For real this time. Her hands clenched around her purse with that silly-sweet note from Carson inside.
Brown and brick buildings sprawled on the other side of the windows, reminding her when somehow she'd ended up here in a VOQ room with Gary Owens. God, she'd done a one-eighty from before, being certain the time had come to leave Carson Hunt behind forever. Now that she wasn't so focused on jabbing pins in a Carson voodoo doll, she was reminded of all the things she'd liked about him the first go-round.
He had a way of finding a good quality in each person and relating to them on that level, rather than seeing the negative and judging. He excelled as a leader by giving everyone else a chance to succeed based on that strength, something she would do well to cultivate in her teaching.
The lumbering bus jerked to a halt on the tarmac, restless families standing, pouring down the steps. Rows of parked cargo planes loomed, waiting for their missing friends. Airmen lined up outside to escort the families and greet their returning squadron mates. Where was Carson? Somewhere in that crowd most certainly, since already in the distance, she could see the specks of approaching C-17s on the horizon.
Coming home.
Hugging her coat around her, she waited alongside the idling bus while people streamed out, her mom and brothers at the back of the line.
Kevin Avery peeled away from the other flyers in leather jackets and joined her. "Hey, Nikki. How's it going?"
She felt bad about the way she'd treated him back in "Anybody-But-Carson" dating days. He seemed like a nice guy, dedicated to his Air Force career. Thank goodness he was okay with being friends, and had even set her up with his buddy Gary.
Great. They all knew how that one had ended. "Everything's better. My dad's coming home and he's in one piece."
"Yeah, and I hear the investigators cleared you." He nodded, clean-cut hair, boots perfectly polished until they glinted in the afternoon sun. "That's good. I always knew it couldn't be you and I told Agent Reis the same."
Nikki scratched the back of her neck, but the itchy sensation persisted that she was being stared at. She turned, scanned the cement expanse. Carson was watching.
Watching her with Avery.
Darn it. Was Carson going to get all weird again and insist he was too old for her? She winced to think of herself two years ago hoping he would be jealous and notice her. How juvenile it sounded now. She truly had been too young for him then—what a surprise notion.
She wanted to reassure Carson that her eyes were so full of him that even when he wasn't around, no other guy existed. But he was working and she knew from years listening to her parents that PDA—public displays of affection—while in uniform were frowned upon.
But a smile would be cool. Right? Just as she started to grin at him— Carson winked. Quick. Then done. But the tingle lingered long after he turned away to speak with the aviators lining up in front of him.
And my goodness, she could sure keep staring at the tempting view of his oh-so-perfect tush in a flight suit, but someone might notice and she wasn't ready to go public with their relationship. Not yet.
If nothing else, she should let her parents know, although her mother had probably already guessed.
Her gaze skipped down and away, back to the present where... Oops. Kevin Avery had picked up on every bit of the exchange. She saw things through his eyes and her quick shuffle from Gary to Carson didn't look good. As Gary's friend, Kevin had reason to be confused, even pissed on his buddy's behalf. He had no way of knowing that she and Gary had already been finished. Even if she explained it, who's to say he would believe her?
She simply stared at him silently, fairly certain he wouldn't confront her if she didn't broach the subject.
He tipped his head toward the cluster of flight suit-clad aviators. "Guess I should line up with the rest of the welcoming committee. Glad you're doing okay."
As Kevin melded in with his friends, her mother sagged to sit on the bottom bleacher, the middle trimester of pregnancy already slowing her down while Chris followed with toddler Jamie.
Nikki extended a hand. "Hey Chris, let me see the little guy"
Rena grinned, taking the banner. "So Chris can catch me if I topple over the side."
"You said it, Mom, not me."
Squatting in front of Jamie, Nikki tied the ribbons around his chubby wrist, her heart squeezing as tight as the knot over how darn cute her youngest brother was. She hitched him up onto her hip and snuggled him close while pointing out airplanes.
Which took her eyes right back to the flyboys. Carson's eyes held hers across the tarmac. No wink needed this time. She saw it in his eyes, a warming. He definitely wanted her. She shivered.
"Are you cold, sweetie?" her mother asked.
Totally scorching inside. And oooh, wasn't that a tingly thought? Scorch inside her. "I'm fine, Mom, thanks. Just remembering how many times we've done this welcome-home gig"
And wasn't that a nontingly thought?
Then Carson's gaze slid to Jamie and her heart squeezed tighter, more so when something bleak sent clouds chasing through Carson's beautiful blue eyes. What could he want to talk about when they went sailing? They couldn't be jumping to a super serious level this quickly, and frankly, she wasn't sure she trusted him that much yet.