The Hero's Sweetheart Read online

  He grinned at the sprigs of bed-head hair sticking up at the crown of her head. He dipped his chin so she wouldn’t notice. He wasn’t making fun of her whatsoever. He found the fresh-mussed look adorable.

  “I need to talk to you about something,” she said, her voice a little hoarse.

  He handed her the cup again and she took another few sips. Her appetite seemed better, too. He was glad she was on the mend. Dad had been asking about her daily. Jack would be glad to see the worry lines ease from the nondroopy side of dad’s face. He really loved Olivia as though she was his own daughter.

  And he’d been hinting nonstop about how Jack and Olivia would make a great team.

  Jack hated to discourage his dad and so he’d just sat quietly, pretending to consider it.

  Funny thing, though. After about three days, Jack realized that at some point he’d actually started listening, really listening to the stories Sully told about Olivia through the tablet. It had picked up on Dad’s voice tone, patterns, cadence and all that to be accurate. Stories Jack was sure Sully picked because they’d put her in a good light in Jack’s mind. And they had.

  “So, did you want to talk now?” Jack set her water down and opened the package of saltine crackers next to her bed, hoping she could take solid food now. She’d barely been able to keep down clear liquids. His soup had remained her favorite, which didn’t hurt his ego.

  She drew a deep breath and her sigh hitched. He thought at first that she was going to cough, but then she wrung her hands together and he realized she was just nervous.

  Whatever she had to say was going to be very hard for her.

  Jack set the crackers aside and leaned forward. “Olivia?”

  She raised her gaze. “I hate to admit this, but it’s not fair to you if I don’t.”

  He nodded. “Go on.”

  She tried to clear her throat. He handed her the water. After a small sip, she used a napkin to swipe her mouth then settled her gaze to his. “As you know, probably from the pamphlet I left, that I have dyslexia. But I also have another pretty severe learning disability in addition to that.”

  He nodded. He’d figured the part about the dyslexia.

  “The learning disability is a comprehension problem that is exacerbated when I don’t get enough sleep.”

  Jack dipped his head. “The schedule.” He felt terrible. Not only had his earlier hours caused her to fail a number of quizzes, lessons and tests in EMT school, according to Patrice, it had put her health at risk by making her more susceptible to the flu that had taken her down for days. “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s not your fault. I should have told you up front, when you asked in the beginning.”

  “I’m happy to cater to your needs. I want to see you get through school. I know how important it is to you.”

  She nodded. “It is. And I appreciate it. But it’s also important to me not to leave the diner or your dad, my coworkers—or you for that matter—in the lurch.”

  “I appreciate that. So let’s come up with a compromise.”

  Over the next half hour, Jack and Olivia discussed options for her. He let her know that he’d hired a hostess who could cover her server spot for the few early hours in the morning, so she could come in at nine instead of five.

  “Four more hours of sleep sounds heavenly,” Olivia said. “But will the new worker be okay with coming in at five in the morning?”

  “She prefers to come in before dawn and leave at one. I’ll stagger your shift so you can come in later and leave earlier, if need be, on days you need to study.”

  “Can you afford to hire people to cover this, Jack? Be honest.”

  “I’ll make it work one way or another.”

  She didn’t look as if she cared much for his answer, but one step at a time. He knew she’d probably fret over her lost pay, but he had a way around that, too.

  He’d decided to make her the shift manager on days. That promotion came with a raise. He’d wait to tell her until she returned to work, though. For now, she had enough on her plate.

  “You still look very troubled.”

  She nodded. “My instructor called while you went to visit your dad. They can’t push my makeup test back. They said I can take it by computer, but the program director wouldn’t give me a break on the timeline.” Fear filled her eyes that she couldn’t quite blink away.

  “When do you have to take it?” Jack asked.

  “Monday.” She peered over at her EMT books. “Today’s Friday. I’ve felt too lousy to study. I don’t think I can learn it in three days.”

  “Would it help if I read it to you and maybe quizzed you on it?”

  “You’ve already done so mu—”

  “No buts. If it’ll help you, just say yes.” He tried to say it sternly, but his voice must not have held the usual edge because she smiled.

  “If you’re sure?”

  “I want to see you succeed, Olivia. I know you can do this.” He reached for her books. “Tell me where to begin.”

  “Page seventy-seven. Thank you, Jack. I never thought I’d be able to say this to you because of my background and our history of not always seeing eye to eye. But it feels comforting to have someone strong and confident in my corner.”

  He returned her smile, surprised at the powerful impact her words had on him as well as the sincerity with which she spoke them.

  “Maybe it’s good, you know?” He flipped open her chapter.

  “What’s that?”

  “You’re always so strong. You’re one of the toughest people I know, Liver. I think it’s good that you’re finally letting yourself lean on someone else’s strength, if even for a day.”

  She grinned. “Or two. Those are monster big chapters, Mr. Ford-loving Commander.”

  He grinned and cracked open her workbook, knowing in his heart that if she kept smiling at him that way and giving him such sweet compliments with that look of great respect, he’d be tempted to spend the rest of his life living up to her words.

  It was just too bad that their lives were on two different paths.

  He should be grateful that their lives had intersected at all. But, instead, he felt sad.

  He’d just received word that, as soon as Sully was recovered enough for Jack to return to duty, he was being reassigned to Syria.

  He looked at Olivia and felt a twinge of sorrow over the fact that in a matter of weeks they’d be having none of these ribbing but real conversations. She’d be in one country and he in another. So the fact that she clearly had a place in his heart was something he was better off not mentioning to her.

  And the ache he was beginning to feel when he wasn’t with her? He would have to man up and cope with it, and hope it would fade completely away.

  For the first time in a long time, Jack didn’t look forward to his future overseas.

  And, looking into Olivia’s eyes as he began to read her chapters to her, he knew for certain that the ache inside had absolutely nothing to do with switching assignments from Afghanistan. He’d always wanted to return to Syria. But the idea of not hearing her voice or seeing the expressive way her mouth moved and the way her eyes shone when he spoke? Yeah. He’d miss her.

  As he read and watched her soak in the material, he wondered...

  He thought of Syria and how much he’d loved serving there.

  He thought of Olivia and how it had felt to take care of her.

  Life here, with Olivia and Dad...or military life.

  Which one would he miss more?

  That Jack could no longer readily answer that threw up a huge red flag.

  These sorts of thoughts would be the death of his dream of retiring military after he’d brought retribution and justice to the traitor who’d taken the lives of his men as well as the lives of i
nnocent civilians who’d harbored them.

  No, the new intel said the military mole had slipped into Syria and his superiors wanted to know if Jack wanted first dibs to run point and send a team in to find the foe who’d feigned allegiance. If Jack didn’t see to the justice of senseless loss, no one would.

  And that would haunt him for the rest of his life. More so than leaving Olivia and his Dad here, not knowing if he’d come back to this country alive.

  He had to go.

  Which meant he had to let go.

  Chapter Ten

  “Are you home for good, I hope?” the voice asked after Sully had spoken the semigarbled sentence into his tablet while pressing a piece into a jigsaw puzzle he, Olivia and Jack worked on. It amazed Jack how accurately the machine translated words. He was thankful Dad was showing signs of improvement after only a few weeks of rehab. And yet Sully still faced major challenges.

  Jack had his own challenge to face, in that he had no idea how to answer Dad’s question. He could feel Olivia’s curious eyes on him as well as the weight of his dad’s hope. The decision wasn’t going to be easy.

  To stay or go?

  His dream had always been to return. But these days, the dream didn’t squeeze on his heart as hard as seeing Dad each day. Regardless, he owed his dad an answer.

  Jack stalled by pretending to study the red saddle pattern atop a palomino of the Western-themed puzzle.

  The hope in his dad’s face was nearly too much to take. It made Jack want to tell his dad yes, that he was home from war for good. Except that might not be the truth. Nor did he want to tell his dad that it depended on how well he recovered from the stroke because that could affect his progress.

  So he simply smiled, held up a puzzle piece and said, “We’ll see. But chances are, I can make that happen if need be.” He pressed a piece into the horse’s mane.

  There. Put the outcome on the military. And that was partly true. Although Jack knew he could probably retire with one phone call tomorrow. It was just a matter of whether he wanted to. He’d wanted to get twenty years in for as long as he could remember. He’d trained and prepared for it forever.

  That said, he’d settle for fifteen good years at this point. Anything to reconcile the wrong, and erase the mistake of lives lost because he’d trusted someone who didn’t deserve it. Jack’s hand tightened on the puzzle box as he studied the cowgirl whose vivid eyes reminded him of the woman staring across the table at him.

  Olivia’s gaze tracked from Jack to Sully and back. Then she rose. “Thank you for inviting me to work on the puzzle with you, Sully. My break is over, so I should get back to work.”

  Sully looked disappointed to see her go, but he also looked proud of her. He blew her a fatherly kiss and Olivia gathered her medical bag and went on her way. “’Bye, guys.”

  Jack rose to walk her to the door. Once there, Olivia said quietly, “I know it’s a tough decision, whether to return to deployment. I’ll be praying for you, Jack.”

  He nodded, touched by her words. Faith issues were touchy for him, and she was so strong in hers. She never preached, just befriended, which helped.

  She paused as though considering her next words. “For what it’s worth, I hope you stay.”

  For a whisper, the words hit him like a neutron bomb. Before he could read her face, she turned and quickly went down the hall.

  Did she hope he stayed for Sully? Was that it?

  As he made his way back to the table, Jack suddenly didn’t know if even one more year serving with distinction abroad amid danger would be worth the time he’d lose here. No matter what difference he’d make.

  Sully’s hand shook as he pressed a piece next to the one Jack had just put in. Jack would have felt better about his answer if it weren’t Dad’s strong hand trembling.

  “I sure hate to see you go back over there.” Sully’s tongue worked, whether from emotion or concentration, Jack wasn’t sure. He was glad to see Dad try to use his stroke-affected hand now as he fiddled with the voice tablet. “Lots of people around here’ll miss you. But no matter what you do, you know I’m proud of you.”

  It was a rare glimpse of vulnerability to see his dad this way. Just then, Sully swiped the puzzle piece from Jack’s hand and put it into its proper spot. He smirked and said, “Amateur.”

  Jack laughed, knowing it was moments like this that made the best memories. Only he didn’t want just memories with Dad, but more of the moments.

  In fact, the thought of missing moments with Dad cast an anxiety over Jack that he was pretty sure he’d never encountered before.

  There’d be other people Jack would miss, too, goodbyes he was growing to dread more by the day. People like Darin and Naem, who were becoming his trusted friends, despite how thickly Jack had drawn lines against it. Patrice, essentially his only sister, and even Perry, for all of his attitude, was starting to grow on Jack. Not that he’d admit it to any of the diner crew. Not yet, anyway. None of them even knew, as far as Jack knew, that he was hanging out with Perry in a big brother sense. He’d managed to talk the kid into checking himself into rehab—a big step.

  But the one person Jack would miss more than anyone else was Olivia.

  How she’d climbed all his fortified fences and leaped over all those walls he had no idea.

  The worst part was, he didn’t even think she knew.

  Somehow he’d come to really care about her. And not in the same brotherly way he cared about Patrice. No, his care for Olivia was exactly the kind that could justify the two separate prescriptions of Tamiflu if he hadn’t held himself in check until she completely got better. Her smile had become more contagious than the flu. Caring for her had created a bond he was ill prepared for.

  The truth was, the moment Riviera teased him about kissing her was the moment Jack realized desire had already been simmering under the surface. Would she kiss him back...or slap him? Jack grinned at either scenario because whichever way it went, it would be fun and fiery.

  The physical therapist arrived, announcing it was time for Sully to walk. After a trip a little farther up the hall than yesterday, Jack and the nurse helped Dad back to his room. Dad’s last few steps were weak and precarious. But Sully was determined.

  Jack was glad doctors had opted to leave Sully at EPTC for the time being, since they had the room and staff and knew it would enable Jack’s ease in visiting.

  Jack was also glad to see him progressing from the walker to the cane. “He’s doing better with that new dancing partner than I thought he would.”

  Sully grinned at Jack’s referencing his cane and his dancing partner. “Yeah, Olivia even named her.”

  “She did, did she?”

  “Yeah, Loopin’ Lucy because they always make me walk an extra lap with it. Also, I always loved the name Lucy. Lucille Ball was my favorite star.”

  “I remember that show,” the PT said. “Now I’m dating myself.” She grinned at Sully, then turned to Jack. “So, what about your dancing partner? I didn’t catch her name?”

  “Uh, who, what?”

  “The petite pretty young lady who looks like an eighties songstress who stepped off a Joan Jett record. The one who looks like a rock star, but looks at you like you’re her rock star.”

  “Who, me?”

  “Yes, when you’re not looking. She’s checking you out.”

  Sully started snickering. And nodding his head. The traitor.

  “Don’t you have your next patient to torture?” Jack said to the physical therapist and nodded to her clipboard full of rooms to visit.

  She let out a hearty chuckle. “Yeah, but none are as easy to tease as you.”

  Sully nodded and spoke into the tablet, which robotically translated, “It’s true.”

  “At least she was teasing and not serious,” Jack sai
d to Sully while helping him settle in the recliner next to the bed.

  She dipped her head around the corner while washing her hands. “FYI, just because I teased you about her checking you out, doesn’t mean it’s not true. I think there’s a spark there. Don’t you, Sully?”

  “Yowza good spock dare. Bean team. Liver and moy bug Jack, yeah!”

  Yeah, there’s a good spark there, between Olivia and my boy Jack, yeah!

  Jack didn’t need the tablet to understand that one.

  Jack issued his dad a stern look. “I thought I’d confiscated all of Cupid’s arrows in here, old man. Enough with the romance fluff. You know that’s not on my radar.”

  Sully’s face fell a little. So Jack took the edge off his words by winking at his dad.

  Sully scowled and his face almost looked normal. Then he garbled into the audio machine, “Maybe it would be on your radar if you weren’t so stone-face stubborn.”

  Jack busted out laughing, mostly because his dad was exactly right.

  Puzzle finished, Jack powered his laptop on to show Dad how he was changing from paper schedules to computerized. He’d shown it to Olivia and she’d actually liked it, but then told him it would go over with Sully like a lead balloon. Time to test her theory.

  “When this thing updates the downloads, I want to show you something cool. Something I think will make our lives easier with scheduling.”

  He didn’t want his father to think he meant all of Dad’s doctor visits, stroke rehab and various therapy appointments. So he added, “Diner staff and maintenance scheduling. To make things at the diner run more smoothly.”

  Sully scratched his temple. Spoke something into the tablet which translated, “Sounds fishy. Don’t think I care for computers much. Is the diner okay? What’s going on there?”

  Jack could tell that his dad was anxious about it because his heart rate and blood pressure spiked. He wanted to calm and reassure him. “Things are going fine. Great, actually.”

  “You never were a good fibber,” the robotic voice accused. Sully scowled, but a twinkle of a grin rested behind his bright blue eyes. He spoke into the translator again, “Son, now really tell me what’s going on or you know I’ll worry. I’ve been asking for a week.”