Page 32 of Fighting His Fate
“And what about you? What would your blaze of glory look like?”
She laughed. “Let’s see, there’s bingo. I’m big into bingo.”
“You are not.”
“Every Thursday night. John thought it would be nice if I got involved more in the church activities. I probably won’t be doing that anymore.” She sighed softly. “I sold cards, walked around and checked bingos for accuracy, that sort of thing. You would not believe how many of these people call bingo when they don’t really have it.”
“Okay, we’ll call that charity work. What do you do for fun?”
“I don’t have any. I mean, not like you do. I like to read, watch movies. Hiking is a lot of fun, though I don’t seem to do it much anymore. Work is where I get my excitement. My own little adrenaline rush. In the ER, I get to take care of all the idiots who get hurt riding motorcycles, cliff jumping, enduring extreme sports.”
It was his turn to laugh. She was witty, a real smart mouth, and he liked it. “Better watch yourself, princess, or one of those hikes might have a cliff at the end of it and you’ll need somebody like me to help you out.”
“Were you close with Joni and Luke?” Grace asked.
His hand clenched the steering wheel more tightly. “Not anymore.”
“But you were once?”
“Yeah. I fixed them up. Luke was my cousin, and Joni was my friend since we were young. We went to the same college. She was going through a hard time with an ex-boyfriend, had to get a restraining order and all that shit. I figured dating a cop might kill two birds with one stone.”
“You took care of her.” She hummed softly. “What did you study in school?”
“Women.”
She clucked her tongue. “Of course you did.”
“History. Joni was the smart one. I told you she was a scientist. Published a bunch of research articles about fertility.”
“So I’ve been learning. She was quite prolific.” Toby cried, and Grace unbuckled, climbing into the backseat. “Why did you stop speaking to them?”
“I never said I stopped speaking to them.”
“But you did, didn’t you? I’m very good at reading people, too. Something happened that ended the friendship. It’s been eating you up since you first got to the hospital. You’re guiltier than a dog covered in ice cream cake.”
He was quiet for a moment. “Nothing that dramatic.”
“So tell me.”
He hesitated. “I did a couple of tours in the Navy SEALs. We didn’t have as much in common after that.”
“You didn’t have anything in common before, either. She was a science nerd, right? And you wanted to go into the military. So tell me what really happened. Were you jealous of her relationship with your cousin?”
“No.”
“Were you two ever an item?”
He laughed. “The closest thing we had to a relationship was one of thoseif I get to be forty and I haven’t found Mrs. Rightdeals.”
“I have one of those with a gay go-go dancer named Vincent.”
“Seriously?”
“It’s a long story. So what, did the SEALs mess with your head or something?”
“Of course it messed with my head. What do you think?” He cursed under his breath. He heard the rage in his voice, the barely concealed wounds he pretended weren’t there.
This often came up in conversation when people learned he’d been in the military. He was proud of his service and would do it again in a heartbeat, but freedom wasn’t free. The final days of his last tour were easily the darkest of his life.
