Stolen Kiss With The Single Mum / The Nurse's One Night To Forever

CHAPTER FOUR

SCOTT HUNG UP the phone and checked off the last number he had on the roster of volunteers who helped with events on his Extreme Warrior program.

When John, one of the nurses who had signed up to help with the swamp hike, had been called out of town with a family emergency, Scott had never thought he wouldn’t be able to find a replacement for him, but it looked as if every volunteer he had was either out of town or already working.

The only person left for him to call for help was Lacey.

Up to this point the only work Lacey had done with the program had been to help with the registration and the running of the marathon they held every year in the city, with the proceeds going to help with the funding of the program. She’d always shied away from being involved in the more extreme challenges the group of veterans took part in.

She had never been able to understand why he and the others felt the need to climb the tallest mountain or shoot the most dangerous rapids. He’d tried to explain to her that he and the other veterans felt a need to prove to themselves—and, yes to others too—that they could still do all the things they’d been able to do before they had been injured, as well as things they had never dreamed of being able to do even before their injuries.

And then there was the issue they were having with being comfortable around each other now.

Things between the two of them were complicated, but he still felt sure Lacey wouldn’t let him down. And, while Lacey had never claimed to be a fitness junkie, hiking some of the swamps in Louisiana was a very tame trip compared to most of the events the program sponsored.

He decided it would be better if he texted her instead of having to grovel on the phone. If he couldn’t get another volunteer, another nurse to go with him, he would have to cancel the hike, and he didn’t want to disappoint all the vets who had been planning for and looking forward to the hike for weeks.

Pulling out his phone, he began to type.

Hey, I’ve got a problem and I need some help.

He waited a moment to see if she would respond. There was the possibility that she was working and wouldn’t be able to get back to him right away.

Then she texted back.

Okay. What do you need?

There’s a little problem with the hike this weekend.

What kind of problem?

I need a volunteer to go with me. John had a family emergency and had to cancel.

He waited a minute. There was no sign that she was typing. If she couldn’t do it he would just have to cancel. He couldn’t take a bunch of beginners out without the help he would need if something happened.

Finally she texted back.

The hike in the swamp? Where there are mosquitos as big as herons and nasty water filled with snakes and gators? Do you realize how many germs there are out there in that water?

He couldn’t help but laugh.

Yes, that’s the one. I promise I’ll protect you from any gator that decides to get frisky with you.

The gators get frisky? Nope, sorry. I am not having any part of frisky gators.

Come on, Lacey. I’ve called all the other volunteers and I really need a nurse beside me, just in case something goes wrong.

Yeah, it’s the something going wrong with the gators that I’m worried about.

He waited for a minute. Lacey knew most of the vets on the program and he didn’t believe she would let them down.

She typed back.

Did you ask Sarah?

Grandkid’s birthday.

Ryan?

I’ve asked everyone. You’re the only one who isn’t either out of town or working. You’re not working, are you?

No…

Alston can stay with my mom for the weekend. I’ll get my sister to pick him up from school Friday. He’ll love it.

He waited. No response.

Please?

She sent him a series of expressive emojis that he knew implied that she wasn’t happy.

Okay, but there’d better not be any frisky gators within twenty yards of me at any time.

Ten yards…?

He laughed when she sent him an extremely rude emoji, then put his phone down and went back to his maps.

If Lacey was going to agree to come with them he’d have to do something about the second part of the trail he had planned to take. Nothing extreme…just something special that she would be sure to enjoy.

Lacey parked her car. She’d wanted to call in sick today, but how did you call in sick if you were a volunteer? Not that she’d really volunteered for this… But Scott asked so little of her that she couldn’t turn him down.

Since Ben’s death he’d been there whenever she had needed him. Though Scott had been in the hospital long after the explosion had killed Ben, he’d still called her every night just to see how she and Alston were holding up. And after Scott had finished rehab he’d been over to their house at least once a week, helping her with the chores that normally Ben would have done.

She had started to remind him that she had handled everything by herself before, when Ben was deployed, but she’d been able to see that it had helped him to feel that he was needed so she’d accepted his help.

He’d even driven her to her grief counselor the first time, and when the counselor had recommended doing yoga he’d taken a couple of classes with her. She still had a couple photos of him trying to do the Downward Dog that she had kept for blackmail purposes.

Scott had also been there the day she’d decided it was time to pack up Ben’s closet. He’d held her as she had broken down over and over again that day. He’d even broken down with her at one point. He’d been there and he’d understood what she was going through because he had loved Ben too.

It was all those things that they had shared for those first few months that had bonded them together as friends. And now she could feel that things were changing between the two of them and she was afraid of where that change would lead them.

A knock on her car window brought her back to the present. A woman she had seen at the last marathon stood by the door. Katie? Kathy?

Lacey got out of the car. It would be okay. If this woman who’d lost part of her arm could stand there with such excitement on her face at the prospect of hiking in the humid September heat, she could and would do this. She owed it to Scott and to the rest of the party to make the best of this situation and she would.

“Hello, nice shoes,” the woman said as she looked down at the waterproof hiking boots Lacey was wearing—pink, covered in rubber duckies. “Scott asked me to keep a lookout for you. He seems to think you might bolt once you get here.”

“Thanks—and, nope, I’m here to stay,” Lacey said. “I’m Lacey.”

“I’m Katie,” the woman said as they started toward the group that was surrounding Scott’s car.

Scott had talked about this hike while he had been planning it, so she knew it had been organized for a small group, with a combination of beginners and some of the older hikers in mind. She moved into the group and listened as Scott explained that they were taking two cars up to the Chicot State Park, where they would start the first leg of their trip, and then they would move out into the more isolated part of the hike.

When he told them he had a bit of surprise for them on the second leg of the hike Lacey moaned. Knowing Scott, a surprise on a hike through a swamp could be anything.

Scott looked over at her and smiled. Seeing how happy he was that she was there almost made this whole crazy trip worth it.

What had gotten into her? It was as if ever since that kiss they’d shared everything between them had changed. Scott had smiled that same smile thousands of times before, but never had it made her feel so warm and gooey inside. This was not acceptable. They needed to sit down and talk things out together, though there was very little chance of that while they were surrounded by eight other people.

Scott divided the group, and Lacey hopped into the car being driven by one of the vets she had known for several years—Dennis, who was the oldest in the group, and had been injured years ago during the Gulf Wars.

Scott had met him when he’d started planning his very first trip and had been looking for someone to help coordinate transportation. Since Dennis had opened a tour company after leaving the military, he had been the perfect person to help out. Ever since then Dennis had been part of the program, lending help wherever he could.

They arrived at the park and everyone began loading their backpacks. Scott had told her he would provide everything she needed for the trip except for her personal items, so her pack was lighter than the rest of the group.

She saw Scott loading his pack and went to offer to help.

“Hey, you ready for this?” Scott asked her.

She watched him heft the heavy pack up onto his shoulders and was amazed that he could still stand upright under the weight.

“I am. Do you want me to carry some of that?” she asked. It didn’t seem right that he had to carry her provisions as well as his own.

“I’ve got it for now. Dennis and Max are helping too,” he said, then reached into the backseat of his car. “Here, I thought you might be able to use this.”

He held out a long wooden stick. It was a walking stick, with a carving of a series of alligators, going from a small one and progressing down the stick to larger alligators, till it ended with the carving of a swamp, with one large gator rising out of the water.

“Wow. Nice stick,” she said.

“I thought you’d like it,” Scott said. “Now if one of those frisky gators decides to go after you, you can just pop it on the head.”

“Thanks,” she said.

The thought of live gators being anywhere near her made her head spin, but at least now she had something to protect herself with—though she wasn’t sure just how much this stick was going to help.

They headed to the start of the hiking path and Lacey fell into step beside Scott. “So how far are we hiking today?”

“Only twenty miles today,” he said, and then smiled at her.

“Only twenty?” she said.

Lacey had always considered herself in good shape—she’d even run a couple of marathons back when she was younger—but walking twenty miles in the Louisiana heat was not something she was looking forward too.

One of the vets pointed out a large heron that was feeding next to the path. Its long legs allowed it to stand in the water and look down into the murky depths as it searched for prey.

As they walked the group became quieter, as if in consensus that they would try not to disturb the peacefulness of the park.

Lacey found herself looking for gators as they traveled farther into the hike, and she stopped when she spotted a head sticking out of the water. She’d swear those beady eyes were looking right at her. She gripped the stick in her hand tighter. Just let one of those monsters come toward her. She’d show them who was at the top of the food chain.

“Do you need a break?” Scott asked, and laughed when she jumped.

Looking around, she noticed that she had fallen behind the other hikers.

“Sorry. I’m good. I just wasn’t paying attention like I should have been.”

She’d kept her eyes on that floating head, and noticed that it had sunk back under the water when Scott had arrived. She’d rather it had stayed up above the water, where she could watch it. Now it could be anywhere.

She picked up her pace so that she could catch up with the rest of the group. There was safety in numbers, she’d always heard.

“Whoa, you don’t have to run. We’re doing well with our time so far. We’ll make it to the campground in plenty of time to set up camp,” Scott said.

“Good,” she said, as the path took a turn away from the swamp and into an area heavily populated with cypress trees.

Oh, great. Now instead of gators she had to worry about snakes.

When they’d caught up with the rest of the group Scott headed back to the front of the hikers and Lacey found herself beside Katie. They walked along the path with only the sounds of their steps and the sounds of nature surrounding them.

If it hadn’t been for her fear of being eaten by an alligator or bitten by a snake, she would have seen how the beautiful surroundings could be peaceful and calming. She even found herself relaxing as the sounds of birds seemed to echo through the trees. A mockingbird started its complicated song, and she searched the trees trying to locate its position.

Katie stopped and pointed over to a log, where several turtles had hauled themselves out of the water and now sat sunning themselves. Lacey watched as one more turtle tried to crawl up the log and sent another one sliding off. The splash of the water almost covered the laugh Lacey hadn’t been able to hold back.

She smiled as Katie turned around and they shared the moment. Lacey had always liked turtles. They were cute and mostly harmless. The world could use more of that, she figured.

After what seemed like hours had passed, Scott stopped and they all began pulling out water bottles and sandwiches. Scott had told her the camp they were staying at the first night would have provisions ready for them for the rest of the trip.

It was the rest of the trip that had her worried.

When their break was over they started down the path again, which seemed to wind itself back to the bayou. She continued to watch out for anything that could possibly eat her, but found herself relaxing when Scott fell back to walk with her. The miles started to stretch out as the afternoon heat began to cut through the coverage of trees.

Stopping to catch her breath, she motioned for Scott to continue without her. “Don’t stop…save yourself. I’ll just stay here and be gator bait,” she said.

She pushed the wet tendrils of hair that had fallen out of her ponytail off her face. It wasn’t that she was particularly a Barbie doll kind of girl, she just didn’t see the need to go outside and do things that made you sweaty and stinky—both of which she was now.

“Come on, we only have another mile and a half to go,” Scott said as he looked down at his phone. “You can make it.”

Lacey took in a couple more deep breaths, then straightened up. She could do this.

As Scott headed back to the front of the group, so that he could show them the course to take toward the campsite, Katie dropped back with her.

“I’m sorry I’m slowing you down,” Lacey said. “You don’t have to wait for me.”

“You’re fine,” Katie said. “I’m starting to get tired too.”

“You don’t look it. I’m sweating like a wild pig,” Lacey said. “You don’t even seem winded.”

Katie smiled at her. “You haven’t had the training I’ve had. Besides, summers in Afghanistan were hot and dry. I prefer humidity.”

“Wow. I’ve never heard anyone say they like the Louisiana humidity,” Lacey said. “It must have been really bad over there, huh?”

“The temperature was bad, but that was definitely not the worst the place had to offer,” Katie said.

Katie’s face fell, and Lacey knew she was thinking of the fighting and loss of life she had seen. Katie’s life had changed when she’d come back without her arm. Lacey’s life had changed when Ben had been killed. They had both lost, but the two of them were still here, still fighting to make a life out of what they had left.

For the first time that day Lacey was glad she had come on the trip. While she had always helped Scott occasionally with the program, she had been careful not to get too involved with its members. She knew that there was a possibility that some of them might have known her husband, and she didn’t know if she wanted to share the memories they had with Ben.

She had still been feeling vulnerable when Scott had launched the program, and she had still been carrying a lot of anger—not only for the man who had killed her husband, but also for the fact that her husband had been over there in the first place.

Ben hadn’t been a soldier—he’d been a doctor.

When they’d first met at the local college Ben had talked of coming back to Louisiana after he’d finished his residency. It hadn’t been until after they had started making plans for their future together that he had brought up going into officer training with the military.

Even after he had gotten her to agree with his plans she had never considered that he might die while serving his country. She had thought that, being a doctor, he would be far away from actual danger.

She had been so naïve. But Ben hadn’t been. He would have had to know that he was at risk of being injured or worse while he was overseas, but he had never told her…never discussed the possibility of his not coming back.

Lacey saw a clearing up ahead and knew it was their camp ground when one of the other members let out a holler. Lacey dropped her pack where she stood and stared at the small buildings in front of her. They might not look like much to some people, and they definitely weren’t five-star hotels, but they were a lot more shelter than she had hoped for on this trip.

Scott assigned the buildings—one for the men and one for the women—and they split up to stow their gear. They were all surprised to find a small bathroom inside the small bunkhouse, and they each took a turn at a cold shower before they headed back out.

By the time Lacey had showered and changed a fire had been built in the center of camp. An in-ground grill had been lit and a large amount of meat was grilling. She stopped by where Scott stood, beside a set of ice chests.

“Where did these come from?” she asked.

“I got one of the park rangers to bring them down from my car. We’ll carry some of the bread for tomorrow night, but the rest we need to eat tonight.” Scott said.

Lacey moved over to where Katie was wrapping potatoes and corn in foil. They worked together quickly, then agreed that they deserved a break after opening another cooler and finding it full of cold drinks.

As the hot sun set they gathered around the table to eat. And after everything was cleaned up around the campsite Lacey wandered over to the fire, where someone had found sticks for toasting marshmallows.

Lacey watched as Scott moved around the camp. His limp was more pronounced tonight—undoubtedly from the amount of time he had spent walking today. She knew that he still suffered pain due to his injury, though he tried to hide that fact from everyone. Watching his face, she saw the small grimace he made as he walked back over toward the fire.