Chapter 20
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“YOU’RE SURE YOU’REokay to do this?”Avery asked Luciana.She’d brought bagels, cream cheese, and malasadas, plus plenty of strong coffee for the two women to have for breakfast.Shockingly, Harrison never drank coffee, which Luciana had discovered to her dismay when she’d gotten up that morning.Even more surprising, she’d fallen back asleep after their middle of the night talk.He’d stayed with her in the living room until she was drowsy and yawning before gently suggesting she go back to bed.Luciana felt bad that she’d kept him up, but he’d assured her that he was used to running on little sleep.
How he managed that without coffee, Luciana wasn’t sure.The man was a mystery, and she had the sense he didn’t necessarily open up to others the way he had with her.They were still just getting to know each other, but oddly, she felt as if she already knew him in the ways that really mattered.
She finished clearing the table with Avery, loading the dishes into the dishwasher.Harrison kept his home neat and tidy, and since Luciana was the same, she thought nothing of immediately cleaning up after her meal with Avery.
“Si.I’m okay to go shopping together,” Luciana told her friend.“It is like ripping off a band-aid, no?I just need to do it.I refuse to stay hidden in Harrison’s home.I deserve to live my life how I want—and shop,” she joked.
“If you say you’re okay with it, then let’s do it.I know you probably need all sorts of things, but if you end up wanting to come home because being out in public is too overwhelming, that’s fine.I’ll bring you back here, and we can hang out together for the rest of the day.”
The two women walked outside, Luciana taking care to lock Harrison’s front door.“I’m a little amazed he trusted me enough to give me his house keys,” Luciana said.
“Honestly?I’m surprised, too,” Avery said with a huff of laughter.“I don’t know Commander Madden well, but he seems like he keeps to himself.It’s hard to imagine him hanging out with a group of friends or even having a wife or girlfriend, for that matter.He’s gruff and no-nonsense, pretty much married to his career.”
“I imagine he’d have to be for a man in his position,” Luciana said lightly.
“Clearly, he trusts you.As he should,” Avery added.
“We get along quite well, surprisingly.For a man I know little about, I’m perfectly comfortable with him.”
Avery cast her friend a quick glance as they climbed into her vehicle.“Ryan said the commander was worried about you earlier.”Her lips quirked.
“What’s so funny?”Luciana asked.
“I guess the team never even heard him mention a woman before, and suddenly he’s all worked up over you.”
Luciana flushed.“It is nothing.He is just worried because he’s the one who found me.Plus, I didn’t sleep well last night.He heard me walking into the living room and stayed up chatting for a while.”
“I don’t know,” Avery said, backing her car out of the driveway.“They’ve rescued other hostages before.Commander Madden doesn’t deploy with the team, for starters.And while some of the men did meet their women during an op, it’s not typically—”
“Wait, really?”Luciana asked with interest.“That is surprising.”
“It surprised me too when I heard the story.Wyatt, their team leader, rescued his fiancée Callie from a hijacked plane.They went their separate ways but she ended up here in Hawaii months later.She had no idea Wyatt was stationed here, either, but they ran into each other one night.It must’ve been fate,” she joked.
“It must have been.That’s really incredible,” Luciana said.
“Clearly it worked out for them.I guess when you know, you know, right?I met Ryan through my brother.I’d come to Hawaii to visit Aaron but ended up spending most of my time with Ryan.”
“I’m surprised you left for the Darien Gap in that case,” Luciana admitted.“You could’ve moved right to Oahu.
“The timing was bad,” Avery admitted, “but I had to chase my dreams.Ryan said he’d wait for me.I guess it took less time than we thought it would for us to be together,” she added wryly.
“We never would have become friends had you not taken the job with Doctors Without Borders,” Luciana said.“But you also wouldn’t have been kidnapped.”
Avery turned from the long, winding street to a bigger road.Luciana had paid close attention yesterday when Harrison was driving, out of habit, and knew they were heading toward Waikiki.“You’re right,” Avery said, continuing their conversation.“But who knows what would’ve happened if I stayed in California.Maybe I would’ve been killed in a car crash or been in an earthquake.No one knows their own fate.”
