Page 26 of One Unexpected Gift

“There are good days and bad. When you do everything in your power to save a life and they die in your hands, it makes you question your job, your skill, your decisions. But when you’re part of a team who’s saved a soldier’s life... that’s where the reward is. Knowing the soldier will return home to his or her family. It’s amazing.”

“You said you used to do that, now what do you do?”

“I haven’t been deployed in over a year. I’m a nurse in the hospital on base.”

“Is this what you want to do? Make a forever career in the Army?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you always want to be in the military and be a nurse?”

“No. I didn’t know what I wanted to do and never thought about it until a few months before my high school graduation. My social worker was in the Air Force and I sort of had a major crush on him.”

“Sort of and major. Nice oxymoron.”

Skylar grinned. “I may have flirted with him a time or two. When he’d made it clear he wasn’t ever going to cross the line, or even come within ten feet of it, I enlisted in the Army. More to piss him off.”

“Did it?” Nick laughed.

“No. He was super proud of me.”

“And you wanted to be a lifer because of him?”

“Not exactly. He served two tours and then came home to be a social worker. In a way, I wanted to be a lifer to show him up. I’ve put in as many years as he had now.”

“You two still close?”

“Very.” She took a sip of her water. “He’s like a father to me. I don’t know how I would have survived my teen years and my first few years in the Army without his emotional support.”

“And somewhere along the way you fell in love with your job.”

“I did. I always thought nursing would be cool but a little boring. My first time on that medic chopper, and I knew I’d found my calling.”

Her eyes softened as if content with her new role, but the excitement he recognized from within himself was gone.

“Sounds like we have a lot in common. You’re an adrenaline junkie too.”

Skylar tipped her head to the side. “No. It’s not the same.”

“I think it is.” He leaned further across the table and stroked his finger across her jaw. “Your eyes grew big and wide, filled with adventure when you talked about being on the helicopter and saving lives. We both get a rush out of danger.”

“That’s different than beating the odds of an avalanche and hurling a dirt bike into the air. I’m saving lives while you’re getting your rocks off.”

Her words stung and he could tell by her sudden gasp and the way she pulled her bottom lip with her teeth that she regretted saying them. They were honest words though. She was right. His reckless behavior did no good for anyone but himself. It made him happy. That was all.

What Skylar was doing was saving the world, protecting the world. He was a loser, an ass, and right then and there he realized she was so freakin’ far out of his league he had no right to sit across the table from her.

“Grub’s ready,” Duke called. He carried out a tray laden with fried food and set it down between them. “Extra ketchup and napkins are inside if you need them. Help yourself. Can I get you anything else?”

Nick looked at Skylar, and she shook her head.

“We’re good, Duke. Thanks.”

When he left and they were alone again, he slid one plate off the tray and over to Skylar and took the other one. He handed her two ketchup packets and took the other, tearing one open and squirting it on his paper plate.

They ate in silence for a few minutes before Skylar spoke again. “I’m sorry. That was rude.”

“It was honest. I’ve always appreciated honesty, even if the words hurt.” He dipped a French fry into the ketchup and took a bite.

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