Chapter 4

Four

D oug

Luther’s creation was so damned thoughtful that Doug felt silly sharing his peace offering.

“This is the perfect size, and you’re right, that compressor is heavy. Last month, I caught the tote bag on something and nearly lost my whole unit when the canvas ripped. This is incredible.” The box looked about the size of a wine crate and had handles cut into the wood. The painting looked identical to the RCA logo. “Thank you so much, Luther. What a kind gift.”

Luther’s cheeks turned pink above his beard, which was cut shorter than last time. He’d had a haircut too. Something had happened to him, something good. He seemed to be in much better spirits than he had three months ago.

Doug had been kicking himself since that day, wondering what he might have said to offend the guy. The past two markets he’d baked his heart out to have a sweet treat for the sad man, and both times they’d been assigned to different spots on the other side of the vast market, and they’d been so busy, he hadn’t had time to sneak away from the booth to see if he could find him. He’d told himself he’d try one more time, this time, and if he didn’t run across the wounded Marine, he’d give up and accept that they weren’t meant to be friendly.

“It’s funny that you brought this. I made you something, too.”

Luther planted his hands on his hips and his eyebrows rose. His face was very tan, with smooth skin, his hair the color of wet sand streaked with flecks of pyrite, his beard darker. Doug hadn’t seen him smile yet, not a real smile, and he hoped his offering would do the trick.

Doug held up a finger, trotting around the corner of their adjoining booths.

“Hey, can you set up that spinning rack for me? I want to get the rest of the collars hung on it. I think it’s really helped give us more space.” Dinah was trying to get the hooks into the pegboard so they could hang up all of the little doggie t-shirts he’d made.

Doug moved close to her and spoke in her ear.“Luther brought us a gift. I’m going to give him the muffins I baked.”

Dinah’s eyes flared. “Go go go,” she whispered, shooing him away. She grinned at him and went back to work.

He’d spent hours lamenting to Dinah and his cousin about his previous conversation with Luther. Finally, Marianne had smacked him upside the head.

“Not everyone who leaves the service wants to leave it behind, Airman Egghead. Some veterans hang on to their service as a way to avoid having regrets about their lives, and to others, it was an accomplishment they’re proud of. That’s how I felt about it. It was the situation that forced me to retire that I hated. I have lots of good memories. ”

Whatever the case, Doug intended to hand Luther the baked goods, his protein-packed power muffins, and give him a big fat apology.

He carried the reusable carry-out container over and handed it to Luther.

“Here. I baked you apology muffins. They’ve got extra protein so they’ll help you make it through the day. I’m sorry.”

Luther held them in his hands, staring at the container, and without looking up, he said, “Why?”

“Why am I sorry? Because I obviously said something that offended you last time, and it’s been bothering me since.”

Luther wrinkled his nose and shook his head. “You didn’t. I was in a bad place that day and acted like a jerk. Why did you bake for me?”

Doug tugged on his kilt and rolled onto the sides of his feet.

“Because I wanted to do something nice, and I noticed you buying some donuts before you left last time. I deduced that maybe sweets were the way to your heart.”

Overshare. C’mon, Doug. You don’t even know if this guy ?—

“I do like sweets,” he said, his lip twitching. “I don’t let myself have them usually.” He opened the container, pulled one out, and took a bite out of it. His eyelids fell closed, and a crease appeared between his brows. If Doug wasn’t mistaken, that was a look of bliss.

“Good, huh?” he said, breaking the quiet between them.

Luther grinned with his lips closed and swallowed his bite. “You put chocolate chips in them.”

“I did.”

“They’re still warm,” Luther said, tilting his head to the side.

“I wanted them to be fresh. I got up early and made them this morning.”

“That was very thoughtful of you . ”

Doug shifted his weight, gave a little bow, and smiled. He wished they weren’t about to be inundated with customers because he thought maybe, just maybe, they’d made a breakthrough.

Luther maintained eye contact as he finished the muffin, licking his finger before he closed the lid. “I bought those donuts for my daughter and my sister.”

“Uh-huh. I’ll let you decide if you’re going to share your muffins.” He turned to walk back to his booth, but he watched Luther as he went, running his fingers over the edge of the panels displaying Luther’s paintings.

“Don’t forget your box,” he said. He put his container down and picked up the box.

“Right, thank you.” Doug went to take it from him and their fingers tangled in the handles he’d cut into the side of the box. They both chuckled, and after a minute of attempting to shift the weight to Doug, Luther got his fingers free. But he didn’t let go right away. He ran the fingers of his right hand over Doug’s again.

“Enjoy.”

Doug turned to go back to his booth and caught Dinah’s eye. He mouthed, “Oh my God!” just as Luther called out to him. He turned around, nearly knocking a display over with the box. “Yeah?”

“Like the kilt.”

And Luther smiled. Not quite a full-toothed affair, but Doug was mesmerized nonetheless. At least he had it together enough to make a comeback.

“I’m glad.”

He spun on his heel, which caused the pleats to lift enough to show a little more leg. Doug had been given a second chance—and he wasn’t above a little exhibitionism.

“You did that on purpose,” Dinah teased as he set the box down next to his painting station. “This is gorgeous. He did this?”

“Be still my heart,” Doug said with a sigh. “Guess I’m not on his bad list after all.”

Dinah snorted. “Even if you were, you wouldn’t be for long. It’s impossible to be upset with you for long.”

He pulled her in for a side hug and kissed her hair. “You say such things. Thank goodness my cousin snagged you.”

“I know, right?”

Business was double what they did last month. The warmer weather, the puppies, and Doug’s new merchandise—he’d gone a little tie-dye hog wild, and he’d made matching dog and human shirt combos for summer with their logo on them—had their inventory flying off the hangers. They were sold out by two in the afternoon.

He’d been so busy he hadn’t even had a chance to check on Luther. Oh, be real, he’d wanted another opportunity to speak to the man. He’d started to come up with scenarios where maybe they could hang out when they weren’t working. How would that work, though, with his daughter? And did he have another job?

He snuck a peek and noticed that Luther’s tables were nearly empty of the new wooden boxes he’d brought and many of his paintings were gone as well, leaving space for him to watch the man through the mesh panel.

As if he’d heard Doug’s thoughts, he lifted his head after handing a customer their bag and lifted one corner of his lips in an amused expression. His gaze seemed mischievous, like maybe he, too, was wondering what they could get up to together.

Doug wasn’t sure if the need to fan himself was from the heat, or the looks he’d exchanged with Luther .

He sat down in his chair and sighed. He was grateful it was officially summer, but he hadn’t really been able to celebrate the changing of the season from spring to summer just yet.

In years past, he’d made a point to find a solstice celebration. One year he’d been in the UK, so he’d gone to Stonehenge with thousands of others seeking to commune with the spirits. All he’d gotten was sunburnt on a rare sunny day. Last year he’d been in France and celebrated the Basque festival of Saint-Jean-de-Luz, which was a little mix of pagan and Catholic and lots of fun. That had been a great trip, but he’d been a little lonely wandering around the Spanish city of Bilbao by himself, both before and after.

The purpose of the summer solstice was to reflect and prepare for the next part of your journey, but Doug didn’t want to look ahead. He’d been living in the now since leaving the civilian contractor’s employment, so all that reflection he was supposed to be doing made him twitchy. He didn’t want to plan for a future, didn’t want to settle down. He wanted to enjoy this time with his family and his housemates on the farm, so that’s what he was doing.

A little fun with the hot painter in the next booth sounded pretty awesome too.

“I can’t believe it,” Dinah said, flopping into her chair. “We made enough today to cover the cost of building the new kennels at the farm.” There were a few dogs who hadn’t gotten any interest and Dinah wanted to be able to take them out of the pens she’d built for them in the small barn on the Shaw property and give them room to run. She and Doug had drawn up plans for some long runs with a shelter at one end, so the pups could run between the barn and a new enclosure, where they could set up agility courses and a play yard in the shade for the pups. Doug loved being part of such a great program and was thrilled that his contributions would allow Dinah to rescue more dogs.

“I’m already thinking of what I can make for next month,” he said, rubbing his hands together.

“Nell got seven applications for the four pups today, and several folks asked about other dogs we have available. All of our rescue literature is wiped out. I think it was a good move, bringing the dogs. Thankfully, these four are pretty mellow for puppies.”

Nell joined them. “I’m happy to come back next month. It might be tough when I’m back in school in the fall, but I don’t mind giving y’all a hand. Any excuse to play with pups, I’m there.”

Doug high-fived her. “You rock.”

The angle of his chair allowed him to watch Luther as he moved around his space. He seemed to be a little stiffer than he’d been that morning, but he didn’t have that pained expression that made Doug so worried last time.

“Hey, Doug? Can you show me how you did your glitter makeup? It looks so cool. I can’t believe it still looks fresh after working all day.”

He looked around at their empty space and shrugged. “I can show you now. Want me to do yours?”

She clapped her hands and Dinah laughed. “You two have fun. I’m going to grab some food and check on Cecily. I hope her soaps aren’t melting in this heat.”

The temps had risen after lunch and were now in the high seventies, mitigated by the breeze off the Bay, but Cecily’s booth was in the sun.

“We got this. No worries.”

He pulled his chair over next to Nell’s beside the puppy pen. He pulled his makeup kit out of his bag and held it up. “I come prepared. I had a gig last night.”

“Again? Man, y’all been playing every weekend, huh?” Her eyes lit up. “Oh hi!”

Doug turned around to see who Nell was talking to, and he grinned when he saw Luther’s sister, now with her hair in an updo and her makeup done, dressed in a halter dress and wedge sandals. And she had Luther’s daughter with her. Violet waved at him with a smile before she gave Mila a little push toward the puppy pen. Luther joined Violet at the front of his booth, giving her a hug.

“Welcome back,” Doug said to Mila with a wave. He set his makeup out on Dinah’s chair. “We were just getting ready to do a makeup tutorial. Want to be my model?”

Mila was dressed in shorts and a top that had bow ties on top of her shoulders. Her thick brown hair was long and straight in the back, and cut blunt across her forehead, which obscured her facial expressions a bit.

“I don’t know. Daddy?”

She turned around to call to Luther. Doug noticed the man’s face soften as he gazed at her.

“Yes, Mila?”

“Can I have a makeup tutor?”

Violet smiled wide at Doug and elbowed Luther with a nod.

“Sure, honey, as long as Doug isn’t too busy.”

Doug gestured around their booth. “Plenty of time.”

Luther nodded and pressed his lips together before Violet stole his attention away.

“Here,” Nell said, standing and letting Mila take her chair. “I want to watch him do it. I’m Nell, by the way.”

Mila gave a brief glance at Luther, who was barely ten feet away, and then looked back at Nell.“Pleased to meet you. I’m Mila.”

Nell shook her little hand, and then Mila turned to look at Doug with wide eyes.

“First of all, do you mind if I put your hair up so it doesn’t get in the makeup? ”

She nodded and folded her hands in her lap as she studied his makeup kit.

Doug felt around in his bag and found two hair clips. He used them to pull the two sides of her hair back. She was so tiny sitting before him in the chair, he didn’t want to frighten her. He glanced over his shoulder and saw that Luther and Violet were talking and watching him. Violet was grinning and Luther looked…curious.

“Nell asked me to show her how I did these rainbow glitter designs. Is it all right if I show her on your face?”

She sat up taller and nodded in rapid movements.

“Great, here we go.”

Doug started to draw, and Nell and Mila both watched his movements. He had a couple of great eyeshadow palettes with the perfect colors to do the swirls, and a clear glitter paint to seal it all in.

“You were telling me about the band,” Nell said.

“Oh, yeah. It’s fun, but between the gigs and practice, the time I’m putting in making the inventory for these markets, plus my cybersecurity clients, I haven’t really had the chance to hit many of my Bay Area bucket list items.”

“You’ll have to make time,” Nell said. “What’s on your list?”

“Oh, you know,” he said, “Mila, I want you to raise your eyebrows and close your eyelids, okay?”

She did exactly as he asked, so good in fact, her little jaw was tight with the effort, the tendons in her neck popping out.

“You can relax a little,” he said, chuckling. “I don’t know. I want to visit a few of the local haunts, you know? Winchester Mystery House, Alcatraz, the Presidio. Some cool, out-of-the-way places. Don’t get me wrong, I’m having a great time. I just want more, you know?”

He dabbed at his palette and when he looked up, they were both looking at him curiously .

He had her eyeliner done and was about to draw some of the rainbow lines coming off the swoop of black at the corner of her eyes.

“I don’t know. I’m just…antsy I guess. I left home so long ago I don’t even remember what it feels like to have a home. Everything’s been so temporary,” he started. “I do want to settle down eventually, but where, I have no idea. And what would that even look like? I can’t stay at the farm forever, and my cousins aren’t going to want me hanging around.”

“Doug, you know that’s not true. My dads love that you’re here. Auntie Marianne, too.”

“I love it too, but…I don’t know. When I left the Air Force and went to work for the private contractor, I felt like my life was slipping away without me really living it, you know? I want to do things on my terms, not have any regrets or wish-I-could-have moments.”

“I know I want to travel,” Nell said. “But this will always be my home base. I want to be near my family. I’ve only had them for eight years. It’s not enough time.”

“That’s right,” Doug said. “I tend to forget you were adopted as a teenager sometimes because you guys are so tight.”

“I was lucky,” Nell said, leaning down so she could see Doug’s work closer. “A lot of kids from my group home stayed there ’til they were eighteen and were then out on their own.”

Doug blew out a breath. “I can’t imagine. Although, there were times when I wanted to be anywhere other than home. My father’s expectations made my life miserable. As much as I didn’t want to enlist in the Air Force, I couldn’t wait to get out from under his rule.”

Mila opened her eyes wide and looked between them.

“That looks so fancy, Miss Mee-la-la,” Violet said as she joined them. “Your makeup game is strong, Doug. ”

“Thanks,” he said to her. “Just have the final glitter to add. You ready?”

Mila shut her eyes and raised her eyebrows, tensing her jaw so much it made her head shake.

“You can relax your jaw, sweetie. Okay. It’s going to feel a little cold, so hang in there.”

“Okay,” she said.

“I get it,” Nell said. “Grandpa Mason isn’t like that, but I’ve heard him grumble about his brother from time to time. It’s amazing how men in the same family can be so different.”

“Tell me about it,” Violet said. “Women, too. My auntie fought to have me live with her, but my mother, her sister, refused. Then my mother kicked me out of the house when I was fourteen. I went to school and told them I had no place to go and boom. Group home. Thrown to the wolves. Thank the Lord for Luther, my protector.”

Doug took that information in and tried not to appear shocked. So Luther had been a foster kid, too? His heart melted in his chest. What an honorable man…a thoughtful, kind, and talented man, who’d been through several kinds of hell and was obviously determined not to let this little girl go through what he did.

Doug wanted to know more. He wanted to know this man intimately. In his desire to experience life to the fullest, he had dated plenty of men and women, and met plenty of interesting people, but he’d yet to find someone with depth. Or at least, he hadn’t connected with someone on a deep level.

“That’s cool you’re still close,” Nell said. “I often wonder what happened to my foster siblings. I was close to one girl, Sheila. We lost touch. I don’t know where she ended up.”

Violet smiled at Nell. “It’s hard, and some people don’t want to have reminders of their pasts. I’m grateful for mine, but I understand folks who aren’t. ”

“Me too,” Nell said.

Doug finished up Mila’s makeup with a flourish. “Ta-da! Want to take a look?” He pulled out a compact with a frown. “I wish I had a bigger mirror?—”

“I have one,” Luther said. “It didn’t sell today. Come on over, sweetheart.”

Mila stood and went over to Luther, taking hesitant steps. She stopped in front of him and tilted her head to look up at him.

“Let’s see,” he said, gently grasping her chin and turning her face from side to side. “That looks great on you. Come here,” he said. He pulled a large mirror down from his display panel and held it in front of her. “What do you think?”

Luther wasn’t smiling but his eyes…they were full of love for this little girl.

Doug’s relationship with his father had been fraught with stress. He knew he had daddy issues, but in his mind, awareness was half the battle. But standing there looking at a guy who likely had some sort of a problematic family situation, being such a good father himself, gave Doug a spark of hope that took him by surprise. Family tableaus hadn’t ever elicited much emotion from him in the past other than wow, that’s cool . But watching Luther be so openly loving with this delicate little girl brought forth a swell of emotion that rocked Doug’s foundation.

And made him that much more determined that by the end of the day, he would make sure they didn’t wait until the next market to see each other again.

“You like it?” Doug asked as moved to her side.

She looked up at him and grinned, nodding. “It’s so pretty.”

“Pretty makeup for a pretty girl. I’m glad you like it.” Doug turned to smile at Luther, maybe hoping for a compliment from the stoic man .

Instead, he got that full smile he’d been hoping for—and it did wonders to cure the sour mood he’d started to dip into a few minutes before.