“You are so lame,” Jules said.
She couldn’t argue with that. She nodded at the garbage can. “What’s going on?”
“This a crime? Because I was even thinking of asking for that label maker back.” Jules flung two more magazines into the trash. Her monitor was dark. Half her drawers were open. Her wedding picture lay facedown on her desk.
Not good. “It’s yours if you want it. You guys have a nice weekend?”
Two binders hit the floor. “Brad took a package.”
“Took a—oh. I didn’t know he wanted out.” The Air Force had been offering voluntary separation packages in overstaffed career fields to cut long-term costs. Neil had mentioned it once or twice, but he’d never sounded interested in taking the offer.
Jules slumped over and buried her head between her knees. “He doesn’t want his parents to lose both their sons to the war.”
She gulped back the instinctive sympathetic noises. It would’ve only pissed Jules off. She gestured toward the mess instead. “Does this mean?—”
“It means I’m getting my shit organized to be the primary breadwinner until he figures out what the hell he’s going to do with himself.”
Anna swallowed. Then swallowed again.
It meant Jules and Brad wouldn’t move unless one of them took a job somewhere else. It meant certifications and working toward her degree wouldn’t move her up the RMC chain. She blew out a slow breath. “Doesn’t the base offer some career counseling?”
There was thatduhlook again. “Please. LikeBradneeds counseling.”
Considering he’d given up his career a couple of weeks after his brother’s death, it couldn’t hurt. “You don’t have to need it for it to be helpful.”
“Whatever.” Jules dumped a stack of magazines into the trash. “If you’re going to stand there, do something useful and take this out.”
She took the can, more as an excuse to get away than because she enjoyed being garbage girl. She paused on her way out of the cube. “Jules? It’ll be okay.”
“Take it back to your own office. This is a sunshine-free zone on Mondays. I’m fine, okay?”
Every day with Jules was a sunshine-free zone. “Sure.”
With any luck, biofuels would take off in the civilian sector, and there would be plenty of work for both of them. In the meantime, Anna still had a lot of studying to do. RMC might not do as much for her resume as she’d begun to expect, but she’d make the most of the opportunities while she was here.
Anna’slast class of the week let out three minutes before nine the next Thursday. She stumbled out of the classroom into the darkened hallway behind her classmates. The rough gray carpet muted their footsteps, and the few talking did so in soft tones that were sucked right into the walls. Her head swam with equations and theories that made no sense.
Her bed was a thirty-minute drive away.
Might as well have been an eternity.
She slogged out the door. Her skin went clammy in the cooler but still humid air. Nights like this, packing it up and moving in with her parents sounded nice. But then she’d have to move the stack of self-help books her dad kept mailing from his bookshop.
Or maybe she’d donate them to Kaci and the ex-wives club.
She powered her phone back on while she walked to her car. Maybe Beth would still be up to keep her company on the ride home.
Her phone beeped with two text message notifications. She checked the first one.
You in class?
She squinted at the number. Not local. Not from back home. She checked the second. It was from the same number.
I dropped by that Bean place over by Jim-Bob, and they gave me some fancy cold girly drink with my coffee. Said my favorite Yankee liked it. Yours if you want it. Stop on by.
A smile tugged at her lips. He’d found her number. And she reallywashis favorite Yankee. That made her heart tingle.
She rubbed her eyes. A caffeine boost would get her home. Stopping was the smart thing to do.
