One Week with the Marine (Love on Location)

“What I’m more interested to see is what you decide to do next, son. Your contract is up, isn’t it?” his father asked, though Avery was sure he already knew the answer to this question.

Avery, however, did not.

She turned to Holden, momentarily forgetting her shrimp and Mrs. Morris’s veiled outrage.

“Yeah, the contract is up,” Holden said.

His contract was up? He could be coming home forever, and he hadn’t bothered to tell her?

“If you’ll excuse me.” Avery slid her chair away from the table, already fumbling for her emergency flask as she rushed for the privacy of a bathroom stall.

…

Holden watched as Avery disappeared into the ladies’ room, then narrowed his eyes at his parents. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing,” he practically spat.

“What do you mean?” His mother frowned.

“Was it too much to ask for you to be nice to her for a single evening? You couldn’t handle that?” he asked, then turned to his father. “And what about you? I thought you were starting to come around about Avery.”

His mother rolled her eyes.

“What?” he asked.

“It’s never been that we don’t like her, Holden,” she said.

“You could have damn sure fooled me.”

“Don’t speak to your mother that way,” his father barked.

“She’s in the way,” his mother explained, and his father nodded. “We know what you’re going to do, and we beg you not to.” His mother gave him a weary look.

“And what’s that?”

“You’re going to give up everything for this girl,” his father said. “You always have. I was damn surprised you enlisted to begin with. I thought you’d rush across the country to escape with her.” He shook his head.

“What are you talking about?” He looked from one of his parents to the other.

“Please, Holden, we’ve mollycoddled you enough about her,” his mother said. “Your contract is up. We know that. We also know what that usually means. You could be promoted. More money, more success.”

“But he’ll give it up,” his father added, stabbing at a piece of shrimp. “Just like Tom gave it up for Jennifer.”

Holden nearly choked. “Tom is very successful. I don’t—”

“He’s doing as well as he can,” his mother agreed. “But we all know you can do better. We’re just so tired of watching you throw things away for this girl. What does she even have to offer you?”

“I don’t—” Holden said, but his father cut him off.

“Your graduation ceremony. Do you remember? We were all ready to go and watch you accept that damn full scholarship to West Point, but instead, you go off to Annapolis to stay near this girl.”

“And miss the ceremony altogether because her date left her for the prom?” His mother sniffed. “Honey, you were young then, but you’re not so young anymore. You have to start thinking of your future.”

“You don’t know what I’m going to do.”

I don’t know what I’m going to do.

“Don’t we?” His father raised his eyebrows, and from the corner of his eye, Holden saw the ladies’ room door open. Avery stalked toward them, a little more wobbly than she had been before. As she rejoined them, so did the waitress, who sat large plates of salad in front of each of them and encouraged them to eat.

“The salad fork is the—” his mother said, but Avery just smiled at her and picked up her shrimp fork along with a steak knife and set to cutting up her salad. Obviously, she’d decided to get a little payback.