Remembrance

Story Info
He'd done so much for her.
6.3k words
4.65
66.9k
36
Share this Story

Font Size

Default Font Size

Font Spacing

Default Font Spacing

Font Face

Default Font Face

Reading Theme

Default Theme (White)
You need to Log In or Sign Up to have your customization saved in your Literotica profile.
PUBLIC BETA

Note: You can change font size, font face, and turn on dark mode by clicking the "A" icon tab in the Story Info Box.

You can temporarily switch back to a Classic Literotica® experience during our ongoing public Beta testing. Please consider leaving feedback on issues you experience or suggest improvements.

Click here

Author's Note: As usual, lots of talking before the sex between two consenting people of legal age. There's some French but knowing it is not essential to the story and, because I'm drawing on half-remembered high school classes anyway, it's probably not terribly accurate. I hope people find this story sexy, respectful and that everyone who served their country gets a similar treat one day.

2005:

It was the day after Halloween when Danielle Mackenzie walked through the Maple Valley retirement community, clutching a small tin in her arm. Danielle had lived nearby all of her life and had driven past the sign proclaiming "Welcome to Maple Valley Oaks." hundreds if not thousands of times but, as she realized as the security guard waved her through the gates, this was the first time in her life actually stepping onto the property. It was nothing like what she'd expected. She'd expected basically one big, hospital looking building. Not a winding road leading her past 15 or so little Bungalows and dotted with gardens and trees. It just looked like an odd little gated neighbourhood.

It was unusually mild for a Canadian November, so she'd walked from her parents house and hadn't even had to wear a jacket. The loose necked black sweater and jeans she had on had even made her a little warm, she noted, as the road led past the last of the bungalows to what appeared to a large, recreation centre. However the sign outside of it did say "Maple Valley Administration Offices and Community Centre" so she knew she'd found her destination. The glass doors were heavy and she strained ever so slightly to open them before walking inside, finding a red-headed, heavy set woman behind what what looked like some sort of reception desk. The receptionist looked up as the door shut softly behind her and gave Danielle an inviting smile.

"May I help you, dear?" She asked sweetly. Danielle gave her a weak smile back as she approached the desk.

"I'm Danielle Mackenzie." She said cheerily

"Well, hello Danielle." She smiled again "What may I do for you?"

Danielle frowned. She thought they'd be expecting her.

"I'm from Richmond?" She said, in reference to her high school "I called about volunteering?"

That did get a look of recognition from the receptionist, recognition leading to a little embarrassment.

"Oh goodness, did I tell you to come in today?"

Danielle nodded. The receptionist continued.

"I'm sorry dear, I couldn't have told you a worse day. There was a organized trip and everyone left for the weekend," She said before adding unnecessarily "At the Casino of course."

Danielle frowned a little. She'd wanted to get started today. They'd had a half day of school because of a teacher's conference and Danielle had thought she not only could have gotten started today but could have put quite a bit of time in.

"The confusion is my fault, I'm afraid, but we don't get many volunteers here." The receptionist said in her defense "We're not exactly a charity."

"No, but they said it'd be alright if I helped out." Danielle said, worried she'd have to volunteer somewhere else.

"Oh it is, it is, darling." She said to assure her "It's just that there's not too much to do with all of the, oh that's right."

Danielle was confused.

"You know Danielle, not all of our residents have gone. Mr. Keith is around. He came in for lunch and then he went to the community room. So you can probably still catch him and see how he's doing. Watch yourself though, he's a bit of a charmer." She added with a smile

"The community room?" Danielle asked, paying no mind at all to the warning.

"Down the hall and to your left." The receptionist added. Danielle thanked her and nodded before taking off down the hall. The community centre was, Danielle noted, as different from her expectations as the rest of the place had been. It was tastefully decorated and done up like a lodge. It had a warm, lived in feeling as opposed to the austere, sterile environment she'd been expecting. After a few minutes of looking, Danielle found the door labelled "Community Room" and saw that this too was not as she expected. There were plush chairs assembled around a flat-screen TV and what looked like fancy card tables and on some sort of stereo system was some fairly up-beat jazz piano. To her dismay, though, Danielle did not see anyone else in the room. So it was when she heard the voice, it startled her a second.

"And, who exactly, may you be." Came the pleasant male tones. Danielle looked around and saw, in the corner, was an grey haired man sitting alone, a book in hand. Danielle smiled and approached him.

"I'm Danielle, I'm volunteering here." She said finally, happy that she'd found Mr. Keith. He nodded and closed his book, making sure to save his page.

"And, what, exactly are you volunteering to do?" He asked, clearly amused by the idea. Danielle stood and thought about it for a second.

"I have no idea." She admitted with a laugh, but she pointed to the tin she was carrying "But I made brownies."

"Well, then, Danielle, you are going to have to sit with me a while and let me try them." The man stood up from his chair, placing his book on the table beside him. She got a better look at him as he moved towards her. He was tall and broadchested, probably 6'2 or so, with a fairly thick head of grey hair that was neatly combed and thick eyebrows. His eyes were brown, behind very thin-framed glasses that he quickly removed and tucked into the breast pocket of his suit jacket as he walked towards her. His skin was creased but still a healthy tan and his movements were in no way frail or feeble. She opened the tin as he approached and he stuck his hand inside, removing one of the dark chocolate treats. He gave her a warm smile.

"You really do look like her, don't you?" He said, somewhat in amazement.

"I look like who?" She asked, puzzled.

"That little French blonde. What was her name. The actress." He continued, his eyes looking at hers but his memory clearly going back some time before remembering. "Bardot, that's it. Brigitte Bardot."

This was true.

"I don't know who that is, I'm afraid." She said apologetically. "Is it a good thing to look like her?"

"It's not a bad thing, that's for sure. And you are just a dead-ringer for her." He said, taking a bite of the brownie.

Danielle smiled. Even if she didn't know it, what he'd said had been true. Danielle was short, with long, rich sandy blonde hair, big, expressive, almond shaped eyes and full, soft lips. When Danielle googled the actress later that evening, she'd have to admit that the older gentleman was right. Still, she knew how to take a compliment.

"Flatterie?" She said, her cheery tone going softer and her language going from English to French, hoping she'd better approximate the woman she'd just been compared to "Je vais rougirai, M'sieur."

She received an encouraging smile for her efforts.

"Careful, look like that and talk like that around any fella old enough to remember her and you'll have coronaries on your hands." He said, taking another bite. Danielle laughed at this. The woman at the desk was right. He was a charmer. Danielle smiled as she looked up at him, imagining for a second what he must have looked like when he had been a younger man. He must have been something. Heck, he still was something. This was interrupted by his extending his hand to her. "Name's Jack."

"Enchante" She continued.

"Well, Miss. I am the only one here I'm sorry to say." He said, finishing the brownie.

"I'm sorry. I can leave you to your book."

"I'll spend some time with a pretty girl over a book anyday." He shook his head "So what do you say we get out a deck of cards and play a little something and I will do my very best to eat the rest of your delicious brownies."

"You're on." Danielle nodded and putting her arm in hers as he extended it to her gentlemanly. They walked to the nearest of the card tables and, true to form, Jack pulled Danielle's chair out for her before sitting down himself. He removed a pack of cards from a drawer and began shuffling them with impressive dexterity.

"So Danielle Mackenzie," He asked as he shuffled, carefully examining her "Doesn't sound very French."

"I'm not." She said with a little shake of her head. "My Mom's Quebecois though and my grandma and grandpa are French. Or Belgian really but they spoke French. So I know some. I probably got that bit wrong though."

"Belgium, huh? Explains how good the Brownies are." He said as he shuffled, getting another smile from her.

"God, I always forget the name of the village. Zee-brugg? Something like that." She said, embarrassed.

"Zeebrugges?" He said

"That's it." She said, pleased "Are you from there too?"

"No." He shook his head. "But I did some sight-seeing there in my younger days."

"Backpacking through Europe, that kind of thing?" She asked innocently as she grabbed her own brownie and took a little bite. They were good. Her Grandma's recipe. Jack just nodded a little.

"Something like that."

"I'm hoping to do that, after first year." She said, taking another bite

"So, Danielle" He said, changing the subject "What brings you here?"

"To Volunteer, I told you."

"But why here? Why not a soup kitchen or a place where they'd really need you? Why a place where we pay a pretty penny so that they always have staff around." His tone was more curious than anything. Still, Danielle was kind of dreading it.

"God, you'll think I'm the worst person of all time if I tell you." She said, bringing her hand to her lip to try and catch a stray crumb that had fallen.

"I won't, trust me. Know Gin Rummy?" He asked as he began dealing. She did and nodded, it being a game her mother had taught her when she was young. She bit her lip a little before telling him the truth.

"Well, my school decided that in order to graduate with honors we needed 100 hours of community service and this place....is right near my house." She admitted, feeling ashamed. Most of her classmates had left the affluent suburbs to do something slightly more noble in the city. Jack just smiled as he kept handing out cards.

"Well, that'll just be my gain I suppose." He said, finishing his deal "How old are you?"

"How old do you think I am?" She asked coyly, picking up her cards and beginning to arrange them.

"20? 21?" He shrugged, doing the same with his own cards

"Bless your heart." She said, looking flattered "No, I just turned 18 a couple months ago. Last semester over at Richmond."

"So young." He shook his head, giving her another smile before drawing a card and discarding it next to the deck. "So University is just around the corner, huh? Get in somewhere good?"

"Queen's." She nodded, drawing a card and keeping it, putting another onto the pile

"What subject?"

"Just got into general." She said "Not ready to declare anything yet."

"Good for you." He said, grabbing another card "No need to rush anything. Try everything, find something you like and then devote yourself to it."

Danielle nodded. That was her way of thinking. Her parents had wanted her to choose something right away.

"That's how I saw it anyway." She said drawing a card that completed a run "How come you didn't go to the Casino, Mr. Keith?"

"Not much for gambling or drinking or smoking. Never have been." He shrugged "And that's all that lot do when they go down there. That and see some musical act who wasn't any good back when they were popular."

"Clean living, huh?" She asked

"Keeps me young," He smiled

"If you don't mind me asking..."

"I asked you, and it's more impolite with a lady." He said, anticipating the question. "80 next Tuesday."

Danielle was shocked. She'd pegged him for being at least 10 years younger.

"You don't look it." She said, amazed.

"I thought I was flattering you, here." He smiled, drawing a card he liked. It was about this moment that Danielle noticed, on Jack's lapel jacket, was the traditional November red Poppy pin. The symbol of the upcoming Remembrance Day, honoring Canada's war vets. Danielle always got one when she could, even paying extra for it, and always wore one the entire month. Her grandmother and mother insisted upon it, would chastise her for not wearing one. But she hadn't passed any of the people selling one yet. It was then that a snippet of their earlier conversation flashed through her head. She hadn't thought of it because she didn't think he looked old enough but in retrospect it made her feel like such an idiot.

"Wait, were you were in the Army?" She asked, almost hoping the answer was no so she wouldn't look so dumb.

"Royal Winnipeg Rifles" He nodded, taking and discarding again.

"So when you said you went backpacking through Europe..."

"I meant that it was a very heavy pack." He chuckled "And the local tourism board was not terribly helpful."

Danielle couldn't have felt any more embarrassed. God, she'd even said she wanted to do it too. He caught the look and just laughed.

"Don't worry about it. No way to know." He assured her.

"But, I mean, god, I feel so dumb." Danielle said truthfully. The reason her Mother's family had come to Canada, the reason they were so insistent on the tradition, was that the Canadian army had done so much to free Belgium. She'd listened to her Grandmother's stories about living under Occupation so many times and she'd finally met someone who'd helped to do it and....just ugh.

"Don't." He shrugged

"But I do know about it, you know? I know what you guys did and much you all sacrificed is and what a hero you are." Danielle said, wanting to make sure he didn't think she was ignorant of the actual conflict, just that she didn't know he'd served. He shook his head a little at that last part though.

"Just doing my job because I thought it was right. No more, no less." He said plainly.

"But, I mean..."

"Some of the guys who got hurt or who didn't come back?" He said, pausing momentarily in thought "Yeah, what you said applies to them. Me? I was just a dumb kid who had good enough NCO's around him to make sure he didn't get it bad. Jeez, I was younger than you when I joined up. Right off the farm and weighing maybe a buck-fifty if I was lucky. Not exactly hero material."

Danielle couldn't believe it. She couldn't imagine a boy in her class, or younger even, doing anything like that. And then being nonchalant about it later. Most of those idiots would post how awesome they were on Facebook if some girl let them get to second base.

"But you beat the Nazi's, I mean...."

"Eh, perspective though." Jack corrected her as he picked up another card "Most of them were just the German version of what I was. A young kid serving his country. The real bad guys were back home, calling the shots. Just like usual."

Danielle was just amazed. She'd never had a conversation with someone who'd done what Jack had done. She couldn't help it, she wanted to know more and pressed on in the conversation.

"So were you in Belgium the whole time?" She asked, hoping he wouldn't mind talking about it. If he did, he gave no indication of it.

"Nope. Landed with the 3rd on Juno Beach, so Normandy first." He said. Danielle did have some frame of reference for that.

"So...like the opening to Saving Private Ryan?" Danielle said, realizing how dumb it sounded as it was leaving her lips.

"Didn't see it. But I think that was about the Americans at Omaha, wasn't it?" He corrected before shrugging "Some of the guys at the hall said they did an ok job getting the general point across though."

Danielle just nodded, unsure of what to say and not sound ridiculous. He continued, though, as their game went on.

"So then through France, which was a mess, and liberate bits of Belgium and that's that more or less. Spending some time in a hospital after I got pneumonia because it was so damn cold was the closest thing I came to an injury and by the time that had cleared up I was done." He smiled at her again "And let me tell you some of those Belgian nurses were just about the prettiest things I have ever seen in my life. It's nice to see that they passed that on at least. Makes the whole thing feel worthwhile."

He said that with a wink, again making Danielle blush.

"Any of them in particular?" Danielle wanting to be slightly risque as well.

"There was one who seemed sweet on me for a bit. But nothing happened, I remain sad to say. Too sick for the most part and the damned doctors were so strict with all of them. You couldn't get a moment alone even if they did like you. Not that I'd have really known what to do with them if I'd made any time with them." Jack sighed "Still, if I could go back for a day, that's where I might go, if even just to hear her soft little accent, even if it was just to tell Corporal Keith to leave her alone while she changed my dressing."

"So what then?"

"Then it was over. Came back home. Went to school to be an Engineer. Got married. Raised a few daughters." Jack shrugged

"Your wife?" Danielle asked, noticing the wedding ring "Did she go to the Casino?"

For the first time, even when discussing the war, Jack gave a pained grimace.

"Passed back in '98 I'm afraid."

"I'm so sorry." Danielle said, again feeling embarrassed. Jack smiled though,

"Yeah. You'd have liked Mary. Real brassy, funny broad." He smiled some more. "Anyways, my daughters, all loud Irish broads themselves, all wanted me to move closer to the city and I didn't care enough to argue so I find this place where I've got an actual house and this place has an actual restaurant in it that's pretty good and I can see the grandkids from time to time and one time even a gorgeous blonde girl came by with a tin of brownies. So not too bad."

Danielle smiled, brushing her hair from her face as she did so.

"But listen to me, I've been talking about myself all day." Jack said, drawing a card. "How about you? What's the name of the boy lucky enough to call you his girl?"

Danielle sighed. Now it was her turn for some bad memories.

"Ugh, nobody."

"Now that, Danielle, is something I refuse to believe."

"It was Alex." She said, emphasizing the past-tense. "But he decided that with both of us going to different schools in the fall he didn't want to be too serious and...well, he's a jerk anyway and not my concern any more."

Jack laughed as she abruptly switched stream mid-complaint.

"Well let me tell you Danielle, I guarantee that Alex the Jerk is going to spend many a day in his life ruefully regretting the fact that he let you slip away."

"I hope so."

Jack looked at her warmly for a second.

"But he made a good decision in the end. You don't want to be too serious at your age. Have fun. Meet new people. A girl like you will have guys fighting each other for you whenever you do want to settle on one that now is when you should be out there. Trust me, I was married for almost 50 years. It's great, it is, but the best times are at the beginning. When you're doing something you shouldn't do, that you could get busted for. That's why I still think about those nurses. How we'd both have been in trouble if we had gotten up to anything and been found out, that's living kid. The rest of it can wait."

Danielle nodded. She'd been told that by her parents and friends and family as well but coming from Jack it sounded truer. She nodded. The two finished their game and played another and another. Until it was near 5 O'clock when Danielle had promised to be home. She'd been enjoying the evening so much that she didn't even notice it when her frustrated mother called her to complain.

"I have to go Jack, I'm sorry." Danielle said, excusing herself as she got up from the table. Jack got up with her.

"Do you need a ride home?" He asked "It's getting a little dark out."

12