Meant to Be (12 page)

“
Angel eyes—loved ones who
are gone, watching over us.”

Rad laid his head back down and stared
at the sky again. “Yeah, they do kind of look like twinkling
eyes.”

“
She used to recite a poem
to me… not sure I can remember it.” Lauren tried to grasp the verse
from the depths of her memory.

Shimmering stars gazing
down,

Oh, tell me what you
see.

Nocturnal eyes, gone from
earth,

Still watching over
me.

“
Hmm. I’ll have to
remember that.”

Encircled by darkness and his arms,
Lauren enjoyed watching his face in the dim light as they continued
to talk about inconsequential things that helped keep their minds
off the passing time. When they ran out of things to say they just
stared out toward the ocean, which they could not see, but could
hear quite plainly. Lauren felt Rad pick up a handful of sand down
by his leg. She turned her head slightly and watched him let it
sift slowly out between his fingers. For once, she knew what he was
thinking.

“
Like sand through the
hourglass,” she said.

He chuckled. “Now who is reading whose
mind?”

“
A lucky guess, that’s
all.”

“
Because it’s what you
were thinking?”

She twisted her head and looked up at
him. “Maybe.” She took a deep breath and turned her head back
toward the ocean. “It went by so fast. Too bad we didn’t meet a day
sooner.”

“
A
day
?” He practically choked the words.

Lauren understood what he meant. If
they had met twenty-four hours earlier, these last few hours would
have been just as hard. The time would have been just as short. She
tried to think how much time would have been enough. A week? A
month? A year? She sighed heavily. An eternity? And then she had a
sinking feeling that he had come into her life not just a day—but a
lifetime—too late.

She had faced many enemies,
but none as elusive as this one—
time
.

“
So when you’re traveling,
who takes care of Tara?” Lauren decided to change the subject—as
much for her own benefit as his.

Rad’s attention had been locked over
the water, but he gazed down at her when he spoke. “My sister lives
close by. I drop her off there when I’m deployed.”

Lauren cocked her head and glanced at
him, but he was either unaware of how much he had revealed or was
aware and trusted her enough not to be disturbed.

Deployed
?

Her thoughts turned back to the other
guys she had met on the beach. They couldn’t possibly be military.
Many of them had beards. All had long hair—at least by military
standards. No, they were probably some kind of domestic force that
deployed to specialized emergencies.

After a few moments of complete
silence, Lauren cleared her throat. “Can I ask you a question,
Rad?”

“
Sure.” His voice sounded
strangely soothing.

“
Do you find this as
strange as I do?”

“
What?”

Lauren grunted in exasperation. “You
know. Us.”

“
What about
us?”

“
Well…
twenty-four hours ago—make that
less
than twenty-four hours ago—I
didn’t even know you existed.”

“
Yeah, kind of strange
isn’t it.”

“
Strange?” Lauren nearly
choked. “It’s more than strange. I don’t do this.”

Rad wrapped his arms around her and
pulled her closer as he inhaled deeply. “I’m not exactly the type
to do this either.” He paused a moment. “But I’ve loved every
minute of it.”

He grew quiet then but shifted his
weight in such a way Lauren knew he had something else to say. And
finally he did.

“
So can I ask you
something now?”

Lauren shrugged. “Sure.”

“
How can I get in touch
with you after tonight?”

She exhaled loudly. “You mean like a
phone number or something?”

“
Yeah, that would
work.”

Lauren bit her lip, trying to figure
how to tell him she couldn’t possibly give out her
number.

“
You still don’t trust me,
do you?”

She bent her head back and
looked up at him. “Even if I didn’t trust you, which I’m not saying
I don’t—it wouldn’t necessarily mean I don’t
like
you.”

“
Yeah, I get the feeling
you don’t trust much of anybody.”

She was going to say, “You have good
instincts,” but he interrupted her.

“
I’d give you my number,
but we can’t have phones with us during training so it wouldn’t do
much good.”

“
Well, it’s not that I’m
against giving you my number, exactly.” Lauren inhaled deeply.
“It’s just that I don’t get very good service where I’m going. And
I don’t even carry my phone half the time, and if I do the battery
is generally dead.”

“
Hmm,” is all Rad said, as
if he didn’t believe her.

Lauren closed her eyes, not knowing
what else to say. The phone she had was for business, and as far as
she knew, her direct superior was the only one who had the
number.

“
A business phone would
work. I could leave a message.”

“
I’ll think about it,
Rad.”

She felt him draw a deep breath, like
a condemned person hearing that execution, though inevitable, had
been postponed.

“
Okay, well, think fast.
Time’s flying.”

As if by magic, the moon suddenly
burst out from behind a cloud, casting a brilliant beam of light
over the ocean that reflected off the water like a pathway to
heaven.

“
It’s the most beautiful
thing I’ve ever seen,” Lauren said excitedly, afraid to take her
eyes off the mystical sight in case the moon would become covered
again.

“
Yes. It is.”

The deep, sensuous tone of his voice
made Lauren look up, and she found herself staring straight into
his unwavering eyes.

“
I’m talking about the
moon,” she said after a moment’s hesitation.

“
I’m not.”

All was quiet for a breathless moment
as both seemed to wait to see what the other would do. Then a voice
interrupted the silence.

“
Rad! Rad! You out here
somewhere?”

“
I’m right here.” He
sounded disappointed as he stood and pulled Lauren to her
feet.

As they moved unhurriedly in the
darkness toward the low hum of voices, Rad seemed somehow taller
and more solid to Lauren, making her wish he would reach out and
hold her one last time. She had the feeling he wanted to do just
that—or at least say something—but if he did, he never had the
opportunity.

“
There they are.” Someone
from around the campfire had spotted them and pointed them out as
they walked up the beach.

“
Rad, get up here,” Wynn
shouted above the sound of the music. “We need you to settle
something.”

Both Rad and Lauren blinked at the
brightness of the low flames of the fire as they approached the
group standing around it. The size of the party had diminished to
just a handful of men, so Lauren knew it must be late.

“
Pops and Reese are having
a discussion about horses,” Wynn said. “They agreed to let you
settle it.”

“
If you had the choice,
would you want a Quarter horse or an Arabian?” Pops walked toward
Rad and handed him a beer. “I say Quarter horse is the better
breed. Reese likes Arabians.”

Lauren answered for him. “Seriously?
How about a Thoroughbred, or better yet, a Hanoverian?”

“
You got
to be kidding me,” Reese said. “What are
they
good for?”

Lauren shook her head. “Who wants a
weeny little Arabian or fifteen-hand Quarter horse between their
legs when they can have the power of a Hanoverian?”

Rad twisted off the cap of a beer and
spoke casually. “See guys, it’s like I’m always tellin’ ya.” He
took a long, slow sip before speaking again. “Size
matters.”

Lauren was the first to burst out
laughing, but the others soon joined in before starting to gather
their things to head back to their rooms.

“
We’re calling it a night.
You two kids have fun.” Wynn slapped Rad on the back, and the two
had a quiet conversation while Lauren said goodbye to Reese and
Pops.

“
You guys have something
to write with by any chance?”

After going through their pockets,
Pops came up with a pen, and Reese had a book of matches. Glancing
over her shoulder at Rad and Wynn still talking, Lauren ripped the
cover off the matches and scribbled something down. “Thanks, guys,”
she said. “Very nice meeting you.”

“
Hope to see you again.”
Pops shook her hand.

Lauren smiled. “Please thank Annie for
her hospitality. I had a great time.”

“
Will do. Ya’ll have a
good night.”

As Lauren watched the two fade away
into the darkness, she heard Rad’s voice behind her still talking
to Wynn.

“
Yeah. We’ll douse the
fire before we head up.”

She finished folding the matchbook
cover into a tiny sliver just as Wynn reached her. “Nice to meet
you, Lauren.”

When she turned around, he surprised
her by giving her a hug. “That guy’s a keeper. Just sayin’,” he
whispered before letting her go and waving one last
time.

Lauren gurgled with amusement that
Rad’s friend would provide such an endorsement. She wondered if Rad
had put him up to it.

“
I wish you would do that
more often.” Rad stood by the fire, kicking sand onto the dying
embers.

Confused by his serious tone, Lauren
stopped smiling. “Do what?”

“
Laugh, dummy.”

“
Give me some time. I’m
getting better.” She bent down and picked up a discarded cup
someone had forgotten. “There was a time when I didn’t do it at
all.”

“
Really?” Rad looked over
at her. “When?”

Lauren walked to a trash can to get
rid of the cup but turned her head toward him.

“
Before you.”

Chapter 10

Rad and Lauren stood by
the fire that was little more than a smoking pile of warm embers
now. Nothing but inky blackness surrounded them, and nothing but
the sound of waves reached their ears. It was as if they were in
their own world of darkness and shadows.

Lauren gazed up at the sky, which was
now completely devoid of starlight or moonshine. “Wow. It’s really
dark.”

“
It’s always darkest right
before the dawn.”

“
You had to say that,
didn’t you?” Lauren hesitated a moment. “I’ve been afraid to check
the time, but I know I need to get going.”

Rad glanced at his watch. “It’s
0530.”

Lauren inhaled a sharp breath of
anguish, and without thinking, put her hands to her face in dismay
and disbelief.

“
Hey, there’ll be none of
that.” Rad spoke with quiet authority as he moved toward her. “I
want to see that smile.” He seemed big as a mountain and just as
solid as he pulled her hands away and wrapped his arms around
her.

Lauren laid her cheek against his
heart and reveled in his comforting embrace. She forced a smile and
tried to sound cheerful. “The last twenty-four hours reminds me of
that song from the show Aida.”

“
Something about being
given paradise—but only for a day?”

Lauren looked up at him curiously “I
didn’t really expect you to know it.”

He laughed. “Then why did you say
it?”

“
I don’t know.” Lauren
continued to shake her head and stare at him. “But I definitely
didn’t peg you as a fan of tragic love stories.”

“
Not just tragic ones.” He
tried to defend himself. “Anyway, we’re just saying goodbye—not
being buried alive in a tomb like Aida.”

The comment made Lauren smile and
laugh, and then almost cry because she was laughing again even
though it felt like her insides were being ripped to
shreds.

She bent down to pick up the container
of water Wynn had left and dumped it on the remaining embers,
watching the smoke rise in the air. Then she walked to the trash
can to throw it away while Rad mounded sand up where the fire had
been.

He motioned for her when he was done.
“Guess we’d better head back toward your hotel.”

She nodded as she came up beside him.
“Thanks for today, Rad. It was nice to forget the rest of the world
for a little while.”

He threw his arm over her shoulder and
squeezed her close to him. “I’d be glad to do it again
sometime.”

Lauren just smiled and nodded as he
slid his hand down and laced his fingers with hers. There was no
talking now as each of them became lost in their own thoughts. At
last Lauren looked up, and seeing where they were, turned toward
the Boardwalk. She nodded toward the hotel. “That’s it.”