He grinned when she met his gaze with a beautiful smile on her face. She looked lovely today, wearing a creamy leather jacket over a chic black sweater. And she actually had on jewelry, which he’d never seen before. A pretty beaded bracelet was wrapped around her wrist.
Several people were seated around the conference table, and a few near the door in some chairs, and apparently, he was the last one to arrive.
He grimaced. “Am I late?”
Josh Loughlin smiled. “Nope. The rest of us were early. Everyone except you, me, Sarah and Russ Quinlan are volunteers. Although after the proposal is submitted, we hope to add some of the men and women here on our payroll.”
“Nice to see you again, Lieutenant,” Brand said, approaching Josh, and shaking his outstretched hand.
“You too, Sir.”
Brand grimaced. “What’s with this Sir stuff? It’s Brand.”
“Alright, the same goes for me. I keep forgetting I was promoted anyway,” Josh muttered.
Brand blinked, and started laughing. Pulling out a chair, he sat between Sarah and Josh as Josh began introducing the other members of the committee, which included nurses, one doctor, a physical therapist and some military personnel. Russ Quinlan was seated near the door, looking curiously detached, and he acknowledged Brand with a quick nod of his head.
“Okay, Josh. I’m just here to listen. I was only informed I’d be working with you the day before yesterday, so I haven’t had much time to go over the logistics,” Brand said. “Go ahead and get started.”
“Alright. The first thing I want to say is that everyone should feel free to pitch in to the conversation. The way I see it is we have three important matters to talk about today, so we can get started on making this new training facility a reality. The first topic we should discuss is a location. Although, I’ve been thinking about this hard, and maybe we should be looking at a multiple phase program with different training sites.”
He picked up a notebook from the table. “I’ve broken it down into classroom training and rehabilitation to begin with.”
Obviously, she and Josh had already discussed this, and Nina began to talk. “We were thinking rather than asking for government support in subsidizing the entire program at once, it might be easier for us to get funding for each independent step of the program depending on our success.”
“I can understand that,” Sarah answered, almost dryly.
Brand had read that the government had taken their own sweet time in awarding her benefits. Proper funding wasn’t even being distributed fairly around the country as it was, and with the new administration, even Brand didn’t feel hopeful at the prospect of earning government funding for this project.
“We’ve pretty much already decided we’re going to have to come up with an ambitious plan for acquiring funding,” Josh said, nearly echoing Brand’s thoughts.
Everyone in the room appeared to be muttering their agreement.
It’s funny, Brand thought as his eyes searched the room. Russ was the only one not really contributing to the conversation, and Brand frowned. He actually looked bored.
What was that all about? Brand would normally expect someone as ambitious as Russ to be putting his two cents in every time he got the chance.
Plus he hadn’t said a word to Brand since he’d entered the room. They hadn’t spoken since Iraq. Everyone involved in the horrifying end game that day had been taken away and debriefed in separate locations.
The only member of the team left alive had been Russ, when Brand had regrouped with additional forces after Sarah had been flown away in the chopper with Sarge.
It hadn’t been a pretty sight, going in on reconnaissance. But they’d caught the terrorists by surprise.
The peculiarity of that should’ve registered right away with Brand at the time.
Why were they off guard?
Because they’d known in advance that Brand’s squadron was being transported? Maybe their trap had been elaborate enough for them to have assumed Brand’s entire team had been eliminated?
Funny how it hadn’t occurred to Brand until today, and several additional scenarios were running through his mind as he half listened to suggestions from members of the committee.
When Sarah began to talk, he gave her his full attention.
“Okay, so everyone’s agreed? We’ll have some kind of a written test based on each person’s area of expertise?”
There was murmur of agreement through the room.
“And even if that person has gone through physical therapy, they have to go through another course of therapy here to make sure they’re in good enough shape to begin training?”
“I like that idea,” Steve Ryder, the resident physical therapist answered. “I hate to admit it, but some instructors are better than others. There needs to be a standard set before approval of the more vigorous training for wounded warriors you accept in your program.”
“Can I count on you to be the one to handle that Steve?” Josh asked.
Steve grimaced. “We’re a little short of help around here, but I’ll do what I can. I’ll look into approved certification. I think we’re getting an additional therapist soon, so I should be able to concentrate more on the program in a few more weeks.”
“That’ll work,” Josh answered with a firm nod of his head.
Sarah spoke again. “Okay, so we should be able to do the initial testing here in the conference rooms if we’re only planning on beginning with a dozen men and women.”
“Our director will have to sign off on the final approval, but I don’t think that will be a problem,” Nina said. “He’ll be back at the end of the month.”
Sarah nodded. “Okay, and Steve will work on the physical therapy qualifications. So I guess the next step would be finding a location to do personal defensive and tactical training?”
Brand became thoughtful. “What about a program with service dogs?” He turned to Josh. “Didn’t you say the local shelter was training strays?”
Josh answered, “They are. I do have that written down as a future possibility, along with maybe using the local airfield for retraining pilots. Jake Loughlin has a private plane that’s been adapted for one of our former airmen, Luke Bryant, who happens to be my brother,” he added with a grin.
Sarah spoke firmly. “Individual defensive and tactical training is what’s important. In fact, I think it’s essential. Everything else can come later, cause if you’re not in shape physically and skilled and agile enough with weaponry, you’re not going to be able to remain in active duty.”
“I’ll bet you could pass those tests right now. Couldn’t you, Legs?” Brand was startled to hear Russ Quinlan speak, especially with what sounded like hostility in his voice.
In a commanding tone, Sarah answered, staring deep into Russ’s eyes. “I could.”
Brand grinned. God, how he loved this woman. If she’d remained in service, no doubt she would’ve also been an officer by now.
She was definitely a warrior. Wounded didn’t even come into it.
Russ looked away from Sarah’s stare uncomfortably.
Josh had been watching the antagonism between Sarah and Russ with interest, and Brand shrugged, grimacing when Josh looked his way.
Josh grinned, clearing his throat. “There’s not much more we need to cover today. What I’ve done is made up an assignment list for everyone in the room. Just be sure to let me know if you’ll have any trouble fulfilling your duties, because we’re targeting mid-summer to be up and running—if we can get the funding.”
Nina stood up. “We’ve created a movie for you to watch on your own time. We’ve got clips from the few other training facilities around the country, which shows how they operate, so we can hopefully get this program running smoothly right away.”
“Let’s get together in in two weeks, at the same time, to see what everyone’s come up with,” Josh said, as several individuals began standing. “The link to the movie that you can watch online
is listed on your assignment sheets.”
Nina continued, “Those of you we’ve invited into the group because you’re into advertising as well as tech savvy? We’re putting that website up quickly. Jake Loughlin, the owner of the Dragonfly Pointe Inn, has offered to set that up for us. As most of you know, he and his wife are behind the startup of the facility that we’re in right now. But what you’ll need to do is come up with a complete menu of what you think we should have on the site, so we can talk about that right away in a couple of weeks. We want to start asking for donations immediately.”
Josh added a few last directives. “We’re going on a quick tour of the facility. For those of you haven’t been here before, stick around if you’d like, otherwise we’ll see everyone back here in a few weeks. You have my email address if any problems should arise. Sarah Benton will be serving as my administrative assistant, and she and I will both have temporary offices here in the building where you’ll be able to contact either one of us if you need to. Russ will be developing specialized tactical programs, since he’s had some experience in the past.”
A few committee members came up to Brand, introducing themselves before they left, and Brand talked for a few more minutes as everyone began exiting the room.
From the corner of his eye, he saw Sarah walk over to the coffee maker set up near the window and pour herself a cup of coffee.
Josh and Nina lingered, but Brand noticed Russ Quinlan had already disappeared. He was acting…odd was the only word Brand could think of to describe it.
Almost insubordinate. He’d failed to acknowledge Brand as his superior, but he’d always been cocky and full of himself for as long as Brand had known him, so that didn’t really surprise him.
But enough of that. He was pleased to know that there wouldn’t be any more organizational meetings for another few weeks, when they’d more than likely be ready to take their first important and time-consuming steps before introducing the program and soliciting funds. There’d appeared to be a dedicated group of individuals here today who were ready to take charge.
Sarah was looking thoughtful as she stared through the window overlooking the lake.
Walking over, he stood beside her, gazing at the view outside with his hands in his uniform pockets. “Nice.”
Sarah grinned, giving him a side glance. “It is.”
“Your friend Mel’s place is further down the shoreline. Isn’t it?”
“It is.”
Brand grinned.
Nina and Josh approached, and Josh took a moment to pour them each some coffee.
Nina turned to him and Sarah. “I’ll bet the two of you would never guess that Josh just regained his vision on Christmas Eve?”
Brand’s mouth dropped open, and he noticed that Sarah was looking rather startled herself.
Josh gave all of them a rueful smile. “I’ve got an appointment this afternoon to get some glasses. My vision is still pretty fuzzy.”
Nina frowned. “The neurologist put him through a battery of tests last week. But his vision may never fully return.”
Sarah was shaking her head in amazement as she questioned Josh. “You’ve gotta be so relieved to get it back at all?”
“Oh, yeah. And that’s an understatement. I couldn’t see anything for almost a year,” Josh answered. “I used to have some terrific headaches, and I had surgery to relieve the pressure, and the doctors warned me my vision might never return. The pain kept getting worse, and I had to choose the surgery, no matter what the risk.”
“You know, losing part of my leg was one of the worst things that could’ve happened,” Sarah admitted. “But I’m not sure if I’d be doing half as well as you, if I couldn’t see.”
“Yes,” Nina said, looking at Josh with obvious admiration and love. “I don’t know how he’s stayed so positive, with everything he’s been through.”
Josh covered his mouth with a hand, murmuring to Brand, “I got a heck of a lot more positive after I found out Nina was gonna be my nurse.”
Brand and Sarah began laughing, and Nina slapped Josh playfully on his shoulder.
Nina rolled her eyes and smiled, looking at Brand first and then at Sarah. “Have you two had enough coffee? While he’s in Crystal Rock, Brand can set up his computer here in the conference room. But I need to show you your office, Sarah. There’s a brand-new lap top you can take along with you today if you’d like. I took the liberty of adding a bunch of documents you’ll need when you begin your administrative duties.”
Josh said, “We’ll figure how to handle our office hours tomorrow morning.”
“Sounds good,” Sarah answered while Brand nodded his approval.
Josh asked, “Are you ready for your tour?”
“Lead on,” Brand answered, as Sarah walked over to the table to retrieve her bag.
Shortly, they were all on their way through the doorway.
Chapter Eleven
Sarah gave Brand a side glance as they drove away from the Wounded Warrior Home in his rental a few hours later. He’d insisted on driving because he supposedly had the rest of the afternoon planned for them.
They’d taken a tour through the entire facility, and Sarah had been impressed. The physical therapy wing had been the most well-equipped center she’d seen so far, better than the two she’d split her time between during her year of rehab in Virginia before returning home to Hayward. There was even a therapy pool, much larger than the ones she’d used building her strength back up in before acquiring her prosthetic.
Currently, there was a wing under construction, where hopefully more intense medical problems could be handled in another year. It just depended on the funding available for hiring enough qualified medical personnel. Small steps were being taken to expand the facility so as not to overextend their reach since the nearest hospital was forty miles away.
The four of them ate lunch together in the cafeteria after the tour, and Sarah had been surprised to discover how good the food was, which was also unlike the facilities she’d been hospitalized at.
Of course, maybe it was because her appetite was returning, and she had something more to do with her time than just think.
“Won’t you even give me a hint of where you’re taking me?” she asked.
Brand wrinkled his nose, nodding at the tray near the dashboard as he shoved on his sunglasses. “Check out the pictures on my phone. My signal strength was low, so I wasn’t able to save all of them, but why don’t you take a look at the five that I have there, and let me know if we need to eliminate any of them.”
Puzzled, Sarah picked up the phone and grinned as she began checking out Brand’s pictures. “Wow. You’re taking me to look for a house? A couple of these cabins look pretty nice,” she said, scrolling with her finger. “Maybe we shouldn’t bother with this first one though. It looks really small.”
“Yeah, it does have a lot of property attached, but the place is outdated, and it may need to be gutted.”
“You can tell all that from a picture?” Sarah asked.
“There were some angled views from the inside, but like I said the signal kept going out on me, otherwise there’d be more pictures. I need to stop by the realtor’s office first and pick up the keys for the lockboxes before we get started.”
He gave her an enquiring look. “I told you I’m not going to let you out of my sight, but what about your friend, Mel? Is she hurt that you aren’t going to be staying with her like you were planning?”
“Well, if it’s a matter of safety, since you really think I might be in danger?” She grimaced. “Although, I will admit, I kind of have my doubts about that myself. But I’d rather not endanger her if it’s true.”
Brand nodded.
“Besides, you know that physical therapist who was there at the meeting today?”
“Steve?” he answered.
“Steve Raynor. Nina mentioned before the meeting that he and Mel were dating. It’s funny how Mel didn’t say a word to me about having a steady
boyfriend.”
Brand looked puzzled. “Is there a reason she would?”
That’s right, Brand didn’t know much about her personal history before their tour. “She was engaged to my brother.”
“Didn’t you mention he was only in college?”
Mel frowned. “I had another brother.”
Brand glanced her way, shoving his glasses down his nose as his eyes met hers. “Had?”
“My twin. His name was Alex. He was killed in Iraq near Kobani after the raid in 2014.”
Not only could she sense his genuine compassion, she could see the concern in his eyes.
“Oh, Sarah. I never had a clue,” he said softly. “God the pain your family must’ve been going through…” He sighed heavily, turning his eyes back on the road. “I’m so sorry.”
Thinking of Alex always made her numb. They’d been protective of each other as twins and very close, because they’d shared the same interests, most particularly flying.
She nodded, remaining quiet as Brand continued driving. He pulled into a parking space in front of the Bradshaw Real Estate Office located on Main Street in the center of town.
“I’ll be back in just a minute.”
“Alright,” she answered softly.
When he hesitated, she gave him a wry grin. “I’m fine.”
“I’m not sure if I believe that. I’ve never known anyone as unreadable as you.”
“Hah.” She wasn’t sure why, but she was pleased by his words. “Go get that key.”
He was in and out of the office within five minutes and they were on their way to the north end of Crystal Rock Lake, toward a subdivision near the Dragonfly Pointe Inn.
The home was roomy, with three bedrooms inside, and there seemed to be a lot of neighbors living nearby. The problem was it was located on a street a few blocks away from the lake, and Sarah was disappointed after the tour when they walked back outside to the truck.
“I do like the fact there’s a bicycle trail and nature walk nearby that I could run on every day. It looks like they keep it cleared of snow.”
“But you need more privacy, don’t you?” Brand asked, revving up the engine of the truck.
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