Page 42 of Jenny
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Dare’s new room came with a great view and a roommate. Vince Antonello was a private who’d been wounded. He’d been at the hospital for a few months. The guy was healing so slowly it didn’t seem like he would ever recover, but Vince didn’t seem to mind. He read books during the day when he wasn’t off for treatments and talked in his sleep at night. All in all, not bad for a roomie.
His parents had needed to return to their jobs in Erie, Pennsylvania. The past two days, Dare’s mom had stepped up and treated Vince like a long-lost son, and the kid was eating up the attention. She’d also baked cookies for Carlos with extra for Vince and Dare.
He’d had Jenny go with him to deliver the cookies to Carlos. The visit had been brief but proved to Dare she could handle being a military wife. Seeing the two interact—telling funny stories about him—was the proof he needed that Jenny would fit into his world just fine. He hoped she saw that, too. Only…
Vince’s parents as well as Carlos’ fiancée returning home had Dare thinking about Jenny. When did she need to leave? Part of him didn’t want to ask the question, but he couldn’t pretend she didn’t have a life in Berry Lake. One that didn’t include him.
He didn’t even know what she did for a living. She had been here, and that was all that mattered, but now he needed to know more about her life at home.
Dare would ask what her plans were today.
Jenny entered the room with two shopping bags. She handed one to Vince and the other to Dare. “These are for you.”
Dare glanced into his bag to see puzzle books, a deck of cards, and candy. “Thanks so much.”
“This is great, Jenny.” Vince removed a handheld electronic game. “The game will keep me busy until I get more books to read.”
Dare kissed her forehead. “You shouldn’t have.”
“Yes, she should have,” Vince countered. “I love presents.”
Jenny laughed.
Dare shook his head. “I wasn’t talking to you, Vince.”
Vince raised a hand. “Sorry, dude. Talk away. I’m going to play my game.”
Dare waited to see if Vince said anything else. He didn’t.
“I’m going to have Jenny pull the curtain,” Dare said. “Sorry, but I want some privacy with my girl.”
“Just don’t be too loud.” Vince laughed.
Jenny closed the curtain that separated the two halves of the room. “Privacy, huh?”
Dare shrugged. “Do you want an audience?”
“Depends on what you have in mind.”
Oh, he had lots in mind, but not now. “You’re tempting me to go rogue and forget what I had planned.”
“What did you have planned?”
“It’s boring.”
“Boring is my middle name.”
Dare didn’t buy that for a second. “Well, I wanted to ask about your schedule.”
Her nose crinkled. “Schedule?”
He nodded. “How long are you planning to stay? It’s crazy, but I’ve never asked when you needed to go home or about your job.”
“You’ve had a lot going on.”
She hadn’t answered him. “So…”
