He took a seat at the next table, his back to her, and resumed cutting into his pancake.
Nora didn’t utter a word behind him.
Oh, well. He popped a bite of syrupy sweet pancake in his mouth and chewed thoughtfully. She was only there for another week. Man, she had a nice ass…and those legs… He sighed and bent over his plate to stab his fork into a sausage link.
“This chair taken?” a soft, female voice sounded in front of him.
He looked up to see the pretty blond nurse standing there with her tray in her hands, a crooked smile on her face.
He lifted his chin in silent acknowledgement.
She laid her tray on the table and settled onto the chair. “I didn’t think you’d do it.”
“Fair enough. You don’t know me,” he said.
“I know that you joined the Army to get out of street life. That your mother raised you after your father skipped out, that you’re working toward a business degree and that your name is Rucker.” She sipped her coffee.
He nodded, secretly pleased she’d remembered all that. Maybe there was hope for getting to know the pretty nurse before she redeployed to the States. And who knew? They might run into each other on the other side of the pond.
Still, he couldn’t show too much interest, or he’d be no better than the other guys who’d hit on her. “Since you’re redeploying back to the States in a week, and I’m due to go out on a mission, probably within the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours, I don’t know if it’s worth our time to get to know each other any more than we already have.”
She nodded. “I guess that’s why I want to sit with you. You’re not a danger to my perfect record of no fraternizing. I don’t have to worry that you’ll fall in love with me in such a short amount of time.” She winked.
He chuckled. “As I’m sure half of this base has fallen in love with you since you’ve been here.”
She shrugged. “I don’t know if it’s love, but it’s damned annoying.”
“How so?”
She rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. “I get flowers left on my door every day.”
“And that’s annoying? I’m sure it’s not easy coming up with flowers out here in the desert.” He set down his fork and took up his coffee mug. “I think it’s sweet.” He held back a smile. Well, almost.
“They’re hand-drawn on notepad paper and left on the door of my quarters and on the door to the shower tent.” She shook her head. “It’s kind of creepy and stalkerish.”
Rucker nodded. “I see your point. The guys should at least have tried their hands at origami flowers, since the real things are scarce around here.”
Nora smiled. “I’m not worried about the pictures, but the line for sick call is ridiculous.”
“How so?”
“So many of the guys come up with the lamest excuses to come in and hit on me. I asked to work the nightshift to avoid sick call altogether.”
“You have a fan group.” He smiled. “Has the adoration gone to your head?”
She snorted softly. “No.”
“You didn’t get this kind of reaction back in the States?”
“I haven’t been on active duty for long. I only decided to join the Army after my mother passed away. I was her fulltime nurse for a couple years as she went through stage four breast cancer. We thought she might make it.” Her shoulders sagged. “But she didn’t.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. My mother meant a lot to me, as well. I sent money home every month after I enlisted and kept sending it up until the day she died suddenly of an aneurysm.”
“I’m so sorry about your mother’s passing,” Nora said, shaking her head. “Wow. As an enlisted man, how did you make enough to send some home?”
“I ate in the chow hall and lived on post. I didn’t party or spend money on civilian clothes or booze. Mom needed it. I gave it to her.”
“You were a good son to her,” Nora said.
His chest tightened. “She died of an aneurysm a couple of weeks before she was due to move to Texas where I’d purchased a house for her.”
“Wow. And, let me guess, you blame yourself for not getting her to Texas sooner…?” Her gaze captured his.
Her words hit home, and he winced. “Yeah. I should’ve done it sooner.”
“Can’t bring people back with regrets.” Nora stared into her coffee cup. “I learned that. The only thing I could do was move forward and get on with living. I wanted to get away from Milwaukee and the home I’d shared with my mother. Not knowing where else to go, I wandered past a realtor’s office and stepped into a recruiter’s office. I had my nursing degree, they wanted and needed nurses on active duty. I signed up, they put me through some officer training and here I am.” She held her arms out.
“Playing volleyball in Afghanistan, working on your tan during the day and helping soldiers at night.” Rucker gave her a brief smile. “I, for one, appreciate what you’re doing for our guys and gals.”
“I do the best I can,” she said softly. “I just wish I could do more. I’d rather stay here than redeploy back to the States, but they’re afraid if they keep us here too long, we’ll burn out or get PTSD.”
“One week, huh?”
She nodded. “One week.”
“In my field, one week to redeploy back to the States is a dangerous time. Anything can happen and usually does.”
“Yeah, but you guys are on the frontlines, if not behind enemy lines. I’m back here. What could happen?”
Rucker flinched. “Oh, sweetheart, you didn’t just say that…” He glanced around, hoping no one heard her tempt fate with those dreaded words What could happen?
Nora grinned. “You’re not superstitious, are you?”
“In what we do,
