with me?” he asked, heading toward his office. Sarah felt small beside Hunter. He was tall and powerfully built. She followed him into his cramped office.
“Shut the door?” he asked as he sat down behind his desk. Sarah closed it and stood, waiting. “Have a seat,” Hunter invited, gesturing to one of the two chairs in front of his desk. “You look like you think I’m going to bite you.” He grinned a little.
Sarah smiled sheepishly and sat down, placing her towel, washcloth and soap in her lap. “I guess I’m gun-shy, Master Chief. No insult meant to you.”
Hunter grunted, leaning back in his black leather chair. “None taken,” he quietly assured her. He picked up the August flight schedule and handed it to her. “I noticed some discrepancies in Major Donaldson’s August schedule for you, Sarah.”
She snorted and rolled her eyes. “So did I.”
“Why didn’t you say something to me after you saw it?” Hunter asked softly.
“Well...er...you’re not my CO. You’re a SEAL. I’m in a medevac squadron.” Flustered, she could see a glint in Hunter’s green eyes. He was so stoically SEAL: you never knew what they were thinking unless they wanted you to.
“Mmm, rightly so,” Hunter murmured, moving his index finger across his upper lip. “You’re getting scheduled for flight twenty percent more often than the rest of the pilots each month. Seeing that, wouldn’t you take that discrepancy up with Major Donaldson?”
Coloring fiercely, Sarah couldn’t hold his warm gaze. Nervously, she picked at a thread on the towel in her lap. “I’m tired of fighting him, if you want the truth, Master Chief.”
“Look,” he murmured, keeping his voice neutral, “what he’s done isn’t correct. We both know that.”
Sarah shrugged. “Yes, I know that.” She lifted her chin and held his stare. “I love what I do, Master Chief. Maybe if I didn’t want to save lives so badly, I would have taken it up with him.”
“You live to save,” Hunter agreed, giving her a kind look. “One of the responsibilities I’m charged with as the master chief is the mental and emotional health of my men, Sarah. You’re engaged to Ethan. And so, by proxy, you become my responsibility, too. You’re a part of our team now, Sarah. And you know we have your back.”
“I know you do,” she said, suddenly emotional. “Frankly, I think you have enough to do without being concerned about me, too.”
“Well, I want to be involved, Sarah. You’re a gutsy pilot and you aren’t afraid to put yourself on the line to do it. In SEAL eyes, you rock,” he said, smiling.
The man couldn’t undo her past, erase the tragic memories of her younger life, but he was showing her that she could stand up for herself when injustices were done to her in the present. That was the job of a master chief, the health and welfare of the men under his wing. His support of her touched her deeply.
“I brought this infraction to the attention of your CO,” he told her in a casual tone.
Instantly, Sarah jerked up, her stomach cold with fear.
“And Major Donaldson agrees that it was simply an overlooked mistake.”
Sarah sat frozen, adrenaline leaking into her bloodstream. She knew the master chief was a man of action; that he did take care of his own. What had he done? And was Donaldson pissed off at her because of it? “Wh-what did you do?” The words came out a squeak from her, her hands gripping the toiletry items in her lap.
“Fixed it,” Hunter said simply. “And don’t worry, the major isn’t going to blame you for this. Okay?”
But the terror she felt was real. Sarah had reason to worry, having been under Donaldson’s command for two years. She knew he didn’t like her and took every opportunity to try to drive her out of his squadron. There were a lot of ways for a CO to do that, too.
Wiping her brow, Sarah whispered, “Okay, if you say so.”
“Have some faith in men who respect you, Sarah.”
Her mouth quirked, feeling the weight of his words. “You’re right, Master Chief. I need to stand up for myself more and stop rolling over.”
Hunter nodded. “Donaldson is giving you two days off to make up for the August scheduling error. And,” he murmured, a slight smile edging his mouth, “Ethan just happens to be ordered down to Bagram to pick up some pallet supplies for us on those two days.”
Sarah gulped. Her heart started to flutter with excitement in her chest. Two days with Ethan! She was sure that Emma and Khalid would allow them to stay at their villa. Tears came to her eyes; the master chief’s face was very readable. He had done this for them. She felt suddenly overwhelmed and wiped the tears from her eyes. She knew she shouldn’t be crying, but she was deeply moved by Hunter’s kindness.
“Th-thank you, Master Chief. This is an incredible gift to us.” Her husky voice turned low with raw feelings. “You have no idea how much this means to us....”
Gil smiled a little. “I think I do, Sarah. Go get your shower. Ethan is meeting you at the chow hall at 0700. He wants to share this good news with you.” Sarah stood and so did he. As he walked around his desk, she set her shower items on the chair, turned and threw her arms around his broad shoulders, giving him a quick hug. It wasn’t military protocol in the least, but she didn’t care. Hunter patted her shoulder in a fatherly fashion. “You’re welcome,” he told her gruffly, no doubt touched by her vulnerability, the tears in her eyes. “Now, take off?”
Embarrassed, Sarah nodded. “Yes, Master Chief.”
Gil Hunter stood in the doorway of his office after she’d left. Rubbing his bearded jaw, he smiled to himself. He could see why Ethan was so damned in love with her. Sarah was like fragile sunlight piercing a man’s heart, gently touching his soul. He was glad Ethan had found her. Sarah was blooming beneath his care and love. And wasn’t that what real love was all about? Two people bringing out the best in one another?
* * *
Ethan could hardly sit still as Sarah found him in the chow hall, carrying her tray and sitting down opposite him. Happiness glimmered in her blue eyes. She smiled at him and he felt his heart open.
“That was a beautiful poem you wrote for me this morning,” she said, giving him a shy look. “Thank you.”
The chow hall was packed, the noise high. Luckily, Ethan had found the last table next to the wall and only a few guys were sitting at the other end of it. They could talk quietly and have a real conversation without others overhearing them.
“I wrote it for a reason,” Ethan admitted, catching her self-conscious gaze. Sarah’s hair was recently washed, the black strands still damp around her flushed features. It would dry in a hurry with the low humidity and high temperature at the FOB.
Sarah cut into her eggs. “I know,” and she told him about the master chief calling her into his office this morning.
Ethan grinned. “Two days, Sarah. We have two days together. I damn near fainted when Master Chief told me about it this morning.”
She spooned
