He slung an arm over her shoulder. “That doesn’t apply to you. Getting engaged isn’t exactly a simple thing. I’m hurt.”
“I can’t come to you with every little thing, Forest. I’m just one of your rescues.”
“Well, you make me sound like shit when you say it like that, but so what? You’re one of my rescues, but that makes you family. You know what that means to me. Unlike your friend, I have legit big-brother status.”
“You saved my life. I’ll always be grateful for that.”
“I did what needed to be done.”
She lifted on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. He had to stoop down, so it wasn’t as spontaneous as she would have liked. “And you’re an amazing human being because of it.”
“Lover boy is about to blow a gasket. Doesn’t like it when I touch you. Hates it even more when you kiss me.” He removed his arm from her shoulder with a chuckle and moved forward with the line. His eyes narrowed and lips pinched when he glanced at the offerings. “Ugh, what is this slop?”
“It’s called food,” she said. “I’d suggest the meatloaf or the hamburger mac ’n’ cheese. We call it chili mac. Those are my go-to foods.”
“Looks like you need to go to the food more often, Tia,” Forest said. “You’re thinning out. You’re nearly skeletal.”
“You shouldn’t be checking me out.”
“Not checking you out, but you’ve lost weight since I saw you last. How long has it been?”
It was right after she’d received her acceptance into CRNA school. “A few years.”
“Wow. That’s too long.”
“It’s what happens.”
“And how much longer do you have with the military? I wish you’d taken one of our scholarships, but you were always an independent shit.”
“I could’ve, but you know me.”
“Don’t I? You always have to do things yourself.”
The line cook slapped overly cooked broccoli next to Forest’s serving of chili mac. He scrunched his nose.
“Not sure I’ll ever look at broccoli the same again.”
“You’ll get over it.”
“So, how long do you have left with the military? Will you be staying in? Or heading back to the States and civilian practice?”
“My commitment is up at the end of this tour. I have a month to go.”
“And?”
“I love my job. I can’t see doing anything else. Until they kick me out, I’m here to serve.”
“That’s the Tia I know,” Forest said with a smile. “Now, let’s go have fun with lover boy.”
“Can you please stop calling him that?”
“Hell no! I’ve got two days to tease the shit out of you and few years to make up for. I’m totally going to have fun with this.”
She rolled her eyes and led Forest back to her table. Her food was probably lukewarm by now and non-palatable. With Forest breathing down her neck, she’d have to shovel it all down. She wanted to gag, and that sick feeling in her gut wasn’t all due to thoughts of the food. Forest’s comments about Lyons had her mind in a tailspin.
Chapter Five
Tour
Tia and Forest headed back to the corner table where Warren and Lyons waited. The general noise level in the room returned to its low buzz, but many pairs of eyes followed them. The words Angel Fire popped through the room, the troops excited about the band’s arrival.
Warren glanced up from his computer screen and perked up with Forest’s approach. He ended his conversation with Lily, blowing her and his boys kisses. Lyons shifted back around to the opposite side of the table while Tia took her spot next to Warren. A cold tray of chow-hall food waited for her return.
“You didn’t have to end your call with Lily,” she said, feeling horrible to have intruded on Warren’s personal time with his family.
“Oh, it’s, like, 4 a.m., and the boys were falling asleep.”
“I’m surprised she was up,” she said.
“Well, she always makes time for me, and the boys would’ve been heartbroken if they’d missed my call.”
“You’re an amazing man, Warren,” she said. “A true hero.”
He laughed. “Well, I don’t know about that, but to those boys, I might just be.”
Forest shoveled a scoop of chili mac into his mouth, grimaced, and reached across Lyons to grab the saltshaker. “How the hell do you stand this stuff?” he demanded.
Lyons passed the pepper. “You’re going to need some of this.” He jabbed his fork toward Forest’s plate. “That’s the best food I’ve had in weeks. You should try eating MREs day in and day out.”
“It’s got to be better than this,” Forest said with a grumble.
Tia and her teammates laughed.
“You’ve obviously never had the pleasure,” Lyons said. “Hey, T, do you think we should enlighten him?”
She shook her head. “Are you kidding? He’s doing advance recon for Angel Fire. Shove an MRE down his throat, and he’ll turn the band around.” She gestured at the full chow hall. “Now that everyone knows they’re coming, you’ll incite a riot if they don’t show up. All because you wanted to have fun with Forest and MREs.”
Rumors were no doubt spreading across base about the imminent arrival of the rock legends. A nonprofit organization, the USO provided programs, services, and live entertainment to the military. They’d been doing so since 1941. Bob Hope, Marilyn Monroe, and Bing Crosby were a few of the first. More recently, Katy Perry, Toby Keith, Five Finger Death Punch, Disturbed, and other rock legends had made the circuit.
Most times, the base population knew who was coming and when, but sometimes, the USO liked to surprise the troops. The public relations buzz, which came from those surprises, garnered a lot of attention back home. Angel Fire might count as one of the biggest surprises in a very long time. She wished her team wasn’t going to miss it.
“So, what is the plan for their tour?” she asked. “Bagram first, but then what? Are they playing at all the bases in Europe?”
“Eventually,” Forest spoke, chewing with his mouth open. He grabbed the pepper and liberally shook it over his food, spreading it across the chili mac, the broccoli, and the potatoes. “Ash asked to keep it loose. They’ve never done this before, and I think he wants something special.”
“Like what?” she asked.
“Hey, being manager of the band doesn’t mean they tell me shit.”
“But you have to know something,” Lyons piped in. “Shit, I wish we could see them. Hell, I’d give my left nut to jam with them.”
“You play?” Forest asked.
“Yeah, I play,” Lyons said.
Her eyes widened. “Really?”
“There’s a lot you don’t know about me, T,” Lyons said. “I’ve got lots of hidden talents. Someday, you might get to experience some of them.”
Forest looked up, his brow arching. He mouthed, I told you so, and gave her a wink.
A wink Lyons saw. Lyons’s lips twitched into a smile, which accompanied a suggestive arch of his brow.
She ignored Lyons and the low ache in her gut, turning the conversation back to grilling Forest about Angel Fire’s plans. “What do you think they have in mind?”
“I have no idea, but I have a surprise for you.”
“A surprise?” She swallowed cold chili mac, nearly gagged, and chased it down with water.
“Yep,” Forest teased.
“Are you going to tell me what it is?” she said.
Forest seldom volunteered additional information. He expected everyone’s brains to work like his and stitch vague inferences together.
“Yep,” he said.
“Like now?” She had to push him to fill in the gaps.
Forest was having fun with his one-worded replies. “Now, if I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise.”
“Okay, whatever.” He knew how much she hated surprises. “How about you toss me a bone? Maybe give a little something special?”
&
nbsp; He cocked his head. “Like what?”
“Well, seeing as how you’re their manager, how about a little inside scoop?” She jabbed her thumb toward Lyons. “Evidently, he plays…what exactly do you play, Lyons?”
Lyons leaned back. He’d cleared his tray and was eyeing the serving line. “I play bass.”
“Guitar?” She knew little about music, except she liked songs.
In many ways, she was like Forest’s sister, Skye. They both knew what they liked but couldn’t name a song, band, or band member to save their lives. Unlike Forest who was a virtual walking encyclopedia of everything and anything music-related.
“Yep.” Lyons had mentioned writing poetry and singing songs. Maybe there was more to him than she thought. “I might not be Angel Fire good, but I hold my own.”
Forest shoveled the last of the chili mac into his mouth. “You think you could hold your own with the band?”
Lyons’s jaw unhinged, and his mouth gaped. “Wait a sec, you don’t mean…”
“Hey, thanks to Tia, you’ve got an inside track to the band. I’m sure we could arrange something special. Like I said, they’re coming in tonight. They’re supposed to rest and prep for the concert. Knowing Ash and Bash and the rest of the guys, they’re going to want to see the base and talk to as many people as possible. And the PR peeps would be all over something like that.”
Lyons fisted his hand and bit his knuckles. “You’re totally shitting me right now, aren’t you?”
She inserted herself back into the conversation. “Forest doesn’t shit people, Lyons. I guess if you want an impromptu jam session with the band”—she waggled her fingers in Forest’s direction—“you’ve got insider access.”
“Shit, T,” Lyons exclaimed. “You have no idea what this means.”
She loved how the deep green of his eyes lit with excitement. Lyons cut it up with the other men on the team, trading jokes and insults, but he was seldom filled with honest joy. The way his entire demeanor changed had her seeing him as something other than a man she worked with.
“What do you do for fun around here?” Forest asked. “How about you show me what you have?”
“Forest,” Tia said, “we’re not assigned to Bagram. We brought wounded in and are headed back to…well, places we can’t talk about. Lyons doesn’t carry a guitar in his ruck. It’s not like he can break out in a jam session.”
“Oh,” Forest said with a rumble. “Sorry, I just assumed.”
Warren, who’d been silent during the majority of the conversation, chimed in. “Oh, I’m sure someone here has a guitar. Give me ten minutes, and I bet we can figure something out.” He shut the lid to the laptop and stood. “Don’t go anywhere. I’ll be back.”
Forest tracked Warren’s exit from the chow hall. “I’m guessing you don’t carry laptops with your gear either?”
“No,” she said with a soft laugh. “Warren’s resourceful.”
“Like Radar.”
“Radar?”
“You know, from the TV show M.A.S.H.? The guy who was always able to get his hands on whatever was needed.”
Lyons slapped the tabletop. “Shit! Warren is Radar! Never occurred to me before now.”
Forest’s lips lifted up into a smirk. “You up for this?”
“Fuck yeah,” Lyons said.
“Cool. I need to find my escorts and see what we can do.” He stood and straightened to his full height. “Tia, you wanna come with?”
No question about it, she wanted to spend more time with Forest, but her gaze cut to the laptop Warren had left behind.
“Can you give me a few?” She popped open the lid to the computer and brushed her fingers across the keys. “I want to make a call.”
“To your fiancé?” Forest asked. “Any chance for an introduction?”
“I haven’t talked to him in months. Email is spotty. This is the first chance I’ve had to Skype him this deployment. How about next time?”
Forest stared out over the lunch crowd. “And you think the middle of a crowded chow hall is the best place to do that?”
“It’s as good as any.”
Warren had picked this spot for a reason. Tucked into a far corner, her back was to the wall. No one could see the screen unless they were sitting beside her, and the volume of the place was sufficiently loud that her conversation wouldn’t be heard. It was perfect.
She picked up the earbuds Warren had been using and tucked one into her ear. “Go find your colonel. Come back and get me in…half an hour?”
He gave a nod. “Will do.” Turning to Lyons, he asked, “You wanna come, lover boy?”
She about gagged when he used that word, but Lyons unfolded his muscular frame and stood. “You gonna be okay, T?”
“I’ve got this,” she said. Although she hadn’t used Skype before, the controls appeared easy enough to figure out, and she knew Scott’s number by heart.
Lyons’s lips thinned into a hard line. “I’ll be back,” he said.
She ushered them off with a wave of her hand. A crowded mess hall was the perfect place to say a quick hello to Scott but only if Lyons wasn’t hovering over her shoulder.
“Go, guys. I’m good.”
She dialed Scott’s number and waited anxiously for the phone to ring; she hoped he’d be okay with an early morning call. The connection went through, but the phone rang and rang and rang. Disappointing but not unexpected. It was four a.m. in New York.
Until Warren returned, the laptop was hers to babysit. Closing out of Skype, she clicked open her email, intending to send Scott a message, and then beamed when there was a message from him waiting in her inbox. And there was also one from Skye Summers. Not Summers anymore. Her friend had married the lead singer of Angel Fire and was now Skye Dean. The mouse hovered over Scott’s last message, but she clicked open Skye’s first.
* * *
Hey, wench!
* * *
I’ve got news, and I know how much you hate surprises. I’m coming to see you! The whole band is actually, and I can’t wait for you to meet Ash. You HAVE to tell me where in that godforsaken country they’ve stationed you. The USO built a tour schedule for the band, but Ash wants to surprise the troops. We’re headed to Bargain…Barghram…hell if I know how to spell it. Some air base. Are you anywhere near it?
Anyway, Ash is looking into how the band can do gigs, jams, and pick up sessions at the smaller outposts. Or whatever the hell it is you guys call those things. Forest’s arranged for me to meet up with some of the medical leadership there. He’s got a bug up his butt about starting his own medical rescue team. You know how he is…always saving the world.
God, I miss you! Anyway…I’ll be there soon. Forest wants to surprise you with my visit, so please, please, please pretend you don’t know.
Love you oodles and bunches and everything else.
Oh, wait! Before I get off, you’re in one of those critical transport teams, right? I totes need to pick your brain, girl. And you know, if the Air Force thing doesn’t work out…
* * *
Love,
Skye
* * *
Tia couldn’t keep the grin off her face. She’d met Skye in the Forest Skye Memorial Hospital emergency department. Skye had been a new attending emergency room physician. After Tia had finished nursing school, Skye had gotten her a job working as an emergency nurse. One thing led to another, and Skye’s constant encouragement led to Tia heading off to become a CRNA. Forest’s foundation could’ve paid her way. He’d insisted actually, but those funds needed to go to Forest’s unique foster-home initiative. Besides, she’d wanted to see the world, and the Air Force provided solutions to both dreams. One scholarship, and now, she was a world away, fighting the war on terror.
She composed a quick text, telling Skye she’d already met up with Forest and included the best news. By whatever twist of fate, she was at Bagram and would be able to see her good friend.
Next, she clicked open Scott’s message. The la
st time they’d chatted via email was almost two months ago. Her unit was bedded far forward and operated under a communications blackout with friends and family. Scott would be thrilled when he saw her reply. She clicked on the message.
* * *
Tia,
* * *
I hope this finds you well. God knows I’ve struggled with sending this. Please know I love you. I will always love you. Shit, Tia, I feel like an ass, but you know how things have been. You’ve been gone for so long, and there’s no letting up. I miss you. I really do…
* * *
Her heart skipped, and her stomach dropped. No. No. No! She forced herself to continue, even knowing where his message was headed, but she needed to read the words.
Chapter Six
Dear Jane
This isn’t working. Look, I’ve tried. I’ve really tried to hold on to you, but I keep thinking of you with all those men. I hate the anger festering within me. I hate that I doubt you. I know you love me, but, Tia…I don’t feel it anymore. I feel empty and detached, and I think I just need someone who is with me rather than a world away.
I’ve met someone. Someone who doesn’t make me feel that way. I know telling you this in an email is a jerk move, but I don’t have any other way to get a hold of you, and I thought it would be worse not to say anything. I mean, what kind of man would I be if I let you think everything was okay? And I know we weren’t doing much to plan the wedding, but don’t you see, that’s just another reason this hasn’t been working?
I love you, Tia. I really do, I’m just not in love with you anymore. I need…shit, I’m just sorry. I’m so sorry. I never thought I’d be that guy, but I guess I am. Please don’t hate me.
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