Ever since he watched a movie about top fighter pilots as a kid, he couldn’t imagine doing anything else with his life. While his buddies in high school couldn’t decide on their future paths, Crew’s trajectory was never uncertain.
Well, it was now—big time.
When he watched that movie, he never guessed his life would track so closely. Except after the character lost his copilot, he managed to get back in the cockpit.
Unlike Crew.
After his plane engine failed, Crew managed to eject. That was traumatic enough. But not seeing his copilot eject broke him in ways he never knew possible.
As he floated to the ground, staring at the plane spiraling downward, his eyes burned with the brightness of the flames, but also from searching for a parachute that never opened.
Later, inspectors discovered that not only did the engine fail, but there was a faulty part in the copilot’s ejector system that kept him trapped.
The military declared there was nothing Crew could have done to save Conner, but that didn’t lighten his conscience or stop the nightmares that woke him in a dead sweat.
To clear his mind, he read another success story on the board even as the pressure to put his own story on that wall felt like a concrete block tied around his neck.
His therapist, Rhae, often gently coaxed him to consider what his future might look like, but Crew always came up blank, feeling like he was taking a test he never studied for.
The lodge was quieter at this point in the day. Some guys had been up since dawn helping with ranch chores. The workprovided them all with a new purpose and built their confidence, and the vets with injuries that limited their mobility were assigned tasks that were within their scope of ability.
Crew enjoyed the horses the most. He spent a lot of time caring for the beautiful, gentle beasts. Before he came to the Black Heart, he’d never been around horses, but Willow claimed that half the battle was getting a horse to trust you, and he did that without trying.
He enjoyed the pace of the ranch. Not much was urgent. No one hollered when something got done incorrectly. The Malone family was warm, welcoming and upbeat. If getting a horse to trust you was difficult, the family trusted blindly. They drew in every vet just by being present in everyone’s lives.
He was especially close to one of the brothers. Because of a similar trauma they shared, he and Gray had become fast friends.
The low thump of work boots sounded behind him. Crew half-turned to see the vet on his way out of the lodge. He wore jeans with oil stains and a few rips from working on the big ranch equipment.
“Hey, Pope.” Crew gave him a once-over. “Nice shirt.”
Vander Pope’s gaze dropped to Crew’s shirt bearing the Black Heart logo with a horse running under the words, and above them, a rope loop crossed theTin HEART.
Then he looked at his own shirt and chuckled. “Great minds.”
“Or we all got the same shirt when we entered the program.”
With a grunt, Pope scrubbed a knuckle over his stubbled jaw, drawing Crew’s focus to his face.
His friend struggled with insomnia, and was often seen prowling the lodge in the dark. Though Pope never talked toCrew about what he’d suffered, Crew suspected the event had taken place in the dark of night.
Catching sight of the board he’d been studying, Pope tipped his jaw toward it. “Anyone new up there?”
“No. I don’t think anyone’s left since Gabe.”
“Rumor is there’s a new recruit coming in today.”
He nodded. “I heard talk. Denver will be here to greet him.”
They fell silent at the prospect of a new vet joining their ranks. Every single one of them shared the same wish that no more men would falter under mental duress the way they all had.
Crew changed the subject. “Poker tonight?”
“Nah. There’s a bonfire. I’m headed out there now.” Pope cocked a brow. “You comin’?”
Just thinking about fire made his chest go tight and his lungs squeeze out all the air. For a beat, he battled to breathe…then he finally pulled in a gulp and nodded. Rhae encouraged him to go to the bonfires, and Crew had attended a few even though it was difficult. At first, he went because his therapist encouraged him to. But lately, he didn’t want to miss out on the amusing discussions.
He dipped his head. “Let’s go.”
