Chapter 4

The following day Mark went to the main PX and asked to speak to the store manager. He was shown to the office of Ted Grossman. He explained to Ted who he was along with showing him pictures of a Bifty Shoe display. He could see the sales commission for selling Bifty Shoes caught Ted’s attention. Mark said because of the pricing here for the shoes, it could be less costly for the customers to order the shoes here rather than doing the ordering online.

Ted said he would agree to have a display here and asked if Mark would explain the ordering procedure to Monica who handled that department. Mark said he would and was introduced to Monica.

Mark shook hands with Ted and as he was walking out with Monica, Ted remarked, “Even if the General didn’t call me this morning and recommend me doing this, based on what you say, I still would have agreed to sell your shoes here.”

Mark was shocked to hear Ted say that Cal had called and at the same time, he was pleased that the General did that.

After having a sandwich and a soda Mark decided to stop by the Military Police Brigade headquarters to look at a phone directory to see if anyone he served with was on base.

In walking into the building, he started to tell the clerk there what he wanted but he heard a loud feminine voice say, “Mark Raymond, as I live and breathe, what brings you here?”

He turned to look at who said and saw a lady walking toward him. “Beth..., excuse me,” he said noticing her rank, “Major Bethany Richards, it’s been a long time.”

She walked up to him and hugged him telling him to call her Beth. Turning to the clerk, she mentioned that Mark was a CID special agent who taught and trained her when she was a brand new shavetail.

She asked Mark to come with her to her office which he did following her and admiring her nice backside. They discussed what was going on in their lives as it had been close to fourteen years since they had been assigned to the same duty station. He told her he had retired and was doing some traveling as well as selling Bifty Athletic Shoes.

A Lt Colonel walked into Beth’s office saying,” Beth, I need to talk to you about..., sorry, I didn’t know you had someone here.”

Beth introduced Mark to Lt Colonel Clyde Grayman saying Mark was an old friend and a retired CW4 special agent. They shook hands and the Lt Colonel asked Beth to see him when she had time. Seeing that Beth was busy Mark asked if she could meet him after work at Chili’s and they could do more reminiscing. She said she would be there.

Mark was waiting for Beth and was thinking about her. She still had her good looks and her maturity had added to them. He did notice she wasn’t wearing a wedding ring and couldn’t help but wonder why. With her good looks, she should have been much sought after. He hoped she swung the bat from the right side of the plate but if she didn’t, she still was a very nice person and a friend.

Just after five Beth walked into the restaurant and noticed Mark waving at her. She joined him in his booth and ordered a drink. The conversation they had centered on their assignments and certain people they both knew. In the course of the conversation, Beth mentioned she was single as she hadn’t met “Mr. Right yet.” She asked Mark about his status and he said he was still single as he hadn’t met “Miss Right” yet which caused both of them to laugh.

They placed their food order and continued to talk. He asked her questions about the area and what activities were there that he didn’t know about. She commented on the introduction of the hybrid striper fish into Lake Belton which attracted many fisherpersons. She said that you could rent boats at the marina.

Mark mentioned the reason he was here was that in being retired, he was considering living in the immediate area. The benefits of living close to a military base were the reason he was considering doing that. She mentioned that she had the same thoughts since she planned on retiring in two years.

“You seem to be limiting your planning to Army bases and I can understand that. I prefer a little warmer weather during the winter months and several Naval and Air Force bases in Florida afford those same benefits for retirees. Retirees receive the benefits at all military bases no matter their branch of service. Right now I am leaning toward Patrick AFB but McDill is also in the running.”

Saying she needed to be going as she had a book club meeting, he made a date to take her out this Saturday to dinner.

It turned out for Mark the highlight of this week and the following weeks was taking Beth out to dinner. He did golf with the General and had time to establish a few retail sales locations for Bifty shoes in the Killeen, Belton, and Temple towns.

On their fourth date, Beth suggested they go to the Blue Bon in Belton as she had heard a few people say good things about dining there. Mark thought it would be something different to dine at a restaurant that was off base.

Just inside the entrance of the Blue Bon restaurant, they looked at the pictures on the wall of the celebrities who had dined there. They recognized a number of them including Sharon Anders, the actress, but they didn’t know who Paul Conners was.

In being shown to a table, Mark saw Cal Bryant sitting with a lady at a table who he assumed was Cal’s wife. They were looking at menus. Cal looked up and in seeing Mark asked him and Beth to join them saying that dining with friends is always enjoyable. Introductions were made with Cal telling his wife that Mark is who he is golfing with weekly.

It was a nice time since all four of them had the commonality of places they had been assigned or visited. They talked about those places and things that happened when they were stationed there. Cal’s wife Laura, and Beth got along so well that to Mark it looked like they had known each other forever when in fact they just met. The good time they were having caused them to linger over a second cup of coffee.

When the bill was presented, the General reached for it indicating he was going to pay it. Mark told him that was not going to happen and asked Cal to divide the bill in two for his share. He could see a reaction from Beth since to her knowledge no one disagrees with the General. Cal laughed at Mark telling him to split the bill but he did do it and told Mark what his share was after figuring in the tip.