A Candle for a Marine (Always a Marine) Read Online Free PDF

number, and you have my cell….”
    “Okay.” It happened too fast for Zehava to stop her. Shannon paused at the doorway and eyed Isaac sternly.
    “You will be nice to her.” The implicit or else hung in the air and, to his credit, Isaac didn’t smirk or laugh.
    “Yes, ma’am.”
    “Take care, Shannon!” Zehava called after her. The front door banged a few moments later, leaving Zehava alone with him. “How much of that did you hear?”
    “Pretty much all of it,” he admitted, entering the room slowly, hands in his pockets. Dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, he looked like he had in high school—just older and maybe a little more careworn.
    Nerves jangling, she returned to finish unpacking the supplies. Better to keep her hands busy, even if she couldn’t stop glancing at him. “It’s rude to eavesdrop.”
    “Well, it seems I’ve been delivering my share of rude this week.” Instead of keeping his distance, Isaac picked up a box and carried it over. “Z—”
    “It’s okay.”
    “No, it’s not. I behaved like a jackass.” He didn’t touch her, but fixed her in place with a steady gaze. “A real jackass and you didn’t—and don’t—deserve it. Your friend is right; I owe you an apology. I’m sorry.”
    Just like that, he became her Isaac again, the boy who’d held her hand on the worst day of her life. The one who made her smile even when she was sad, who made her feel beautiful when she complained about her too prominent nose or lack of boobs or—worse—the day she realized she’d inherited some of her mother’s features. In his eyes, she’d always been the most beautiful version of herself, and he made her believe it.

 
     
     

Chapter Four
     
     
    If Zehava kicked him to the curb, he wouldn’t be surprised. Yet she did nothing of the kind. Instead, she studied him with gentle, liquid black eyes that saw right down to his soul. “Okay. Those jars need to go on that shelf.”
    He glanced down at the grayish powder and shifted to reach the shelf she indicated. “What is this?”
    “It’s for pottery. They mix it with water and make stuff.” She grimaced. “It’s for Shannon’s class.” Wrinkling her brow, she stumbled over her words and broke down the box she’d emptied with jerky movements.
    The temper he’d chewed on for five days sat like a sour rock in his stomach. “Zehava.”
    “I know you have things to do, it’s fine. I need to go check on the snacks for tonight….” Tears glittered in her eyes, and he caught her arm before she could escape. Tentative as hell, he kept his grip light.
    “I really am sorry.” He felt like his hat should be in hand. “If anyone else spoke to you like that, I would have kicked the crap out of them. As it is, I think someone should kick me.”
    The moment the words left his mouth, he should have expected her reaction, but the dampness in her eyes undid him so he barely saw her foot move before it connected with his shin. He winced at the strike and let go of her arm. A faint smile curved the corners of her mouth. “You’re right. I should have kicked you. Thank you for pointing that out.”
    Isaac laughed. “You feel better?”
    “I do.”
    He finished with the box and collapsed it. “So you think we can start over at the top of this week?”
    “How so?” She reached for the third one, but he beat her to the cardboard, emptying it before flattening it like the others. When she would have picked up another, he claimed it and jerked his chin to the door. “Where do you want these?”
    “I can do it. Look.” She rounded on him and a spark lit in her eyes. “You don’t have to clean up or help. You apologized, and that was thoughtful. You’re here to see family….”
    “I know. And you are part of my family.” He raised his eyebrows and waited for her to argue against it. Grateful when she didn’t, he nodded. Hadn’t she said exactly the same thing to her friend? “That’s what I thought. Now, where do you want