It was a nice evening, so they agreed to walk the six or so blocks downtown. “Can I ask why you went into the army?”
“I was appointed to West Point and graduated at the top of my class. After that, I went into the army as a second lieutenant and worked my way up from there.”
Dade nodded. “My father retired as a two-star general in the army. I know he would have stayed, but Mom put her foot down for once. I don’t know what she said, but it must have been powerful, because my father decided to retire and managed to get himself stationed at Carlisle Barracks to spend out his terminal leave.” He knew a ton about the army and how it worked. He also knew his father, and Dade swore he picked Carlisle just so the general could try to oversee his life. One thing was for sure—his father gave busybodies a whole new meaning.
“So, you understand the military way of life,” Cliff told him.
“I do. I was part of it for all of my childhood. We moved eight times. Well, it was actually nine, but once they stationed him in Spain for a month and then they sent him back to Germany before we had a chance to move, so I don’t count that one.” They stopped at the corner of Pomfret and Bedford Streets. “It was a hard way to grow up. Half the time I didn’t even bother to make any friends or meet people, because as soon as I gotsettled in, we’d move again. Until I was in college, I could pack everything important to me in two suitcases. Everything else was disposable.” He tried not to go into how much he hated that and how he resented his father for putting the entire family through that year after year after year. In truth, the fault lay with his father and not with the army. His father had been given choices throughout his career, and his family hadn’t seemed to be a consideration.
ChapterTwo
“Wow. Okay.I guess you have your reasons for wanting to stay put.”
“Yeah. He and my mom married just out of high school, and he finished college and enlisted as an officer. Mom worked as a caregiver in a nursing home. For basic training and his first assignment, they were apart. But she joined him a little while later, and after that, they lived in base housing. I was born a year after they married. I don’t remember the early years, but I remember the times I was in school.”
Cliff glanced at Dade as they crossed the street. He walked like he had been in the military, straight, tall, and looking ahead. He supposed that was because of his father. “Can I take a guess? He ran the house like it was one of his units.”
“You got it,” Dade confirmed. “He issued orders and expected us to jump to it.” He smiled. “I must have been thirteen when I first told him to stuff it, that I wasn’t in his unit and to stop treating me like I was. I remember shaking in my sneakers as I put my hands on my hips and told him I was his kid, not a soldier, and that I was never going to be one. Dad always planned for me to follow in his footsteps. His face went eight shades of red, and I just turned and walked away.”
“What did your mom say?” Cliff asked. There were men he worked with that he could see being exactly like this, and he often wondered about their families.
“She told Dad that I wasn’t a carbon copy of him and that he needed to get used to having a son who didn’t need others to do his thinking for him. In the military, you follow orders and hope that the people issuing them have done their homework. That isn’t me. Or it wasn’t.”
Cliff refused to take offense at anything Dade was saying. He had spent fifteen years in the army, and unlike almost all of his colleagues, he was still single. “You know, I’ve been pressured on more than one occasion to find someone and settle down. It actually came up around my last promotion. I remember my colonel speaking to me about it.”
“What did you tell him?” Dade asked, his eyes huge.
“That it made it easier for me to take new assignments because it was just me, and I could relocate whenever they needed me without it affecting my family.” Cliff understood how hard the military life could be, especially on families.
“And yet they look at you funny because you don’t have one.” They stopped at the square and waited for the light to change. “See, other people doing the thinking for you.”
That comment made Cliff curious. “How so?”
“Well, think about it. The colonel had probably been in the army for twenty or more years. He had a family that he towed around along with him all that time. And he probably felt bad about it on some level, so he had to make sure that someone who hadn’t done that was looked at differently. Like, misery loves company.” Dade looked at him like he had it all figured out, then took a deep breath. “How about we talk about something else?”
Cliff chuckled. “Good idea. But for the record, I like what I do, and I’m really good at it.”
“What exactly is it you do?” Dade asked.
“I’m the executive officer. It’s my job to make sure that everything my colonel needs is done right and on time. Basically, I make him look good.” He smirked because he couldn’t help it.
“No way.” Dade’s eyebrows shot up and his mouth hung open. Traffic stopped and it was safe to cross, so Cliff motioned them forward. “Holy shit. I think I should shut up now.”
“Why? You’re allowed to have an opinion. You were part of this system for a lot of your life. What I don’t understand is thata lot of overseas deployments are for two or three years, and it seems like your father had a number of them.” He really wasn’t changing the subject.
“The restaurant is right over there,” Dade said, and they continued down before pausing outside. “Sorry. The answer to your question is pretty simple. My dad was given plenty of options through his career. Often he could have stayed where he was, but he always chose what he wanted to do. Hence the assignment in Spain that only lasted a month.” Dade cleared his throat.
“I see,” Cliff said. “So, have you been here before?”
“A few times. I met the chef’s partner at an art class at CALC last year.” He opened the door, and Billy hurried from behind the podium, hugging Dade like he was his long-lost brother.
“I heard about what happened. Are you okay?” Billy asked as he hugged Dade again. Cliff wanted to pull them apart as a zing of jealousy raced through him.
“I am. My place has been cleaned and everything needs to dry, but other than a ton of laundry waiting for me, I’m fine.” He stepped back. “This is Cliff. He was passing by and rescued me from all the smoke.”
Billy grinned and led them to a table. He presented them with menus, and Cliff wondered if Billy was going to sit and join them, but he patted Dade on the shoulder. “I’m glad you’re okay.” He stepped back from the table, watching them for a second, then smiled again before returning to his station.
“What was all that about?” Cliff asked. “He’s still watching us.”
