Soldiers in Love

Chapter 5: Donovan-3

I stood as well. “Would you like for me to go with you? At least drive you there. It will be a really long walk. Or you’ll have to transfer three times on the bus.”

Daniel opened his mouth to answer and I thought he was going to say no. Then he took a deep breath. “Yes. I would like for you to come with me. It will be good to have someone in my corner.”

I lay back on his bed, watching the afternoon soap operas while he showered and shaved. He stuck his head around the wall, making a face when he saw what I was watching.

“God, how can you watch that crap?”

I shrugged without taking my eyes off the screen. “I don’t like them very much. But if I ever start watching, I have to know what happens next.”

“Women,” Daniel muttered as he began to shave.

Thirty minutes later, I pulled to a stop in front of Daniel’s ex-wife’s house. He sat in the passenger’s seat, staring up at the house. I knew he was remembering their first house together. And probably thinking about how his life would be right now if this were his house, his wife and his son.

This was a very nice house. Much nicer than I’d ever seen before. I knew that I’d never be able to afford a place like this. Not slinging coffee anyways. I looked around. The front yard was set sort of close to the street. A stone wall adorned the edge of the yard and a lovely black wrought iron fence encircled the yard complete with an antique entryway. They were going to make sure unwelcomed people didn’t make it past the front gate.

The yard was immaculate, obviously well kept. Grass that should have been starting to turn yellow brown in the fall season was as brilliant a green as it was in the spring and summer. Even the trees still seemed to have all of their leaves. The front porch had a wide awning over it, reminding me of the old but expensive houses in the historical river district. Two large lion statues guarded each side of the front steps. I wondered what the backyard looked like. If it was as extravagant as the front yard. They seemed to have a nice sized plot of land though not even near an acre. The houses on either side were just as fancy looking. This was money.

Daniel didn’t seem as impressed as I was. But then, he wouldn’t be. He was content to live in a shabby hotel turned tenement house so something like this probably wouldn’t be high on his wish list. He glanced at the paper, checking the address for perhaps the millionth time. I looked over at him.

“Do you want me to wait out here?”

He sighed. “I don’t even know why I’m bothering to do this. It’s only going to turn into a screaming blaming-it-all-on-me match.”

I patted him on the shoulder. “You’re here for your son. For Donovan.”

“Yeah.”

“You don’t have to do this today if you don’t want to. Now that we know where she lives, you can come anytime. I don’t mind driving you.”

He drew a deep, fortifying breath. “No. I want to. I just don’t know how I’ll react to seeing her. I might curse her out, hit her or break down in tears.”

“She’s put you through a lot,” I said sympathetically. “Just don’t let her make you lose your head in front of Donovan or do something that she can use against you in court.”

He looked over at me and took my hand. Raising it to his lips, he kissed my knuckles. “I’m glad you came with me. You’re my rock.”

“Just remember that I love you and I’m right behind you.”

His blue-green eyes met mine. “I love you too, Regan,” he whispered. “I’ve only said that to one other person.” He inclined his head towards the house where his ex now lived with her new husband. “To her. And she threw it in my face.”

I turned his face to look at me. “I’m not Debbie,” I said softly. “Don’t compare me to her. I won’t hurt you.”

He looked out the window at the house. “Nice place, huh? Maybe one day I’ll buy you one just like it.”

I smiled at him though he wasn’t looking at me. “Nah, I don’t need anything fancy like this. I’m too far from my river. Besides, we could live in a cardboard box and I’d be cool with that as long as we are together.”

Daniel turned his head to look at me. “You are amazing. My life would be so much different had I met you first.”

My cheeks turned pink at the unexpected compliment. But I knew that the longer we sat here, the longer it would take for him to get out and go knock on her door.

Finally, with another deep breath, he pushed open the door and got out. I followed him through the iron gate and up the stairs to the porch. He stuffed the paper into his pocket as he rang the doorbell. There was no sound from inside the house and for a moment, I thought that maybe no one was home. I peeked around the side of the porch but the double doors on the garage were closed.

“They must be out,” I said, listening to see if I could hear any movement from inside.

Daniel stuffed his hands into his pockets. “They’re here.”

“How do you know?”

“Listen.”

I paused, trying hard to hear whatever it was that he heard. He must have some really good hearing or something. I heard nothing.

I was almost ready to ditch the whole thing and suggest we come back another day when I heard shuffling footsteps. Seconds later, the door swung open. The same lady that we’d seen at the park the other day stood there, looking at us as if we didn’t belong on the front porch. I glanced at Daniel and he shrugged at me. Was it possible that Preston had given him the wrong address?

“Hello? I help you?”

Daniel cleared his throat. “Uh, yes. I would like to speak to Ms. Bernhardt please.”

“Excuse please?”

“Ms. Bernhardt,” he repeated. Then he paused and looked over at me. “Dammit,” he murmured. “I don’t know what her new last name is.” He looked back at the woman. “Debbie,” he said. “I’d like to speak to Debbie please.”

She stared at him and we both knew that she recognized him from the park. “Your name please?”

“Daniel. Daniel Bernhardt. She knows me.”

“Wait here please,” she said and backed away, closing the door.

I looked at Daniel. “Do you think she will come out?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. Debbie was always funny that way. If she wanted to talk, she’d be all over you, hanging on every word. But if you’d done something to break one of her numerous rules, she could be colder than ice to you. Believe me, when she wants to make your life difficult, she can do it.”

“Do you think the lady told her that you’d talked to Donovan at the park?”

Daniel frowned. “Maybe. She didn’t seem to have an attitude. So maybe she didn’t. I can’t really tell how much English she knows. And if I know Debbie, as long as the baby is fed, dry, and not crying or bothering her, she won’t care if the devil himself came to play with him.” A sudden burst of laughter came from him as he realized what he’d just said. “She thinks I’m the devil himself.”

I started to say something else but the door opened and the same lady peeked out. “Come in, please,” she said, opening the door wider for us to enter. We stepped just into the foyer and she closed the door. “Wait here.”

We stood there, not knowing what to expect. Was his ex-wife coming down or had the lady called the police? What I did know was that all this waiting was killing me. I hated not knowing what to expect. I was pretty sure that Daniel wasn’t very happy either.

After a few moments, we heard the sound of high heels on hardwood floor. Or at least I hoped that was high heels and not some big snarling Doberman ready to tear us to bits. I relaxed when the sound of a child’s laughter filled the air. Daniel seemed to be holding his breath as we waited for the person to appear. I knew that he was hoping that she had his son with her so that he could see him. Personally, I didn’t hold out too much hope in that. If his ex was the snake he said she was, she was probably going to use the child against him in some way. I guess we’d see very shortly

I’m not quite sure what I was expecting Daniel’s ex-wife to look like but I was surprised by the stunning blond coming towards us. Daniel had never really described her to me before so I figured she had red mottled skin, hooves, and fangs. The petite woman in the smart navy business suit and sleek black pumps hardly seemed the type to do anything to hurt anyone. But I learned a long time ago that you cannot judge a book by its cover.

I will admit though, she was very pretty. Around Daniel’s age, her long blond hair was teased around her pixie face. Her face was heavily made up and the cracks and lines from years of wearing too much make-up were beginning to show through. She was slim and in good shape if her toned calves were any indication. But what floored me were her eyes. A dark brown color, they were hard, cold and calculating. She eyed us with a chilling stare. I now fully understood the phrase ‘if looks could kill’.

And to add salt to the wound, she had the baby in her arms. He was definitely, without a doubt, Daniel’s son. He was a blond version of him. The little boy seemed to recognize Daniel from the other day because he waved and screeched, “Truck.”

Daniel’s face softened as he looked at the little boy. He moved towards him, arms open to hold him. But Debbie stepped back out of his reach, clutching the child tightly against her.

“Don’t touch my son,” she hissed.

Daniel looked at her, the hurt shining bright in his blue-green eyes. “What is your problem, Debbie?”

She tossed her hair back. “What are you doing here, Daniel?” she snapped.

“I’ve come to see my son.”

She laughed but there was no humor in it. “Your son? Your son! Are you kidding me? You leave me alone while I’m pregnant. I had to go through the delivery alone. Alone, Dan.”

“I’d been deployed, Debbie. You knew that. I came back to see you.”

“Oooooo, two whole weeks,” she said mockingly. “Wow. And we haven’t seen you for over two years.”

“Because you won’t let me see him!” Daniel exclaimed. “I’ve been trying to find you since I was released from the hospital. Until now, I couldn’t find you. But your letter to me got through.”

The baby began to fuss, sending the tension between his parents. Daniel again reached to comfort him but she swatted his hands away. “Don’t touch my son,” she said softly.

“He’s my son too, Debbie. I want to see him. I want to be in his life. I want to be a father to him.”

He has a father, Dan. A good father who comes home every night. A father who’s not playing war games with his buddies.”

I gaped at her, speechless. How could she stand there and make light of the sacrifices my father, Daniel, and thousands of other soldiers made every day to keep us safe? I wanted to hit her. I took a step forward but Daniel gave a look plainly saying don’t interfere.

“I just want to see him,” Daniel said softer now.

Debbie started to answer but was cut off by the front door opening. A man with dark brown hair that was graying at the sides came in. He set his very expensive leather briefcase on the table by the door and came into the foyer.

I assumed that he was her husband. He was dressed in a tailored Italian suit and equally expensive Italian loafers. His red silk tie stood out against the dark gray suit and white dress shirt.

“Debbie?” he called not having seen us yet.

“Here Paul,” Debbie called back.

The man came into the hall and stopped short when he saw Daniel. He moved to stand next to his wife in a protective manner that wasn’t lost on either Daniel or myself. His dark eyes roamed over me briefly before settling on Daniel.

“What are you doing here, Dan? You aren’t welcomed in my house.”