“It’s very important work.” Kaylee did an almost perfect impersonation of Nicole. She wasn’t making fun of her, though. She was simply repeating what she’d been told. Watching her mother on the news every day was something she rarely missed. Sara wondered at times if Nicole wasn’t more like a beautiful stranger the little girl looked up to. The supporting cast. She pushed that troubling thought aside as they reached the grocery store and parked. It was frantic, as it usually was when bad weather was expected, but they managed to get all they needed. A short time later, when everything was put away, Sara gave in to Kaylee’s pleas to go outside for a few minutes. And even though there was only a dusting of snow on the ground, they still had a blast playing in it. She took a few pictures and sent them to both Chris and Nicole, as she tried to do daily. They’re missing this beautiful girl’s childhood. Moments they’ll never get back. She took one last one of her and Kaylee holding rabbit ears over each other’s head. That one was just for her. She had hundreds of them, and each one told a different story.
A couple of hours had passed by the time Kaylee was coloring and Sara had some time to herself to write back to Gabe. She used to enjoy playing Candy Crush or surfing the Internet as a way to relax, but now either responding or reading back over their old messages was her favorite pastime. She hated how long it had taken her to reply this time. She could have sent a rushed note, but he deserved to have her full attention. She wondered what sorts of things he’d want to know from home. Where does he live when stateside, anyway? He’d probably like hearing about their snowball fight, and really, what else could she tell him about her day? Helped my beautiful and incapable-of-independence mother with her finances . . . So snowball fight it was.
She had no idea where the idea of sending him a couple of pictures had come from. As she stared down at the one of her and Kaylee that she planned to attach, she wondered if it was a good idea. Her face was flushed and her hair was standing up in a couple of places. She looked exactly like someone who’d recently rolled in the snow. Surely she had more flattering ones she could send. She was still staring at the images in indecision when Kaylee startled her by saying, “We look pretty, Sarie.” Her innocent approval was enough for Sara. If Gabe didn’t agree, then too bad. He was her pen pal, not her future husband. Her appearance shouldn’t matter.
Her bravado ended the moment she hit the Send button. Crap, what have I done? She wanted nothing more than to get the e-mail back, yet that wasn’t possible. There was nothing she could do now but wait for his response. Time for a distraction. “Kaylee, how about we make homemade pizzas for dinner tonight?” She smiled as her suggestion was met with a roar of approval. Don’t leave me hanging, Gabe.
Chapter Six
Gabe lay on his back in his small bed and stared up at his phone screen yet again. He’d lost count of how many times he’d looked at the picture Sara had sent him earlier. He’d barely been able to control his excitement while he’d scrolled down until the two images popped up. The first had been shallow outlines in the snow, clearly the angels she’d mentioned. But the second one . . . wow. He didn’t think he was capable of that heart-melting feeling he’d read about. But when he saw the beautiful, smiling woman with one arm around a beaming child’s shoulders as they both made rabbit ears atop the other’s head, his insides had turned to mush. Her cheeks were pink and her eyes fairly glowed from within with vitality and mischief. She had long, dark hair that was hanging to one side from a ponytail, and her figure looked lush and curvy in the formfitting clothing she was wearing. To put it crudely, she was every wet dream he’d ever had. And she had no idea how much he needed the smile she’d given him. Unfortunately, he couldn’t tell her for probably another twelve hours.
Jason had delivered the news earlier that they’d lost a soldier to friendly fire. Of all the casualties in this endless war, those were the losses that he had the hardest time accepting, senseless and avoidable accidents that cost the life of another. Worlds were forever changed and there wasn’t a damned thing he or anyone could do to make it better.
When something like this happened, the base went on a communication blackout until the situation had been handled and proper notifications had been made. Usually that was around twenty-four hours. He shouldn’t have even gotten Sara’s e-mail until much later, but he had temporary leeway to send a couple of official messages before he was once again off-line. He couldn’t have guessed how much that correspondence would help him deal with this latest tragedy.
Even without Wi-Fi, there was work he could do, but he’d temporarily lost his ability to give a shit about it. There was also the fact that he hadn’t slept in going on two days now. The biggest workaholic had to hit the wall at some point, and he was pretty much there. As spent as he was, he couldn’t make himself put his phone away. He’d long since memorized every single feature he could see in her picture. He was a logical man, not given to flights of fancy. Yet he was captivated by her and he had been even before he knew what she looked like. You’ve been in the desert too long. An argument could certainly be made for that, yet he was practically an old pro at this life by now. He’d spent almost seven of the last sixteen years overseas. And that didn’t count the other TDYs, or temporary duties he’d been assigned to in various locations. He tended to travel a lot and had long since learned how to pack light and live out of a suitcase. Like everyone, he had bouts of restlessness. Most of those were upon returning and adjusting to life stateside again. Being away from all the luxuries many citizens took for granted sucked, but there was a simplicity here. Each day was basically the same, and your focus was entirely on the mission. Naturally you worried about things at home, but the fact that you couldn’t do shit about it relieved a little of that stress. In a sense, going back was like leaving nine months of solitary confinement and suddenly being dumped out into a bright, sunny day. Although it was a beautiful thing, it was also blinding and disorienting until you adjusted. Everyone around you understood all the societal rules and nuances, some of which you simply forgot. In a word, you often felt lost.
He’d thought the younger guys struggled with that the most. The seasoned soldiers such as himself tended to joke it off as no big deal. Yet his rapid attachment to Sara made him question whether this lifestyle was beginning to wear on him. The biggest thing he should know to avoid was a woman with such close ties to her family. There was no good way to ask someone like that to move around as often as he did. And that wasn’t the worst of it. Having a woman in his life meant not only that she would be uprooted from her loved ones but that she’d eventually be left alone in a place she wasn’t familiar with while he deployed to somewhere like Iraq for another nine-to-twelve-month tour. With the number of wars the United States engaged in now, there was no end in sight to the amount of times an active service member would be sent overseas. Who would sign up for that?
Gabe could write a book about why it was a bad idea for him to become infatuated with a woman at this stage in his career, yet that ship seemed to have already sailed. It shouldn’t have come as a total surprise to him. He’d been unusually restless the last few years. Really since he’d relocated to Alaska. Even living close to the big city of Anchorage didn’t distract from the unspoiled beauty of the state he’d grown to love. He was still years away from retiring, and chances were high that he’d end up moving several more times before his career ended, but unless something changed, he wanted Alaska to be where he started his civilian life when his military one was over. He hadn’t been exactly enthusiastic when he got his orders for Alaska. Would have been nice to end up somewhere with less snow. But for the most part, you went where Uncle Sam needed you, which was how he’d ended up in Anchorage. He could freely admit now that he’d been wrong. He loved the unspoiled beauty. The way the few hours of sunshine a day during the winter glistened off the snow-heavy tree branches. The white mountain peaks that looked like something out of a magazine. The crisp clean air that made you want to pause simply to inhale it. The vibrant colors of the Northern Lights that shimmered and swirled against the backdrop of Anchorage’s skies in the winter months. And the people—which was an unusual thing for him to list as a plus. Normally he tended to keep to himself. He was polite, but distant. Why bother forming attachments when it was a temporary layover for him? Yet he had done just that. Anchorage might be a large city, but he’d never felt anonymous there. Neighbors watched out for each other, and the servers in the local restaurants remembered how you liked your coffee. He knew he wouldn’t be there more than another year or so, but he was putting down roots for the first time. In Alaska, he’d finally found a home.