“And not just for reaching things up high. As an adult, I have often been mistaken for a child—forced to show ID.” She paused to sip her coffee. “I’ll admit it’s more flattering as I get older. But not always.”
“Being tall has gotten easier with age. It probably earns me some respect.”
“That must be nice. Being short is still a pain. And ever since my divorce, it seems to invite the wrong sort of men.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I actually made some attempts at dating this past year.” Brynna grimaced to think of some of the situations she’d been in. “Some were setups from friends—at least, I thought they were friends. And I even joined an online Christian dating site. But almost every date was a disaster.”
“And you blame that on your height?” Jan looked confused.
“Sort of. It goes like this. Everything might sound good online or texting, and then I actually meet the guy. Oh, he’ll give me a compliment, but it’s always tied to the fact that I’m short. One guy even said I was ‘cute as a bug.’ He said it a few times. And then it will feel like they think they have the upper hand. They might get patronizing or protective. Like my size makes them the big man. It’s so irritating. It’s why I just don’t care to date anymore. I’m almost convinced that all men are jerks.”
“Oh, they can’t all be jerks,” Jan said, then finished her muffin.
“I know ... my brother’s okay. And my dad was a really good man.”
“And so was my Burt.” Jan looked out over the water with a dreamy expression.
“You mean, early on ...beforeyou split up?”
“Split up?”
Brynna felt confused. “Aren’t you divorced?”
Jan slowly shook her head. “What made you think that?”
“I don’t know. I guess you never really spoke about it before. I just assumed.”
“Well, I like to keep my private life private. At least at school.” She sighed. “Burt died about ten years after we were married.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize.”
“Yes, well, it’s not a story I like to tell.”
“Then I won’t ask.” Brynna picked up her coffee.
“Thank you. So, back to Mutt and Jeff,” Jan said lightly. “I’ve come to accept there’s an upside to being tall. Pun intended. But even more so after hearing about your troubles. I had no idea.”
Brynna nodded. “Be thankful you don’t have to put up with that kind of nonsense from men. I have to admit that I’m envious of how the opposite sex seem to respect you. I know it’s partly because you’re tall. Maybe they’re afraid you’ll deck them.”
“Maybe that’s why they call me Sergeant Bart behind my back.”
Brynna grimaced. “You know about that?”
“Of course.” She smiled. “But it doesn’t bother me. After all, I really was a sergeant.”
“Huh?”
“I was in the army. Both Burt and I came from lower-income families, and we were academic but we couldn’t afford college tuition. We actually met at an army recruiting meeting at our high school. We started dating after that, and then we both decided to enlist. We’d do our time with Uncle Sam and then get help with our tuition bills.”
“I had no idea.”
“We went in straight out of high school. After boot camp, we were both deployed in the Middle East to different units. But we stayed in touch. We got married after our terms ended, then came home and did college. Burt became a CPA, and I started teaching. We bought our house and, for a while, thought we had the world by the tail.” She finished her coffee. “Then the tail came off.” She glanced at her Fitbit. “Well, if we want to stay on schedule and reach our campground by four like I planned, we better skedaddle.”
Back in the car, Brynna considered what Jan had just disclosed. She’d been in the army, maybe even active service. And she was widowed, not divorced. There also seemed to be a tragic tale concerning Burt’s death. They’d had a good relationship but it was cut short. So sad. There was obviously a lot more to Jan than Brynna had realized. She wondered if she’d hear the rest of it before this camping trip ended.
Chapter 7
