It's Suzie

“Hey, dinner’s ready.”

Scott followed Doug out of the room, on the stairs was Doug’s little sister Suzie, but Suzie wasn’t the same little sister Scott remembered.

“Hey Suzie.” Scott waved and smiled.

“Damn, Doug, who’s your friend?”

“It’s Scott.”

“No way.”

“Yeah, Suzie, it’s me.”

“Holy crap Scott, when’d you get hot?”

“SUZIE!” Doug yelled.

“Mom,” Suzie yelled, running up the stairs, “You gotta see Scott, he’s hot now.”

“I’m sorry dude.” Doug looked apologetically at Scott.

Scott laughed, “It’s cool, good to see she’s still the same Suzie.”

“Yeah,” Doug said, but it was clear he was worrying a little.

Suzie had never been afraid to speak her mind, and she had always delighted in harassing Scott. Scott did the math real quick, Suzie would be 18 now, and she wasn’t the cute little girl that used to jump on Scott’s back and attack him with squirt guns, she looked good. The tight shorts she had on showed off her legs and butt. . .

Scott stopped himself. What was he thinking? That was Suzie, little Suzie, his best friends baby sister. He needed to keep his hormones in check, especially with him living in the house for now.

He followed Doug up the stairs where Mrs. Carter was waiting for him.

“Scotty, always good to see you!” she said, grabbing Scott and giving him a big hug, pushing her large chest into his.

“Let me look at you.” She looked him up and down and blushed a bit. “You know I’ve never been a ‘man in uniform’ girl, but wow Scott, you’ve really grown up nicely.”

“Thank you Mrs. Carter.”

“You must have girls falling all over you, let me feel your arms.” Mrs. Carter grabbed his arm and squeezed it, Scott humored her and flexed. “Oh my, I bet you could throw me around.”

“Mom!” Doug scolded.

“You can throw me around Scott.” Came Suzie’s voice from the other room.

Scott laughed, he’d always loved Doug’s family, partly because they spoke their minds so freely, even when it wasn’t socially appropriate. It was such a refreshing contrast to his own home life, knowing what everyone was thinking set Scott at ease, even if it was a bit embarrassing.

“Come in and sit down Scott, they won’t jump you at the dinner table.” Doug’s dad called form the other room.

“Thank you, Mr. Carter, everything smells great.” Scott said, walking into the dining room. Italian roasted chicken, roasted potatoes, some kind of squash, salad, bread, it was the typical abundance of good food that was dinner at the Carter house, and it brought back good memories.

No sooner had food hit his plate than he started being grilled for information. The Carters would tell you anything and everything, but they also wanted to know everything about you.

He talked about signing up for the Army as a mechanic, his training, different bases he was stationed at, the one time he almost was in an active combat zone. The only subject he avoided was Amber.

“Have you seen your family much since you enlisted Scott?” Mrs. Carter had waited to bring that up till well into the conversation, she had always been concerned about his family life, and it seemed that hadn’t changed.

“I wrote them early on, but no one responded so I just focused on my own life and didn’t try again. I didn’t even tell them I got married till a few months later.”

“You what?” Mrs. Carter squealed.

Scott sighed, he had intended to avoid that subject entirely, but he failed pretty badly.

“I got married.”

“You have a wife, when are we going to meet her?”

Scott felt the failure of the relationship all over again. “It didn’t work out.”

“Oh no, how long were you together?”

“Well, we got married 6 months into my training, and the divorce was finalized last week, so about three and a half years.”

“Oh Scott,” Mrs. Carter said, getting up. “You poor thing, if you want to talk about it, I’m here for you.” Mrs. Carter came around to his chair and pulled him up into another hug.

“What happened, did you cheat on her?” Suzie asked.

“Suzanne Giovanna Carter, you apologize right now.” Mrs. Carter demanded.

“What, that’s how most marriages end, someone cheats.”

Mrs. Carter glared at her youngest child.

“Geez, okay, I’m sorry Scott.”

“She was the one that cheated on Scott, actually.” Doug said through a bite of potato.

“That’s awful Scott.” Mrs. Carter said, touching Scott on his shoulder.

Doug’s phone buzzed.

“Oh man, it’s a client, I have to take this call.” He said, wiping his mouth. Doug left the room as he answered the phone.

“So how’d you find out she was cheating?” Suzie asked.

“Suzanne!” her mother scolded again. “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want Scott, we can talk about something else.”

“I’d like that actually, thanks.” He said, grateful to get out of talking more about Amanda.

“So Scott, what’s your plan now that you are back in town?” Mr. Carter asked.

“Probably see if Mr. Buzek needs help at the bike shop, if not I’ll try some of the shops in Sarver.”

Mrs. Carter chimed in, “If you need some time, take it Scott, you have a place in this house as long as you want it.”

“Well, if I’m going to stay here I’m going to pay rent, I’m not going to take advantage of you.”

“You don’t need to pay a thing Scott, your service in that uniform is enough for me.” Mr. Carter said.

“I respect that sentiment Mr. Carter, but that’s not how I intend to live my life. I could use a few days to readjust, but after that I’m going to find a job.”

“More than a couple days Scott, after all you’ve been through.” Mrs. Carter was touching both his shoulders, if he stood up she’d be hugging him again. “I don’t want to hear about you working till next week.”

Scott wasn’t going to argue too much with Mrs. Carter, “Yes ma’am.”

“If you get tired of Doug you can sleep in my room Scott, I’ve got a queen bed.”

“Suzanne, please!” Suzie seemed to be enjoying riling up her mother.

"If you are finished, Scott, you can go take a rest, you probably need it."