Page 91 of Building Courage

He drew her in close. When she looked up, he cupped her cheek and studied her face in a way that made her legs weak. He brushed her lips with a kiss. “I’ll be back ASAP.”

“I’m good. No worries.”

*

Tucker exited the house through the front door and walked down the sidewalk to his car. He paused beside the vehicle, withdrew the burner phone, scrolled down his contacts, and hit the one he needed.

“Everything okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, everything’s quiet,” Denotti’s answered.

“I owe you.”

“No, you don’t. You’d do the same for me.”

“Yeah, I would.”

“You have the trident I gave you?” Denotti asked.

“Yeah, I do. It’ll go on the coffin next to mine.”

“I didn’t know him, but he’s a brother.”

The fact that he used present tense hit him, and he fought back emotion. “Thanks, Knotty. If something happens—”

“I’ll call, and then I’ll take care of it.”

“I won’t say be careful…”

“Good. Later.”

He got in the SUV, buckled up, and started the vehicle. Brynn would be in good hands until he got back.

*

Brynn hit a key on her computer. The backup countdown had finished. All the files on the SSD drive were once again backed up on a physical drive. It was probably redundant and obsessive, but it gave her peace of mind.

She had rebuilt herself in the last three years. Survived being alone during that time. The few friends she’d kept after the trial had stayed in touch. They were her family. And she was adding to her tribe. Making friends. Opening herself to new things and pushing away the fear. Finally.

Having someone in her apartment only half an hour after she’d gone to get Martin the pain medication… What if they’d come in while she’d been getting the meds and she’d been alone?

She needed to block these thoughts and stay busy.

She set up a light and worked out a script for her next podcast. Her subject needed to be about how diving affected her post-trauma recovery. She went into how diving suspended time and helped her leave everything behind. But also, it was a foreign environment like being on a distant planet surrounded by creatures. It was both dangerous and beautiful—and it was a challenge. But diving also brought her peace. She dropped in some of the pictures she’d taken during the dive. After finishing the podcast and publishing it on line, she poured a glass of iced tea and sat down to brainstorm some other subjects she might want to explore before her trip to Australia.

She opened her email and found a message from Liam Bryant. Out of curiosity, she opened the link to his investment firm. The website was streamlined and well done but needed more color and lacked a personal touch to draw people in. Customer comments and biographies of the people who worked for him and their qualifications would help.

She glanced at the clock. Tucker would probably be back in another hour or so, and she needed to think about what she might fix for dinner. He’d be emotionally exhausted. Food might help. She went to the fridge and looked in to see what he had on hand.

She was thinking about cooking again even though she hated it. But she didn’t hate cooking for him. He did so much for her that she wanted to care for him. Like he’d done for her yesterday and last night.

She closed the refrigerator door and withdrew her phone from her pocket. She brought up the picture she’d taken that morning. His uniform looked snow-white against the tan of his skin. His eyes looked as green as the ocean at sunrise. He’d laughed when she’d told him she’d drool over him in his uniform. But right now, she was doing just that. But it was more than that.

The phone rang in her hand. Seeing Jess’s familiar number, she hit the button.

Jess sounded out of breath as she said, “I hate to bother you, but can you come get me? I have a flat. Oliver is working a double shift and can’t leave to come pick me up, and it’s too far to walk.”

“Wow, you two are having a run of bad luck with the cars. Where are you?”

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