Talia seemed like she was about to say something, but their server chose that moment to show up to take their orders. Lennox let her order first. Because he was a gentleman and also because he hadn’t made up his mind yet. He liked the sound of the fire-roasted chicken tortilla soup she started with but ordered the chicken asado burrito with pico de gallo and cornsalad. To go with her soup, Talia got a soft grilled chicken taco with avocado.
“And to drink?” the waiter asked with a smile. “Our twenty-one-ounce margaritas, made with one-hundred-percent blue agave tequila, is served in a special logo glass you can take home with you.”
Even though he was pretty sure he already knew the answer, Lennox lifted a brow in Talia’s direction.
She shook her head with a laugh. “Maria made me promise to come home early enough to read to her before bed. I don’t think I could read a word after drinking a twenty-one-ounce margarita.”
Reading a children’s book after having a gigantic margarita like that might be kinda fun, Lennox thought, but agreed it probably wouldn’t be a good example for Maria. In the end, he decided on a Modelo while Talia asked for a glass of white wine.
“I’m confused,” Talia said after their server left. “If all the SEALs in this other platoon volunteered, they must have known that only some of them might get selected, right?”
Lennox nodded.
“Okay. Then shouldn’t they be congratulating their Teammates? If they want to be mad at anyone, they should be mad at the people who decided who did and didn’t get picked. The whole thing doesn’t make any sense.”
He couldn’t help chuckling. “No, it doesn’t. But they sold this training program as a way to elevate yourself above your teammates—to be the best of the best and all that. By the time they announced the selections, the whole thing had taken on a decidedly competitivetone. The ones who didn’t make the cut are pissed since they know that the guys who did are probably going to be promoted faster since headquarters—or whoever isbehind this training—has decided they don’t measure up. That puts a rift between guys, even those who used to be friends.”
Talia waited until their server had placed their drinks in front of them then left before answering. “That’s so messed up.” She regarded him curiously. “Is it always like that in the SEALs?”
He took a sip of his beer. “Like what?”
“So…adversarial?”
Lennox opened his mouth then closed it again, allowing his mind to process the word. He’d never thought about it like that before.
“Being a SEAL is synonymous with competition,” he said slowly. “We always push ourselves and each other, wanting to be the best. But this special training program, and the way they seem to have purposely pitted the members of the same platoon against each other, isn’t something I’ve ever seen before. So, no, that’s not what being a SEAL is like.”
“Okay. Then tell me what it is like. Why do you love being a SEAL?”
From her earnest expression, it was clear that she had more than just a casual interest in his answer. If she understood what being a SEAL meant to him, then maybe she’d be more open to giving them a chance.
“The SEALs are like a second family to me,” he said simply. “A family that will walk through a firefight for you and always have your back in the very worst moments. Yeah, I know what I said about that special training and how it’s causing some division in one of our platoons, but I can promise you, if something happened and those guys who got chosen for that program needed help, the other guys would drop everything to help them. And when Teammates have a significant other, she becomes part of our extended family.”
“Wow,” Talia said, her voice tinged with sadness. “I don’t think I’ve ever experienced what it means to be part of that kind of family—ever.”
Lennox wanted to delve into what Talia had meant by that but was interrupted as their server appeared with their soup. It smelled delicious and he appreciated the bowls of extra cheese and tortilla strips that the man brought with him. Spicy and a little sweet at the same time, it tasted scrumptious too. He was glad Talia had ordered it or he might have skipped over the soup selections completely.
They ate in silence for a few moments, but soon enough, Lennox’s curiosity got the best of him, and he decided to pick up the conversation where it left off before their soup had arrived.
“I get the feeling that your family isn’t close,” he said, then added, “If it’s something you’d rather not talk about, I understand.”
Talia took another spoonful of soup, her movements slow and careful, like she was trying to come up with a way to answer that. Or maybe not answer at all. But then she gently touched her lips with a napkin and looked at him.
“I told you that my father travels a lot for his job, right?”
He nodded.
“Well, to say he was away a lot would be an understatement. Most of the time, he was gone way more than he was home,” she continued. “I remember my senior year in high school was the worst. He left to deal with a manufacturing issue in China and we didn’t see him again until the week before school ended. And, after all that time, he still managed to miss my graduation. My mom was so used to it that she never said a word to him, and neither did I. Because that’s simply the way it is with my father.”
Lennox let out a breath. “I’m not even sure what to say about that.” Well, he knew what he wanted to say. That her dadsounded like a complete jackass. But he probably shouldn’t say that out loud. “When we were at Legoland, you mentioned your brothers are all about their jobs too. I assume they got that from your dad?”
They ended up talking about her three brothers as they finished their soup and the waiter brought out their entrees, a second beer for Lennox, and a refill of Talia’s wine. She laughed as she shared some of her brothers’ antics when they were younger, but it was obvious that they weren’t nearly as close now that they were adults and all married to their jobs.
Talia’s unwillingness to date him suddenly made much more sense.
“Now, I get why you didn’t want to go out with me.”
He didn’t realize he’d spoken the words out loud until Talia looked up sharply from her plate.
