Page 27 of Welcome to Forever
Chapter 7
Micah ran toward the parking lot on Monday afternoon.Shit.He was going to be late picking up Ben. And it was against regulations to wear his uniform in public. He guessed having his dad as the commanding officer of Camp Leon helped with some things.
Tires squealed as he pressed the gas pedal. This was the sucky part about being a single dad—having no one else to depend on, but himself. Although, he had Aunt Clara and Uncle Rick now, too. That was the great thing about living in Seaside—it came with extended family. Aunt Clara was the equivalent of Mayberry’s Aunt Bea. Uncle Rick was mostly quiet, a good listener, and Micah had fond memories of him tossing a baseball a time or two in the backyard as a kid. There were no memories of his own father doing that with him.
As soon as he was off the military base, Micah lifted his cellphone to his ear and dialed Aunt Clara’s number. She’d have no problem picking Ben up from school. She was always asking to do more for them, wanting to cook and do their laundry. She was a godsend some days—most days.
He waited, anxiety building with each unanswered ring.
Great.
After dialing Clara again with no answer, he reluctantly dialed the school.
Kat’s voice came on the other line after just a few rings. She’d avoided him this morning as he’d dropped Ben off, no doubt embarrassed about Friday night when she’d slurred and stumbled and, in the sweetest possible way, had almost thrown herself at him. Or she was mad about what could be perceived as his rejection. “Hello.”
“Kat, it’s Micah Peterson. I’m really sorry, but I’m running late. I’ll be there in ten,” he promised, speeding up to make that promise even close to true.
Her voice was soft, reassuring. “Ben’s fine. Slow down and don’t kill yourself getting over here. I was planning on working late anyway.”
His foot reflexively lifted on the gas pedal. “Of course you were. Thanks,” he said, breathing a heavy sigh of relief.
“I guess I owe you after the other night. Thanks for getting me home safely. And I still haven’t repaid you for taking me home when I lost my keys. Or for finding my keys, for that matter.”
He tried to bite back his words. He’d been tossing around the idea of inviting her to the Marine Corps ball in a few weeks—ever since she’d admitted that she wasn’t engaged. Going alone this year wasn’t an option. Single people got stuck at the bar, and he hated the bar. Thanks to his father, he’d learned not to drink at these functions. The old man was adamant that he always keep a professional appearance at work and during off-hours. But there were no off-hours when you were the son of the commanding officer of the military base. Someone was always watching and, according to his father, Micah needed to be an example of exemplary behavior at all times.
The problem was that if you didn’t drink at such a function, you got stuck being designated driver for all the other guys without dates.Allthe guys being as many as could legally fit in his Jeep Cherokee last year.
Micah flinched at the memory, and then flinched again as the memory concluded with one of the guys losing the entire contents of his stomach in the backseat of Micah’s Jeep.
Not this year.
So he had two options. Invite Nicole, who’d shattered Ben’s heart when she’d called him a cripple a few months back.No way, no how.Or invite someone else. Kat was the only single woman he knew in Seaside at the moment. She was also attractive.
“We could call it even if you’d agree to be my date to something,” he said, only a few short minutes from Seaside Elementary now. He waited a long moment for her answer, each beat of silence punctuated loudly by his pounding heart. “ ‘Date’ is the wrong word. If you’d attend a function with me and save me from a night of prolonged, boring conservations. It’s next month. All you would have to do is wear a dress and you’d get a free meal out of it.” He’d wait to tell her it was the Marine Corps ball until after she agreed, he decided. In his experience, women either loved getting dressed up and being paraded around, or they despised it. He suspected Kat, with her workaholic ways, was in the latter group.
The silence continued on the line. At this rate, he’d be waiting for her answer while standing face-to-face with her at the school.
“Actually, if you said yes, I’d oweyou,” he said, unable to stop talking.
“Really?” she finally asked.
He smiled to himself. What was he doing? He needed to ask someone who didn’t make his heart sputter all over the place every time he caught a glimpse of her. He liked Kat, which was all the more reasonnotto take her to the Marine Corps ball.
Except taking her almost made going sound fun. The thought of dancing with her, holding her close—yeah, I could get excited about that.
“Okay,” she finally said.
Her answer was so soft that he had to wonder if he’d imagined it.
“My sister and Val have actually been getting on me about going out more. Maybe this will shut them up.”
“So we’ll be helping each other out. Win-win.” He parked and climbed out of his vehicle, breaking into a slight jog as he approached the school’s entrance. “I’m here, by the way.”
“I’ll go get Ben. See you in a minute.” A dial tone replaced her voice.
His chest was already swelling in anticipation of locking eyes with hers. Yep, something about her had his heart pouncing in his chest like a dog after a treat. And as much as he wanted to avoid her, he also needed to see her. It’d been better when he’d thought she was engaged. At least then his attraction had promised to never amount to anything.
With her being single, attraction could only escalate to more. He wasn’t ready for more, and might never be—at least not until Ben was grown. That’s what his brief “thing” with Nicole had shown him. His son needed his parents right now, but with Jessica out in the desert, he would have to make up for her absence by being that much more involved.
