“I don’t know how,” she mumbled. “Why don’t you go without me. I’m kinda tired from the flight and want to rest a bit.”
“Oh no,” Sledge said, opening her luggage. “You’re not sitting here in your room. I’m treating you to a meal of a lifetime. Ty makes the best steaks and grows almost everything on his ranch. I haven’t experienced a bad meal yet. It’s a welcome to Serenity lunch.”
“All right,” she sighed. Knowing the two men planned to drag her if need be. “Hang up my tops and pants. Rocker, hand me my undies before Sledge steals a pair, plus my bras and socks. I’ll put them away.”
The men finished their tasks, and Sledge grabbed her arm, leading her down the hall and outside. “We have a ten-minute wait before the next van shows up. Let me describe the outside to you. It doesn’t resemble a hospital. It appears like a large log cabin. Before we came outside, we passed a huge receiving area, which they use as a gathering place for the veterans and teens. A thousand books are lining the walls, along with sign-up sheets for various activities. Veterans volunteer to pair up and watch the kids with a staff member.”
“It’s a nice setup,” Rocker exclaimed. “The mountain view seems worth the trip alone.”
“It smells good,” Scarlett said, raising her chin to the slight breeze.
“They’ve added more security since I got here. Some prankster keeps doing shitty things to the residents of the town, especially the staff who work here.”
“Like what?” she asked.
“Some nurses got their tires slashed. They broke into the community center, cut the cord to the new refrigerator, and no one discovered the damage until the next morning. All the food went to waste,rather than being given to the residents who needed it. The Serenity Securities team lives on the mountain, and they’re investigating it. At first, they thought it might be some mischievous teens, but things have escalated. I heard they called and cancelled the nurses helping Doc and Kassie with their newborn twins.”
“What jerks. Hopefully, they’ll discover who it is,” she said, hearing a vehicle approach nearby.
“The van’s here. I’ll go first. There are three steps. Hang on to my belt and follow me up. Rocker can cover your behind,” Sledge instructed.
The three sat and waited until everyone loaded up and the veteran jumped back in. “All right. Let me guess. The teens want me to stop by the Pizza Palace, and you three want Ty’s.”
“You got it,” Sledge confirmed at the same time as the teens chimed in.
They rode down the mountain, listening to the teens’ conversation.
“Did you hear Courtney and Billy got together? Jimmy got mad, but he’ll think twice before he kisses another girl,” said one of the teens.
“I’m surprised Courtney didn’t dump her whole tray in his lap when she saw them together. What an idiot. Who’s dumb enough to kiss a girl in the cafeteria?” the other responded.
“I heard Doctor Winters called Jimmy down to his office. I wonder if he got in trouble. He didn’t seem happy when he came out,” The first teen surmised.
“It takes a lot to make Doc Winters mad. Miss Victoria says Miss Kassie holds his balls in her purse. Some of his friends seem kinda scary, though. Man, you can’t get anything past Patch or Saint. Taco’s easy-going. Shadow sneaks up on ya when you least expect it. Leo’s plain psycho.Did you see how he acted when Miss Catherine was pregnant?” the first teen asked.
“What about Knight? He gives you one look, and you’d better spill the beans. Bear’s occupied with Miss Julie since she’s pregnant,” the other teen replied.
The van rolled to a stop as the adults smothered their laughter at the complicated life of a teen. “All right. I’ll be back in two hours, and I’ll pick you up from here. Stay in a group and keep your cell phones on,” the veteran ordered as the teens got out.
“Now that we have the town gossips off the van, how’s it going, Sledge?” the veteran called back.
“Doing great, Chuck. How’s the leg feeling?” Sledge asked.
“Doc started me on a new medication, and it’s healing nicely. I might get to go home in a couple of weeks. I’m sure gonna miss this place,” Chuck said as he parked the van. “Did you recruit two more patients?”
“Only one. Meet Scarlett, she flew in today. Rocker accompanied her, and I refuse to let him leave until he tries one of Ty’s famous steaks.”
“Enjoy your lunch. Welcome, Scarlett. I’m Chuck. If you need anything, let me know,” he said as Sledge opened the door and helped her out.
“Thank you,” she called as Sledge led her to the restaurant. As she raised her foot, Scarlett missed the curb and face-planted on the sidewalk.
“Shit,” Rocker swore as he kneeled to check on her.
“Fuck,” Sledge said, pressing his shirt to her cheek. “I’m sorry, Scarlett, I forgot to tell you about the curb.”
“May I help?” A smooth, deep voice asked as he pressed a cold cloth to her cheek. “I’m Ty. I heard about people falling over themselves to get here, but I’ve never seen it in person.”
“I’m Scarlett. It’s my first time here, but if the food tastes anything like you smell, it must be delicious.”Heat rose to her cheeks as the man laughed, with a deep rumble from his chest.
