Page 93 of Welcome Home, Cowboy
Griffin nodded. “I didn’t realize you knew the kid in that parachute accident.”
“I don’t. But I watched him get pulled out of a tree. I feel like I know him. I hear he’s mostly sedated. I just want to lay eyes on him.”
“Makes sense. Maybe I’ll catch you later then,” Griffin said, walking back to his motorcycle, parked several rows away. Griffin always parked as far away from everything as possible, to avoid any kind of scratches to his bike. It made Lawson smile. His friend really needed to get a woman to take that good care of. Who was he to talk, though? He’d had a good woman and he’d let her go. Fixing that mistake was on his to-do list. He’d decided to fix it, or try, before he’d gotten his second chance as an active Marine Corps pilot. He’d just wanted to give Julie time to cool off.. And he’d needed to come up with something good to win her back, because walking up to her and admitting he was a jackass wouldn’t suffice. Now that he was staying in Seaside, Julie would probably assume he was just coming back because his orders changed. She’d think she didn’t matter enough to him for him to fight for her, which was about as far from the truth as she could get.
Lawson looked up at the Naval Hospital, comprised of a tall tower with three smaller adjoining buildings that catered to the various needs of its patients. Sergeant McKinley was on the third floor in room 311. Lawson hoped as he walked down the sterile hallway that McKinley would be resting. There was no reason to meet the kid. He just wanted to take a peek, to see that his vitals were fine and that sometimes things worked out okay. Not always, but sometimes.
He took the stairs instead of the elevator, needing to get his nervous energy out, then walked briskly toward room 311. The door was open. A young man in his early twenties looked over as Lawson stood there.
“Hi,” he said.
Lawson was still in his flight suit. He took a breath and stepped inside the single-occupancy room. “Hi. I, uh, I’m Captain Phillips. Lawson. Call me Lawson.”
Sergeant McKinley pushed himself up in the bed. “I’m Eric.” He looked confused.
“I was part of your rescue team,” Lawson said, standing next to his bed now. “I was just passing through and thought I’d check on you.” A little white lie never hurt anyone.
Eric smiled. “I guess I owe you a thank-you.”
“That’s not why I came.”
“I wish I could thank everyone who helped. I’m alive another day. Thank you. I have a new lease on life, and I’m not going to waste it.”
Lawson pulled up a chair and sat. “I should be thanking you for holding on. It felt good to see someone get pulled out alive.” There he went, talking about his feelings again.
They talked a few more minutes and then Lawson stood to leave. “Take care, Eric.”
Eric gave him a salute. “Yes, sir. Thank you,” he said again.
Lawson’s heart squeezed. He walked out of the room and back toward the stairs with one thing left to do before he went home tonight—hopefully not alone.
—
Julie was tired, but energized at the same time. She’d spent a full day at the Veterans’ Center and it’d been wonderful.
She slid into her car, ready to go home, alone, when her phone buzzed. Beth Phillips’s phone number popped up on the caller ID.
“Hey,” Julie said with a smile. She may have hated Beth’s brother right now, but Beth and Sabrina were still on her good side.
Okay, hate was something she was striving for when it came to Lawson. Anything except the love that still resided in her heart.
“Julie. Can you do me a massive favor?” Beth asked.
Concern filled Julie. “Something wrong?”
“No. Not exactly. I just have an errand I need to do and I don’t have anyone to take care of Sabrina. I can’t take her with me.”
“Oh.” Julie smiled to herself, relaxing a little. She missed having alone time with the little girl over the last week. This would actually serve her well because a night of tea parties and makeovers was just the thing to take her mind off Lawson for the next few hours. “Sure. I’m in my car now. I’ll come right over.”
“Lifesaver,” Beth said. “See you in a few.”
Julie tossed her phone into the passenger seat and felt a momentary wave of panic. What if she ran into Lawson at Beth’s house? Surely Beth would’ve asked him to watch Sabrina if he was available, though. Julie shook her head. She was being silly. Seaside was a small town. They’d run into each other eventually.
And during those times, she’d ignore him, which is what she should’ve done from the beginning.
She pulled into Beth’s driveway a few minutes later and got out. She was still in her yoga pants, which was her work attire from now on. She still couldn’t believe she’d scored her dream job. She’d thought she’d scored her dream man, too, but life was never that kind.
“Ms. Julie!” Sabrina came bounding out of the screen door, dressed in a little orange dress that made her look like a blurry fireball dashing across the lawn.
