Page 13 of Salvaging My Heart
“I’ll go over there this afternoon, sir. Thank you for setting this up for me.” Leif could tell that his voice was a bit froggy — no pun intended. He knew he was valued by the command, but this was above and beyond.
“Meet with them then come down here and close out the projects on the slate. I’m thinking you could be back up there by the spring. Make us proud,” the commander said then hung up the phone.
“Did I just hear that man correctly?” Kim asked from the entry to the kitchen.
“Shit. Where’s Mom?” Leif asked, expecting his mom to glomp onto the idea that he was coming home before it was a done deal.
“She’s over at her house, watchingThe Price is Right. Now, spill?” Kim demanded, rolling up to the table.
“Let me get us some coffee and I’ll tell you all about it.” Leif placed a kiss on top of his sister’s head. He hoped this all fell into place. Being home the past ten days made him realize how much he missed his family.
“Hey Squirrel,” Leif said as his nephew climbed in the car. It still filled him with a sense of awe when he looked at Nick. He was approaching that gangling stage where he was all arms and legs but he had a good head on his shoulders for a ten-year-old.
Leif pulled out of the parking lot and headed toward the town center. He was going to take Nick for a snack and tell him that he was leaving. They’d developed a bond over the past few days that hadn’t been there before and Leif wanted him to know that he wasn’t deserting him. His meeting with the XO and director at the SLC had gone well. It was going to be a big change for him. More pool time, no salvage operation to focus on but Leif thought that the slower pace would be good. No deployment, pretty regular work schedule. Yeah, it sounded a bit too good to be true.
“Where are we going? I’ve got to do homework and get ready for practice,” Nick said. There was his focused nephew poking out.
“Thought we’d stop for a snack before heading home.” Leif glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw the frown on Nick’s face change to a smile.
“Ice cream?” he asked, hopefully. Leif chuckled seeing the little boy poke through.
“We can do that. Mystic Drawbridge?” One night of spoiling his dinner wasn’t going to kill him. Chances were that Nick would scarf down whatever Kim made no matter what he had now.
He pulled into the parking lot which surprisingly was quite full and parked. Nick was out of the car in a shot, bouncing on his toes at the back of the car by the time Leif got there. Putting a hand on Nick’s shoulder, he gave an effort to contain the energy coming from his nephew.
They were quickly seated by a nice college-aged girl. She left them with menus and a smile.
“Okay, Squirrel. No ordering everything,” Leif teased Nick. A glance had him deciding on caramel lovers sundae and guessing that Nick was going to choose the chocolate delight.
“Hi, I’m Tiffany. What can I get you today?” a teen said as she approached their table.
“Nick?” Leif prodded his nephew. Looking at Nick, he noticed Nick’s eyes were wide. Hmmm, puppy love?
“Ummm, can I have the brownie overload?” Nick stumbled out.
“What ice cream, sweets?” Tiffany asked with a smile. Leif could see the blush covering Nick’s face now and held in his laugh. His nephew was dumbstruck by a girl. Oh how he was happy he was going to get to be around to see him through his teen years.
“Mystic Mud, please,” Nick said before looking down at the table.
“Drink?” she prompted. Oh lord. Leif took pity on Nick.
“We’ll both have water with our orders. I’ll take the caramel lovers with turtle ice cream.” Leif handed Tiffany the menus and watched Nick’s gaze follow her as she walked away. “You okay, Nick?”
Nick pursed his lips and nodded. “She’s…” he trailed off and Leif could tell he wasn’t sure how to put his feelings into words.
Leif couldn’t hold in his chuckles this time. He pushed a set of silverware wrapped in a napkin in front of Nick. “It’s okay, Squirrel. She’s a bit older than you but she’s pretty. Just remember to treat any girl with respect and you’ll be fine. I’m sure your mom would like you to wait a few more years but you do things your own pace, okay?”
The blush covered Nick’s face again and he opened his mouth to say something but stopped short as Tiffany returned to the table, sliding glasses of water in front of them both. “Sundaes will be just a minute,” she said and moved away.
True to her word, before Leif could broach the subject of him leaving she was placing their food on the table. Nick fell on his sundae like a starving wolf. Leif could only shake his head. Growth spurt definitely coming soon.
“So Nick, you know I’m only here because your mom and Mimi were hurt.” Leif started with. “Now that they’re both out of the hospital, I’ve got to go back.” There was no other way to break the news.
“But Uncle Leif, the championship is this weekend,” Nick whined. Leif knew this wasn’t going to be easy.
“I wish I could be here for it, Nick, but I’ve got to go back to Little Creek. Finish up the missions I’m responsible for before I move,” Leif told him gently.
“But I thought you liked Coach and were going to be his boyfriend.” Nick put down his spoon and looked down at his sundae with a frown. His little shoulders slumped.
