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“Oh, yeah… that’s the stuff,” she acknowledged softly – and then laughed as they shared a look. “I sound like a druggie getting a hit from her dealer.”
“You sound like it too,” he chuckled, grinning. “Does that mean I can tempt you out here for another ‘fence rendezvous’ tomorrow night?”
“I would come anyway,” she replied, feeling suddenly shy as she met his eyes and saw his smile widen.
“I’m glad,” he breathed. “I’m really glad.”
“Tell me about yourself before the speakers announce lights out,” she whispered. “Let’s talk.”
“Not a lot to talk about on my end,” he admitted, wincing. “I had a pretty messed up childhood and bounced around in foster care until I got in at the Academy. They saved my butt.”
“Ahhh,” she acknowledged, not judging in the slightest. She was really proud he got himself out of a messy situation and seemed to be doing well. “I’m the youngest of eight…” and saw his mouth drop open in shock.
“Eight?”
“Yes,” she smiled. “I grew up in a very loving home, very family oriented, and dirt poor. Pass-me-downs were a legitimate thing in our home, so going into the military to learn a trade was a simple choice.”
“Do you miss home?”
“Sometimes,” she admitted. “I miss Sunday dinners at my parents’ house, but I do not miss tornado season. Wichita Falls seems to be a magnet for storms – or so it feels like. If I hear the sirens, it’s like instant PTSD for me.”
“Have you ever been in a tornado?”
“Yep. We all crowded into a concrete storm shelter that was half sunken into the ground to keep it secure. You stepped down into it and bolted the door from the inside. The creepiest moments of my life because it really sounds like a freight train. I was twelve.”
“I can honestly say that I have not had the pleasure,” Austin chuckled. “And I’m okay with that.”
“Right? I could go without that experience again.”
“I can imagine. You said you were from Little Rock?”
“Yes.”
“Did you like it? Like the area?”
“It was just a city like any other,” he said openly. “It wasn’t a matter of ‘like’ or ‘dislike’… it was where I grew up.”
“Home is different now, isn’t it?”
“Very.”
“Same for me – despite my upbringing,” she admitted. “I feel like ‘home’ is on pause right now and I’m existing out of my footlocker.”
“Exactly.”
“Someday, though,” she smiled. “Someday I will look back at this and think ‘man, that footlocker was so much easier to keep tidy’…”
She met his smile in silent understanding as the announcements sounded in the distance.
“That’s our cue, flyboy…”
“I know,” he began, and hesitated. “This is so nice. I enjoy this more than I ever thought possible.”
“Me too.”
“How about tomorrow night I bring an iPod or something? We should be able to listen to one or two songs, maybe dance slightly through the fence or…”
“Let’s just talk,” she smiled ruefully. “I’m not sure there is a way to dance here and that might be a distant future thing someday. Besides, I bet you like your toes, don’t you?”
