Come and Talk to Me by June Kramin Page B

paper and asked him about it, did he fess up to being a part of it. There was an occasional rescue at sea and, of course, the patrolling to keep the beaches free from rowdy spring breakers at the numerous bikini contests. All he had to say about that was about helping a twelve-year-old girl remove a thorn from her foot. He was afraid she had become smitten with the uniform; the poor girl would probably chase sailors in her teens. He also reminisced on their first thorn, which she thought was silly, but she did love the kitty earrings he brought her as a gift for the ‘thorniversary.’
    “I saw these and thought how great they’d look on you.”
    “I love them!” she squealed. Reggie loved the cats she saw all over Key West, nicknamed ‘Hemingways.’ They had six toes or more on each front paw. “Can we get a cat?”
    He dropped his head down. “I was afraid you’d ask that. I should have gone with the Dalmatians. No, we can’t.”
    “Why not? Aren’t we allowed one in housing? ’Cause that’s stupid. This should be treated as our house.”
    “No. I just hate ’em. Besides, I’m allergic.”
    “But I want one.” She closed the gap between them and stroked his chest with the open palm of her hand.
    “I’d give you the moon if I could, babe, but we can’t get a cat.”
    “I don’t want the moon, I want a kitten.” She added her second hand to his chest and looked up with pouty eyes.
    “Not gonna work. I’m sorry. We really can’t get one.”
    “This sucks.” She swung away from him and was about to storm off.
    He took her arm and pulled her back. He held her face and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips. “I’m sorry.”
    She leaned into his chest. It wasn’t worth crying over, especially knowing he felt bad about it. There wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for her and she knew it. “I don’t feel like cooking tonight. It’s too hot.”
    “I’ll cook.”
    “Take me out?”
    “Anywhere, babe.”
    “Lobster?”
    He laughed. “You bet.” He leaned down and gave her another kiss. “Any chance I could get dessert first? That sundress is makin’ me hot.”
    “Funny. I was about to say the same thing about your uniform. You don’t usually wear it home.”
    “I wanted to see if it had the same effect on you as the twelve-year-old.”
    “Oh, that sounded so wrong.”
    “It sounded better in my head.”
    That was usually the pace when Van walked through the door. Uniform or not, sex was almost immediate. Two days to each of them had been an eternity. One morning, Reggie went to fly into his arms and he put his hand up to stop her.
    “What’s wrong?” she asked with fear in her eyes.
    “I’m hurtin’, baby. I need to go lie down.”
    “What is it?”
    “I blew my back out.”
    “How?”
    He held onto the counter and let out a groan. “Can you help me to the bedroom first?”
    She positioned herself under his arm and helped him walk into their room. “Shouldn’t I get you to the hospital?”
    “I’ll be fine. I just need to lie down for a bit. It’ll go back in place on its own. Could you get me a couple of aspirin though, please?”
    “Sure.” She ran off to retrieve them and some water while he undressed. He climbed into bed, face down, after taking them. “Do you want me to rub it for you?”
    He shook his head no. “I think that’ll make it hurt worse.” She gently stroked it as she kissed between his shoulder blades. “Let me rest, baby. Trust me. It ain’t gonna work.”
    “This will be the first time we’ve missed a day.”
    “I’ll make it up to you. I promise.”
    “You want to tell me about it?” She was worried.
    “Later. Just let me lie here, okay?”
    “All right.” She kissed the back of his head. “I don’t work until noon. I’ll check in on you before I go. I love you.”
    He grunted a painful reply.
    At eleven thirty, she went in with a sandwich and a soda, but he was sound asleep. She left it at his bedside, kissed him, and went to work.