Page 91 of Welcome to Forever
“That’s what I thought. We cook it and you serve it. The pretty ones always serve,” Micah said.
This comment spawned a deep frown from Donny. “Men aren’t pretty.”
“Tell that to Brad Pitt,” the other Marine, Mark, said, patting his buddy’s shoulder.
“Well, if I’m pretty, then you’re a damn Playboy bunny,” Donny told Mark, waggling his eyebrows. “Let’s call Hugh Hefner.”
When they were gone, Lawson dropped some chopped vegetables into a pan of hot oil, stepping back when it hissed loudly. “Don’t think I forgot about ribbing you on that spring in your step. I’m planning to finish that up later,” he teased.
Micah’s gaze trailed out into the banquet hall where Kat and Julie were walking in, lugging jugs of sweet tea. He smiled to himself. “And I’ll be ribbing you about checking out Kat’s sister later, too. Whether you admit to checking her out or not.”
Lawson straightened. “I’ll admit it. I’m a man and I do have eyes in my head. She’s hot.”
Micah pretended to glare at him. “You better keep your eyes and thoughts to Kat’s sister,” he growled. Because Kat was his.
He walked down to the center of the room and helped the two sisters with the jugs. “Hey, beautiful,” he said to Kat. “Beautiful day to feed some Marines.” He bent and brushed his lips against hers. She tasted sweet, like she’d just taken a sip of that tea she’d lugged in.
“Ben’s not coming?” she asked, looking around the room.
“No, he’s with my aunt. He’d get bored with us old folk, and I wanted to focus on the guys today. And you. I thought I might focus on you.”
If he wasn’t mistaken, her cheeks turned a deeper shade of rose. He liked that about her, how she blushed too easily. It made him want to say more things to make her body flush. But Lawson was in the room, and Micah had no doubt he was taking notes so he could tease him mercilessly about it later.
“I promised Ben a father-son day tomorrow, so he’s happy about that.”
Kat met his eyes and smiled. “That’s sweet. Who’d have thought? A big, tough, sweet Marine.”
Frowning, Micah shook his head. “Don’t throw that word around too loudly. The guys are already teasing me.”
Val stepped up beside them and unloaded a box of homemade pies.
“Did you make those?” Micah asked, peeking inside. Lawson and Donny were beside her now, too.
“Those look like my grandmother’s used to,” Donny said, staring up at Val, who waved a dismissive hand.
“No big deal. There are three pineapple and two pecan in there.”
“Pineapple pie?” Donny and Lawson both said at the same time. They looked at each other.
A frown settled on Donny’s lips. “My grandmother never made pineapple pies.”
Val shrugged, looking uncomfortable with the attention. “I have to get the rest of my stuff out of the car.”
“I’ll help you,” Donny said, stepping up beside her, and causing Micah and Lawson to laugh. Donny didn’t volunteer for menial jobs. He usually had to be coaxed into doing jobs that no one else wanted to do—like serving instead of cooking.
Val ran her gaze over him and released a tired sigh. “Fine,” she said and started walking toward the door.
“That’s how she treats people she likes,” Kat said, when they were out of ear range.
“Charming,” Micah said, then howled when Kat’s elbow tapped his rib cage.
An hour later, there was a long line of men and women snaking through the room, stopping at each table to put a healthy serving of real, home-cooked food on their plates. Some were in wheelchairs, others limped or showed evidence of their wounds some other way. They all sported a smile today, though, and for that Micah was proud. The Veterans’ Center had a volunteer band made up of veterans who liked to play at the community functions, and their music filled the room as people ate, laughed, and enjoyed the day.
“A success.” Micah nudged Kat, who’d been standing behind her table and watching the contented crowd for several minutes. A small smile played on her lips. “Another success for Kat Chandler.”
“Thanks to you. It was your idea,” she said.
“I don’t think you give yourself enough credit. You made this happen. And the Friendship rebels, of course.”
“Friendship Club,” she interjected playfully.
“Right. Maybe now that they know they did something to make a difference, they’ll want to do more. That’s how you change the world. One good deed at a time.”
“There you go being sweet again.” Kat leaned in to him. “How about doing a good deed for me, Sergeant Peterson?”
Hooking his eyebrow, Micah didn’t need to ask. He knew exactly what she wanted, and screw being teased by his guys. He didn’t care. “Yes, ma’am,” he said, dipping to brush his lips against hers. “That’s the sweet version,” he said, pulling back. “You get the dirty version later,” he promised.
