Unmasking The Maverick

“Tanner, you’re an idiot. Asking the woman to dinner. In payment for services rendered, no less.” And now he was talking to himself. The downward spiral into hell was picking up speed and momentum.

His father must be turning over in his grave about this. He could just hear it. That’s no way to make a living. Since when do we not take money for our work?

Since the woman he did the work for looked like Fiona. That smile... When the tractor engine sputtered to life, she’d looked at him again as if he’d hung the moon. A man could get used to that.

“Knock, knock.”

Brendan turned away from his workbench and saw an older woman standing in the doorway. She was probably in her sixties, not very tall and had shoulder-length silver hair. There was spitfire in her eyes and a blender in her arms.

She moved closer and looked up at him. “Are you Brendan Tanner?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She held out her hand. “Edna Halstead.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“Same here. Luke Stockton says you can fix anything.”

“I wouldn’t say that, but I’m pretty good at repairs.” He nodded at the small appliance she was holding. “Having trouble with that?”

“Blasted thing just quit. They don’t make things like they used to. It’s practically new.”

“That’s always the way. I’ll see what I can do.”

She handed it over. “Just when I got my husband to drink protein shakes, too.”

“I’m guessing he’d be just as happy if I couldn’t fix this.” He put the base and pitcher on the workbench then looked back at her still staring at him. “Was there something else?”

“Mind looking at it now? I’d rather not make another trip out here. Unless you’re too busy...”

“No, ma’am.”

“Good. I wouldn’t expect it would take long. It isn’t the space station. If it’s a goner, I expect you’ll know that right away.”

“Yeah.” He picked up a small screwdriver to take apart the base.

“I don’t expect a lifetime warranty,” she said. “Still, you should get a little more time out of something.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“It’s not expensive to get another one, but just on general principle I don’t want to do that.”

“No, ma’am.” He checked out all the connections and the cord, then cleaned and tightened anything that looked to be loose while the woman chattered away.

“The thing is, my husband, J.T., and I are retired and on a fixed income, so we have a budget.”

“Understood.”

“Are you military, Mr. Tanner?”

“Was.” And he missed it, even more after losing his dad. He missed his brothers. Missed doing work that was important. Now he had no mission, no focus except to be in the best possible physical shape for reenlisting.

“What branch of the service?” Her eyes glittered with interest.

“Marine Corps.”

“Semper fi. Your service is much appreciated and welcome home.”

“Thank you.” He stopped working and met her gaze. “Were you in the military?”

She shook her head. “Only by marriage. J.T. was a marine.”

“Vietnam?”

“Did my age give it away?” she teased.

“No, ma’am. What is it they say? Fifty is the new forty?”

She laughed. “I’m a little north of that. Almost seventy. And you know it.”

“Doesn’t show. And what I know is a lot of service members who served their country during that conflict were never properly welcomed home. That wasn’t right.”

“No.” Her mouth pulled tight for a moment. “Since then folks have learned to separate service to country from politics. Hopefully that will never happen again. Some make the ultimate sacrifice. Others live with physical disabilities.”

Something in her expression said she knew about that. “Your husband?”

“He lost a leg—above the knee.”

“Sorry to hear that, ma’am.”

“Stop calling me that. ‘Ma’am’ makes me feel like I lived through the Revolutionary War. Edna, Ed or Eddie will do.”

“Yes, ma—” He saw her glare and stopped. “Eddie.”

“Good choice.” She grinned. “And don’t be feeling sorry for J.T. He’s taken it in stride, if you’ll pardon the pun. He’s one tough marine. The few—”

“The proud. The Marines,” he finished.

“Oorah.”

He closed up the blender base. “There’s no real obvious sign of trouble. I tightened a few loose wires and made sure the rest was shipshape. Let’s plug it in and see.”

“Sure do hope you’re as good as Luke claims.”

“Here goes.” He saw her cross her fingers.

He plugged in the blender and with one last look at her he pushed a button. The thing came to life and the woman smiled her appreciation.