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“Uncomfortable?”
“Yeah, I’d go so far as to say that.”
“You’re an ex-SEAL. I know you have intuition amped up your ass and back down to your socks. What’s your feel on his reaction?” Willow was going to put the screws to Wyatt. She liked the Texas cowboy’s laid-back nature.
“Honestly? I felt his discomfort was more about him than you. I think he feels that he’s matured, that three years of water under the bridge can allow him to work professionally with you, and not get trapped in your collective past.”
“Hmmm.”
“What’s that mean?”
“It’s going to be an adjustment,” she said more to herself than him. “I’m okay with it because, God knows, these people need all the help they can get. That local gang, Tefere David’s one, is a thorn in everyone’s side. I know the general has his men trying to find the bastard, but he’s really causing a lot of pain and suffering here in the provinces, Wyatt. We honestly need that ten-foot-high cyclone fence with razor wire strung across the top of it to protect all those Delos schools and charities. David is targeting the charity because we have food, water and money at each site. And one of these days? He’s either going to kill the employees or he’ll start kidnapping the children or teachers, holding them for high ransom or he’ll behead them.”
“I hear you, Willow. So? You think you can get beyond the past and deal with Porter on a professional level, then? It sounds like it, but you need to tell me.”
“Is Shep in a relationship presently?”
“Not that I know of, but we never discussed that aspect of it. On his resume he put ‘single’ if that counts. Most of the civil engineers in our employ are single or divorced. They go out on a year-long assignment like this one. They can’t bring their loved ones along with them because of the dangers involved in the countries we work in. So, everyone else I know of in that division does not have a family, nor are they in a serious relationship presently.”
“I know the type,” Willow said. Shep had always had one-night stands before meeting her, not any long-term relationships, he’d said, because of the moving around that he had to do for his job. Military engineers were tumbleweeds in Willow’s opinion; footloose and fancy free.
“So?” Wyatt challenged in his best Texas drawl, “what do you think, Willow? Want to take that pony out for another spin? Try him out?”
She smiled, always loving his Texas colloquialisms. “Sure, but what if it doesn’t work?”
“I told Shep, just like I’m tellin’ you, that if it gets to be too much, if you or he can’t keep it at a professional level? To call me. We’ll get a replacement for him and he’ll fly out of your life, simple as that.”
“I needed to hear that from you. I love what I do here, Wyatt. I don’t want to leave. Dev and I are a good team and we do good work here.”
“Yes, and we don’t want that disrupted, Willow. You’re committed and we appreciate everything you and Dev bust your asses over for Delos. If this goes south? It will be Porter who will be asked to leave. Not you two. Okay?”
A load slid off her shoulders. “Yeah.”
He laughed. “It’s kinda tough to find any pilots who love dirt strips out in the middle of nowhere,” he drawled, teasing her. “We’ll keep paying the toll for you two ladies. You’re the best.”
She laughed a little. “Thanks for the compliment.” Willow had a dream of living in Oregon, in the gorgeous Cascade Mountain Range, hiring an architect to create a cedar log cabin for her. That dream was her future, and her nest egg was growing well enough, but not even close to hatching right now.
“Okay, then, pardner, let’s make this official. You’re saying yes to Porter coming over there?”
She swallowed a little, convulsively, her heart suddenly taking off in an unexpected flutter. “Yes, I am.”
“You know he still looks like a California surfin’ dude, still has that short beard, and tousled hair. I think he likes not having to shave daily.”
“He was like that back at Bagram, never shaved often and they never got after him.”
“That’s because he was a good leader and manager of people in a pigsty situation. He was, and still is, a good officer, in my opinion.”
“I guess I’ll keep my surfboard jokes out of our conversations,” she said.
“Lake Tana ain’t no surfboarding kind of place,” Wyatt agreed, with a chuckle. “Still, he’s the surfer dude by looks, but I sense he’s matured a lot since you two broke up. Just my SEAL intuition, now, you understand?”
“SEAL intuition is gold in my world,” she promised him. “Thanks for the update on him, Wyatt. I feel things will be okay between us. Three years is a long time. Most people mature over time.”
Chuckling, Wyatt said, “Women mature far more than any man.”
“No kidding,” and she laughed, ending the call.
CHAPTER 3
