Here With Me Read Online Free PDF

up.”
    “They just seem like they’d mix together as well as oil and water.”
    “Well, we’ll see what happens,” Ryan said, glancing over to them again.
    It was quiet again and she pretended to occupy herself with counting the clams they had collected.
    “So how’d we do?” Ryan asked, moving closer to her and looking in the bucket. 
    “Not bad.  It’ll be enough for my mom and me,” she said, reaching into the bucket to pick one up. 
    “Let me see that thing,” he said, taking the clam she was holding.  “How do you cook this little sucker?”
    “You just steam it for a little while until the shell opens up.  Then you dunk it in butter.  It’s actually very simple.”
    “So, do you go clamming a lot?” he asked as he set the clam back in the bucket.
    “I used to go clamming all the time, but not so much anymore.  I’m a little too busy with real life.  If I want clams, I go to Mabel’s.”
    “So what does your real life consist of, Mallory?” he asked.
    “I’m an ER nurse.”
    “Really?” he asked as his eyebrows raised.
    “You sound surprised.”
    “No…well, maybe a little.”
    “And why is that?”
    “I don’t know.  I didn’t think you were old enough to be a nurse,” he laughed.
    “I guess I should take that as a compliment.  But, twenty-four is definitely old enough to be a nurse,” she assured him. “I’ve been doing it for two years now.”
    “How do you like it?  It must be difficult work.”
    “Sometimes it is.  Working in the ER has really shown me how fragile life is.  I’ve seen people’s lives change in the blink of an eye,” she said, thinking back to some of her more dramatic shifts at the hospital.
    “I don’t know if I could do what you do.”
    “It’s not always sad or tragic,” she told him. “Sometimes it’s amazing.  When you can help save someone’s life or see a baby being born, well…it’s like no other feeling.  It’s hard to describe, but it makes the hard times worth it.”
    He was quiet, but nodded at her with understanding eyes.
    “ Enough about me though.  What does your real life consist of, Ryan?” she asked, turning the tables on him.
    “I’m in security.”
    “I know that.  But that’s it?  Security?  No other details?” she asked curiously.
    “I work for a company that helps train security guards.”
    “How long have you done that?”
    “A couple of years.”
    “What did you do before that?”
    “What is this?  Twenty questions?” he laughed and she looked at him with wide eyes, wondering if she’d been too pushy, but then he smiled and answered. “I was in the navy for six years.”
    “A military man?  I can see that,” she said looking over his lean, strong body. “What’d you do in the navy?”
    “I was a SEAL.”
    “Really?” she exclaimed.
    “Now you seem surprised.”
    “I guess I am.  I’ve never met a Navy SEAL before.  I’ve heard about the crazy stuff you all do, but have never met one in real life.”
    “Well, now you have,” he said, his lips turning up into a smile and they were quiet again.
    “Special forces, wow,” she said softly a few moments later. “You must’ve seen some stuff,” she concluded, but as she looked at him, there was something in his eyes that said he didn’t want to talk about it.
    “Yeah, it was interesting, but if I tell you about it, I’d have to kill you,” he laughed, but his eyes were no longer looking at her.  He was staring out towards the ocean.
    “So, if you were in the navy for six years and you’ve been in security for two, that makes you…” she said, pausing to do the math in her head. “What?  26, if you joined right out of high school.”
    “ Your math is correct.”
    “Why’d you leave the military?”
    “I just had another opportunity open up and decided to give it a try,” he answered simply and she couldn’t help but notice how guarded he was being.  She decided it may be time to get back to the group,