Rad sighed loudly and leaned back, crossing his arms. “Really? We were that obvious?”
“Let’s just say you’re better at being a soldier than an actor.” Wynn’s words were slightly slurred from the pain medication. “Making Heather leave was a waste of time.”
“Not necessarily.” Rad leaned forward again. “This might get ugly. I don’t want her to see it.”
Wynn opened his eyes and even turned his head this time to get a better view. “Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. I’m going to try to talk some sense into your head.”
Wynn sighed loudly. “You can talk all you want—”
“And if that doesn’t work,” Rad continued, “I’m going to beat some sense into it.”
That comment brought a slight smile. “I didn’t think you were the type to hit a man when he was down.”
“And I didn’t think you were the type to throw in the towel and surrender so easily.”
The reaction to this comment was stronger. Wynn tried to sit up but slumped back onto the pillow. “You have no right to say that, dammit. You have no idea—”
“I think Heather has an idea. And she should probably have some say in that decision.” Rad gazed at him steadily. “It affects her life as much as yours.”
“It affects her life more. That’s why I’m not going to let her go through with it.”
“Even if she wants to?”
“She’s young. Smart. Gorgeous.” Wynn talked to the ceiling. “She’ll find someone else in no time.”
Rad was fairly sure it was the pain and medication talking, and Wynn would eventually return to his old cheery self. But in the meantime, he wasn’t going to stand by and watch him throw away the best thing that ever happened to him.
“But she’s here. To be with you. She doesn’t want someone else.”
“She’ll get over it. It’s for her own good.” Wynn’s voice had a slight tremor in it, as if he was trying to convince himself rather than Rad.
“You think you have this all figured out, don’t you?”
“I’ve had a lot of time to think about it.”
“You mean sulk about it, don’t you?”
Wynn’s voice flared again and his hands tightened into fists. “You don’t think losing the career you love is reason to sulk? I don’t want to go out like this, man.”
“No one does.” Rad tried to comfort him. “But you’re just fighting a different battle now.”
“I wanna be back with the guys. On the battlefield. I don’t want to live like this.” Wynn took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I can’t live like this.”
Rad nodded, knowing he had felt the same way. The close friendships forged in war created strong ties. Being away from that brotherhood, even for a short time, was a hard pill to swallow. Not knowing when—or even if—you would return, would be even harder to bear.
“Look at what you overcame to get where you are. This is just a bump in the road.”
“Bump in the road, my ass.” Wynn turned his head angrily toward the wall. “The best part of my life is over. I’m going to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair.”
“Who told you that?”
Wynn nearly choked his reply. “I can’t feel my legs, man. I know the drill.”
“From what I’ve been told, your spine was severely bruised.” Rad’s voice was low and serious. “Once the swelling goes down, there’s a chance you’ll recover feeling.”
Wynn looked away again. “Yeah. There’s a chance, I guess.”
“Come on. I know how you feel. I felt helpless when I was down too.”
“Not that your injuries weren’t serious, but this is a little different.” Wynn’s hands tightened again. “In case no one informed you, I can’t walk.”
“Like I said. Just because you can’t now, doesn’t mean you never will.”
“According to whom?”
Rad pointed toward the sky. “According to Him for one.”
“Inspiration from the lips of Reverend Radcliff.” Wynn shook his head. “I feel better already.”
“And according to your doctor, too. I have no doubt you’ll be up and driving the nurses crazy in no time.”
Rad had hoped the remark would draw a comment, but it didn’t even induce a smile.
“Okay. Here’s the bottom line, dude.” Rad leaned forward with his elbows on his thighs, his hands clasped together. “Don’t push her away. For her sake, if not yours.”
Wynn’s eyes flew open. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, she’s fragile right now, and—”
“What do you mean, she’s fragile?”
“I mean you’re breaking her heart.”
Wynn turned away again. “Better now, than later—”
“Dammit, Wynn! Stop being an asshole.” Rad threw his hands in the air and stood, his voice trembling with emotion. “Do you know what I’d give to have what you have?” He strode to the window, staring out at the landscape with his hands in his pockets, shaking his head as he choked out the words. “Do you have any idea how lucky you are to have the woman you love within your reach? To not have your heart feel like it’s being pulled out of your chest by time and distance that you have no control over?”
When Wynn didn’t respond, Rad turned and gazed at him with a look that demanded a reaction. “Don’t you dare throw what you have with her away.” He walked back over to the bed and stabbed his finger into Wynn’s chest. “No matter how low you sink in your own self-pity. Don’t. You. Dare.”
Wynn blinked at the frank retort but made no comment. He appeared dazed and a little regretful as he contemplated Rad’s words.
“Let her take care of you.” Rad sat down again and put his hand on Wynn’s arm, his voice softer now. “She wants to do it. She needs to do it.
“Why?” Wynn’s voice had turned quiet and questioning. “It will only make it harder further down the road.”
“Maybe it will make everything easier.”
Wynn studied him intently, seemingly trying to read between the lines. “You know something I don’t know?”
“I know she loves you. Is that something you don’t know?”
Wynn let out his breath in exasperation. “What I know is I’ve had about enough of this bullshit. Do I need to buzz for the nurse to get you to leave?”
“Maybe.” Rad raised his eyebrows. “Depends what she looks like.”
“Nothing like the good-looking ones you had, believe me.” Wynn lay staring vacantly at the ceiling again. “I think Heather called ahead and had all the hot nurses moved to another floor.”
That made Rad laugh, causing Wynn to finally crack a smile, and then break into laughter too.
“I wouldn’t put it past her,” Rad said.
“Wouldn’t put it past who?” Heather stood in the doorway with two cups of coffee, her head tilted as she observed the smiling face of Rad, and then the laughing Wynn.
When neither one answered, she shrugged her shoulders. “Well, it appears everyone’s in a better mood than when I left.” Her eyes shifted to Rad with a look of relief and appreciation. “Maybe I should leave again.”
“No. Stay.” Wynn gazed at her with welcoming and apologetic eyes. “Rad was just leaving, and we need to talk.”
Chapter 34
Five months later
Rad strode into McDunna’s office with a cup of hot coffee and sat down with a loud sigh. “Where’s McDunna?”
“Out.” An aide named Ace didn’t even look up from his work. He was a brawny, barrel-chested man with tattoos on both meaty forearms and a closely shaved head, reminding Rad of a human version of Popeye.
“He told me to stop by… about my re-enlistment.”
Ace continued writing, and then raised his head as if just realizing who he was talking to. “Oh, hey dude. McDunna said he’d be right back.”
He started writing again, and then seemed to remember something else. “By the way, someone’s been trying to get hold of you, bro.”
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“Oh yeah?” Rad assumed he was joking. “Not the police, I hope.”
“No, seriously.” Ace stopped writing and started paging through a stack of notes. “A woman.”
Rad’s breath caught in his throat and he leaned forward. “Who? What’s her name?”
“Here it is.” He grabbed a crumpled looking piece of paper and unfolded it, his meaty fingers fumbling at the job so terribly that Rad was practically on the edge of his seat by the time he said the name. “Elsie.”
Rad took the scribbled note out of his extended hand and leaned back against the chair again, disappointment spreading through him like a fast-moving poison. He had told himself he was not going to get his hopes up again. The pain of the roller coaster ride was getting to be too much for him.
He stuck the note absently in his pocket. “What’s her last name?”
“She didn’t say.”
“She leave a number?”
“No. Said you’d know where to find her.”
Rad’s brows narrowed. “What?”
“Yeah. She called last week and again this morning. Figured it was some chick you laid but didn’t want to give your number to, so I didn’t bother calling you. You know how that is.”
Rad ignored the comment. “And her name was Elsie. You’re sure?”
“It’s right there on the paper, dude.” Ace cocked his head. “You don’t remember waking up with someone named Elsie?”
Rad frowned. “Not so much.”
“Your loss. She sounded nice.”
Ace went back to work and Rad leaned back in the chair. He took the note back out of his pocket and studied it. Tell Radcliff — Elsie called.
“I don’t know any Elsie’s,” Rad said as if to himself, and then glanced up at Ace. “You’re absolutely sure that was the name?”
Ace put down his pen and took a deep breath. “Dude. Read my lips. She said her name was, EL-SIE.” He shook his head, picked his pen back up, and bent over his work again.
Rad stared out the window a minute, and then his heart banged against his chest again. He rose to his feet and walked over to the desk.
“Wait. Do you mean—L.C.?”
Ace closed his eyes and raised his head slowly before opening them again. “Are you fucking deaf? I said, Elsie.”
“No. I know.” Rad talked fast. “But did she say it like, E-l-l C-e-e.”
“Read my fucking lips. That’s what I’ve been fucking telling you. El–sie.”
“Did she spell it for you?”
“Are you insinuating I don’t know how to spell something so goddam simple as Elsie?”
“Okay. Okay.” Rad held his hands up in the air to calm Ace down. “What did she say again?”
Ace angrily put his pen down again and stood. “Like I told you at least three mother-fucking times. All’s she said was, you’d know where to find her.”
Rad strode around the desk, grasped Ace in a big bear hug, and kissed him on the top of his shaved head. “Thank you, man. I love you.” Then he turned and sprinted toward the door.
“Sorry, dude. I’m taken,” he heard Ace yell just as he slammed the door shut.
Rad sat down on a bench with a hot cup of coffee while Tara lay at his feet. It was a foggy morning in Ocean City so no one was around except the older lady knitting next to him. There were any number of other benches available, but he had to sit on this one. Their bench. The bench he had found Lauren sitting on that sunny summer day.
“If you came to watch the sunrise, you didn’t pick a very good mornin’,” the woman said with a noticeable Irish accent, her needles clanking together.
Rad looked over at her and smiled. “Yeah, I noticed that.”
“Don’t see the need for it myself,” the woman said. “If it weren’t for that one wantin’ to come out every mornin’, I’d still be under the covers.” The woman nodded toward the beach, and Rad noticed two chairs sitting in the sand, barely discernible in the haze. One of them was occupied.
“Well, there’s nothing like dawn at the beach—even if you can’t see the sun,” Rad responded, thinking back to the one sunrise he would never forget as long as he lived.
“That one says the same thing, though I don’t share the feelin’.”
Rad squinted his eyes toward the figure but still could not make much out through the haze and fog. He saw a walker leaning beside the chair that was occupied and an umbrella pole already in place behind it, apparently in anticipation of the sun making an appearance. The scene reminded him of his own grandfather, who loved going to the beach even when his advanced age made walking on the sand impractical. There was something about the sand and the surf—even on old bones. The memorial plaques on the backs of all the benches on the Boardwalk attested to the fact that beachgoers continued to be drawn to this place until the day they died.
Finishing his coffee, he stood to put the cup in a trash can. “Nice talking to you, ma’am.”
She nodded, but the clicking of her needles never slowed.
Deciding to take a stroll down the Boardwalk, Rad let his mind wander. If Lauren were here, where should he even begin looking? It had seemed like it would be easy when he’d loaded Tara into his truck and headed north. Now he realized it was going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Strolling as if in a daze, Rad found himself standing in front of Ripley’s Museum, just staring at the sign as he replayed every minute of that memorable summer day. The museum was quiet and empty now, but that’s not what he was seeing. He was seeing her smile, hearing her laugh, and feeling the sensation of her hand in his.
Feeling a nudge on his leg, he looked down at Tara, who stared up at him with her head cocked to the side as if wandering why they had stopped.
He stared in silence for a few more moments, allowing the memories to rekindle. It seemed only natural his thoughts should linger upon what had been such a remarkable experience. He lifted his gaze to the Ferris wheel towering behind and pictured the two of them at the top. He could almost hear the music and see the flashing lights as the scene unfolded before his eyes. His heart throbbed and swelled with the feelings the visions inspired.
Another nudge from Tara and a loud bark of impatience interrupted his musings.
“Okay, girl. I guess I did promise you a walk on the beach.”
Unhooking her from the leash, he headed out toward the water. A gentle breeze had begun to wipe away the fog, but it was still too hazy to see very far in the distance. Tara ran ahead, disappearing into the mist, but Rad knew she wouldn’t go too far ahead. After losing sight of her for a few minutes, he gave a quick whistle. She soon came loping back out of the fog, carrying something in her mouth.
“Tara, here.” Rad patted his leg and called her over. “What do you have?”
He pulled the ball cap out of her mouth and took off at a dead run down the beach.
“Lauren?”
Rad slowed down as he approached the figure in the chair, not believing his eyes.
“Hey, stranger.” Her words were slightly slurred from her serious injuries, but he could hear the relief in her tone. “What took you so long?”
Lauren pulled herself up out of the chair as he stepped closer, and then she was in his arms, laughing and sobbing, then laughing again. “Couldn’t remember your number… and the base wouldn’t tell me anything…”
“It doesn’t matter.” Rad buried his face in her hair. “I found you.”
The woman he’d been talking to on the Boardwalk suddenly appeared, watching with her arms crossed as if she were both body guard and nurse, and was beginning to grasp what was happening. “So this is the one you’ve been pining for,” she said, looking at Lauren before she turned an appraising eye to Rad. “And why didn’t you tell me you were looking for a lass not the sunrise?”
Lauren pulled away from his arms. “You two know each other?”
“We talked on the bench earlier, lass.”
Rad thought how close he had been to her and
yet how close he had been to leaving without seeing her. Lauren must have been reading his mind.
“Fate has caused our paths to cross three times.” She looked up at Rad. “What do you think that means?”
Rad pulled her back into his arms. “It means I’m not taking a chance relying on fate any more. I’m never letting you out of my sight again.”
Lauren’s nurse threw her hands in the air and mentioned she had some errands to run. Rad helped Lauren sit down, and then pulled the empty chair closer.
“I’m not that fragile,” Lauren said, looking over at him. “I’ll be racing you on the beach before you know it.”
Rad smiled, but his brows were creased as he thought about all she had been through, and all that had happened since they’d last seen each other. Her once vigorous body appeared small and delicate. Her eyes were sunken, and her smile uneven.
“I guess I missed the wedding.” Lauren interrupted his thoughts.
“What wedding?”
“Heather and Wynn’s.”
Rad paused a moment. “No, actually you didn’t. It was postponed. Wynn was wounded.”
“Oh, that’s terrible.” Lauren reached out and touched his hand. “Is he okay?”
“Yeah. He is now.” Rad gazed over her head a moment, thinking about the seriousness of his injuries. Though he still had months, maybe years, of rehab to do, Wynn could walk and would not need a wheelchair. “It was pretty dicey there for a while.”
“Poor Heather.”
“Poor Heather?”
“Yeah, she must have been through a lot.”
Rad studied her with his head cocked to the side. “She’s not the only one.”
“I know.” Lauren squeezed his arm. “You’ve been through a lot too.”
“Not me, silly. You.”
Lauren sat back and closed her eyes. “Oh, no. It wasn’t bad on my side. I hit my head somewhere along the line and don’t remember much of anything.”
Rad contemplated her words for a moment, at the way she’d put it so lightly, and made the decision not to tell her he’d seen the video. There’d be time for that. Anyway, he could tell she was only saying that to make him feel better. She hadn’t forgotten her time in captivity. She’d only chosen not to remember.
Meant to Be Page 25
