Sailor Proof (Shore Leave 1)

“You’re way earlier than I expected.” He glanced up from the phone and didn’t sound particularly thrilled about this development.

“Sorry.” I kicked off my shoes near the door.

“No, I’m not complaining.” His smile was way more tentative than usual and made my stomach do this weird flippy thing like right before we started a descent in the sub. “I figured that you’d end up playing cards with Calder’s crew late into the night.”

“Nah.” Trying to figure out where I should put my body was hard. The bed still seemed like shark-infested waters, but continuing to stand was awkward too. I settled for leaning against one of the two high-back chairs. “I was bushed. Thought we could watch TV or something.”

Arthur laughed and made an expansive gesture. “No TV.”

“What?” Hotels and rental houses always had televisions.

“It’s a historic camp,” Arthur explained patiently. “Part of the appeal to my mom and other organizers is the ‘digital detox’ aspect.”

“Well, hell.” I sank into the chair, which was overly stiff in that old-fashioned furniture way and not at all suitable for sleeping. Double hell.

“Not too late to go join the card game.” Still smiling, Arthur pointed to the door.

“No, it’s okay, we can just...” I glanced around like an answer might pop out of the gleaming woodwork.

“I’m not gonna jump you, Derrick. Chill.” Bounding off the bed, Arthur knelt in front of his bag. “And you’re talking to the guy who can’t hold still. I don’t do bored well, and I’m not joining the dawn meditation crew anytime soon. I packed accordingly.”

“Oh?” Stretching my neck, I tried to see inside his bag.

“Yeah. Always travel with a geek. I can use my phone as a mobile hotspot so we can watch something on my tablet.” He tossed a small tablet on the bed. “And because streaming can be iffy out here, I’ve got a digital chess set for either solo or two-player action. And this Spanish dice game. Two card games that admittedly are nerdier than poker, but Calder isn’t the only one who can play to win.”

More boxes joined the tablet on the bed, and I could see a notable assortment of snacks peeking out of his bag as well.

“I’m impressed.” Pushing up out of the chair, I came over to the bed and picked up the largest of the boxes. “I get sick of poker and its variations, honestly. Let’s see the chess set.”

“Cool.” Arthur beamed like I’d admired a new puppy. “You play?”

“Yeah.” Chess felt safer than huddling together to watch something on the little screen and definitely safer than anything else we could get up to on the bed. To that end, I carried the box back to the table between the two chairs. “I used to play with my grandmother. She was a fierce competitor. Always played white and didn’t have patience for non-standard sets.”

“No superhero chess for her? Or Lord of the Rings? I have one with all the characters instead of the usual pieces.” Arthur took the other chair. The table was narrow enough that the chairs almost touched. Leaning forward so that his hair nearly grazed my skin, he spun the board around. “And here, you can be white this time. My treat.”

“Thanks.” I slid open the compartment under the board that held magnetic pieces that worked with the digital board. “And yeah, Grandma liked to play by the rules. But we had a good time.”

“That’s nice. I learned chess initially from my grandpa—Dad’s dad who learned chess back when he was in the navy. None of my brothers really took to the game, though, and the way Calder talks, you’d think sailors were only capable of poker.”

“Ha. Not hardly. Plenty of chess players in the military. I’ve had any number of good games with crewmates, but few rival my grandmother for sheer mettle.” The memory of those Sunday afternoons with her, learning the rules, hearing her stories, and eating ginger cookies made my chest ache and my voice wistful.

“She sounds great. Where did you grow up?” Arthur asked as he set up his side of the board.

“Northern Illinois, Great Lakes Region, not too far from a big naval training center. Grandma was a civilian contractor for years there, then retired to this fifty-five-and-up community on one of the smaller lakes nearby. Wasn’t supposed to have had me there, but the manager made an exception when I landed on her doorstep.” I wasn’t going to get into that whole tale right then, so I brightened my tone as I summed up my childhood. “It was...interesting growing up without many other kids around.”

“Wow. I can’t imagine. There were always other kids around for us. My brothers. Cousins. All the kids on base housing and nearby neighborhoods. Always someone to play with, especially if you made friends easily like Calder, Oliver, and Roger did.”