Page 12 of Desert Wind

“Four hours! Nash, you should have woken me. I didn’t mean to sleep that long.”

“You needed it,” he smiled. “Come on. We’ll go in together.”

He realized immediately that she was nervous seeing all the travelers and truckers inside the rest stop. He nodded toward the women’s restroom and then went to the men’s. Herushed his own business just to make sure he was outside the ladies’ room before she came out.

Sure enough, a few moments later, she emerged with her hair pulled back from her face and a more relaxed expression.

“All okay?” he asked.

“Yes, thank you. There was a nice lady in there that had a disposable facecloth I could use. I feel slightly more human now. Is there something here to eat?”

“Well, Mama Irene and Claudette made some things for us, but it’s mostly snacks. It looks like they serve sandwiches, burgers, and breakfast items. We’re sort of halfway through breakfast on our way to lunch,” he chuckled. “Your choice.”

“The bacon smells divine,” she said with a smile. “Maybe an egg and bacon sandwich, hot coffee, and I’ll grab some terrible snacks to go.”

“Perfect. I’ll order while you do that.”

Nash placed the order and then watched as Jenna made her way up and down the rows, filling the small plastic basket. By the time she was done, the sandwiches were ready, the coffee in two styrofoam cups, and the pump to the SUV kicked off because it was finally full.

“Is this all?” asked the young man at the register.

“I think this is enough for a while,” smirked Nash. Leaving with a large brown paper sack, they got back into their car and on the road.

“Will we drive straight through?” she asked.

“No. It’s too dangerous for me. I need to rest before driving more than ten or eleven hours.”

“I could drive.”

“I know you can,” he said, smiling at her, “but my alpha male ways would cause me to still remain awake, worried you might need me. I’m afraid it’s the curse of men like me.”

“Good men,” she whispered.

“I hope so,” nodded Nash. “I’d like to think of myself as a good man. I’ve tried to be. It hasn’t always worked out that way, but I protect those I care for, and I don’t hurt the innocent.”

“When you were a Marine–”

“I’m always a Marine,” he grinned. “I am a Marine.”

“Okay,” she grinned. “When you were serving overseas, you were in active war zones, right?”

“I was.”

“So, you killed people, right?” He stared at her for a brief moment, then looked back toward the road and nodded.

“I did. But it was only those who deserved to die. Those who had killed innocent people. I tried to stick by that rule, but sometimes, well, sometimes in war, innocents get hurt.”

She was quiet for a long moment, and Nash just knew that this had changed their relationship.

“What did it feel like?” she asked.

“War?”

“No, killing someone who deserved it.”

“I see,” he said, his arm resting on the doorframe, his fist leaning against his jaw. He took a deep breath, readying himself for what he would say.

“You think it will make you feel better. That you’ll feel justified for what you’ve done, and I suppose, in some instances, it did. Like, this time an Afghan warlord had taken all these young girls from a school and was going to give the girls tohis men as wives. They were between the ages of twelve and fifteen.”

---