Stuck with you

Chapter Ten

Kate's POV

"Ma'am, will that be all?" Mary, one of the maidens, said to me.

"Yes," I replied.

The kitchen was a good place for me to stay. I had watched each maiden performing their tasks.

Leah let me stay, so long as I would just supervise and monitor without doing anything else. I agreed.

As long as I was in the kitchen.

The memory of my conversation with Marcus kept coming back to me. I still couldn't believe he was serious.

"Thanks for listening to me," Leah said behind me. She had just entered.

"Thank you, Leah," I said.

"It's time for dinner," she said, taking my hand.

We walked together.

"Just so you know, Kate, Marcus's mom is around, and you'll see her in the dining room."

I stopped. She looked at me.

"Must I go?" I asked her.

"Yes, Marcus wants you to, and she's a good person — she might be a little intriguing, but I'll be there, okay?"

Leah said, taking my hand back as I followed.

Marcus's mom, I thought.

I had only seen her in pictures.

In the dining room, Marcus was seated in the center. I could see Tank and Mrs. Steele laughing together about something.

They stopped as soon as we reached the table.

Leah sat next to her husband, and I was left to sit next to her.

Mrs. Steele.

"Good evening, ma," I said, sitting.

I could see she was surprised to see me.

"And who do I have here?" she asked, looking at me.

Oh my.

"I'm Kate," I answered.

She smiled.

"You are such a beautiful maiden."

I could see Marcus's eyes were on me.

"Thank you," I said.

The maids were already done dishing, but nobody was eating.

"Tell me, how come you're here?"

"Colonel Marcus brought me here," I answered, not sure if I should say that.

My eyes were fixed on Marcus.

"Really?" Mrs. Steele said.

"Then you must be—"

"She's my personal maid, Mom," Marcus cut in.

"Hmm, I don't know if a personal maid sits with their master in the dining room," Mrs. Steele said, teasing Marcus.

"Come on, everyone, let's eat," Leah said.

I shifted my focus to my food. I believed everyone else was eating, but not Marcus — I could feel his gaze on me.

Maybe I shouldn't have said that, I thought.

"So where are you from, Kate?" Mrs. Steele said, starting again.

I paused, thinking of what to say and how to say it.

"Somewhere in America," I said. "But my father died, and I moved here to the new neighborhood before Marcus—" I decided to stop. I just didn't understand why he couldn't keep his eyes off me.

"So sorry about your father, dear," Mrs. Steele said. I accepted her condolences.

Marcus's and my eyes met. He grabbed his glass of water.

"Tell me, what would you love your man for?" Mrs. Steele said.

Marcus almost spat all the water from his mouth.

I didn't see that coming.

"Are you okay, son?" she turned to Marcus.

"I'm fine," he said, placing the glass down and picking up a napkin to clean up.

Mrs. Steele's attention came back to me.

"Ma," I started, before she needed to remind me what she'd asked.

"I like that about him — if he's able, capable of handling me outside and even inside." I smiled as soon as the words dropped.

Marcus's eyes were still on me, but differently now — I could see a dangerous smile at the corner of his lips.

"That's impressive, dear," Mrs. Steele said.

"Ma, you haven't touched your soup," Leah said.

"I will, Leah dear." She brought her eyes back to me.

I decided to continue with my food.

"You must like children," she said again.

I stopped the food before it reached my mouth, setting it back down.

This was just getting to its peak.

"Yes, ma," I replied.

Tank cleared his throat oddly.

"Tell me how many you'd love to have, because I only had three myself, but I wished for five," Mrs. Steele said, laughing.

"Mom, she doesn't know how many children she'll have, right?" Marcus said. He was looking at me so intently now.

I smiled.

"I do know — I would love to have two girls and two boys," I said.

I could see his mouth open.

Now that's what it feels like to get on someone's nerves.

"That's good, dear," his mother said, her attention back to me.

Smiling now, I glanced at Leah. She winked at me.

"Come on, let's eat," Mrs. Steele ordered.

Marcus was still staring at me. I ate, avoiding meeting his eyes.

____

Marcus's POV

I opened the door of my study, Tank behind me. Dinner had just ended, and that was a relief.

"What do you think?" Tank said, closing the door behind him.

I sat on my desk. "I think my mom is so unbelievable, and that Kitty — I swear, impossible."

Tank laughed at me, grabbing a chair.

"But it was actually a nice dinner, aside from the food, you know," he said.

Like, seriously.

My gaze met his.

Tank seemed satisfied about this whole situation, because he enjoyed seeing me as something other than a soldier.

"I like her — I mean Kate," he said, leaning closer.

"But you have to be the one to get her, since I'm married," he added, waving his finger at me.

I held back the laugh.

"You're ridiculous."

"And you, my friend, are just a good liar," he said, smiling.

I'll always say it — no one really knows me the way Tank does.

"Any reports on Kate's neighbors?" I said, changing the topic.

"Oh, yes. She's new — came here three months ago."

"Okay," I said, telling him to continue.

"But there's something. The people there don't really take to her. They say she's isolative too, and the first day she came she was dressed rich, but afterward it was different."

Dressed rich, I thought.

"Who let her stay if they didn't even like her?" I asked.

"A woman, very well respected. I haven't spoken to her yet."

"Why?" I questioned him, unable to help it.

"She's been away for a while — that's why you were able to take Kate without anyone interfering," Tank said, resting his back against the chair.

I tapped the table gently with one finger.

If she was here, rich, and the neighborhood didn't like her, why did she stay?

So many questions, I thought.

I remembered her telling my mom about her dad's death and her leaving.

What's really going on with this girl?

"Well, there's something else," Tank said.

"What?"

"She likes cooking and baking. Some of the people who liked her in the neighborhood were because of that — she's kind," Tank said, smiling now.

Baking, cooking.

"What are you trying to imply?" I asked.

"Let her be in the kitchen often. From what Leah told me too, she enjoys it," Tank implied.

I knew her food was nice, but the kitchen…

"Okay, that will be that. Any updates on the girls?" I said, changing the topic again.

"They're all good, but the trauma from the k********g still lingers. Their families are grateful, though." Tank's eyes told me all.

"And your father — I think he still isn't okay with you taking that operation into your own hands," he added carefully.

"I didn't die, did I?" I emphasized.

My father has a way of getting on my nerves, even at thirty-nine. I still look like his twenty-year-old son to him.

"Just give them hope that this life you've chosen hasn't taken their son away," Tank said.

He was right. But then—

"Too bad it's a ghost who has," he added.

"Tank..." Anger rose in me.

"You can't—"

"That will be all. Goodnight," I cut in, standing up.

I couldn't bear him saying another word right then.

Without another word, he left.

I sighed.

I stared at the sky from my window.

Jane.

My emotions were rising. I found myself on the verge of falling apart.

Tears.

I could feel them, but I couldn't help it.

A shadow appeared in front of me — a hallucination; I saw Jane instead.

"I'm sorry," I said, hand on my chest.

This was my only weakness, and I never got over it.

"So soldiers cry."

The voice came from behind me, and it brought me back to reality.

I didn't need to turn.

My heart pounded.

Little Kitty.