luna. He keeps us all out of trouble. Remember when I told you about—”
The elevator arrived and Rafe interrupted the private. “Story for another time? Nice to meet you, Claire.” Rafe guided Debbie into the elevator and then put his hand on the doors to hold them for the private and his wife.
“Oh right, sergeant.” The soldier practically jumped to get his wife in the car with them.
Debbie tightened her lips in a grin and winked at Rafe who seemed to be having the same problem she was having in wanting to laugh. It didn’t take long to reach the lobby where Rafe repeated the process of holding the door for the private.
“We’ll see you later, Johnson.” Rafe escorted Debbie to the left as the other couple went to the right. They strolled to the entryway of the ballroom. Debbie had Rafe’s hand in a death grip. She couldn’t process all the men in formal wear … she even saw a few women that had on long dark blue skirts and the same jacket that Rafe had on which if she thought about it made sense since they could be police too… and woman dressed to the nines.
Rafe squeezed her hand back and whispered in her ear, “You are the most beautiful woman here. I’m so glad that you’re with me.” He placed a kiss on her cheek. “Would you like a drink before the doors open? There’s a bar set up over by the seating chart. Please Lord in Heaven that we’re not sitting with Johnson and his wife.”
“He seemed nice?” Debbie offered before answering, “I’d love a drink. Maybe a glass of wine?”
“As you wish,” Rafe said, making her relax.
“How did you know thatPrincess Bridewas one of my favorite movies?” Debbie asked distracted. There was a soldier with a lot of medals and gold on his jacket. She knew that was important but with all the classwork this past week, she hadn’t had the time to look it up.
Rafe stopped next to a poster on an easel. Debbie didn’t pay attention to what he was doing. She was awestruck by uniforms. Rafe was going to have to explain this all to her. There was no way she was doing this again without some knowledge. Probably should have asked before tonight.
“Good, not Johnson. We’re sitting with Top and his wife. How we got so lucky, yeah not so sure.” Debbie wasn’t sure what she heard in Rafe’s voice but before she could ask, an announcement started.
“Ladies and gentlemen, the receiving line will be beginning in five minutes,” a voice broke over the sounds of the room.
“We’ve got a few minutes before it’s our turn in line. It’ll go in order of companies. Twenty-first will go first but Bravo is second.” Rafe must have seen the confusion on Debbie’s face that she was feeling. He placed a small kiss on her lips. “It’s okay, you don’t need to know all of this right now. It’s a lot to take in. My company will go second. Only thing you need to remember is don’t offer to shake the hand of the first person in line. That’s the adjutant and he’s going to ask me our names and introduce us to the first in line who will pass the information down.”
Debbie narrowed her eyes at Rafe. “There will be some instruction prior to me doing this with you again.”
Rafe threw back his head and laughed, drawing the attention of a few around them. “As you wish,” he repeated.
§ § §
Mooney and Debbie sat down at the table and she touched the different silverware. “Top and his wife are sitting with us. Watch what she does,” he suggested.
Debbie nodded and glanced at him. “I’ve got some idea but there are a few utensils that I’m not sure about.”
“I wasn’t sure either my first time. I’m guessing this is your first ball?” a woman asked from Debbie’s right.
When she looked, a stunning woman sat one seat over from Debbie. A soldier with a diamond on his sleeve held her chair. Rafe jumped from his chair.
“First Sergeant.”
“Luna, might I assume this lovely lady is your date for the evening?” the first sergeant asked. Okay, she assumed that was who this was since Rafe addressed him like that.
“This beautiful woman has made me a lucky man by attending with me. May I present Debra Hansen? Debbie, this is First Sergeant Downey, also known as Top.”
Debbie went to stand but the first sergeant held out his hand. “Please, stay seated. It’s a pleasure to meet you. This is my wife, Gail.”
“Nice to meet you, ma’am. It is my first time at a ball like this.” Debbie tried hard to not be nervous and fidget. Her instructors had been mentioning that as a bad habit of hers.
“Gail, there’s enough formality at these events. I have to say that I’m glad to see one of the junior NCOs bring a date. It’s always the same people at everything,” Gail said. “Don’t feel intimidated. We were all where you are at one point. And if you’ve got questions? Ask away. Just like Steve here is all about mentoring soldiers, I’m all about teaching new spouses what the Army is all about.”
Debbie wasn’t sure what to say to that.New spouse?
“Umm, Mrs. Downey, we’re not… umm, maybe some…” Debbie turned to see Rafe blushing and felt all the tension fade away as the first sergeant and his wife laughed.
“You’re a lunatic.”
“Ah but I’m your lunatic,” Rafe pointed out.
