Chapter Eight

They walked back toward his store, mostly quiet. Rick unlocked the front door, held out his hand, and brought her inside. He locked the door behind him then pointed to a door at the back of the store.

“I’m not really a fan of this setup,” he explained as he led the way, “but, if I want to put direct access to upstairs from the outside, I have to get permission from the city, permits, yada, yada.”

“However,” he continued as they reached the door, “I do think this part’s pretty cool.”

He opened the door to reveal an old-fashioned lift with a sliding grate door.

“Don’t worry, it’s up to code. I made sure of it before I settled in here.”

“I love it,” Faith replied sincerely. “Love the history, and the fact it’s still here so we can experience it.”

“After you,” he gestured, stepping in behind her.

The old mechanism groaned and creaked a bit but never missed stride as it gently brought them up to the second floor.

Rick opened the grate, and Faith stepped out into a massive space.

“Wow,” she managed. “This is absolutely gorgeous!”

“Welcome to my humble home,” he said. “Would you like the grand tour?”

“Yes please,” she smiled, and moved forward a bit, turning slowly. “You did all this remodeling on your own?”

“Sure did,” he answered proudly.

He’d opted to leave most of the space open all the way to the rafters rather than put in a drop ceiling. The cathedral effect and had enabled him to install skylights for natural lighting. Rich wood flooring the color of mahogany stretched the length and breadth of the area, meeting tile in a wide doorway to the left of her that Faith presumed led to the kitchen and dining room.

Across the expanse of the living room Faith could see another door over to her right, leading to the bedroom and bath area. An old and by its looks lovingly restored fireplace lent both warmth and charm to the sitting arrangement and beautiful area rug placed in front of it.

A wide screen TV, the biggest she’d ever seen, was mounted on the adjoining wall, and equipped with surround sound speakers. At the opposite end was a sleek workstation with dual monitors, and in its own space was a workout area boasting a treadmill and bench with free weights. She noticed that the treadmill was angled for its user to be able to watch the big screen while running.

“Help yourself to a drink if you’d like. There’s wine in the fridge, sweet tea, and I have a fully stocked bar just through there,” – he pointed back toward the living room area – “if you’d like something else. I’ll be right back.”

And he went into the bedroom for a bit.

“Hmm. To be honest, I’m not much of a wine drinker,” she called out to him. “I’ll scope out the bar offerings. What would you like?”

“Amaretto sour, please, if you’re in a mixing mood.”

“What?”

“What, what?” Rick said, a bit confused, sticking his head through the bedroom doorway.

“Did you just say amaretto sour?” Faith asked.

“Yeah. Why?”

“Oh, no reason, it’s just my preferred mixed drink, is all. I don’t recall ever meeting anybody else that likes them.”

Rick grinned.

“Get out.”

“I’m serious.”

“Interesting. There may be something to that whole kindred spirits thing. Mix us a couple.”

Smiling, Faith made her way to the bar.

“Disaronno. Nice!” she said, locating glasses, ice and the sweet and sour mixer. She mixed the cocktails and sat on the couch. Rick joined her a moment later.

“I’d like to explain my question, if that’s all right,” Faith began. “The other night you made the mistake of asking me my story. Kind of got out of hand. I didn’t intend to share that much. Something about you, though. You’re easy to talk to.”

He grinned.

“So, your turn,” she said directly. “You said you weren’t married anymore either. What’s your story, Rick? I sense a huge data gap here. What haven’t you told me?”

The haunt in his eyes was palpable, and she immediately regretted the question.

Gently, she said, “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to pry.”

“It’s okay,” he replied softly, “I want to share with you. I need to get it out. You’re easy to talk to, too. Give me just a moment please.”

Rick took a long drink to steady himself. Then he reached for her hand, took a deep breath, and began.

“I was married for sixteen years to Becky, my high school sweetheart. We were happy. Had two kids, Ethan, and Ellen, that were the center of my world. Four years ago, I was on deployment in Sigonella. They didn’t come with me for that posting because Ethan had just started high school and made the varsity football team as a freshman, and we wanted our kids to be able to do all four years of high school in one place.”

He closed his eyes but kept going.

“Long story short, I got notified that they, along with my parents, had all been killed in a car accident coming home from one of Ethan’s games. Some kid decided to drink and drive, crossed the center line and hit them head on.”

Rick glanced up at Faith and saw raw grief for him in her shimmering eyes.

She reached out and quietly placed her other hand over his. Her breath caught in a sob, and she squeezed his hand.

“Rick, I am so very sorry.”

He squeezed back, then exhaled deeply.

“I came home on emergency leave, and Uncle Jack met me at the airport and stayed with me, and he and I made all the service arrangements and stuff. He and I got really, really close through all that. He’s the one that kept me level. He talked me out of going AWOL and pulled me out of the downward spiral I was headed into. I owe the last four years of an honorable Naval career to him.”

He raised his glass in a silent toast, took another long drink, and continued.

“So, I know what it feels like to have your heart ripped out through your throat and your world turned upside down in an instant. And I know what it feels like to want to shut everyone and everything out and keep people as far away as possible. Up until lately, that was easy for me to achieve. I was still active Navy; I still had a job to do.”

Another drink.

“But retiring. Man. Suddenly I could go wherever I wanted to, whenever I wanted to. It hurt too much to try to go back and build a new life in the town they died in. So, I didn’t go back. I reached out to Uncle Jack and asked if I could come stay with him once my discharge was complete, and I sold the house that I’d held onto all that time.”

Rick finished, “Finalizing the sale took almost a month longer than I'd planned. There were some issues that delayed the process. By that time, the lawyer called and let me know he was gone. I’ve told you the rest of it from there already.”

He turned to Faith with a sad smile.

“You’re the first person outside of me and Uncle Jack that now knows the entire story, start to finish, no omissions, no varnish. Uncle Jack only knew because he had a front row seat for it. In my chain of command, only my CO knew that I lost my family, but I didn’t go into details with him, and I told no one else I worked with.”

Faith was at a loss for words.

When Rick rose and walked to the fireplace, she cleared her throat, and spoke her heart to him.

“I want to thank you,” she said sincerely. “I know that wasn’t easy at all for you to tell me about. It means a great deal to me that you feel comfortable enough with me to share yourself like that.”

He nodded in acknowledgement as he watched the flames but did not speak.

I’m amazed he shared that with me, she admitted to herself. That explains the unsettling feeling I was having about him. Which I just realized is gone now.