Page 11 of Home Town
She whipped through the names of the one female and the two males already seated. Names he had no hope of remembering, especially now with his recently scrambled brain. She told him they were all heading home just like he was—even though he had never confirmed that fact with her.
Then the bubbly, overly helpful volunteer moved on, leaving him there to be bombarded with unwanted conversation from the group of strangers.
The discussion covered the usual. Where home was for everyone. What kind of refreshments the USO offered for them to enjoy while they waited. The woman—Kathy? Kate?—even offered candy to them all from a bag she had brought with her.
They were one big happy group of travelers, trapped together, forced to socialize until boarding time.
He was just thinking he’d make it through the wait fairly easily when the conversation turned to the inevitable question—the one he’d been dreading—how he’d gotten injured.
In a Hail, Mary attempt to avoid the conversation he did not want to have about a topic he couldn’t avoid no matter how hard he tried to dodge it, Corey finally channeled good old Jonesy.
With a move that would have made his fellow aircraft carrier drone pilot proud, Corey drew in a breath and delivered a lie that spilled out of his mouth as smooth as silk, “My FOB blew up.”
He left it at that. Nothing more. And damned if it didn’t work. No one questioned a thing.
He’d have to text Jonesy and tell him his idea was freaking brilliant. Then again, Jonesy didn’t need any more reason to be cocky and think better of himself.
All that mattered was that Corey was feeling better already. For the first time in weeks things were finally looking up.
Chapter Six
“Peanut Butter! No!” Josie yelled as the orange kitten perched on the rim of the glass tank, poised to dip one paw into the water in pursuit of the fish contained there.
Or maybe the two-month-old would dive right in and try to go for a swim. After only two days with the foster cats, Josie wouldn’t be surprised by anything the tiny terrors did.
“Jelly! What are you eating?” She dove for the white-pawed marmalade.
Wrapping her hands around his fat little belly, she peered into his mouth.
She grabbed the tail end of the twist-tie from the loaf of bread she’d made the mistake of leaving on the counter just in time before the kitten swallowed it.
“Ugh!” She put the cat down and stomped to the kitchen, burying the deadly piece of plastic deep in the kitchen garbage pail before glancing around the space for more possible threats.
How did her mother and father handle these little monsters? She didn’t know, but she was determined nothing bad was going to happen to the creatures on her watch. Even if she had to baby proof the whole damn house.
As she bent over the screen of her phone and the Amazon app thinking maybe some cat toys would keep the little troublemakers occupied, the cell in her hand lit with an incoming call.
She tapped the screen that displayed her best friend’s name and photo.
“Everything okay?” Josie asked in lieu of hello.
Bailey’s weary voice came through the speaker phone as she said, “Everything’s fine. And you don’t have to ask me that every time I call.”
“Quinn is away doing God only knows what, who knows where. And you’re there in California in the house all alone while I’m all the way across the country in New York, so yes I do have to ask. Every time.”
But since everything was fine according to Bailey, Josie navigated back to the shopping app and typed Kitten Toys into the search bar.
“The neighbors are so close we can see inside their windows—you know this—so I’m not exactly alone.”
Josie let out a snort of a laugh at the truth of Bailey’s words.
Their neighbor had a habit of walking around in his underwear in clear view of the window that faced their house—what they could see of his underwear beneath his beer belly. Not that she was looking. She desperately tried not to but sometimes accidents happened.
“I’m fine here,” Bailey continued.
“Can we put a ban on the word fine for the duration of Quinn’s mission or op or whatever he’s away doing and for the rest of the time while I’m here?” Josie asked as she added a package of three catnip mice bargain priced at $1.99 with free shipping to her shopping cart, then added the suggested item—a bag of plastic balls with bells inside them.
“Why?” Bailey asked.
