Shelter in a Soldier's Arms Read Online Free PDF Page B

I promise.”
    He hadn’t known she could be anything but.
    They continued their shopping, going up and down each aisle. Jeff found that buying bread for sandwiches also meant buying something to go in between the slices of bread. Maggie favored peanut butter and jelly. He thought her mother might appreciate something more along the lines of sliced turkey or beef. Which meant an intense discussion on mustard versus mayonnaise, and an interpretation of whether or not Maggie’s shudder at the thought of pickles meant her mother didn’t like them, either.
    The girl’s cart was already full and his was nearly so when they turned the corner and found themselves in the pet food aisle. Maggie touched a can of cat food and sighed.
    “Do you have a kitty?” she asked, sounding hopeful. “I didn’t see one but maybe she was asleep.”
    “Sorry. No pets.”
    “Why? Don’tcha like them?”
    “Cats?” He’d never thought about them one way or the other. Dogs could be a problem. Dogs made noise, alerting people to the presence of intruders. More than one mission had nearly been compromised by the unexpected presence of a dog. But cats?
    “I travel a lot,” he said, then hesitated. Conversing with Maggie was both easy and difficult. He didn’t mind spending time in her company, which surprised him, but he wasn’t sure what to say. How did people talk to children? He only knew how to talk to adults.
    “Pets are a big responsibility,” he continued. “It wouldn’t be fair to the animal to leave it alone all the time.”
    She considered his statement, then nodded slowly. “Mommy and I are home plenty, but she says we can’t have a kitten just yet. They can be expensive. Not for her food, but if she got sick or somethin’. Mommy gets sad about money sometimes. She cries in the bathroom.” Maggie pressed her lips together. “I don’t think I’m supposed to know, but I can hear her, even with the water running. Can you make Mommy not be sad?”
    He wasn’t sure what to do with the information Maggie shared. Based on the little he knew about Ashley’s situation, he wasn’t surprised by her financial concerns. But he also wasn’t willing to take on responsibility for her emotional state.
    “Your mother isn’t sad now,” he said, sidestepping the issue.
    Maggie thought for a moment, then nodded her agreement. “Mommy’s happy.”
    Jeff thought that might be a stretch. Ashley might be relieved to be out of the shelter, but he doubted she was pleased with her present circumstances. His guess was she wouldn’t rest easy until she had her life back in order.
    *
    While Jeff heated soup in a pan on the stove, Maggie watched her frozen kid’s dinner as it warmed in the microwave. The entree had come with a small toy, which she clutched in her hand as she danced from foot to foot, waiting for the timer to beep.
    “I like chicken,” she announced. “And macaroni and cheese. I’ve never had them together before.” It didn’t sound like much of a treat to him, but then, he wasn’t four. After stirring Ashley’s soup, he returned to the task of putting away the rest of the groceries. As the pantry shelves were bare, it didn’t take long. He put milk and juice into the refrigerator, along with several cartons of yogurt. Frozen foods went into the freezer.
    Grocery shopping and cooking had to be two of the most normal activities, and yet they all felt foreign to him. He didn’t eat yogurt from a carton. The last time he’d had the stuff had been during a covert operation in Afghanistan and the goat responsible for the yogurt had watched him warily, as if to make sure he swallowed every spoonful.
    He stirred the soup again, then checked on Maggie’s dinner.
    “Twenty more seconds,” she told him, never taking her gaze from the timer.
    He dug through kitchen cupboards, pulling out a bowl from a set of dishes he doubted he’d ever used. He also unearthed a wooden tray. After rinsing and drying the bowl, he poured