Page 16 of SEAL's Spitfire
“I know. I feel like we should be doing something.”
“Exactly. But he’s in Afghanistan. Or he was. They could have taken them out of the country to hide them.” After catching the look of horror on Lizzie’s face, she realized she needed to keep most of her thoughts to herself. They weren’t going to do anything except get her sister riled up.
“Ugh. Don’t listen to me. I’m a writer remember, over-active imagination.” Meghan pulled her sister into a hug.
“You’re right. And I need to stay in control for the kids.”
“And mom. Maybe more for mom. I’m not sure what this would do to her.”
Lizzie nodded and grabbed a mug of coffee and took a big sip. Then she turned back to Meghan.
“Okay, you’ve stalled long enough. Fess up. I want to know everything about that text message. Don’t hold back because I’ll know if you try.” Dammit. She would too.
In an attempt to put off the inquisition for a tad bit longer, Meghan grabbed the other mug of coffee. There were so many emotions twisting inside she wasn’t sure what to say. Forefront was worry about Charlie, then there was Rafe. Oh boy. Her sister was going to enjoy this conversation.
“The text is from a guy named Rafe. He was one of the other stranded passengers.”
“Okay…” Lizzie was eating this up with a spoon.
“Since we were stuck for so long and most of the airport was closed, we had dinner together. He’s nice.”
“Nice? Bullshit. You never say ‘nice’.”
“Fine. He’s drop-dead gorgeous. Are you happy now?”
“Sort of. How did you go from dinner with drop-dead gorgeous to him texting you? And who the heck is Tex?”
“It was a long night.”
“I’ll bet,” Lizzie said with a smirk. She was going to have to take a bunch of crap, but it would be worth it to see Lizzie smile. It also made Rafe’s actions of the night before more understandable. She owed him an apology for her freak out.
“He was sitting near me at the gate when they announced the delay. I may have grumbled something about the plane loud enough for him to hear me.”
“Uh huh…”
“He had a point and we chatted a bit, then stood on line to update our tickets, and he asked me if I’d like to have dinner with him.”
“And you said yes? To a stranger?”
“We were in the airport. What could have happened?”
“Hey, I watch those shows on the Discovery Channel. He could have pulled you out of sight and raped you or murdered you or worse.”
“What’s worse than rape or murder?” Meghan laughed, because really. That was pretty much the top echelon of horrible.
“Whatever.”
“I may have forgotten to tell you he was in the Navy.” The look on Lizzie’s face said she wasn’t buying his being in the service as a good enough reason. “I don’t know how to explain it. There’s just something about him.”
Reaching for the other mug, Lizzie took a drink, and then sat with her legs crossed Indian style. She was definitely invested in the story now.
“Don’t stop now.”
“I guess it was the way he helped me when I found out about Charlie. We were at a bar. It was the only place still open. A Special Report came on the TV and I knew it was his group. I just knew it.” Her voice got thick with tears, but she wasn’t going to let them fall. Not now. When Charlie came back to them, then she’d cry.
“Probably the same thing I saw. I threw up in the bathroom. Thank God the kids were in bed already.”
Meghan agreed. They’d managed to keep the news about Uncle Charlie from the ten-year-old twins so far, but there was no telling how long they’d be able to keep it quiet.
