Page 26 of The Forever Christmas Tree

“How is your aunt, anyway?”

“She’s fine, as far as I can tell, but you were right to warn me. I appreciate that.”

“So, dish,” Laura encouraged.

“She’s been lonely, and sensing other lonely folks of a certain age around her, she’s invited them, or they invited themselves, to live with her, temporarily. I don’t have all the details yet, but it seems tame enough.”

“Even the shady dance club with the Julio Iglesias lookalike?”

Wendy smiled at that description, but had to admit that Raul did look a bit like the Latin music artist, albeit with white hair. “I haven’t seen much of the dancing yet.”

Laura leaned across the table and half whispered, “Do he and Aunt Mil sleep together?”

Wendy leaned forward a bit, too, and whispered back, “Yes.”

“Hard to picture two old people doing the dirty, huh?”

“That reeks of ageism,” Wendy said with mock primness.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t think the same thing.”

“I did feel a bit uncomfortable last night when she and Raul went off to bed together. In fact—and if you ever repeat this, I swear I will hunt you down and hurt you, and believe me, we WEALS have secret torture methods—I saw him pat her ass when they were walking down the hall.” It reminded her a little of the time she’d seen Eliza Rutledge pinch her husband’s butt all those years ago.

“That’s kind of cute, actually.” Their orders arrived, and they ate silently for a few moments, relishing the delicious food, before Laura asked, “So, are you going to let me interview you for a feature story?”

“No.”

“Please. Pretty please. I want to get a face-to-face color story on what it’s like for a hometown girl to go off and be a female warrior against terrorism.”

“It’s been done before, honey.”

“Not about you, and not in my paper.”

“I can’t, Laura. That’s all I need is for some terrorist getting my name and address and coming after me.”

“Then, how about those SEALs you’re bringing here as houseguests? It could be anonymous. I wouldn’t have to use names or pictures, or maybe shadowy images. Any hunks in the bunch?”

She had to think for a moment. She’d become so used to her SEAL buddies, on missions and on the base, knowing way too much about them, some of which was not so attractive (like belching on command, or body odor after a day in the field, or watching them hit on women, or worse yet, cheat on women) that she didn’t see them the way other people did. “I suppose they are good looking. JAM—Jacob Alvarez Mendozo—used to be a priest, or in a seminary at one time. Merrill ‘Geek’ Good is a genius, graduated from college when he was sixteen or near to. Aside from being a world-class battle strategist, he’s also an inventor. Made millions, they claim, from something called a penile glove. Don’t ask. And K-4, that’s Kevin Fortunato, joined the SEALs when his wife died of cancer.”

“Holy moley, girl! A priest, a sexy tycoon, and a grieving soldier widower! You’ve given me fodder for a year of stories.”

Wendy just smiled, not about to prick Laura’s balloon by informing her that SEALs, especially active ones, did not speak about their work or their lives, especially to a newspaper reporter. Public exposure was taboo, as she’d already mentioned to Laura in terms of terrorists. But besides that, seasoned soldiers did not like to talk about their work.

“Why didn’t they travel here with you?”

“They decided to go to New Jersey first. There’s some kind of treasure-hunting company that’s for sale, and they’re thinking about buying it, I guess. Or exploring some possibilities for the future when they eventually retire. Special forces men, and women, burn out after a while, as you can imagine.”

“Good grief! Another story angle. Hunky treasure-hunting SEALs!”

Wendy reached across the table and squeezed her friend’s hand. “It is so good to see you.”

“Likewise,” Laura said, squeezing back. “Does that include you? Are you ready to give up the webfoot warrioress life?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.” She told Laura then about the recent death of their teammate and how it was affecting them all. “Maybe we just need a little R & R to re-energize.”

“That’s what we do best here on the Outer Banks, rest and relaxation,” Laura said. “Can I ask you one thing?”

Uh-oh! Wendy sensed by the way Laura bit her bottom lip with nervousness that she was not going to like this question.