Beth was thanking Nina. “It’s amazing how he can resist cake and cookies, and even potato chips. But put any kind of cheese in front of him? He goes nuts.”
Everyone began laughing, including Alex.
She was having such a good time at the gathering, Nina was super disappointed when Melinda reminded her that she and Steve were needing to get back to work, and Josh would be returning to the wounded warrior home with them.
Mel pulled her aside, looking worried. “Nina? Are you sure you know what you’re getting into here?”
Mel had been looking troubled ever since Josh had become a patient, but this was the first time she’d voiced her concern.
“Honestly, Mel? No. But I’m trying hard not to think too much. Everything between us is going super slow, anyway. But who knows, maybe he’ll disappear from Crystal Rock again?”
“Yeah, that’s what I’m worried about too. You’ve been alone ever since you broke up with that cheating doctor of yours, and I’m hoping you’re not latching onto Josh just because you’re lonesome.”
This time Nina grinned, cause she was so over Mark. “It’s been a couple of years since I broke it off with Dr. Mark Hadley. And I promise you this Mel, I never felt for him what I feel for Josh.”
Uh, oh. Nina noticed Josh was wearing a frown on his face when he carefully made his way over, wrapping an arm around Nina. He must’ve heard what Mel was saying.
“Steve just mentioned you guys needed to get back to work. Can I have a minute alone with Nina?”
Mel’s look at Nina was rueful. “Sure, Josh. Steve and I will get the coats, and I’ll have him warm up the van.”
As soon as they were alone, Josh growled, “I’m not going anywhere. At least for now. If something comes up, you’ll be the first to know.”
Nina blinked first, and then she grinned. “Alright.”
He continued, “I already made Jake promise me that I won’t be disappearing from town.”
“Okay.”
“Are there a lot of people around?”
“Not so many,” she answered.
Josh gently tugged her into his arms, his hand moving upward running over her face until he reached her mouth, his fingers lightly brushing her lips.
And then his mouth covered hers, and he deepened his kiss until she was breathless, until she couldn’t think about anything else except the deep aching urgency that was building inside her.
The laughter surrounding them finally broke through her consciousness, and it was time for them to stop.
“Nina,” Josh whispered, when she slowly pulled away.
‘What?” she asked, sounding rather breathless.
“I think we need to go out on a date.”
“A date?” she asked, laughing softly. “Alright, I’d like that. But I’d better check to make sure it’s alright. I don’t know if it’s considered ethical for me to date a patient.”
“It won’t be a problem,” Josh answered.
“How would you know that?” Nina asked curiously.
“Because I asked Steve, since he’s probably going to be marrying Melinda, and he told me to talk to Jake,” Josh said smugly. “There aren’t the same kind of rules in place at a private facility. It’s up to their board to decide, and Jake says he wouldn’t see it as a problem, and neither would Danielle.”
Rolling her eyes, Nina just smiled glancing across the room at Mel, who was holding Josh’s coat.
“C’mon,” she said, grabbing his hand. “I told Kelly I’d stick around a little longer and help her clean up, but Mel’s waiting by the door for you, along with Luke, who wants to say goodbye.”
He flashed a fleeting smile. “It’s been a nice day, hasn’t it?”
“Yeah, it has. One of the nicest days I’ve had in a very long time. I think it might be the first time that I haven’t worked on Thanksgiving Day. I lost my mom during the holidays, and I haven’t felt like celebrating,” she added softly.
“I’m sorry, Nina.” Josh squeezed her hand reassuringly as they made their way through the room.
“Don’t be. She went peacefully, and she was never the same after my father passed away.”
“Goodnight,” Josh said, as Mel handed over his coat.
“Goodnight, Josh,” Nina answered, giving Mel and Steve a smile. “I’ll see you all tomorrow.”
Chapter Nine
Josh was sitting beside Luke the next day eating lunch in the cafeteria. They’d just finished discussing how much better Josh’s progress with training his service dog, Ralph, was going after a rough start. Before he’d left Luke and Kelly’s place last night, Josh had finally met Hawk, Luke’s mixed Black Lab, and it was eerie how much the dog resembled Ralph according to Nina. Normally, Hawk would’ve been running around loose yesterday but with the number of guests and kids coming and going all day, Kelly had thought it best to leave Hawk sulking in the guest house so he wouldn’t be underfoot.
“Plus, I was thinking about you, Bro,” Luke said. “He has no manners whatsoever and you probably would’ve tripped right over him.”
Josh was a little distracted today. All he’d been thinking about since yesterday was Nina. What a kiss. Actually, both kisses had been pretty nice, even though the first had left him hot, hard and bothered.
Josh focused his attention on Luke when he realized Luke was asking him a question.
“You want me to do what?”
“Go with us to pick out our Christmas tree,” Luke answered.
He started laughing. “Yeah, like I’m going to be able to help you out a lot with that,” Josh said dryly.
“Well, it’s not just picking out a tree. There’s a group of us planning on getting together every year. We have Zach, Beth and Alex along with another couple, Jason and Kat, who’ll be returning home to Crystal Rock sometime next week. You’ll like them too. Jason is actually still enlisted, and he and Kat are engaged.”
Luke continued, “Not only are we going to help each other pick out a tree, we’ll be delivering and unloading them if anyone wants us to. All of us have issues, although we’ve been working through them pretty well during the last year and a half. I’ve got my replacement leg, Zach’s got skin grafts and he’s not supposed to do any heavy lifting, and Jason has a prosthetic hand.”
“So, you’re working with each other, huh? Sounds like a good plan.” Josh paused. “What about Nina? Can I invite her?”
“Kelly already did last night. She said she’d love to come along, unless she has to work. We were planning on doing it next weekend since Thanksgiving was a little earlier this year, and it would’ve been a little too soon for bringing a fresh tree into the house.”
“Alright.” Josh snorted. “It’ll be a new experience for me, that’s for sure. Especially since I won’t be able to see what we’re doing.”
Luke laughed. “Eh. It’ll be fun.”
* * *
Even though Josh had finally been cleared for some time outdoors, he was aware that he wasn’t alone when he was buzzed outside onto the patio. He was pretty sure Steve had snuck along behind him to keep an eye on him today.
Despite the fact he was trained as an expert in survival techniques, they must’ve thought he was an idiot.
But did he care? Nah, not really. It was a brisk sunny day, at around twenty degrees, and Josh used his stick to slowly make his way from the patio along the path leading down to the beach. Tim was getting confident enough in Ralph’s abilities and training to release him into Josh’s care soon, and after working with him here at the wounded warrior home for a few days first, Ralph would begin living with Josh.
Josh was finally feeling strong enough to start making a few decisions about what he wanted from life. It surprised him to realize he wanted to remain in the military. But since it was unrealistic to believe that his sight would return, it’d be a battle for him for sure.
But it was a challenge he was willing to take.
He spent the next few minutes feeling his way along the edge of the beach, and
just as he was turning around and heading back to the path leading to the patio, Josh heard the whirr of what sounded like a snowmobile racing towards him. The noise didn’t surprise him because he’d been told there was an extra wide bike trail running through the neighboring woods, and around the lake, that he was planning on using when Ralph came here to live with him.
The vehicle came to an abrupt halt somewhere nearby, and what Josh heard afterward immediately put him on full alert. A click and a snap later, Josh was falling flat onto the snow as a shotgun blast resounded through the air.
“Josh,” Steve screamed.
“Stay away, Steve.”
Steve must have still been running towards him, because now his voice was nearby. “Josh, are you alright?”
But Josh was hearing the shotgun being reloaded “Dawn it, Steve. Get the hell down.” But Steve was obviously trying to protect him as he knelt beside Josh on the ground.
“Frickin’ idiot,” Josh muttered, rolling over Steve as another shotgun blast echoed through the air.
By this time, the security alarm was sounding out. It must’ve been enough of a disruption for his attacker to give up, because Josh heard the snowmobile being revved up as whoever had been shooting at him quickly sped away.
“Damn. That last shot would’ve hit me if you hadn’t pulled me down,” Steve said, sounding dazed. “It’s freaking amazing how you were able to know we were being shot at.”
“Yeah, well, it’s not the first time that it’s happened,” Josh muttered. “Let’s get back inside. We’d better give Jake a call.”
There were only two security people on duty monitoring the facility since there were cameras inside. So by the time someone on duty reached Josh and Steve, they were nearly inside.
“What the hell happened? Stan asked, following Josh and Steve inside through the doorway. Apparently, Frank, the other security guard, was already attempting to get a hold of Jake.
“Besides the fact that Josh got shot at? I haven’t a clue Stan,” Steve answered.
Josh added, “Tell Jake that everyone’s alright, but he’d better get someone out here to investigate the scene.”
* * *
Two hours later, Josh and Steve were sitting in the facility’s administrator’s office with Jake Loughlin and Sam Danielson, the Crystal Rock police chief, while two of his deputies were outside studying the crime scene.
“I think the snowmobile was missing its plates, cause that’s the first thing I checked out before running down to the beach to help Josh,” Steve was saying. “It’s not so strange to see someone wearing a ski mask covering their face, the wind has a lot of bite when you’re moving fast on one of those things, otherwise I would’ve been yelling at Josh a little sooner.” He added wryly, “Not that Josh really needed my help. I’m pretty sure he stopped me from being hit.”
But Josh was distracted. “There’s only person I can think of that would want me dead,” he muttered.
“John Turner?” Jake asked. “The thing is Josh, not only have I been keeping an eye on him ever since he was released from jail, I’ve had him under surveillance since you returned to the area. He’s not even living in this part of the state anymore.”
“Hmm,” Josh rumbled. “Is that so? I doubt that anyone from Iraq has followed me back here to exact their vengeance.”
“Well, it has to be someone from your past,” Sam Danielson said. “Have you got any idea who?”
“The thing that I’m trying to figure out is why?” Jake added. “Everyone in that group of kids ended up out of jail in less than five years, except for your dad. And none them seems to be suffering especially as a result of their time in jail. In fact, they all seem to have done unusually well for themselves since then, which is a mystery in itself that I’ve been trying to solve.”
“I’ve been trying to figure it out,” Josh said. “Frankly, it’s really got me stumped.”
“Meanwhile, what do we do with you?” Jake asked grimly. “We can’t keep you here. Too many people would be in danger if whoever it was comes after you again.”
Josh heard Luke burst into the office followed by Nina. Funny how he could recognize people by the sound of their footsteps.
“Damn it, Josh,” Luke groaned. “You really had me worried, thinking now that I’ve finally got you back, I might’ve lost you again. What in the hell is going on?”
Nina remained silent, and Josh felt her hand rest on his shoulder where he sat in the chair beside Jake.
After hearing the short version of how Josh had been shot at, Luke muttered, “That does it. He’s coming over to my house and staying with me.”
Jake quickly answered, “That’s not a good idea, Luke. Where do you suppose he’d look first, if he was intent on killing Josh? And what about Kelly? You don’t want to endanger her.”
Luke sighed heavily.
Nina cleared her throat, squeezing Josh’s shoulder. “What about my house? I’m close enough to Jake’s at Dragonfly Pointe to call if there’s any trouble and, that way, we can continue Josh’s therapy. I have an empty finished basement, and Josh was talking just the other day about purchasing some specialized equipment to keep himself in shape when he gets released from here. We could set up downstairs and maybe Josh could bring along his service dog Ralph for some extra protection.”
“Damn it, Nina, I don’t want you involved in this,” Josh stated firmly.
“It’s too late, Josh. I already am,” she answered quietly.
Jake’s voice sounded uncertain. “Nina...I...” He cleared his throat. “I’m looking at it through Danielle’s eyes, cause my wife would be willing to do the exact same thing if the situation involved me.” Jake sighed. “Alright. One thing I’m going to do is set up a security system at your house. If this guy is travelling around on a skimobile, he’d probably be able to come in from the lake way too easily. The temperatures are supposed to start dropping pretty low, so the entire lake will be frozen before long.”
Josh sighed heavily. He hated the idea of putting Nina in danger, but it was a good plan. No one besides their closest friends really knew there was a relationship developing between the two of them, so whoever it was that was trying to kill him probably wouldn’t even suspect he was staying with her.
Since, supposedly, Jake had a photographic memory, Josh knew he must have an awful lot of questions in store for him when he heard Jake shuffling through one of the desk drawers, probably in search of pen and paper.
Jake said, “Okay, Josh and I might be a while. I have everything I need from you, Steve. And Nina? I’ll talk to you later. You guys can get back to work.”
Josh felt Nina’s lips brush the side of his face. “I’m glad you’re okay, Josh,” she whispered, sounding really shaken.
“Me, too, Nina,” he answered wryly. “I’ll talk to you a little later.”
“Alright,” she answered.
He heard Steve and Nina leaving the office.
Jake said quickly, “Okay, Josh. Thinking in terms of outside this center, the first thing I want to know is where’ve you been, along with who’ve you been with, since you arrived in town...”
.
Chapter Ten
Nina wasn’t sure how he’d done it so fast, but Jake had been able to arrange for Josh’s workout equipment to be delivered late the following afternoon, and Steve was here helping the men set everything up.
They’d come up with a quick plan to steer Josh’s attacker away from the wounded warrior home by making Josh highly visible, checking him into the Dragonfly Pointe Inn last night, and the records at the rehabilitation center had been altered to make it appear as if his stretch inside had been completed.
Luke and Kelly, along with the entire Callahan family, had had dinner with Josh last night, and someone would be sneaking him over to Nina’s house later this evening. Nina had brought half of Josh’s belongings home with her last night, while Steve had brought along the rest today.
Once the delivery men were on t
heir way down the drive after the equipment had been set up, Steve sat down on the living room couch and talked with Nina. “I’ll come back here tomorrow before work, and show you what to watch for while Josh is working out. He’s actually capable of handling the equipment on his own, but you never know if something dumb might happen, say his T-shirt or even a shoelace gets caught up in a cable line. Sometimes we learn to expect the unexpected, cause weird things like that seem to happen.”
“Where do you think he would be the most comfortable? In the guest room downstairs, or here on the ground floor so he’s near the kitchen?”
“I would say he needs to be near you, Nina, when you’re home. Josh may not be able to see, but he’s definitely attuned to his surroundings. Just because he’s safer here, doesn’t mean that whoever’s after him may not be able to find him. When’s the alarm system going in?”
“Not until tomorrow,” she answered.
“Where do you spend most of your time?”
Nina grimaced, waving her hand in the air. “Right here, watching the birds, listening to music, reading and even doing a little crafting stuff.”
Steve smiled. “I heard you’re really popular working with the special needs kids. They love the projects you come up with.”
“Well, when Danielle first mentioned something about coming up with items we could sell for fundraising projects, the first thing I thought about was what kind of crafts would be simple enough for the kids to make that would be great for resale.”
“Speaking of work...” Glancing at his watch, Steve stood up from the couch. “I’m assuming Jake will be here with a security team so they can figure what’s best for you. But I’d make sure you have an alarm that sounds out loudly so you can hear it in your bedroom, and maybe downstairs in the basement. When you’re away at work, it’d probably be better for Josh to stay downstairs. At least there’s a big TV down there he can listen to, along with music. Plus, he’ll have the dog. It’s a huge space.”
Puzzled, Nina asked Steve, “How do you happen to know so much about this kind of stuff, Steve?”
Giving Nina a rueful smile, Steve looked considering. “Mel is always telling me that I don’t open up enough to people. And she’s probably right. I was in the Navy, and was ready to go into Seal training.” He sighed heavily. “But the short story is that life got in the way, and my wife got sick, and eventually passed away.”
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