before his gramma had brought him home after he’d gotten out of the hospital. But Genna didn’t correct Dina as she usually would. Talking about Brody made her nervous.
“I only have a half hour left of my lunch break,” Macy interjected, her expression impatient. “Get to the point or get out of my way so I can refill my drink.”
Dina sniffed, but didn’t move out of the booth. Instead she leaned in toward the center of the table and with her most gleeful expression, whispered, “Brody Lane is coming back to town.”
Genna choked on her tea.
“What? No way.”
Brody, back here? Where she could see him? Touch him? Hear his voice as he said all those words he’d put to paper?
Holy hell, she was in trouble.
“Brody Lane, back in town?” exclaimed their waitress, hurrying over as if proximity would get her more information.
“Yep, he’s coming back in a couple of weeks. Irene said he was injured. Really bad. He was doing something military. He’s army or a marine or something like that.”
“He’s navy,” Genna corrected automatically. “He’s a navy SEAL.”
When three pairs of eyes locked on her, she gave an irritated shrug.
“What, he kept in touch with Joe. They were friends, remember. It’s not like I’m in contact with the guy or anything,” Genna lied. Not waiting for their response, she gave Dina a ferocious frown. “What happened? How was he injured? How bad is it?”
“And why is he coming here?” Macy added, sounding as though Dina had just announced the coming of Satan and his dancing minions.
“I don’t know. All Irene would say was that she wanted her hair set extra tight so it’d hold during her flight to visit Brody in the hospital. She said he’d been hurt in a big mission. That they’re calling him a hero now. After she left, I went on the internet. But I couldn’t find a single bit of news. They are so weird about hiding all that military stuff. Like it’s some big secret or something.”
“Right. Military strategy and national security are such silly reasons to make it harder to share good gossip,” Genna declared with an exaggerated eye roll. “I don’t see why they don’t post mission details and the names of all the Special Forces personnel on a website.”
The brunette huffed, giving Genna an irritated look.
“Why are they calling Brody Lane a hero?” Genna asked, figuring an opening to finish her story would pull her out of her snit. “Does that have something to do with how he got hurt and why he’s hospitalized?”
“It does,” Dina breathed, just as gleeful at sharing the gossip as she was with the attention. “I couldn’t get much out of Irene. Just that Brody was on a rescue mission. It must have been someone really important, too. But something happened and Brody was hurt. Another guy even died. What do you think they were doing? I mean, Irene didn’t even say where it’d happened.”
Dina stopped to take a breath and preen a little because everybody in the room was hanging on her words. Even the waitresses had stopped pretending they weren’t listening. Speculation flew, everything from the last big news story to involve the navy SEALs to people mulling names of navy personnel they might contact to get more inside dirt.
Genna didn’t pay much attention, though. She was too busy trying to quell the miserable nausea churning in her belly at the realization that Brody could have died.
If it wasn’t for her, he wouldn’t be in the navy. Wouldn’t be putting his life on the line for his country. His sweet, terrified-to-travel gramma wouldn’t be getting her hair curled uncomfortably tight.
How badly was he hurt? Was he going to live? Would he be able to keep serving in the navy? Or was the injury so bad he’d be crippled? She imagined him lying in some sterile hospital bed, forever broken.
She pressed her lips together, breathing through her nose and trying to focus on something else. Anything else.
Brody healthy and whole. Strong and silent.
Or not so silent when it came to writing.
Letting the words he’d sent her fill her mind, she focused on them until her stomach settled.
Genna stared at the pastry crumble and soggy apples on Dina’s plate as if they were about to sprout wings and fly. Brody Lane. Hot. Oh, yeah. Her blood heated and her mouth went dry. Brody, of the broad shoulders, tight ass and clever way with words. Who knew a guy who barely linked twelve words together at a time could turn her on with just the stroke of his, um, pen?
“If he’s hurt, how’s he coming back here?” Macy asked, interrupting Genna’s hot little mental journey. “You said Irene is flying out there. Where is there?”
“He’s in a military hospital in Virginia. She said she’s gonna convince him to come back here as soon as they release him. How she thinks that’s gonna happen is beyond me, though. Nobody has ever convinced Brody Lane to do anything he didn’t want to.”
“Here? Why here?” Macy said, her fingers pressed to her lips. “Shouldn’t he recover in a hospital or tent or something?”
“You’re so mean,” Dina chided Macy. “Even the president of the United States thinks this guy is a hero, Macy. He might have been a little trouble when he was a teenager, but who wasn’t? He’s been serving his country for ten years. You’d think you could get over judging him by now.”
It was all Genna could do not to roll her eyes. Every one of Dina’s words had been playing to their audience, her way of looking righteous and caring.
Still, the recital had its intended effect. Macy blinked fast, her cheeks pink as everyone frowned. And from the looks on people’s faces, Genna knew word that Brody Lane was a hero was going to be the gossip highlight of the week.
“What’d you mean about the president?” Genna asked quietly, glad that Brody would finally be talked about with respect. Even if it was only in gossipy whispers.
“Oh, did I forget to mention that?” Dina paused, pretending she wasn’t aware that the entire room was holding their breath to hear the rest of her announcement. “The president of the U.S. of A. showed up at the hospital where Brody’s at and pinned him with a Purple Heart. That’s, like, rare according to Irene. She said he offered his personal thanks, and shook Brody’s hand.”
The room exploded as whispers turned to gasps, excited titters to loud exclamations. The president and Brody Lane? Fingers were flying over cell phones, and the few old-timers who didn’t text were calling for their bill.
So much for the gossip being made in whispers.
Genna started to sigh at the ridiculousness of it all, then she caught her breath. Excitement sparked, still having everything to do with Brody, but this time having nothing to do with the image of him naked.
Maybe she could help fan the flames, bring this news to the attention of the right people. People who could make sure Brody got his due. People her father couldn’t intimidate just because he was holding a grudge.
Finally,
