Page 19 of Salute, To Bravery

Ian reached over and put his hand on top of my phone, wrapping his fingers around the top of mine.

“No, it’s fine. It’d be nice to show you some of the hidden places.

I’m sure you’re going to love it there.” He met my eyes for a moment.

“Really, it’s fine.” He squeezed my fingers slightly before putting his hand back on the wheel.

I watched him from the corner of my eye, stealing glances whenever I could. He seemed lost in thought, but other than that, I couldn’t get a read on him. I wanted to ask what the story was, but I knew better than to ask.

As much as I tried to fight it, I dozed off in the passenger seat, but was jarred awake when I felt the RV come to a stop.

I hadn’t opened my eyes yet, but I heard the engine shut off, and then I smelled Ian’s scent.

It was like cedar mixed with something smoky, and it annoyed me that I still couldn’t put my finger on it.

“Hey Dottie.” I felt his warm hand give my shoulder a gentle shake.

I opened my eyes and saw him leaning toward me. “What’s wrong?”

Ian smiled. “Nothing’s wrong, just had to stop for gas and figured you might want to get out and stretch your legs. Maybe get a drink or some snacks?”

I nodded sleepily and yawned. I rubbed my eyes and took in my surroundings. There was literately nothing to see. A few gas stations and fast-food chains. There was the highway, but then nothing but trees and rolling hills. “Where are we?”

“Rolla, Missouri,” Ian answered from outside the RV. The soft summer breeze blew through his open window.

“There’s nothing here.” I hopped out of the RV and made my way around the front to stand next to Ian while he pumped gas.

He chuckled. “Not much along the highway, but if you go further in, there’s a lot. They even have a pretty good college here.” He nodded to one side of the overpass. “It’s a good place to stop when you’re traveling on I-44 though.”

I just nodded before heading into the gas station to get snacks for the road.

I insisted on driving after we got back into the RV, even though Ian thought it was a bad idea. “Do you just not trust my driving or what?” I giggled, feigning offense.

“Look, I’ve never even seen you ride a bike. This is a huge vehicle for most people. I’m just a little . . . nervous.” Ian tightened his grip on the door, which only made me giggle more.

“It’s a mostly straight highway, Ian, I’ll be fine.”

“For now. Even this highway gets some pretty tight corners around these hills, so just be careful, okay? Especially as we go further south.”

I rolled my eyes again and fought to keep from outright laughing at him. I decided to change the subject to help ease his mind. “So, where’s are first stop?”

It worked. Ian grinned. “A gas station.” The gleam in his eyes was contagious and utterly adorable.

“Why are we stopping at another gas station, we just got gas?” I didn’t bother hiding my confusion.

“Oh, this isn’t just any gas station, it’s also a huge gift shop, and you just gotta see it to believe it. It’s actually not too far up the highway. I’ll tell you when to get off.” His grin got bigger as I just got more confused.

“Okay, if you say so.” I shook my head. The silence that ensued was comfortable, but something had been gnawing at me for most of the day. “Ian, can I ask you a question? It’s pretty personal?”

Ian squinted at me for a second before answering, as if he was contemplating whether he was walking into a trap. “Okay, shoot.” He shrugged his shoulders before looking back out the window.

“Why don’t you like going home? This is where you grew up, wouldn’t your family be here?”

Ian pursed his lips, and the smile he had quickly fell from his face. “I don’t really have any family here anymore. My parents both died while I was deployed, and I just didn’t have anyone to come back to.”

I nodded. “You were an only child?”

Ian nodded again. “Yeah, parents wanted a whole football team but only got me.” He smiled at me, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

“What did you do in the Army?”

Ian laughed. “What’s the sudden interest in my life’s story? You writing a book or something?”

I could tell he was deflecting. “One, I’m just trying to make conversation. Two, we worked together for months, and no one knew anything about you. I get you’re trying to go for this whole ‘mysterious and deadly’ vibe, but come on.”

Ian let out a big belly laugh, and it made me smile. “Mysterious and deadly vibe? What?” He kept laughing, wrapping his arm around his stomach then faking wiping away tears. “Oh, that’s one I haven’t heard before.” He let out a low whistle and straightened himself in his seat.

“You didn’t answer the question.” I raised an eyebrow at him.

He sighed. “I was a grunt.”

“A grunt?” I furrowed my eyebrows.

Ian groaned. “Infantry.”

“Oh, what did you do? Like marching and stuff?”

Ian’s eyes widened, and his jaw dropped before he quickly snapped it shut. “Have you lived under a rock or what?”

I was a little taken aback. “Is that something most people know?”

“I mean, they may not know the details, but most people know what the infantry’s job was. At least as a general idea.”

I shrugged. “Sorry, I actually don’t know anyone who’s been in the military. I think my mom’s dad may have been, but I never met the guy.” I sheepishly smiled. “Was I way off-base?”

Ian scoffed. “Kind of.” He laughed in a humorless sort of way and shook his head.

“Look, I wasn’t trying to make you mad. I just don’t know these things. People have gaps in their knowledge. That just happens to be one of mine.” I tried to get a read on him while also trying to keep an eye on the road, which led to me hitting the rumble strip.

Ian gripped the door. “Please keep it on the road.” I could hear him gritting his teeth.

“Sorry.” I straightened the wheel and snuck a glance at him. He was still gripping the door but had relaxed only slightly.

After what seemed like an eternity of silence, Ian cleared his throat. “I know you weren’t trying to make me mad. And I wasn’t. It’s just not something I like talking about, and I’m already on edge from your terrible driving.”

I huffed. “My driving is not that bad!”

Ian smiled. “Yes, it is.”

As always, I couldn’t help but smile back at him. He always had a way of putting me at ease, even when I was the one who made the conversation weird.

His demeanor changed almost instantly. “Okay, you need to take the next exit and hang a left.”

He let go of the door and rubbed his hands together like a child getting ready for his treat.

His excitement was infectious, and I found myself getting excited about what I was about it see.

Turns out that it didn’t take long to see what he was so excited about.

Even before I took the exit, I could see a huge building that really looked like a barn with a bright red roof, with a bunch of gas pumps in front of it.

I stopped at the stop sign and raised an eyebrow at Ian, who merely nodded his head excitedly.

I turned into the parking lot and found a spot near the door. The giant cartoon-ish child on the front of the building was hard to miss as well as the sign that read “Candy Factory” in huge white letters. I shook my head in disbelief. “You said this was a gas station.”

He hopped out of the RV, a huge grin on his face.

“There’re gas pumps out front, it counts.

Now come on.” He nearly skipped to my side of the RV and took my hand, pulling me out of the large vehicle.

I expected him to let go of my hand, but he held on.

His hands were strong, and much bigger than mine, and I couldn’t help but feel safe as he pulled me into the store.

I briefly wondered if I should pull my hand away, but if I was being honest with myself, I didn’t want to.

The distraction of his hand enclosing mine ended abruptly as he dropped my hand when the door closed behind them.

I caught him looking at me, if only for a minute.

He almost looked embarrassed. I wanted to comfort him in some way, even though I didn’t know why.

I stopped myself from reaching for his hand again, and almost as if he sensed the situation, he folded his arms in front of his chest.

“So, what do you think?” His smile returned to his face as he looked between me and our surroundings.

I finally took a second to look around me, and it was not what I expected.

Rows upon rows of candies. Buckets, or maybe closer to barrels of them, lined the floor on both sides of me.

I could glimpse the gifts at the back of the store, but I didn’t get a chance to look before Ian waved at me to follow him to the end of one of the rows of candy.

Ian handed me a paper baggy and gestured to the barrels. “Have at it.”

“Do what?” I was confused. Again.

He rolled his eyes. “You fill up the bag with the candy you want. You take it up to the cashier and pay by the weight of the bag.” He grinned.

“Are you serious?” I grinned. “You just scoop candy into your bag and go for it.”

Ian nodded excitedly and off he went. I tried my best to keep up with him, but honestly just wasn’t sure what to put in my bag. Ian helped by explaining things as we went or just throwing random things in my bag without asking.

“Are you getting me candy, or are you just getting more candy for you?” I laughed as he stuck more candy in my bag.

“I’m broadening your horizons.” He grinned again as we moved toward the register with our nearly bursting bags. “Oh, you need some of these.” He stuck some sticks in my bag that looked like they had crystals growing on them.

I pulled one out of the bag, a deep red one that was really pretty. “What’s this?”

He laughed. “It’s rock candy.” He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. He sighed at my frown. “Just trust me.” He took the stick from me and shoved it back in the back and handed them both over to the cashier.

The cashier kept glancing between Ian and me. She rang them up and handed over the bags. “You and your wife have a good day.” She gave us both a warm smile.

“Oh, we’re not married,” I quickly chimed in.

Ian smile faltered only slightly, but it was enough to make me want to kick myself in the teeth. Why did I feel bad about saying what was true?

Ian paid, and we got back into the RV. This time Ian didn’t give me a choice as he took the driver’s seat. Our minor awkward moment forgotten.

I decided to just let him drive if it would make him feel better. Once we got back on the road, Ian pointed to my candy bag. “Okay, fish out one of those rock candies and try it.”

I dug through the bags until I found two of the same flavor and handed one to Ian. I unwrapped it and stared at it for a minute.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Won’t it cut my mouth? Is it even safe to eat?” I didn’t like the thought of putting minerals or dirt in my mouth.

“Oh my gawd,” he said with a thick accent. “You seriously lived under a rock, didn’t you? It’s literately sugar, water, and flavor. Just put it in your mouth.”

I gave him a look, noting the innuendo.

“Shut up and just do it.” He shook his head and chuckled.

I stuck the candy in my mouth. It was like a sucker but tasted so much better somehow.

It was sweet, but didn’t have that gummy texture that suckers could get sometimes.

The crystals did feel a little weird in my mouth, but there were no sharp edges like I thought there would be.

I pulled it out of my mouth and grinned at Ian.

He smiled back. “See, you should trust me more.” He stuck his candy back in his mouth.

“How do they make these, do you know? Is it some kind of mold they pour into?” I stuck the candy back in my mouth.

Ian pulled his out of his mouth and waggled his eyebrows at me. “They use science.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “No seriously, how do they do it?”

Ian chuckled. “Seriously, they use science. They basically make a syrup and dip the stick in it. They suspend the stick in the syrup and leave it. Eventually, crystals start forming on the stick, and they just build on top of each other until you get rock candy.”

“Seriously?”

“Yep, we could make our own with some basic supplies and some mason jars.” He smiled at me.

“Have you done it before?”

Ian’s grin only got wider. “I’ll have you know I won my first-grade science fair because I made some rock candy.” He straightened his spine, very proud of his great accomplishment.

I grinned. He was always easy-going at work.

But now he seemed child-like. Not immature but just at-ease with himself and with me.

I remembered him saying he didn’t like coming home, but part of it felt like he was back where he was comfortable.

Even if he wasn’t ready to talk about the big stuff, he seemed to be letting his guard down slightly.

“So, now I have a question for you.” Ian crunched on his candy, forgoing the licking process altogether.

“Okay, shoot.” I mirrored his earlier words with a grin.

“What’s so wrong with the idea of being mistaken for my wife?”