Christmas with Hope

  Nick ditched his men and followed Hope. After realizing where she was headed, he waited next to the ATV he'd soon be trading for a Humvee for the day's mission. Several minutes later Hope walked toward him from the direction of the latrines. She was wearing a khaki flight suit, with a 9mm strapped to her right leg. She looked ready for action.

  She flashed him a stunning smile. "Good morning."

  "Morning. Would you like a lift to the airfield?"

  "I'd love one. Thank you."

  "Busy day planned?" he asked in route.

  "Yeah. You?"

  He nodded. Since neither could talk about their missions, he changed the subject. "How long have you been in the sandbox?"

  "I'm eight months into my second tour." She turned in the seat to face him. "Have you been to Afghanistan yet?"

  "Last year. Didn't care much for it."

  "Me either. I suspect they'll be sending me back, though. I heard on the radio this morning they had another car bombing that took out fourteen U.S. and British troops. Things are really intensifying."

  "When were you there?"

  "Afghanistan was my first deployment. I'd just finished my training a month before nine-eleven."

  "So that's where you really learned to fly," he teased.

  Her face lit up with a beautiful smile.

  Nick laughed.

  "Okay, flying in Afghanistan was pretty awesome, especially during the winter with range after range of snow covered mountains. We could fly through passes and do two-wheel landings on ridgelines. It was beautiful... and fun."

  "Did you ever receive any ground fire?"

  "Everyday. Thankfully they were rotten shots."

  "What about now?" he asked as he pulled to a stop near the flight line.

  "Not as much."

  He was glad to hear that.

  A truck passed them, and she waved. Nick glanced over and saw it was the crew members she'd sat with at breakfast. She started to get out, and he snagged her elbow. "If you don't have any plans tonight, and we get back in time, would you like to do something?"

  "Can't. I have an aerobics class tonight and a lot of paperwork to catch up on. Thanks for the lift. I appreciate it."

  "Anytime. Have a safe flight."

  She climbed out of the ATV and then glanced back with a smile. "Good luck to you and your team today."

  "Thanks," he hollered just as a motorcade of black SUV's passed, heading toward the two choppers. More than a dozen men and women exited the vehicles and climbed aboard.

  Nick stood at the revetment walls and watched Hope do her pre-flight check and start-up. The sound of the turbo engines sent his pulse racing. Soon the tail rotors were spinning so fast it looked like they might pick the whole aircraft up from the back. He moved along the wall so he could watch her take off from directly under the flight path. Finding a dead air spot where he wasn't being buffeted by the wind from the main rotors, he waited until Hope looked up. When she did, he saluted her. She returned the honor and slowly lifted the bird off the ground. It then twisted to the right, straightened out, and shot into the distance.

  Watch over them Lord.

  "Beautiful sight, huh?"

  Nick turned at the female voice and saw Hope's roommate walking toward him with her flight crew. "Yes, she is."

  Kylie smiled. "I was referring to the chopper."

  "So was I." It wasn't a total lie. Both bird and pilot were gorgeous. "You flying today too?"

  "We're on standby in case something goes wrong with one of the missions." She handed off her flight bag to one of her crewmembers. "So are you making any headway with Hope?"

  He almost mentioned the cookout on Saturday, but since he didn't know all the details of Hope's matchmaking antics he didn't. "Not really. She's not seeing someone else is she?" Surely if she were, she would just come out and tell him.

  "No. She doesn't date much. However, I suspect that could easily change if the right guy came along and it didn't interfere with her career."

  He smiled. "Oh yeah?"

  *****

  A light mist blanketed the windshield of the aircraft as Hope flew low over the tan, flat terrain. The thick green line of the Tigris snaked across it, heading south to the Persian Gulf. With her right hand grasping the cyclic control stick between her knees, that controlled the direction of the helicopter, her left hand held the twist-grip collective bar, which controlled the up and down motion of the helicopter and the engine speed. Her feet were just as busy as they moved back and forth on the rudder pedals that controlled the tail rotor, which allowed the helicopter to rotate in either direction. The constant movement of her arms and legs kept the chopper in the air and was the reason why Hope preferred flying choppers to airplanes. It was much more exhilarating.

  She shifted her gaze from the instrument panel to Jenson's aircraft flying in front of her on the right. Since their departure from the base an hour ago, his machine had launched counter active flares twice from its automatic threat-detection system. They were designed to detect the launch of shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles.

  Was he just messing with his passengers or had his radar systems really picked up on enemy threats on the ground? It wasn't uncommon. That's why they were always on alert.

  She listened to the chatter between her crew chiefs sitting directly behind her and Brody with their door-mounted 7.62mm machine guns. They were like her rear-view mirrors, scanning the sectors for any threats to the aircraft. Neither seemed alarmed.

  Hope scanned the terrain again for possible threats. All she saw were blue and red farm tractors working the fields, a few isolated farm villages, and people walking along pathways who stopped to look up at the aircraft, shading their eyes against the sun. Occasionally they would wave.

  Twenty minutes later, she sat down at their first destination. After shutting down the engines, she waited for the passengers to exit before she climbed from the cockpit. "Eric, run a systems check, please." She wanted to make sure there weren't any malfunctions before she had a talk with Jenson.

  "You got it."

  While he did that and the chopper was being refueled, Hope grabbed a handful of paper towels and a bottle of Windex and cleaned the windshield of all the sand they had accumulated during the flight. She then did her pre-flight check.

  Brody joined her at the tail of the aircraft and offered her a drink from his bottle of water.

  "Thanks." She took a large gulp and handed it back. "Do you want to take over the controls?"

  "Sure. We taking the lead this time?"

  "I'm thinking about it."

  Taylor jumped out of the cabin. "Doesn't the guy realize he's putting all of us in danger when he pulls those stunts? I've got a wife who's expecting our first kid. I'd really like to make it home to them."

  Hope smiled at the young sergeant. The couple had married just a month before their deployment. "How is Amy?"

  "Good." He reached into his pocket and produced a photograph of his very pregnant wife. "She's due next month. I wish I could be there with her when she delivers, but she understands."

  Hope handed him the photo. "I'm sure she does. And you'll be there soon enough."

  Still smiling he went on about his work.

  "Do you ever think about settling down and starting a family?" Brody asked.

  She shrugged her shoulder. "Maybe someday."

  A few minutes later, Eric confirmed Hope's suspicions. "Everything checks out fine ma'am."

  With a sigh, she looked at Brody. "This oughta be fun."

  He chuckled.

  Jenson was talking to one of his crew chiefs when she walked up to his chopper. "Sparks, give us a minute."

  "Yes, ma'am."

  Jenson turned to her, smiling. "What's up?"

  Hope had flown with more than her share of cocky pilots through the years. Two of them were now dead, along with their crew chiefs. "We're taking the lead into Balad."

  "What... why?"

  "Because I won't have this miss
ion, or any other mission under my command, endangered by you launching flares that give away our location to possible enemy threats."

  "I was just having some fun. Everyone does it." He grinned. "You should have seen the old man's face when he got off. I thought he was going to kiss the ground."

  "You're welcome to have fun under someone else's command. I won't put up with it on this team."

  "Okay, I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

  "All right." She offered her hand, and he shook it. "Have a safe flight."

  "You too."

  On the way back to her chopper, Brody met her halfway. "How about some coffee?"

  She glanced at her watch. They still had an hour to kill. "Sure."

  "So how'd Jenson react?"

  "He apologized and said it wouldn't happen again."

  "He is a good pilot."

  "I know he is, but he keeps pulling crap like that, and he's gonna get his crew killed. We have at least four more months of this tour left, and I don't want to lose any more of our men."

  "So, that was some salute you received on take-off earlier."

  His attempt to change the subject was no surprise. He'd flown on the ill-fated mission that claimed those lives, and she suspected he was still dealing with the aftermath. To see four of your friends shot down right before your eyes wasn't something you could easily forget.

  "You should ask him to the cookout Saturday," he said. "I bet he'd come."

  "I did, and he is."

  "Really? You mean you've actually got a date?"

  She punched him in the arm. "Shut up."

  He laughed. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm really looking forward to it."

  So am I. She thought about Nick's invitation earlier and briefly considered skipping her aerobics class. Nah, I don't want to appear too eager.

  Chapter Five

  Hope glanced up from her magazine just in time to see the light change on the washing machines, indicating it was time to add softener. Grabbing the bottle from the seat next to her, she added a cap full to each. Had it not been for the lack of clean uniforms, she would have out-waited her pig of a roommate. Re-using towels she could handle, but she had to have clean clothes.

  "Ain't laundry day grand?"

  Hope looked over at the familiar voice and found Nick walking toward her with a duffle bag draped over his shoulder and a grin plastered across his face. For once she was thankful for her roommate's procrastination.

  "I could think of several other things I'd rather be doing," she fibbed.

  "Like flying over the desert looking for rangers to rescue."

  She smiled. "That would be one of them."

  Only two days had passed since their paths crossed, yet it seemed much longer. She'd thought of him often during that time and was looking forward to tomorrow night more than she wanted to admit. Kylie was right; Nick had changed. The schoolyard bully she once knew had turned into a respectable, kind, and very charming man.

  "Would you mind some company?"

  "Not at all, seeing as how I'm almost finished with my magazine."

  He glanced back at her chair, where the tabloid laid, covered up. "So what's happening in Hollywood these days?"

  "Nothing worth mentioning." She picked up the magazine and tossed it into her empty basket. "Kylie really needs to expand her taste in literature."

  "I wouldn't exactly call that literature, but I suppose it beats staring at four walls." He dumped the clothes from the duffle bag into two washers.

  "I thought men washed all their clothes in one washer."

  "My mother broke me of that habit in high school after I tie-dyed her favorite white blouse."

  Hope laughed. "Did she teach you to cook, too?"

  "No, but I'm great with a needle and thread." He sat down next to her and picked up the tabloid from her basket. "Let's see what we have here." He thumbed through a couple of pages. "Look, they've discovered another bat boy. And just when I thought they were extinct. Oh, and look here, Brad and Angelina are breaking up again."

  She snatched the tabloid, laughing, and tossed it back into the basket.

  "Am I embarrassing you?" he asked with a grin.

  "No." She glanced around at the other half dozen soldiers in the trailer who pretended not to be watching. "You're embarrassing yourself, and since I'm sitting next to you, I don't want everyone thinking we're both idiots."

  "All right, I'll behave." He sat up straight, crossing his legs.

  She continued to laugh at him until he snagged her hand and pulled it to his broad chest. Butterflies took flight in her tummy, warning her she needed to be very careful. Tempted to sit there basking in the serene moment, she had to force herself to get up. "I need to check my clothes."

  Unfortunately, they were still going through their final rinse cycle. She heard him get up, and her pulse quickened. She turned just as he leaned against the washer next to her.

  "I'm curious about something you said the other night." He hesitated briefly. "What type of date do you think I'm used to?"

  "I just meant... I mean I didn't want you to think I was attracted to you or anything... That didn't come out right, either." Urgh. She shifted her gaze back to the machine. Why was it taking so long?

  He chuckled. "Well, just so you know. I may be too forward at times, but I don't play the field, Hope. You're the first woman I've asked out in several months."

  Her washers stopped. "Okay, now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go toss these in the dryer before I make an even bigger fool of myself." She reached for a nearby cart, but he beat her to it. "Thanks."

  "You're welcome," he answered, his amusement still heavy in his voice.

  *****

  While Hope loaded her clothes into the dryers, Nick slipped over to the Green Beans and bought them lattes. By the time he returned she was folding her clothes.

  "I wondered where you disappeared to." She accepted the drink with a smile. "Thank you."

  "My pleasure." He set his cup down and walked over to his washers. The lids were up, and his clothes were gone.

  "They're drying," Hope hollered.

  He rejoined her. "In that case, would you like some help?"

  She shrugged her shoulders. "You can fold the towels and washcloths if you want."

  He grabbed a towel and folded it. For someone who hated to do laundry, he was having a pretty great time. Kylie's idea was turning out much better than he expected. However, Nick would have some explaining to do if his roommate returned to find every sheet and towel in the trailer gone, along with his PT clothes.

  "Without breaching national security, what are some of the type of missions you go on?"

  Pleased that she was interested, he picked up another towel and folded it. "Mostly raids, similar to the one we were doing the day you had to rescue us. The Intel we get is usually more accurate, though. We also do search and rescue and recon missions."

  "Search and rescue as in downed aircrafts?"

  "Sometimes." He suspected she already knew that and was just making conversation. "Have you ever crashed?"

  "Only during simulation." She stopped folding and looked at him. "My team did lose an aircraft early into this tour, though. All four on board were killed."

  Nick had lost men under his command, too, so he knew the burden she carried. "I'm sorry. Were you a part of the mission?"

  "No. I wish I had been."

  "I doubt you would have been able to prevent it, Hope."

  "Maybe not, but there's nothing worse than being on the ground and getting the news you've got a bird down, and all you can do is wait for the news of whether or not they survived."

  He searched his mind for some type of response but came up blank. He wasn't sure which surprised him more. The fact she was a soldier who'd undoubtedly risk her life for the men and women serving under her, or that she was sharing such a personal piece of her life with him.

  "I think your dryers stopped," she said, shattering the awkward moment.

/>   He borrowed her empty cart and retrieved his clothes. When he returned, she was sitting on the counter eating a granola bar.

  She smiled at him. "Want half?"

  He held out his hand. "Sure."

  She broke off the top portion she'd bitten from and handed him the rest. "Sorry I rattled on a while ago."

  "Don't be. I've lost men, too, Hope. I know how hard it is to move on and not think about them occasionally."

  She snickered.

  "What?" he asked.

  "Are you sure you're a ranger? The only ones I've ever met were the brooding, silent type that reeked of danger."

  "What can I say? You bring out the best in me." He tossed her a handful of towels. "Now, start folding."

  *****

  "So, does she suspect anything?" Kylie whispered to Nick after Hope disappeared inside their CHU.

  "I don't think so," he answered, thankful for the mischievous roommate.

  Kylie leaned out the door, her head hovering next to his. "You hurt her, and I'll kick your butt."

  He saw Hope walking toward them and said the first thing that popped into his head. "Chips, no problem, I'll bring two bags. Barbeque okay?"

  Kylie grinned. "I'd rather have ranch."

  "Ranch it is then."

  Hope joined Kylie in the doorway. "Thanks for your help."

  "No problem. I'm glad I ran into you." Seeing her get so flustered confirmed her attraction to him. He thought briefly of his roommate's warning. Sharing love letters with this woman was more appealing than the thought of going the rest of his life wondering what might have been.

  "I'll see you Saturday." She glanced over at Kylie. "At sixteen-hundred, right?"

  Kylie nodded.

  "Can I bring anything else besides chips?"

  "No," Hope answered. "Stu usually has everything covered."

  "All right. You ladies enjoy the rest of your evening."

  "I hope your roommate isn't too sore when he comes home to a sheet-less bed," Hope hollered as he walked away.

  Nick laughed. She'd known all along tonight was a setup, yet didn't say anything. That had to be a good sign.

  *****

  As soon as Nick disappeared around the concrete barrier, Kylie nudged Hope in her side. "I smell love in the air."

  "No. I think that's the garbage dump you smell." Hope left her in the door and went to put away the laundry.

  "Oh, come on, Hope, admit it. You like the guy."

  "All right, I like him." What wasn't to like? He was handsome, with a killer smile that rocked her world. He loved the army as much as she did. And above all, he made her feel special and could make her laugh. "Happy now?"