Unforgivable

"No, it's fine," he assured her. "I mean, who wouldn't want to go to Hawaii, right?"

"See, Mom?" Bianca said.

The excited look on her face didn't last long when her mom looked down at her.

"Okay! Fine!" she replied in her huffy voice. "I'll stay in boring Tallahassee."

The detective thanked them all, shook Drew's hand, wished him the best of luck and thanked him for his service.

"You, too, Detective," he told the older man who held the door open for all of them.

When they got to Colby's car, Bianca asked if he could ride with her in back. Her mother almost answered for Drew but held her tongue.

"It's okay with me if your mom doesn't mind," he told her.

"Yes! Can he, Mom? Please?" she asked, nearly begging.

"Are you sure?" Colby asked him.

"Sure. Bianca looks like she could use some company."

Colby laughed then quietly said, "After last night she could probably use a friend, too, and that would not be me quite yet!"

"Just give her time," Drew replied just as quietly before waiting to open Colby's door.

"Well, thank you very much, kind sir!" she told him. "Or should I say...Lieutenant?"

He did the same for Bianca whose eyes lit up as a man opened her door for the first time.

"What do we say, honey?" her mom reminded her.

"Sorry. Thank you!"

"My pleasure...ladies," he told them both as Bianca slid in and scooted over.

Colby barely got a word in edgewise on the ride back as Bianca peppered Drew with endless questions about what plane he flew and what Hawaii was like and why he didn't have a girlfriend.

He did his best to answer them all truthfully and told her, "As to a girlfriend, well, I just haven't met the right...girl...yet."

"You're too old for girls!" she told him.

Colby was all smiles watching her daughter smiling and interacting with Drew.

"If she gets too annoying, Drew, just let me know," Colby said at one point.

"Never! This girl isn't annoying at all. She's just a...jibber-jabberer!" he answered while looking at Bianca with 'crazy eyes' who giggled.

Colby teared up almost instantly knowing it had been months since the last time her daughter had giggled.

As they pulled up to the house, Drew thanked Colby for bringing him back.

"I thought it might be nicer than riding in a squad car," she told him with a smile.

"Yeah, and I got to hang out with this munchkin," Drew said before going in for a tickle, hoping Bianca wasn't too old for such things.

Her shrieks of laughter only added to her mother's tears who was looking for a tissue in her purse.

"Mom! What's wrong?" Bianca asked when she noticed.

"Nothing, honey. I...I think I just got some mascara in my eye. That's all."

"Both of them?" her daughter asked.

"Okay, fine. I'm just so happy to see you being your old self again, okay?"

"I uh, I should probably get out," Drew said, suddenly feeling very out of place.

"I'm sorry, Drew. You've been nothing but helpful, and I'm once again exposing you to all this family drama," Colby told him.

"I don't remember much about it, but I do know what real drama is, and trust me, this isn't even close," he said in the kindest way possible.

He opened the door, said goodbye, then shut it and waved.

The car moved then stopped, so Drew went to see what was wrong.

The front window came down, and Colby looked up and smiled.

"Everything okay?" he asked.

"I...well, I...we...we were wondering if you...would you maybe like to..."

"Have dinner with us?" Bianca called out.

"Bianca!" her again-embarrassed mother said.

Drew chuckled, poked his head back in then said, "You know what? That actually sounds very nice. When are we talking about?"

"Is...tonight okay?" Colby asked with a little wince. "I have to work tomorrow morning and I have finals to study for, so..."

"Sure. That sounds great. What time and where?" Drew asked as Bianca balled up her fist and said, "YES!"

A very-relieved Colby gave him her address and suggested six o'clock.

"I'll be there, and what can I bring?" he asked.

"Nothing. We're just both, you know, so grateful and...thankful...and..."

Colby was more nervous than she could remember being in years, and she knew the reason why. Drew was even nicer than he was handsome, and in spite of his age, she found herself very attracted to him. She'd nearly stepped on the gas again after stopping, but now that she'd asked him to dinner and received a 'yes' in reply, she was slightly less nervous.

"My pleasure," he said again with a smile before quickly poking his head back in and making eye contact with Bianca.

"And you back there! Be nice to this pretty lady, okay?"

"I will! I promise!" Bianca said with a happy smile.

"Pretty lady. We need to get your eyes checked," Colby said, her tummy all aflutter.

"No, sorry. I have 20/15 vision, so that's not gonna um...fly," the new pilot told her.

It wasn't all that funny, but Colby laughed more than was called for then said, "Thank you yet again, Drew, and we'll see you this evening."

"Yes, you will," he told her before doing the quick look thing one more time and saying, "and so will you!" to Bianca.

Drew waved goodbye and even laughed when Bianca made a face after putting hers right up to the glass. He did the same and both of them made another face and laughed even more.

"Drew is really nice, huh, Mom?" her daughter said as they drove away.

"Oh, yes. I...I suppose he is," her mom replied as she tried to catch a glimpse of the handsome, young Air Force pilot as he walked up the sidewalk of his parents' home.

"And he's really tall, huh?" Bianca added.

Colby didn't say anything, but Bianca kept going.

"Drew is like SO handsome, too."

Colby smile but only said, "You need his permission to call him by his first name, okay?"

"I bet he'll let me. I think he really likes me. Do you like him, Mom?" came the barrage of questions.

"I don't even know him, BB," her mom said. "Besides, he's much too young for me, and he's leaving for Hawaii, remember?"

Bianca got very quiet and didn't say another word on the ride home and went straight to her room when they got there.

Colby had to figure out what to make—and what to wear—and didn't have time to sit and talk. It was obvious her daughter had some kind of crush on Drew, and although her mother would never admit it, she was very aware of how attractive he was. And yes, he was also tall and nice and...still going to Hawaii.

Now it Colby who suddenly seemed sullen as she looked in her refrigerator and groaned. The only thing she had was a package of hamburger meat. She had pickles, mayo, and mustard and some nearly-stale buns. There was no money to buy anything else until payday, so even ordering pizza was out of the question.

So with the issue of what to have for dinner resolved, Colby went and knocked on her daughter's bedroom door and asked if she could come in.

It took awhile to get Bianca to open up, but an hour and many tears later, Bianca told her mom she loved her for the first time in much too long, and Colby held her daughter tight and told her she loved her very much, too.

"You wanna help me decide what to wear?" Colby asked when she stood up.

"Is this like a date or something?" Bianca asked.

"What? No. Of course not. I...I just thought I'd, you know, wear something a little nicer. That's all."

Bianca smiled then surprised her mom yet again when she said, "Okay! But you have to help me choose, too, okay?"

"Deal!" her mother said, a happy smile on her face and warmth in her heart.

At the Martin home, Drew's mother noticed something almost immediately.

"Someone's in a good mood," she told her son.

"Yeah, I kinda am."

"So I guess you weren't charged with any crimes then," his mom said, which he knew was code for 'tell me everything'.

Drew laughed then explained what happened.

"Oh. She sounds like a very nice lady with a girl on the crossroads of how her life will unfold."

Drew laughed again then said, "I'm still amazed at how smart you've become since I was Bianca's age."

Sybil laughed, too, and told him it was funny how that happened before asking, "So this is just a 'thank you' kind of thing?"

"Dinner?"

It was so obvious his mom didn't reply.

"Yeah. Colby is just really grateful."

"Well, she should be. Lord only knows what could have happened had you not intervened. And the behavior of her ex-husband is just...unforgivable. I don't know the man, but if everything you told me is true, he belongs in jail."

"I can't disagree, Mom. And while I'm no bleeding heart, I can't help but wonder if he'd have a dad like mine, then maybe his life would have turned out very differently."

Drew's dad walked in and asked, "How come my ears are burning?"

Sybil laughed, kissed him, then said, "They should be. Drew was just mentioning what an amazing father you are."

Martin bowed slightly and said, "Martin Gillis. At your service!"

Drew laughed and Sybil said, "Pfft!" before laughing herself.

"Hey! I've never had any complaints about my service before," he told his wife who faux gasped.

"Okay, you two. I'd say 'get a room' but for you guys, 'give it a rest', is the better choice."

"You're mom is hot, Drew. What can I say?"

"You got me there, Dad. Mom is beautiful."

Sybil kissed her son on the cheek and thanked him before telling her husband about their son's big date.

"Oh?"

"It isn't a date, Dad. It's just dinner."

"She's an older woman," Sybil whispered loudly enough for Drew to hear. "With a 12-year old daughter."

"Ah, yes. Okay, I saw her on the lawn. Well, kind of anyway, and now all of the pieces of this puzzle are coming together."

"There aren't any pieces and there isn't any puzzle, Dad."

"Okay. If you say so," his dad replied with a wink to his wife who smiled and asked if he needed anything.

"No. I just came in to see my beautiful wife," he told her before giving her a kiss.

He turned to leave then stopped and turned back around.

"So...how much older?" he asked.

"Bye, Dad!" Drew told him.

"Okay, okay. I'll mind my own business."

As he walked away, both Drew and his mother said, "Yeah. Right!"

"I heard that!" Martin called back.

Suddenly, Drew needed to ask a question.

"Mom? Did you think Dad was handsome when you first met him?"

"What kind of question is that?" she asked.

"I don't know. Just curious."

She sat down at the table with him then told him, "I saw nothing but good in your father from the first time we talked. He was everything I'd ever dreamed of in a man, and once I saw the way he interacted with you, I fell in love with him."

"He rescued us both, didn't he?"

His mom smiled then put her hand on Drew's.

"I was even more emotionally scared than you were, sweetheart. The man I was married to back then was...evil."

He saw his mom tearing up and regretted having asked the question.

"Mom. It's okay."

"I know. It's okay because of the man sitting in the den playing Texas Hold 'Em online. He quite literally saved me, and yes, he rescued us both, and I love him more than life itself. But to answer your question, I never really even noticed how handsome he was because he had such a beautiful soul."

She squeezed his hand then asked whether or not that answered his question.

"It did. Thanks, Mom," he said as he stood up before bending over to give her a kiss on the cheek.

"So what are you going to wear?" his mom asked.

Drew only raised an eyebrow and his mother backed down.

"Okay. Sorry. I get it. It's none of my business!" she told him with a smile that said much more than her words.

"It's just dinner, Mom," he said again the way people do to reinforce a point.

"Okay. Have fun!" she told him. "But don't forget that love sometimes moves in mysterious ways its wonders to perform!"

"Someone's Bible knowledge needs a lot of work!" was the last thing she heard before he went upstairs.

By the time Drew showed up at Colby's, she was still wearing the same thing she'd worn to the police station. In the end, she didn't have a lot of nice things, and what she was wearing was just about her best. So she'd helped Bianca choose, and she was now wearing a pink top and black stretch pants, and her mom told her she looked very cute.

"Am I too young to be pretty?" Bianca asked after thanking her mother for the compliment.

"Well, no, but it's just that 'pretty' has a different meaning."

"What kind of different meaning?"

Colby thought for a moment or two then said, "I'm almost a college graduate, and yet I can't answer a simple question like that. So, I guess 'I'm not sure' will have to do."

Satisfied, Bianca let her off the hook with one word. "Okay."

At 5:30, she opened the pack of hamburger, and when she went to press out the first patty, Colby nearly gagged.

"Oh, no. This is not good," she said, knowing there wasn't enough to salvage to make three burgers. She could make one normal patty or two small ones, but those were her only choices as she threw away the spoiled meat after carefully separating it from the good.

There were celery stalks and peanut butter in the refrigerator and enough cereal for Bianca in the morning, and it was also payday, so Colby knew they'd get by again. Just barely, but they would make it.

Just before the doorbell rang, Colby put the patties on the bottom half of a bun just to see, and as she expected, they looked like silver dollars rather than hamburger patties. Bianca ran to answer it while her mother stood there on the verge of crying as panic and then bitter acceptance washed over her.

"Hey, there!" she heard Drew saw to her daughter.

"Can I call you Drew?" she asked, causing her mother to cringe as she walked toward the door.

"What my daughter meant to say was, "Hi. It's very nice to see you again. Won't you please come in?"

Bianca blushed for the first time in quite some time as her mom said, "And it really is good to see you again, Drew."

"Thank you, and you, too."

He looked down at Bianca and told her, "You, too, and yes, you may call me Drew."

He bent down then said, as though it was a secret, "Besides? What else would you call me since Drew is my name?"

Bianca laughed and said, "I don't know!"

He stood up then moved closer to Colby and stopped.

"Hi," he said again.

"Hi," she said back.

They looked at one another then almost shook hands before Colby laughed and extended her arms.

"That was awkward," Drew said as he hugged her briefly.

"Not as awkward as dinner is going to be," Colby told him. "Such as it is."

"It smells good," Drew told her as she led him to the kitchen with Bianca staying right by his side.

"Feast your eyes on...the feast!" Colby said, trying to laugh and avoid crying.

"Oh," Drew said in a nonjudgmental way.

"Mom? Is this dinner?" Bianca asked as she lifted up the tiny little patty on the bun in front of her.

"I'm afraid so, honey," she said before explaining what happened.

"All right! That's it. We're going out!" Drew said in his 'I'm in charge' voice as he pointed toward the front door.

"Yes!" Bianca said as she grabbed Drew's hand.

Colby was so surprised she didn't notice and said, "What? No. We...we can't ask you to do that. Besides, I can't afford..."

Too embarrassed to finish her sentence, she just stopped talking.

"What kind of guy would suggest going out then expect the beautiful ladies he's taking with him to pay?" Drew said with a serious tilt of his head and one eyebrow raised high.

Bianca giggled again then said, "Yeah, Mom. Who would even do that?"

"Not me!" Drew said, holding his one free hand up as if to say 'I'm not guilty of that heinous crime'.

Colby actually laughed then said, her face showing deep concern, "Are you sure?"

"I'm beyond sure. I'm positive. I'm certain. I'm..."

"Okay. If you'll stop, we'll say 'yes'," she told him, a smile appearing on her pretty face.

"Did you hear that?" Drew asked Bianca as he bent down. "Your mom said 'yes'!"

"Mom? Can we go to Burger King? Please?" Bianca started in on her with.

"Um...who's paying?" she replied.

"Oh," a briefly-embarrassed Bianca said.

"How about we go someplace a little nicer than Burger King?" Drew suggested.

"But that's where we always go except when we go to McDonalds or Wendys," the 12-year old told him.

"That's because we can't afford to go anywhere else, honey. And we don't go there very often, do we?"

"No," Bianca quietly replied.

"Have you heard of Sage?" Drew asked Colby.

"It's very expensive," came her immediate reply as Bianca gave him a confused look.

"Not really, and they make everything from scratch," Drew informed her with a smile.

"I don't want you to spend a lot of money, Drew," Colby told him sincerely. "Remember, this was my idea, and you're supposed to eating our food for free."

For the first time, Drew gently touched Colby's forearm, smiled, then said, "I really enjoy your company, so please let me do this, okay?"

Bianca had big puppy dog eyes that were begging her mom to say 'yes'.

"Okay. If you're sure."

This time it was Drew who said, "Yes!"with a fist pump then asked Bianca for a high five.

"Is Sage like Burger King?" the pre-teen asked as they drove there.

"Not exactly," Drew said. "But you'll be able to find several things you like, okay?"

"Neither one of us are picky eaters," Colby told him. "We can't really afford to be."

Rather than say anything else about money, Drew asked her what she was majoring in.

"Finance and accounting," she told him.

"Oh, wow. You're a glutton for punishment, aren't you?" Drew teased.

She playfully pushed his arm and said, "Stop that! I like working with numbers."

"Well that makes one of us," Drew said as though she was crazy.

"My mom is really smart," Bianca said.

"I could tell," Drew replied.

"How? How did you know?" she asked.

"It's something you get a feel for," Drew told her. "You can just tell when someone is well educated. It doesn't make them better than other people, but they tend to talk differently."

"Oh," Bianca said, having no idea whether or not that was true or even why if it was.

"Do you really think I'm smart?" Colby asked, knowing Drew was.

"Yes. And while I'm thinking about it, I also happen to think you're very attractive," he told her almost matter of factly.

"Oh, my gosh. Thank you, Drew," she replied sincerely. "That's so nice of you to say."

"My mom thinks you're really handsome," Bianca said as her mother reeled in horror.

Drew was trying to keep from laughing when he saw the look on Colby's face. Her eyes were open so wide she looked hilarious.

"I...that is not...at no time did I say..."

"You said he was handsome, Mom," her daughter insisted.

"Okay, you said he was good looking and I agreed with you, but I never..."

"Wait. You think I'm good looking?" Drew asked, his hand again touching her forearm as he did his best to again keep from laughing.

"Maybe. A little," she said almost defensively as she looked at his hand on her arm.

"Sorry," he said as he pulled it away.

"I...I didn't mind," Colby heard herself saying before she could keep from saying it.

There was a moment of silence before Colby asked Drew what kind of plane he flew.

"The F-22 Raptor, the most sophisticated jet in the world."

He didn't bother mentioning that other pilots felt their aircraft were superior whether it was the Russian-made Sukhoi Su-57 or the Chinese-built Chengdu j-20 or the US F-35 Lightning. Some even felt the F-15 Strike Eagle was a better all-around platform, and Drew was still too inexperienced to know firsthand.

What he did know was that the F-22 was a fifth-generation fighter that was the first fighter jet to combine super-cruise, super-maneuverability, stealth and sensor fusion all in one. He didn't say any of that, he just gave her a brief introduction to its capabilities in layman's terms.