Liam eased back as Rachel stepped alongside him. They couldn’t walk far safely, but the two-block area where they were staying had become fairly secure even if the wind still carried the mourning voices of survivors calling out for lost family members.
He cupped her elbow and steered her around a parked backhoe. “Have you had lunch yet?”
While her stride was long and confident, she took two steps for every one of his. Her personality packed such a punch, he hadn’t realized how short she was until now. Probably not more than five foot three.
“Is it lunchtime already? I’ve lost track of my days and nights.” She looked up at him with serious brown eyes. “I’m sorry that couple didn’t have more information about your friends. They seemed relieved to know the woman and baby were with a trained serviceman.”
But for them to disappear? Someone had to have taken them or mugged them or God only knew what else, and Liam’s gut churned at the endless possibilities—none of them good.
Even someone as highly trained as Hugh could only fight off so many people at once. To think they could have been killed for a canteen of fresh water? A pair of boots? He’d seen that and far worse, when individuals became desperate.
“If that couple wants to feel better because Hugh has some specialty skills, then I’m sure not going to burst their hopeful bubble. Life will do that soon enough.”
“Sadly, you’re all too correct.”
They walked together in a strange kind of companionable silence, given the world around them. The landscape had changed somewhat. Less dust. More volunteers erected temporary housing, hammers and saws echoing while dump trucks hauled away debris from fallen structures. Engineers worked on better water and sewage removal. Red Cross workers were everywhere.
The only thing that remained the same? The appalling scent of decaying bodies still drifting out of the remaining rubble.
What a strange feeling to hang out with a woman who actually understood his job, who had experienced a good bit of the same kinds of hell he’d seen. So, she would probably understand his need to leave it behind for a few minutes before they had to plunge themselves into the thick of it all over again.
“So, ready for our hot date?”
“Date? Is that what we’re doing here? I think not.”
“Didn’t anyone tell you that you want to sleep with me? I thought you already knew.”
She choked on a laugh. “Wow, that was corny. Really corny.”
“I thought you could use a smile.”
“You’re right, and thanks.”
“Happy to oblige, again and again.” He slid an arm around her shoulders. “So stop, drop, and roll, baby, because you’re so hot you’re on fire.”
The scent of her freshly washed hair as she walked beside him chased away the rest of the world.
She groaned, but still kept on chuckling. “You’re bad.”
“No way. I’m entering the priesthood tomorrow. Wanna join me for one last sin?”
Her laughter turned to giggles until she hiccupped. “Okay, okay, enough already.”
“I figure if I make you smile enough you’ll sleep with me.”
She swatted his stomach. “You’re so sensitive it’s a wonder all those women divorced you.”
Ouch. That one stung a little. But he liked the way she didn’t pull punches. And no, he wasn’t known for his sensitivity. But he was known for his ability to make a person smile in the middle of a crisis.
He stopped at the Red Cross supply station, holding up two fingers for the worker dispensing boxed lunches, complete with the little half-pint cartons of orange juice. Liam took the two stacked meals and looked at the crumbled street around them. The chaos of a few days ago had shifted into a steady grind of tackling a cleanup that would easily take years.
There weren’t exactly a lot of places to hang out by the beach and eat, so he steered her back toward their cottages. One of the porches would be as good a place as any to park it for now.
“Rachel, to be honest, I don’t get the vibe from you that you’re looking for sensitive.”
“Hmmm… True enough, I guess. Comes from the way I was brought up. Around my house there was lots of love but no coddling. My mother was an ACO—animal control officer. Like those shows you see on the animal channel.”
“Was? What does she do now?” He fell into the ease of their conversation much as they fell into sync walking side by side.