Page 1 of SEAL's Providence
CHAPTER 1
PROVIDENCE
Dr. Providence Sheridan drove her cherry red, nineteen eighty-five Alfa Romeo Spider slowly down the street as she searched for a parking spot near Grace and Lucky’s house. The couple was hosting this month’s post-mission barbecue. It was also the first one since Lucky rejoined the team after an extensive solo mission. So there was lots to celebrate.
It had taken Tempest twisting her arm to convince Providence to come. She was more than a little nervous about meeting the team and their girlfriends for the first time. Her friend was right, though. Even though it had been a few months since Providence started her duty at JEB Little Creek as one of the base doctors, she hadn’t metmany people. After years of deployments on ships all over the world, it took some getting used to living in one place. But this would be her final duty location. She hoped she’d chosen wisely.
The street in front of Lucky’s house was wall to wall trucks and SUVs. No way would Providence risk her sweet baby between two of those beasts. Nope, no freaking way. Then she saw there was still a spot in the driveway. It was next to a huge, older model Jeep, but it looked like she’d have plenty of room. Could she really be that lucky? Maybe it meant she was supposed to be there today. Not that she put a lot of trust in fate.
After ensuring she’d left enough room between her and the Jeep, Providence grabbed her purse and the box of assorted pastries she’d picked up on the way over. Baking was not in her wheelhouse, but give her a bone to set, or surgery to perform, and she’d be all over that any day of the week.
She couldn’t resist checking out the Jeep. It had to be at least twenty years old and looked damn good. Apparently, she wasn’t the only person at this party who loved older cars. The navy-blue Jeep Commander was in pristine condition, and the finish gleamed in the mid-day sun. When she peeked through the driver’s side window, a hugesmile lit her face. There were at least thirty rubber ducks lined up on the dashboard. Even though Providence knew all about “Jeep ducking,” it surprised her to see them. She’d heard only the Wranglers got ducked. It made her even more curious about who owned it.
“They have all their ducks in a row.” She snickered. It really was so damn cute. Providence sighed. She’d stalled long enough. There was no reason for her to hesitate other than her uncertainty about fitting in, and her lack of ability at making small talk. It made her skin crawl. After so many years of dealing with sick or wounded sailors, she had her bedside manner perfected, but small talk made her sweat. But she could do this. Yup.
Providence had taken this duty assignment as her last stop before re-entering civilian life in a few years. Staying holed up in her apartment wouldn’t help, and it was one of the main reasons she’d given in to Tempest’s pleas to come to the barbecue.
Tempest was her first and really the only friend she’d made since moving to Norfolk. They’d met on Providence’s first night on duty. She’d come in with broken ribs and was badly bruised from an overseas mission.
The two women had bonded over romancebooks and coffee, and had formed a close friendship over the last several months. Lately, Tempest had been busy helping Grace and her baby, and they had little time to get together.
Providence had another reason for coming. She needed to speak to Tempest, who was naval intelligence, about a concern she had. The party wasn’t the best place, but she didn’t know when she’d have another chance.
Ignoring the butterflies flitting around her stomach, Providence rang the doorbell.
“Finally. I thought you were going to blow us off.” Tempest held the door wide for her to enter the house.
“Sorry, I had a few things to do this morning and time got away from me. Will you forgive me since I brought goodies?” Providence asked, her Mississippi accent more pronounced because of her nerves.
“You’re definitely forgiven if you brought sugar,” a woman said from behind Tempest.
“Providence, this is my sister, Grace. Grace, this is the doctor who fixed me up after your rescue mission,” Tempest explained to her sister. “She’s also my coffee partner.”
“Hi, it’s great to finally meet you. Seriously,Tempest tells me how amazing you are all the damn time. I was wondering if you walked on water or something. I’m ecstatic to see you look as normal as the rest of us.” Grace winked and elbowed her sister.
“I’ve heard a lot about you and Hope, too. I was so relieved when Tempest told me you got back safe from Marikistan.”
“Me too. C’mon in, everyone is outside in the backyard waiting on Lucky and Josh to serve up the food. They’re like a pack of hungry bears, or maybe seals?” Grace giggled. “I hope you like meat. I swear they would eat the whole cow if they could. I don’t think they eat when they’re deployed.”
“Oh, they eat, but MREs suck donkey balls,” Tempest said.
Providence chuckled. “I’ll eat just about anything. After almost twenty years in the Navy, I’ve learned to eat what I can get.”
“Well, hopefully it won’t be a hardship. We have a lot of variety. Harmony is the queen of side dishes,” Grace said.
“Harmony is Ry’s girlfriend. You might not remember everyone’s names or who belongs with who yet, but you’ll get it,” Tempest explained.
“Eventually.” Providence murmured, “hopefully,”under breath as she followed the women into the kitchen. She added her box of pastries to the overloaded island. “Holy cow. You have a ton of food. Maybe I should have brought alcohol.”
“Nah, you forget we’ve got six men out there. Just think of camels with multiple stomachs, especially Doc.” Grace gestured toward the glass doors leading to the backyard where the men had gathered around the grill.
“Tempest didn’t tell me you were so funny.”
“She didn’t? Bitch,” Grace chided her sister. “Probably because she doesn’t think I am.”
Tempest rolled her eyes at Grace and opened the refrigerator. “What do you want to drink? We have frozen margaritas, beer, soda, iced tea. If you want something harder, we can do that too.”
“Hmm, I haven’t had a margarita in forever. I’ll take one of those,” Providence said.
