“Mmm, whatever.” Nadia mumbled and closed her eyes, enjoying being able to relax after a hectic day.
Hunt.
She really didn’t want to go back there and run into Mitch. The chances of that happening were slim, though. He didn’t seem like the socializing type when she’d met him at the barbeque and then witnessing his PTSD attack, his standoffishness made sense.
Her fingers trailed up to her lips as if she could replace the sensation of his mouth against hers. He hadn’t kissed her back, but his muscles had relaxed. Her nerve endings had fired to life during their brief exchange.
The anguish she’d witnessed in his eyes. The pain as he spoke was nothing like she’d ever heard before.
What had he been through?
What arm of the military had he been in?
More to the point with the few words he’d spoken she’d gleaned that he worked in the medical field, most probably a surgeon with how he spoke about not being able to save as many people as he wanted.
Which begged the question–what did he do now? And why, if he was suffering so much pain and hurt, was he a volunteer firefighter? Surely being faced with some gruesome injuries would trigger him. After all, they didn’t just fight fires. Like big city firefighters, they attended accidents and other incidences.San Antonio, the closest city with major medical hospitals, was over an hour away from the area, they couldn’t rely on other emergency personnel taking some of the heat for them. They had to do it themselves.
“Okay sleepy head, time to shower. You’ve got thirty minutes to get yourself ready.” Cerise nudged her shoulder and Nadia cracked an eye open.
“You do know I’m not one of your patients you can boss around? And technically, I’m your superior, I should be the one telling you what to do.”
Cerise eyes crinkled as she smiled and a teasing glint shimmered in their gray depths. Nadia was glad that she’d found this woman to be her friend and housemate. “We’re not at the hospital now. And seeing as this is my house and I’m letting you live here, that means I’m the boss of you.”
Nadia grinned back. “Call it even?”
“Done! But still, get your butt in the shower. I’m starving and want some mac ‘n’ cheese. The restaurant we’re going to serves the best.”
“I love me some mac ‘n’ cheese.” Nadia said as she pulled herself up off the couch.
“You shouldn’t have told me that.”
“Why?”
“Because now I know how to get you to do what I want—bribe you with some cheesy pasta.”
Nadia laughed pausing in the doorway. “And you shouldn’t have told me that because I’ll be aware of your little bribery attempts and won’t fall for them.”
Her parents may have thought she’d failed by not getting the job in the big city, but Nadia couldn’t help but think she’d won in so many other ways.
Mitch satat the bar of Buck’s Roadhouse and nursed his beer. The bar wasn’t his first choice of places to be on a stormy night, but here he was. He’d driven through heavy rain and wind on his way to town. The need to get away from his parents’ prying eyes overrode his practical side.
The week hadn’t been a good one for him. Twice he’d suffered attacks while helping his dad around the ranch. At least he hadn’t been with any of the guests. Alexander Ranch was one of the more popular dude ranches in the county so they always had plenty of people coming from the big cities to experience ranch life. This week alone they had five guys who were originally from Australia but worked in Houston for a large oil company. Mitch had spent some time with them, and they were fun guys to be around. Tonight, though, he needed to get away.
“You sticking around for trivia tonight, Mitch?” Buck, the owner asked him as he wiped down the scratched wooden bar.
“Nah I think I’ll head back soon. Forecast says there’s another trail of wicked thunderstorms heading our way.”
“Yeah, heard the same too. Although you know the weather forecasters, always predicting that terrible storms will hit and we get fifteen minutes of rain and two thunderclaps. Although there was a pretty bad one not long before you arrived.”
“I know I drove through it. This morning I was thinking the same as you, but when I was working the west pasture this afternoon, the skies looked dark and gray in the distance.” Mitch took a swallow of his now warm beer and grimaced. He pushedthe glass away. Buck eyeing his actions, grabbed a fresh glass and drew him a new one.
“Well, I’m still sticking to my original forecast. We’ll see who’s right.” Buck chuckled as he walked away to tend to another patron at the other end of the bar.
Mitch stared at the amber liquid with the white frothy top. He really didn’t want another beer, but Buck was a Hunt stalwart, a former veteran himself, so in his own way, he was looking out for Mitch. Although serving alcohol to a veteran was never a good idea. Mitch had never used alcohol as crutch, even deployed he didn’t need to have alcohol on a regular basis, like some of the other guys. When he was laying on his bed, sweat dripping down his face because he’d woken from yet another nightmare, the temptation to lose himself in a bottle loomed as a better option than dealing with the pain he was suffering alone.
The sound of voices and laughter sounded behind him and he glanced over his shoulder to see who was coming in. No doubt the group of about ten people were here for trivia night and if that was the case, it was his signal to get the hell out of there before it became too crowded and he got stuck.
He was about to turn back to his beer when a final person walked through the door. His heart rate kicked up a notch as he recognized the dark tresses of hair and the wide smile on her face.
