To Love a Soldier by Sophie Monroe

as he placed the cap back on the salt. He wouldn’t look up to give me the satisfaction, so instead, he just brushed the pile of salt off with his knife.
    “How’s everyone’s food? Good?” he asked without raising his head.
    Liz and I just laughed. We finished up, and John took the bill. He left a generous tip and got up, pulling our seats to help us up. Liz waited for him to turn around and grabbed the tip he left and slid it in her pocket. I gave her a look.
    “Shut up.” She pushed me forward, forcing me to keep walking. “I did the same thing to you that night.”
    Son of a bitch, she totally did! We headed out the front door to see a crowd had grown, waiting to be seated at the restaurant. A friendly looking older couple stood at the front. The old gentleman reached out to get John’s attention.
    “This is our first time here,” he stated. “We were just wondering how the food is?”
    “It was pretty good,” John answered. “But mine was a little too salty.” He gave me a look.
    We headed back to town and, with light traffic, we were back in record time. I insisted that Liz drop John and me off at my place, so we could hang out and she and Brady could have some alone time.

Chapter Thirteen
    Concerns
    Liz

    I’d had such a great day with John and Mandy and couldn’t wait to have a great night with Brady. He was already out of work and waiting for me when I pulled into my driveway. I pulled my car behind his, making a clear statement that he wasn’t going home tonight. I got out of my car and met him on my porch with a big hug.
    “Hey, baby,” I said. “How was work?”
    “Hey.” His voice sounded off. “I worked a double shift, so it sucked. How was the range and dinner?”
    “Oh, I wish you could’ve come with. Mandy got her ass stuck in the window on the way to the city. It was hilarious!” I couldn’t help but start laughing again at the mental image that popped into my head.
    “I guess I had to be there, huh?”
    “Yeah, and I wish you were,” I told him. “Best part of the night was at dinner. John got hit on by our waitress.”
    Brady laughed. “How did she like it?”
    “She didn’t, at all, ” I said. “Come in, I’ll tell you all about it.”
    Walking in the front door, I tossed my coat onto the back of the couch and headed into the kitchen to grab a water for me and a soda for Brady. Rounding the corner back into the living room, I saw him peering out the front blinds.
    “What’s up? Are you expecting anyone?” I asked, confused.
    Turning his head to look at me, he said, “I hope not.”
    “What does that even mean? Is everything okay?” I asked, suddenly feeling concerned.
    “Yeah, everything is fine,” he said, taking the soda from me. “Thanks.”
    Since I didn’t eat much earlier, I figured I’d make dinner for Brady and just have a little myself. I went back to the kitchen and heated up some leftover Chinese food. I couldn’t remember when I had eaten it last, so I had no idea how old it was. It smelled all right, so I figured I’d let Brady eat it first to test it.
    “Here you go.” I put his plate on the coffee table and went back to the kitchen, giving him time to be the guinea pig. When I came back out with my plate, Brady was at another window, peeking through the blinds. Damn, he didn’t touch the Chinese . I put my plate down and walked over to him.
    “Seriously, what the hell is wrong?”
    His face was angry. “I saw Mike at the mall today. He wasn’t at work, but one of my buddies told me he saw him hanging around outside your store.”
    “Are you fucking kidding me?” I took a step back, suddenly feeling sick to my stomach.
    “No, I’m not,” he said, closing the blind. “My buddy covered for me and I played spy. He wasn’t doing anything, but walking around, but he kept slowing down and looking inside the jewelry store.”
    “I wonder what he would’ve done if I was working?” I thought aloud.
    “I really wanna beat this