Page 11 of Sutton's Shadow

“You came to see me in the hospital?”

“Yes. The nurses said no one had been to visit you, which I found shocking. So, I sat with you for a while.”

“How long is a while?” He turned away from her, his hand gripping the back of his neck. Her hand landed on his shoulder, and she pulled him around to look at her. “How long is a while, Wyatt?”

“Five days.” Her eyes widened as her jaw dropped.

“You sat with me for five days?”

“I would have stayed longer, but I had to get back to work. They told me your uncle was coming in the next day, so I figured it was okay to leave.”

“Why? Why would you stay with me?”

“I’d made promises. I had to fulfill them.”

“That may explain the first day. But why did you stay longer?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. I just had to be there. For Liam. For you.” He glanced down at his feet, embarrassed to have admitted even that much.

Her icy fingers lifted his chin until he met her eyes. “Thank you.” He nodded once, hoping that was the end of that conversation. He breathed out a sigh of relief when she dropped her hand and stepped back from him.

She glanced out over the lake and gasped. The sky was alight with a brilliant kaleidoscope of colors. She hurried to the bags she’d dropped by the bench. “It’s so beautiful. I need to capture it on film before it’s gone,” she muttered, pulling cameras and electronics out of the bags. He moved closer as she pulled out a drone, his interest immediately piqued.

“Mind if I watch?”

Suttonsmiled,rememberingtheirconversation from earlier in Jolene’s about their drones. His eyes lit up as she pulled her Phantom 4 Pro out of its case.

“You just wanted to check out my drone, didn’t you?” she teased.

“That obvious, huh?” he chuckled and smiled down at her. Glancing over her shoulder at him, Sutton silently gasped.

That smile was... wow.

It did something to his entire face. He was already drop-dead gorgeous, as were most of the Nighthawks, she’d noticed. But when he smiled, she couldn’t find the words to describe it. He didn’t just smile with his lips. His entire face participated in the smile. From the crinkles at the corners of his eyes to the dimple on his left cheek. It was that damn dimple she had a hard time pulling her eyes away from. How had she never noticed that before?

“You have a little drool, just there,” she kidded, pointing to her own chin.

“You caught me,” he admitted unabashedly. “I’m a sucker for drones. And a Phantom...” Impressed, he broke off with a whistle. He gave her that magnificent smile again before turning his attention to the drone she’d laid on the bench. She took a moment to study him out of the corner of her eye. He was big... muscular big. Biceps that made his leather jacket look too tight as he crossed his arms. The jacket was only zipped halfway, showing his black Henley shirt stretched across his pectoral muscles. She hadn’t noticed how tall he was when he’d been standing next to her, but she figured he must be around six-two. Having worked closely with the military for so many years, Sutton was used to tall men. Even Liam had been over six foot.

She grasped his proffered hand as he helped her rise to her feet, amazed his hand was so warm. It had been in the fifties, but as the sun lowered, so did the temperature. And yet, heat emanated from him. How did guys always stay warm like that? Realizing she’d been staring and holding his hand too long, she dropped it and her eyes at the same time.

“I think you may be right about that sunset,” Wyatt said, pulling Sutton’s attention away from him to the view across the lake. She grabbed the digital camera first and snapped several shots of the magnificent scene in front of her.

The sky was on fire. The colors so brilliant. Rich and varied shades along the horizon; crimson and gold. Glorious hues mirrored in the lake water. All surrounding the ball of fire in the center as it slowly slipped lower in its descent.

Sutton set her camera on the bench beside her and promptly reached for her Phantom 4 drone and the controller. Working swiftly by rote, she attached her smartphone to the controller, opened the app and sent the drone flying.

She watched on her phone as the drone flew out over the lake. Wyatt stood next to her, peering over her shoulder at the small screen as she deftly maneuvered the aircraft, expertly adjusting the yaw and pitch. The whir of the rotors startled a group of seagulls as it flew past them toward the water. The birds took flight, chasing the rays of the sun. Their small bodies now in shadow, Sutton took several photos of the contrast between their dark silhouettes and the lustrous pigments in the sunset.

The lack of wind meant the lake water was mirror flat. Only the occasional ripple disturbing the calm. Wisps of clouds floated across the canvass of the sky. Brilliant colors changing from spicy crimsons and ambers to muted heliotropes and lavenders, blushed salmons, corals and fuchsias.

Sutton snapped image after image as the sun dipped its toe in the water. While she loved working on aerial photography with her drone, Sutton’s hands were itching for her old school camera with its interchangeable lenses.

“Do you mind?” she asked Wyatt, indicating the controller in her hands. “I’d like to take some pictures with my other camera.”

“No problem,” he said, taking control. She watched for a moment as he expertly maneuvered the drone. Sutton remembered her first attempt at handling the controller, thankful she had been in an empty field at the time. It took a lot of practice until she’d felt confident in her skills. Wyatt’s skills equaled hers, maybe even surpassing them, as he maneuvered the drone around the lighthouse.

“Mind if I take a few snapshots?” he asked as she grabbed her camera off the bench and changed the lens.

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