Blink of an Eye Read Online Free PDF Page B

to find a way, any way, back into Pararescue, had deflated him. By five, the only thing he could think of to lift his mood was to see Cassidy. It had lifted him all right, in more ways than one.
    He was sure he could have stayed the night with her, but that wasn’t what his heart told him was the right thing to do. Oh, it had been the first thing on his mind when he’d walked into the coffee shop, but watching her interact with the customers had changed his physical feelings of want into something more esoteric. Those people hadn’t reacted to his appearance with pity, but rather interest. They’d seemed more intrigued by his single-minded attention to Cassidy than they had been by who or what he was. That kindness, for want of a better word, was something he’d overlooked growing up, and it surprised him.
    Shaking his head, he started up the truck and headed down the road feeling sorry for himself. Hearing that the career, hell, the lifestyle he’d poured a hundred and fifty per cent into for over six years was absolutely, utterly gone was more of a blow than the loss of his eye had been.
    He wheeled into the driveway of his house, then took the stairs to the front porch two at a time. Standing in the empty living room, he felt the sudden, overwhelming urge to talk to someone, but who? The friends he had made in the Air Force were all PJs. They’d listen to him, sure, but they’d be uncomfortable with it, because it would make them face their own mortality. He understood, because he would have been exactly the same way two months ago.
    He plopped down in the easy chair in the darkness-shrouded house, a hand on the receiver of the telephone, and in that moment he’d never felt more alone in his entire life.
     
    * * * *
     
    The ring of the phone jarred Cassidy out of her reverie. She smiled and picked up the receiver. Her family seemed to have an almost telepathic ability to know when she needed to talk, even her butt-head of a brother Jay.
    The voice that met her ear was the very last one she expected.
    “So, have you thought about it?”
    “Scott,” she replied slowly, carefully. “It’s only been an hour.”
    “Yeah.” His voice was muted, as introspective as it had been earlier this evening. It almost sounded as if he was melancholy. “Listen, I’m sorry for bothering you. I’ll talk to you later.” Melancholy was gone, replaced by a distance so great it felt like an ocean was separating them, not a few simple miles.
    She should have let it go, let it all end right there. However, something inside compelled her to speak. “Wait…” Silence met her plea. “Scott, are you there?”
    “Yeah.” More silence.
    “What’s wrong?” And she knew something was. Something beyond the fact they weren’t testing her mattress springs right now.
    He sighed in response. “I don’t know. I just needed someone to talk to.”
    Didn’t he have family? Friends he could call? She was getting the serious impression that Scott Carnes was all alone in the world, maybe when he needed someone the most.
    Normally, she would have been frightened by his sudden, intense interest. Instead, it warmed her from the inside in a way physical contact couldn’t. What was it about this wounded warrior that made her push aside her own self-imposed rules? The rules that said he was good for one night only and that they shouldn’t even be having this conversation.
    She settled deeper into the couch. “So talk. I’m not going anywhere.”
    “If I’d been smarter tonight, we could’ve gone places even I haven’t imagined.” His voice was wry, self-deprecating. It put her at ease more than it should have.
    “Good try, soldier. Those evasion techniques won’t work with me. Remember, I’ve already sampled the goods. You wanted to be friends? Well, this is how it starts.”
    “I dunno.” He breathed out a frustrated huff that had her smiling into the phone. “Oh hell, all right, here goes. I got some bad news today from the