Page 12 of Wyatt the Military Veteran

Not that he needs more.

He’s racked up quite the total these past few months with each letter and text message.

Three hours later, Holiday Lane is ready to open this weekend, and my friends are having way too much fun teasing me about Wyatt. The owner of the land and organizer of Holiday Lane, King Bishop, may have been suspicious of a stranger entering our volunteer group today, but his wife and my friend, Hannah, had no such compunction.

She and the wives of the Olson-Keller guys are having a field day.

“I can’t believe you have two military pen pals!” Nora giggles, fanning her face in exaggeration. “Do Chris and Wyatt know about each other?”

“Wyatt knows about Chris; that’s how we got to talking. But Chris doesn’t know about Wyatt. I wasn’t sure how to bring it up. Plus, I haven’t heard from him since that first letter, so his opinion doesn’t matter anyway.”

“True.” Hannah nods. “Wyatt didn’t ghost you, and he showed up in town to surprise you—not to mention his help today. I’m sure he wasn’t expecting to haul lighted reindeer around all day.”

Probably not.

But he’s been a good sport. Jawing with the men, being respectful and considerate of the women.

We're all laughing when my back spasms, freezing me in place. My face scrunches in pain as I grab onto the tree trunk by my side.

“You okay?”

Shaking my head, I breathe through the pain. “No… my back decided to protest today’s physical labor.”Despite my attempts to leave the heavy lifting to the guys.

Apparently, my body doesn't care for traipsing through the forest for long periods of time either.

“Shit. Let me grab Wyatt. Do you trust him to drive you home, or do you want one of us to do it?” Hannah asks, concern radiating from her eyes.

“I trust Wyatt,” I mutter.

Readjusting my position causes another pain to shoot from my lower back, and embarrassment floods to the surface. My back problems aren’t necessarily a secret from my close friends, but I hate experiencing symptoms in front of an audience, especially Wyatt.

I’m still relatively young, yet it feels like I’m decades beyond my age due to freaking genetics.

Wyatt jogs to a stop in front of me. The wind ruffles his short brown hair and plasters his flannel shirt to his broad chest and shoulders. He stripped off his heavy coat earlier once he started working up a sweat with the other guys, and my friends used the opportunity to rib me mercilessly about him losing layers of clothing.

Ugh!Why does he have to be so handsome when I'm feeling ninety years old?

“Hey! Hannah said you need a ride home. Are you okay?”

“I will be,” I say, forcing the barest lift of my mouth into a smile. “I just need a break.” Along with a pain relief tablet I should have taken earlier to offset my current circumstances.

“Are you sure?” His amber eyes narrow on my white-knuckled grip on the tree. “She didn't say what, but it's obvious something is wrong.”

Licking my lips, I straighten slowly from my slightly hunched position. “I'll explain on the way to my place, but it's nothing serious. Trust me.”

Wyatt doesn’t seem convinced, his sharp jaw working like he's swallowing another question, but he matches the slow strides to my car without a word.

Each step requires immense effort, but it’s my only option unless I want to sleep in the forest tonight.

“We can come back for your rental later. Sorry for the inconvenience.” A wince pinches my cheeks as I settle into the passenger seat of my sedan. It’s going to be hell standing back up.

“Forget about it. I’m not worried about that; I’m worried about you. What’s wrong?” Wyatt types my address into his phone for directions.

Does he have it memorized from our letters?

That's sweet, even if I can't fully appreciate the gesture while sitting here in pain.

A short explanation about the hernia and scoliosis diagnosis follows, and as much as it sucks, at least there’s an official medical reason for my back issues. For the longest time, I chalked it up to being overweight. Guilt ate at me for not exercising more or drastically changing my diet to alleviate my health issues.

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