city and the occasional smells of that night that still lingered in my nostrils.
Curled up in an old blanket. I stared out into the backyard. My mind returning to the blonde and the image from the security cameras. Her eyes, I always returned to her eye and the way they looked at me.
I had come to my mother's house in hopes of trying to forget that night and the crazy idea of finding the blonde who carried me to the hospital. But after a day, I couldn't. I only found myself thinking about her more. To the point that I barely paid any attention to the conversation going on around me or when the dogs happily climbed up on my lap and napped away as I zoned out. I wasn't even able to pay much attention to my mother's insistent requests to stay a few more days until it was settled upon. I apparently had said yes to staying until Wednesday under her watchful eye and care. Which was fine, the longer I was away from the city, the better.
But with every minute I sat in the chaise, burying my nose in the blanket, I grew anxious. My thoughts running to different ways of reaching out to the mysterious woman. Whether it was to email her at her faculty email address, hustle the admissions office for a phone number, or call on a police favor and get an address. Then there was the extreme option, going to the Naval Academy and meeting my savior face to face.
I chuckled to myself, looking up at the evening sky, "You are crazy Alex, you don't even know this woman." I didn't know her, and I should be more concerned with helping that cold detective find the clues to close this case. Not chase after a woman who was there in my moment of need.
A very beautiful, blonde woman with eyes the color of expensive granite.
I fidgeted with the frayed edges of the blankets, turning to the sounds of Barney barking his way back to the house, when spontaneity struck. I dug out my phone, tuning out the sounds of Annie and Barney barking together, showing Bill and my mother the way home, and sent Stacy a text.
-Stacy, want to go to sightseeing at the Naval Academy with me on Wednesday? I will buy you a lobster roll.-
-The Naval Academy? I thought you were over men in uniform?-
I smiled, I was over men in uniform since I broke up with the NYPD cop, but there was something about a woman in uniform that had caught my interest.
–I am, but I’m off for two weeks and Bill tells me it's a must see? There's also an outlet mall outside the campus. –
-Sold. I will pick you up Wednesday morning. –
I shook my head, Stacy was a sucker for shopping, bargains or no bargains. I replied to her and before I locked up my phone, I drifted to the picture gallery. Pulling up the security image I had sent to my phone for quick reference.
The longer I looked over the blurred edges and mottled colors, the more I felt the need to find this woman. It was like I was being driven by a force other than a need to thank her. I wanted to know this woman in a way that had me questioning a lot of things.
Sunday was always my favorite day of the week. It felt slower than the rest of the week and gave me an immense sense of calm. Like the one I was feeling now as I leaned on the top of the wooden fence, listening to Dale tell me about his first few days on a river boat in Vietnam.
"I grew up in Louisiana, Victoria, that's a hot tropical heat on its own. But sitting on those rivers in that metal tub, it felt like I was sitting on the sun and Jesus was dumping hot water over my head." He smiled at me, propping his hand on the top of his rake, "Everything smelled like rotting vegetation. I can't look at cooked spinach without feeling like I am right back on that damn boat." Dale shifted, "I don't imagine it was any better for you at the beginning of your war."
I smiled softly at the old veteran. I had found a strange connection with him, one that came with having seen the things he and I had in our respective wars. "I don't think I will ever like sand again. Especially on a hot
Curled up in an old blanket. I stared out into the backyard. My mind returning to the blonde and the image from the security cameras. Her eyes, I always returned to her eye and the way they looked at me.
I had come to my mother's house in hopes of trying to forget that night and the crazy idea of finding the blonde who carried me to the hospital. But after a day, I couldn't. I only found myself thinking about her more. To the point that I barely paid any attention to the conversation going on around me or when the dogs happily climbed up on my lap and napped away as I zoned out. I wasn't even able to pay much attention to my mother's insistent requests to stay a few more days until it was settled upon. I apparently had said yes to staying until Wednesday under her watchful eye and care. Which was fine, the longer I was away from the city, the better.
But with every minute I sat in the chaise, burying my nose in the blanket, I grew anxious. My thoughts running to different ways of reaching out to the mysterious woman. Whether it was to email her at her faculty email address, hustle the admissions office for a phone number, or call on a police favor and get an address. Then there was the extreme option, going to the Naval Academy and meeting my savior face to face.
I chuckled to myself, looking up at the evening sky, "You are crazy Alex, you don't even know this woman." I didn't know her, and I should be more concerned with helping that cold detective find the clues to close this case. Not chase after a woman who was there in my moment of need.
A very beautiful, blonde woman with eyes the color of expensive granite.
I fidgeted with the frayed edges of the blankets, turning to the sounds of Barney barking his way back to the house, when spontaneity struck. I dug out my phone, tuning out the sounds of Annie and Barney barking together, showing Bill and my mother the way home, and sent Stacy a text.
-Stacy, want to go to sightseeing at the Naval Academy with me on Wednesday? I will buy you a lobster roll.-
-The Naval Academy? I thought you were over men in uniform?-
I smiled, I was over men in uniform since I broke up with the NYPD cop, but there was something about a woman in uniform that had caught my interest.
–I am, but I’m off for two weeks and Bill tells me it's a must see? There's also an outlet mall outside the campus. –
-Sold. I will pick you up Wednesday morning. –
I shook my head, Stacy was a sucker for shopping, bargains or no bargains. I replied to her and before I locked up my phone, I drifted to the picture gallery. Pulling up the security image I had sent to my phone for quick reference.
The longer I looked over the blurred edges and mottled colors, the more I felt the need to find this woman. It was like I was being driven by a force other than a need to thank her. I wanted to know this woman in a way that had me questioning a lot of things.
Sunday was always my favorite day of the week. It felt slower than the rest of the week and gave me an immense sense of calm. Like the one I was feeling now as I leaned on the top of the wooden fence, listening to Dale tell me about his first few days on a river boat in Vietnam.
"I grew up in Louisiana, Victoria, that's a hot tropical heat on its own. But sitting on those rivers in that metal tub, it felt like I was sitting on the sun and Jesus was dumping hot water over my head." He smiled at me, propping his hand on the top of his rake, "Everything smelled like rotting vegetation. I can't look at cooked spinach without feeling like I am right back on that damn boat." Dale shifted, "I don't imagine it was any better for you at the beginning of your war."
I smiled softly at the old veteran. I had found a strange connection with him, one that came with having seen the things he and I had in our respective wars. "I don't think I will ever like sand again. Especially on a hot
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