THE WOODS GLOWED as if on fire behind the dusky lake, the early morning sky like pink lemonade and mango tea. Kaylan sat in the family sunroom with a mug of coffee watching golden rays burst past the rosy hues and spike above the tree line. The glassy lake mirrored the colors.
Morning had always been her time. A biological clock woke her just in time to view God’s first visible act of glory for the day. Waves lapped against the dock, wind whistled through the old oaks, and birds dipped down and grazed their wings on the water. The sights calmed her, helping her feel closer to the One who had created her.
She burrowed under the blanket, avoiding the chill from the floor-length windows lining the room. On the coffee table her Bible lay open to Lamentations. “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning, great is thy faithfulness.” Her whisper reverberated in the stillness. She set down the coffee cup and wrapped her arms around herself, imagining the Lord’s arms around her. New day, clean slate, fresh possibilities. God was so good.
“I love that verse.”
Kaylan jumped, whirling toward the open doorway. Nick lounged against the doorpost, one hand in his pocket and the other gripping a steaming mug of coffee.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“No one is usually up at this time.”
He chuckled. “Micah sleeps like the dead until noon when he’s on leave. It’s a wonder he can be on time for zero four hundred bus rides to the drop zone.”
Silence settled in the room. Dark circles pooled under his eyes, and Kaylan wondered if something had roused him earlier than usual.
“You know, you shouldn’t sneak up on people like that. It’s a really bad habit.”
Nick offered an apologetic grin. “They don’t give me the sniper rifle because I’m loud and clumsy.”
“Well, they should give you some kind of over-sized cat tag, like Panther or Mountain Lion instead of Hawk. Where did that nickname come from, anyway?”
Nick pushed off the doorway, set his mug on the coffee table, and sat down on the edge of the couch. “Well, that was Micah’s suggestion. Maybe you should ask him.”
“Come on. We both know Micah is the king of exaggeration. Let’s hear it.”
Nick smiled and leaned back, crossing his arms and peering out at the now-risen sun. “We were training for our first deployment, one of those ten-day isolated mock missions with our team at a remote location. We were tasked with locating and eliminating a terrorist camp. Since I’m a sniper, I was camped out on a hill a little ways from the rest of the team in what we call an overwatch position. The air asset, or remote-controlled plane, had called ‘no enemy activity’ in the area, but that wasn’t good enough for me. As much as they are there to help, I don’t trust the lives of my team to mechanics, electronics, and an unknown person’s judgment coming from a different zip code. I scanned the area, focusing on the shadows and recess movements beyond the cover of vegetation blocking my view.
“Then I saw them. A team of Army Rangers all posing as terrorists for the exercise were creeping into a perfect ambush position against my team. I could barely detect them in their camouflage netting covering their hide site, but I recognized the heat signature, a reducing cloak that had probably fooled the unmanned drone overhead.” Nick smirked, but Kaylan noticed the challenge and severity the memory aroused in him.
“In real life, my team would endure heavy casualties in an ambush like that. So I treated the exercise like it was real. No one touches my team. And no one beats a SEAL. In combat, my job would be to take out the enemy threatening my team, but in simulation, practice shots aren’t made for long distance, so I radioed my team to give them a heads-up about the Rangers. Just as my team rounded the ridge, one of the Rangers made a move and tried to shoot, but Micah shot first with a paint round. The Rangers lost the element of surprise, and we completed the mission. The exchange of paint rounds meant a few bruises and a few drills for my team, but it was more than worth it.”
Kaylan studied him, new respect dawning for his job. He shot first, or his teammates died. He had their backs, a huge responsibility. His team obviously trusted him completely. It was written all over his face, in the casual way he told the story, confident, sure, protective. He was good because he had to be, and he trained to stay that way.
“So where does the ‘Hawk’ part come in?”
“A hawk’s eyesight is about eight times as powerful as a human’s. They see what we can’t in greater detail. That’s my job. I’m the eyes of the team, the point man. I see what they can’t, and I protect them. A hawk soared overhead on our way back to camp that evening. Micah slapped me on the back, pinned me with the name, and I’ve been Hawk ever since.” He smiled, and his eyes carried confidence and knowledge of his responsibility. “My role really helps me understand how dependent we are on Jesus, how important it is that we trust Him to see what we can’t and to have it under control. That’s what I have to do for my team on a much smaller scale.”
“So, where did Micah get his name?”
Nick hung his head and chuckled. “I bet you can figure it out.”
“Well, he’s a bulldog in the morning. I hate waking him up.”
“He’s more like a grizzly.”
She laughed. “Very true.” She thought for a moment. “You don’t mess with someone or something he cares about.”
“Bingo. Micah would jump in front of any of us if we’re staring down the barrel of a gun. Even if he doesn’t agree with us, he defends us and then tells us how stupid we are later. He’s our resident bulldog. Kind of the team’s mascot.” The affection and appreciation for her brother was unmistakable, and Kaylan was glad Nick watched her brother’s back.
“So, you look out for the team, protect their backs. And Micah defends them. Not a bad combination. You sound like a pretty good team.”
“We are.” The corners of his mouth twitched, and his blue eyes seemed to shimmer like the water outside the window. “He thinks you and I would make a pretty good team too.”
Her jaw twitched. It was too early for this conversation. She thought they would spend some time together, maybe find a more steady footing before addressing this topic—if it even came up. He reached for her hands and she kept them limp in his, not encouraging, simply listening.
“Kayles, give me a chance today to take us back. Before I left.”
She shook her head. “We can’t go back, Nick.”
He leaned forward, and his grip on her hands tightened. She fought the urge to lean back. The intensity in his eyes startled her. She’d never seen this side of him before. Playful, affectionate, gentle, sure. But vulnerable? Not mighty Nick Carmichael. He was a modern-day knight with armor a mile thick, and he was stripping it off for her. She worried what she would find if she put her own shield down. He was a flight risk. Hadn’t he shown her as much?
Kaylan jumped as Nick’s fingers brushed her cheek, tucking a wayward strand of hair behind her ear.
“You’re right. We can’t go back to yesterday, but we can take the best of yesterday and build today and a thousand tomorrows on it. Will you give me a chance?”
Her heart responded to his touch, his words, the burning sincerity in his gorgeous eyes, but her brain cautioned her to wait. He’d crushed her last time, but a part of her longed to return to the beauty and joy of that time.
“That’s a big promise, Nick. Can you follow through? Will you even stick around to try?” She wasn’t handing over her heart that easily. Beautiful words were just that, beautiful, unless action followed. His actions had told her she wasn’t worth investing in. She didn’t have a place in his life.
“A lot’s changed, Kayles. I’m going to prove that to you.”
Her heart teetered on the edge of a cliff, debating a dive. She couldn’t do that yet.
Closing her Bible, she slipped from beneath the blanket and stood, looking down at him. Confusion, fear, and frustration swirled like a whirlwind in her head. She willed his words to be true but was afraid of what she would find if they were.
She squeezed his shoulder. “I’m going to hold you to that, Mr. SEAL.”
His eyes lit up, but she pulled away and hurried from the room, not ready to handle any more talk just now. Why were there always two paths? She wanted to run into Nick’s arms yet flee as far away as possible. Who knew what the future would bring with a man like Nick Carmichael pursuing her?