“I know. And he made the right call. You straightened him out.”
“Not me,” I protested. “The system did. The discipline and the routine. The brotherhood.”
“You did,” Forest insisted. “When he came home on leave, you were all he talked about. You were his hero, his big example.”
Jesus, that made me uncomfortable. “I’m not a hero.”
“You’re a decorated Army veteran, are you not?”
“Doesn’t make me a hero.”
“And an EMT.”
“Still no hero.”
Forest clicked his tongue. “Well, I have a brother I admire a lot who says otherwise, so I’m gonna go with his judgment.”
Stubborn little shit, wasn’t he? I focused on browning the meatballs while keeping an eye on the potatoes.
“Anything interesting happen at your job this week?” Forest then asked, and I gratefully accepted the change of subject.
“Nothing out of the ordinary, though that’s not saying much since the ordinary here is not exactly normal. Like, we had a woman going into anaphylactic shock because her boyfriend didn’t take her peanut allergy seriously and kissed her after eating a Reese’s.”
Forest’s eyes widened. “For real? Did she survive?”
“She did, but only because her neighbor recognized what was happening and administered an EpiPen. Twice.”
“I hope she breaks up with him and then sues him into next Tuesday. He could’ve killed her.”
“Agreed. There are too many people out there who think a peanut allergy is more a preference than a life-and-death thing, and they get careless. Makes me so grateful I’m not allergic to anything.”
“Same, though…” When he didn’t continue, I looked at him sideways. He was staring into the distance, as if he were thinking hard.
“Though what?”
He startled. “Nothing. I mean, I’ve wondered lately if I’m maybe sensitive to gluten or something.”
Huh? Where was that coming from? He’d never mentioned that before. “Why? Are you having intestinal issues?”
“No, but… Maybe? It’s more that… I read that if you’re sensitive, gluten can cause a lot of physical problems, like inflammation. People who have certain chronic illnesses say they feel much better after cutting gluten from their diet.”
So hewashaving health concerns. I didn’t like that one bit, even if I could understand and respect his decision to not share more details. “Well, tonight’s meal is relatively low on gluten because there’s only a small amount of bread crumbs in the meatballs, but starting tomorrow, we’ll go gluten-free for a week or two and see if that helps.”
He stared at me. “Just like that?”
I shrugged, turning my attention back to the potatoes that were now definitely done. “It’s not that big of a deal. We’ll eat rice and potatoes and use gluten-free pasta. Maybe eat more beans and legumes or whatever. Easy enough to do.”
I drained the potatoes and dumped them into a bowl, putting the now-empty pot in the sink. Suddenly, Forest slung his arms around me and, for the second time that day, I was the recipient of a fierce hug.
Except this time, I didn’t mind so much.
CHAPTER TWO
FOREST
Breathe. Just breathe.
It was a mantra I’d been using for a while now. Months—maybe longer. I stared at my hands as they shook, then looked over at my phone. The screen protector was cracked.Again. I’d probably be out thousands of dollars on new phones if I hadn’t started putting those on.
