Page 54 of The Promise Of Rain

“We’ll go to the mall and exchange it for something else,” I offered.“Anything you want.”

She eyed me for a second then shook her head.“I don’t need anything else.”Eyes flitting away, she added, “I’ll pay you back for the coat.”

“It’s a gift, Jenny.Don’t insult me by trying to pay for it,” I growled.

She dropped her eyes to the table and offered a tiny nod.“Can I ask you a question?”

“Anything.”

“Are you glad you enlisted?”

“Yes,” I answered, then offered her a half-smile.“And no.”

“Explain?”

“I needed to grow up and find my own way.The AirForce gave me the space and structure to do that.But I saw a lot I wish I hadn’t, and it turns out I don’t want to make the AirForce my career.”

“Did you have a nickname?”

I smiled.“Wingman.”

Her face fell.

I rushed to explain.“I didn’t pick up women the way the rest of them did.It was my job to hype them up.”

“Wingman,” she murmured, then looked at me slyly.“A bit like your grandma.”

I laughed and nodded.“Something like that.”

One question flowed into the next, and I answered every single one of them, even those that ripped me up inside.

“Did you have a best friend?”

My heart jackrabbited in my chest, but I smiled easily.“You get close to all your brothers.”

Her gaze remained steady on mine.

“Charlie,” I blurted.“Charlie was the one I talked to the most, I guess.”

“Was?”

I offered a jerky nod.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

By the time the waitress dropped our bill on the table, I was more than ready for a change in subject.

“Bundle up.”I nodded toward the window.“Sun’s going down.”

She stumbled on our way back to the truck.

I yanked her up by her elbow and tucked her under my arm.Where she belonged.“Tired?”

She offered me a wary smile.The battle between her heart and her head had picked up once more.“Exhausted.”

Her guards were rising fast.

“You had fun today?”I pushed.