Page 13 of Protecting Vidalia
“I’ll tell her, Poke,” Jake agreed as he took his change and grabbed the case of beer. She was right, he reflected. If a battle was won on the battlefield, the generals got the credit. The medical teams got the leftovers, the damaged and the wounded. The ones whose lives would never be the same. If the medical team was able to save a life so that the soldier could receive a purple heart, no one ever knew the name of the medic who stopped that arterial bleed, or who stood by their patient until the crises point was past.
In police work, the cops with the takedowns get all the credit. And their superiors above them. The dispatchers behind the scenes, the ones who take the desperate calls of those who need help, are the support team. Rarely noticed, barely thanked, they keep everything running smoothly, hand out names and addresses, tell the cops where to go, run all the checks on the bad guy behind the scenes, and report back to the officers every bit of information gleaned at their fingertips. How many dispatchers stand beside the officer who receives recognition for saving a life?
Children were the hardest loss of all, as he well knew. He reflected on his own experience. Young children used as shields in their parents’ war were a heartbreaking loss. He’d grown quite fond of Hamal. He’d been brought in when his parents had been killed and lost a huge amount of blood. Jake had taken over his care personally. Saving Hamal the first time had been easy. Saving him the second time had been impossible. Jake had taken it hard and blamed himself for the longest time.
Finally focusing on the road to his cabin, Jake put thoughts of Hamal out of his mind. It was hard to close that door sometimes, but it got easier with the passage of time. It was time to focus on Vidalia Minton.
Jake was attracted to the gorgeous girl on many levels. She raised his protective instincts, he was in love with her heart-shaped ass, and her sassy mouth was meant to be kissed by him. Helping her right now was his most important mission. Starting with dinner tonight.
Chapter 4
“Jake, I don't knowwhen I've enjoyed a steak quite so much,” Vidalia said, patting her stomach. She hadn't eaten a thing all day except for the granola bar on her hike and a bottle of water. The fiasco at Smokie’s had thrown her for a loop, but the nap had helped a lot. The sleeping pill had given her about three hours this afternoon, without wild dreams waking her up. She was still pondering on that. Was it the exercise that had helped?
When Jake had come over around 5:00 pm she’d even been excited to see him. He’d grilled those T-bones to perfection while she prepared the salad laced with Gouda cheese. Something about the mountain air had seemed to increase her appetite.
Jake cocked his head to the side and grinned at her. “You mean you actually ate more than half a dozen bites? Cause it hardly looks like you've eaten.”
“I'm not a big eater,” she protested with a laugh.
“You're going to have to eat more than that, or you're going to start losing weight.”
“I will—I’m just not that hungry lately,” she replied defensively getting up to clear their plates away. “Like I said, I’ve never been a big eater.” She didn’t tell him she’d already lost nine pounds over the last six weeks. “I can’t stand dishes in the sink,” she added. “I’d rather do them now and get it out of the way. Once the food dries on them they are harder to clean.” She began gathering dishes.
Jake nodded assent and stood up to help her. “So, I have a message for you from Poke,” he said, grabbing condiments to stuff in the fridge.
“Who is Poke?” she asked.
“I call her Poke, but her name is actually Pauline,” Jake replied. “She works at Smokie’s Diner.”
Vidalia stiffened and shot him a side eye. “What message?”
“She said to tell you that you have a free burger on her anytime you want it, and that she’s really sorry she upset you. She actually admires you and the work that dispatchers do.”
“That was nice of her,” Vidalia said. She started rinsing dishes and putting them into the dishwasher. When Jake’s hand touched her chin, she started.
“She really is sorry, Vidalia,” he said gently, turning her face up to his. “You should stop by and see her.”
