It Had To Be You by Kathryn Shay Read Free Book Online

just wanted to say hi. You
leave the main group sessions as soon as they’re over.”
    He gave the man a weak smile. “Yeah, I’m
bummed after them. You?”
    Nodding, the guy shoved his hands in his
jeans pockets. “I hate this. I’ve always been the strong one. Now I
feel like a wounded puppy.”
    “ This condition levels us. I hate it’s
got that power.”
    From the corner of his eye, Beck saw Jack
Harrison had pulled Lela aside. Man, when she’d started crying, it
had called forth every protective instinct he possessed. He’d put
an arm around her in a reflex action he couldn’t say he regretted.
She felt warm and womanly. Her hair smelled like lilacs.
    Beck let Paul talk, listened and kept an eye
on her. When Paul noticed, he said, “You two friends?”
    “ Um, no. I met her in the
group.”
    “ Huh. She sure is pretty.”
    Beck had noticed the tan jeans that fit her
well and a loose, striped top that highlighted her coloring. “Yes,
she is.” When she finished talking with Jack, he said to Paul,
“Let’s get together for a beer sometime. I want to talk to Lela
before she leaves.”
    She didn’t leave. Instead, she approached him
with a smile and he introduced her to Paul.
    “ Can I talk to you a minute?” she asked
Beck.
    When he studied her closely and saw her red
eyes, his gut clenched. “Sure. Call me about the beer, Paul.” He
drew her away. “You okay?”
    “ Yeah. Sorry I blubbered all over you.”
She bit her lip, and the small show of vulnerability did something
to his insides.
    His smile was genuine. “I’ve been blubbered
over before.”
    “ Well, I don’t blubber over anything.
Never did. A nurse, an army medic has to be tough.”
    Somebody bumped into her and sloshed the
water she held. Little droplets splattered on his shirt. He glanced
around. “Listen, would you like to go get coffee with me?”
    Her eyes widened. Then she glanced at her
watch. “I’ve got another ninety minutes with the babysitter. I was
planning to go grocery shopping.”
    Wondering why he’d made the offer, he just
stared at her.
    “ Sure,” Lela finally said, “My treat,
though. For blubbering.”
    They arrived at the same time at a coffee
shop down the road from the academy. When he gave her his
order—decaf because of his sleep problems—he snagged a table and
sat facing the door. Idly, he wondered if he’d get over the need to
be ever-vigilant?
    “ Here you go.” She sat. In this light,
the wine color of her shirt highlighted the red of her hair. Deep
red. Auburn, he thought somebody had called it once.
    “ That was quite a session, wasn’t it?”
she asked.
    “ Yeah. It kills me to hear my kid is
reacting to me being sick.”
    “ I like that you say that out loud. Len
would never even admit there was something wrong. I stayed with him
too long, living in denial.”
    Reaching across the table, he squeezed her
hand. “I understand. I feel horrible that I, you know, sort of gave
this to Tommy, too.” He shook his head, seeing the perpetually glum
face of his boy. “It’s so ironic. In trying to protect my kid, I
did more damage. I should have left earlier, too.” He trailed
off.
    “ We make a pair.”
    Leaning back in the chair, he crossed a leg
over his knee. “Tell me something good about Len. I only hear the
bad stuff from everybody in the group about guys like me.”
    She sipped her coffee, thinking. “We met in
the army. I was a medic and he was a supply officer for our
outpost. We were together after only a few weeks. Things happen
fast over there.”
    “ Yeah, I know.”
    “ After about a month, he remarked that
he’d never seen me in anything but army green and combat boots.
When I told the other women that, they put together an outfit.” She
smiled, and for some God forsaken reason, Beck was jealous of Len
Allen. “It was a simple, flowing, white skirt and dark top, which
was”—here she blushed—”a little tight. They did my hair, scrounged
for makeup, put ballet