“I can walk, you know,” Lydia grumbled, but Pearl appeared to ignore her, continuing to roll her in a wheelchair out of the hospital toward a large SUV.
Eric walked along beside her and, reaching the SUV, assisted her into the backseat. The driver twisted around, and she spied a handsome man, his hair brushing his shoulders and a movie star smile beaming toward her.
“Good to see you, Lydia. I’m John Rankin. Rank, to all my friends.”
Eric had already explained that some of his friends had been with him and had helped to rescue her. She smiled warmly. “It’s so nice to meet you. I can’t thank you enough for everything you did for me.”
Rank beamed. “It was my pleasure. I would’ve done anything for my former SEAL commander anyway, but the chance to help him rescue you was icing on the cake.”
He winked toward Eric, then turned around and began to drive. She looked over at Eric sitting next to her and lifted her eyebrow questioningly.
“We’re heading to the airport, sweetheart. Rank agreed to drive us, and we’ll meet up with the others there.”
She was quiet for most of the drive, her mind still turbulent as she turned over the events in her head. Before she knew it, they had reached the airport, but Rank did not stop at the front. Instead, he drove around through a side gate and over to a separate hanger.
She saw a small group of men standing inside and wondered if they were Eric’s friends. She did not have to wait long for the answer, as he alighted from the SUV and turned back to her, his hand extended. As he assisted her down and tucked her into his side, the other men walked over.
Rank joined them, and she blinked at the wall of masculinity presented to her. One man, very alike in looks to Rank, was introduced as Bart. A dark-haired, rather quiet man, but just as gorgeous, took her hand in his, as Eric introduced Logan.
A tall, red-haired man, grinning widely, grabbed her hand and pumped it up and down. “I’m Chris, and it’s sure good to see you up and about. I was trying to follow you based on Robert’s cell phone and, I gotta tell you, when we got into that bastard’s room and saw him—”
“Chris,” Eric growled, his voice carrying a warning.
She watched in fascination as Chris’ face grew red, from his neck all the way up to his hairline. “Oh…sorry…uh…well, I’m glad you’re okay.”
She could not help but laugh, and say, “There’s a lot I don’t remember, and some I remember that I’d like to forget. But you’re right…he was a bastard.”
Chris appeared pleased at her assessment and nodded once more before stepping back.
Eric gave her a squeeze, then dropped his arm from her shoulders as he stepped over to Rank. Clasping his hand, he pulled him in for a hug, saying, “I can’t thank you enough.”
The idea of not eavesdropping passed through her mind, but curiosity won out as she listened to Rank’s reply.
“Anytime, anywhere. I still haven’t forgotten how you helped with my Helena. Don’t be a stranger…after all, Maine’s not that far away from you.”
With a smile, Eric clapped him on the shoulder before moving to Bart. “I still gotta make it down to Virginia to visit you and your family.”
As Bart hugged him in return, he said, “Just like Rank said, if you need me, anytime anywhere, you know how to get hold of me.”
In awe of the camaraderie she was witnessing, she was curious about Logan, but was surprised when Eric moved to him, and said, “Make sure you thank Vivian for me. Not only for letting you come to help me, but for giving me the information earlier on this case. You two make a good team.”
Overcome with emotion from having been rescued by these men who had obviously put their lives on hold, she moved to each of them, offering hugs. Carefully stepping back after being enveloped by them, she leaned her weight into Eric, and he wrapped his arms around her once again.
Logan waved his goodbye, and she watched as he walked out of the hangar and climbed into his helicopter. After he had taken flight, Rank and Bart offered their farewells too, climbing into the back of another private plane.
Twisting her head around to look up at Eric, he explained, “They’re both heading back to the East coast and decided to fly most of the way together.”
“You all are obviously very close,” she said.
He smiled at her, lifting his hand to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “Is that your way of asking me how I know them?”
Her lips curved, and she replied, “Okay, how about I be more direct. How do you know them?”
He sighed, and said, “I was once a Lieutenant Commander of a SEAL team. At one time, those three men served under me. I can’t say that we’ve stayed close, but we have stayed in contact. Two of them work for security firms and another one does contracting on his own. It just so happened that they were available when I needed help.”
Her brow furrowed as she pondered his words. “So, they just dropped whatever they were doing, to come to help you?”
Nodding slowly, he said, “Yeah. Once a brother, always a brother.”
She nodded, unsure what else to say. Seeing Chris still standing over to the side, she asked, “How will I get back to Kansas?”
Eric nodded toward another small, private plane. “I’ve got a pilot to take us back there.”
She blinked in surprise, and asked, “We’re all going back? You’re going back to Kansas, as well?”
He turned his body so they were facing each other, keeping his arms around her, enveloping her in his embrace. Holding her gaze, he said, “Lydia, I know we have a lot to talk about. First, and foremost, I want to get you back to your home in Kansas. We both need to debrief with the NBAF, and I know you’ve got friends and coworkers who want to see you, to be assured of your safety.”
She nodded, understanding what he was saying but too afraid to ask him about their relationship. Before she had a chance to gather her courage, Chris called out, “The pilot says he’s ready.” Sucking in a deep breath, she let it out, and said, “Yesterday, the last thing I wanted to do was be back in another plane. But if this one is taking me home, I’ll do it gladly.”
Eric gave her another squeeze, then led her over to the plane. “I’ll take you anywhere you want to go.”
Two Days Later
Lydia awoke from her nightmare with a jolt, her breathing ragged. Sitting up in bed, she looked around, recognizing her own bedroom, illuminated softly with a nightlight shining from the bathroom. Climbing from the bed, she padded into the bathroom and stared into the mirror. Dark circles were still underneath her eyes, and her complexion was pale. Splashing cold water on her face, she worked to steady her breathing.
Grabbing her robe from the hook on the back of the door, she wrapped herself in the thick chenille, tying it at her waist. No longer interested in sleep, she quietly walked out of her bedroom and into the kitchen.
“Can’t sleep?”
She jumped, hating to show such fear in front of her daughter. Caroline moved forward, encircling her arms around her. They stood in the kitchen, hugging for a moment, she gaining strength from Caroline.
“I was sleeping,” she said honestly. “I just think it’s going to take me a while to not close my eyes and find myself back in…in…well, just back.”
Caroline leaned away, and she stared into the face that was so similar to her own. Long dark hair. Chocolate eyes that were a little bit lighter than her own. They were almost the same height, but her daughter held the youthful appearance of someone on the blush of adulthood.
Letting her go, she fixed a pot of coffee and they sat down at the kitchen table. They chatted about college, Caroline’s roommate, boys she had gone out with, her classes. She noticed that her daughter kept the conversation away from her own workplace, for which she was glad.
As the sun rose, sending the glow of sunshine through the kitchen window, she leaned back in her seat and let out a long breath. Holding Caroline’s gaze, she said, “You know I appreciate you coming here, and you know I love you more than life itself. But you need to get back to college. Your life is there right now.”
“Mom, you’ve always been there for me. Now, I want to be here for you.”
She smiled and leaned forward, stretching her arm out to rest her hand on Caroline’s. They linked fingers, the way they had ever since Caroline was very tiny and smiled at each other.
“I love having you here with me,” she said. “But I’ve got some things that I need to get a handle on. I’ve got some decisions I need to make and, as much as I love having you with me, these are decisions that I’ll have to make on my own.”
“Are you going to work today?”
Nodding, she replied, “Yes. I’m going to go in, and we’ll see what happens. Paul is supposed to meet with me, and I’m to have a debriefing on what all was happening and why. Eric explained a lot of things on the plane ride back from Portland, and I now know that Paul was involved in their mission…investigation…whatever it was.”
“And Eric?”
Letting out a soft breath, she caught her gaze. “I don’t really know what to say about him.”
“Mom,” Caroline said, giving her fingers a squeeze, “I saw you with him. I saw the way he was with you. That is not a man who was just doing his job. I have no doubt he would be right here with you, right now, if I wasn’t here.”
Shaking her head slightly, she said, “I told him I needed space—”
“Yes, and he’s giving you that space because I’m here.”
“Honey, I don’t know what you want me to say. Yes, I really like him. I like him a lot. He’s truly the only man that I’ve been with that I can say makes me think of the possibility of us lasting longer. But I have no idea what he does with his life or with his career. I have no idea how we could make something work, considering I now know that he’s from Vermont. Right now, my mind is in such turmoil, the idea of trying to figure out anything is just too overwhelming.”
She glanced down and noticed her coffee mug was now empty. Wanting to avoid Caroline’s pointed stare, she stood and moved over to the sink to rinse out her cup.
She knew that she should be ecstatic right now. She was so lucky that everything had turned out okay. But… Why do I feel as though I have a heavy blanket weighing me down?
As though Caroline knew her thoughts, she said, “Mom, don’t forget what the ER doctor recommended. You need to see a trauma counselor.”
Afraid that the tears would renew, she simply nodded. Grateful her daughter understood, giving her a few minutes to pull herself together, she sucked in a deep breath before letting it out slowly. Turning, she enveloped Caroline in another hug. “I need to get ready to go in today. And you need to make arrangements to get back to school.” Leaning back, she added, “Once I get things settled at work, I’m planning on taking some time off. If you think you can handle having your mom around, I’ll come to visit you near Thanksgiving and stay for a little bit.”
Caroline grinned widely. “I’d love that, Mom.”
Forcing her arms to release her daughter, she touched Caroline’s cheek before heading back to her bedroom. She had just enough time for a shower before going to work. Not having any idea what she was going to be facing today, she wondered if she was going to be seeing Eric, and her mind warred between the desire to be with him again and wondering when he was going to be leaving.