Finish the Course (The Barnes Family Book 1) (17 page)

              Slater shook his head, “Porter, stay here and keep an eye on those three. The rest of you, come with me. We’ve got a run to finish.”

              Slater resumed his pace and slogged through the mud with thirty men following behind. They circled back to the point of the accident. Slater was glad to see Harrison was no longer in the ditch and there was evidence they had taken him back to camp.

              “You think we’ll overtake them?” Hall was next to him.

              “Probably, but I hope they have the sense to stay out of our way.”

              “How’s Barnes?” Hall didn’t beat around the bush.

              “Fine,” his tone was meant to convey it was none of the other man’s business.

              “She pissed at you for something?”

              Apparently, Slater had not used the right tone the first time.

              “There’s Porter,” perhaps a change of topic would help.

              “You know, you’ll be better off talking about it now than waiting for it to fester.”

              “Amen to that,” DeWitt agreed from behind Slater.

              Slater sped up.

              The medics and Harrison moved quickly out of the way, but not before Slater caught sight of Harrison’s face. He glanced at Hall and held up a hand.

              “Company, halt!”

              The order floated to the back and the men came to a rest in the rain and mud. Slater took a fortifying breath, glanced at Hall’s amused face, and walked back in the ranks to speak to the medics.

              “Grover,” he looked at the older of the two, “what happened to Harrison’s face?”

              “He landed on it, sir.”

              A roll of chuckles passed through the group.

              Slater looked at the second medic, “Caine?”

              “Sir?’ the soldier was just a kid.

How had he made it into special forces?

              “What caused him to land on his face?”

              “The fall, sir.”

              Another ripple of amusement was stopped short by Slater’s glare.

              “And what caused the fall?”

              Porter was clearly trying not to laugh.

              Caine straightened, “We didn’t strap him in and he fell off the stretcher as we carried him up the hill, sir.”

              Slater’s lips twitched. The incident would certainly account for Harrison’s face looking like he was trying a mud facial.

              Slater looked to Hall who, at the moment, anyhow, had better control of his features.

              Hall looked at Harrison, then back to Caine, “We do not carry our men around in such a manner, if we can help it, soldier. Please show the sergeant a little respect and wipe off his face.”

              Hall turned back to Slater who still had his back to the injured man and his medics, “Ready, chief?”

              Slater nodded.

              Hall gave the order to resume the run.

              With all the delays, it was nearly four hours before the men were back from their run.

              “I’m going to see Chung,” Hall called into the shower, “you wanna come with me?”

              “Give me two minutes,” Slater called back.

              When they arrived at the hospital, Anna was sitting with Chung.

              “How was your run?” she barely looked at Slater and directed her attention to Hall.

              “Not boring,” Hall took the other chair, leaving Slater to stand.             

              “How are you feeling?” Slater spoke to the patient.

              “Tired,” he tried to shrug, but it took too much energy.

              “Whatever they gave him to help him breathe is making him sleepy,” Anna explained.

              “Harrison is in now,” Hall informed his sick brother, “he sprained an ankle on the run.”

              Chung managed a slight smile.

Slater stood behind Anna, but he had better sense than to put his hand on her shoulder, “The new guys went down to get him and dumped him face first back into the mud.”

              Chung started to laugh, which caused him to cough.

              “Nice going,” Hall chastised his CO.

              Chung waved his hand, “Was (cough) worth it (cough).”

              The nurse came in shortly and shooed them from the room.

They stopped in briefly to speak to Harrison.

“You remember a couple weeks ago when you said you’d do a rematch any time, any place?” Anna folded her arms across her chest as she looked at the man sitting on the edge of the bed.

Harrison grinned at the woman.

“I choose now, Sergeant,” she hooked a thumb toward the door. “Let’s go.”

“Okay,” he tried to stand up. “Just give me a second to ditch Nurse Ratched.”

The pretty redhead put a hand on the man’s chest and shoved him back down, “No rematches tonight.”

“Is it broken?” Slater was a bit impatient with the banter since it seemed Anna was going to be on good terms with everyone but him.

“We’re still waiting for the x-ray, but Captain Garrett didn’t think so.”

“Garrett is usually right,” Hall raised an eyebrow at Slater. “I can wait here with Harrison.”

Anna recognized the dismissal, so she waved at the patient and turned to leave.

              “Anna,” Slater caught up with her before she stormed out of the hospital, “can we talk?”

              She spun around, “Okay.”

Her arms folded across her chest did not seem an encouraging sign.

              “How about I take you out to supper?”

              She glared at him and then turned from him.

              He followed.

              “Anna,” he caught up with her and reached for her arm, “can you at least give me a ride back? I didn’t drive.”             

              She didn’t answer, but she didn’t tell him to go fly a kite either.

              “I really would like to take you to get something to eat, Anna,” he said once they were in the car.

              She turned on the car and flipped a switch for the windshield wipers, “Why? Because you’re hungry and I’m as good company as any of the other guys?”

              He looked at her, more confused than ever.

              “Anna,” he reached for her hand, but she pulled it back to herself, “I really do not know what is wrong. If you really want to go out on Valentine’s Day, we can. Although, truthfully, I doubt I could get a reservation now.”

              “I don’t care about Valentine’s Day, Slater.”

              He inhaled through his nose, determined not to get frustrated with the circles in this conversation.

“Okay. How about supper tonight, then?”

              She fastened her seatbelt, “Where to?”

              “I don’t really care, Anna,” he knew he needed to tread lightly. “Chinese? Pizza Hut?”

              She nodded and moved to put the car in drive.

              Something still wasn’t right. He had to stop her.

              “Anna, wait.”

              She put the car in park so she could turn and scowl at him.

              “Are you not hungry? We don’t have to go eat. We could go play some ball or catch a movie.”

              She narrowed her eyes further.

              “What?” he threw up his hands, “I know I’m a complete and utter moron, but would you just tell me why?”

              “I’m not a guy, Slater.”

              He waited for the rest of it, but nothing came.

              “I know that, Anna,” he explained, “We’re dating, in case you’ve forgotten, and we certainly would not be if you were a guy.”

              “You treat me like a guy,” she shot back at him, “Like one of your men!”

              He sat back in his seat and stared at her.

              She folded her arms over her chest and looked away from him.

              “Anna,” the light was beginning to dawn, “have I said something to make you believe I don’t think you are attractive to me?”

              She shook her head but didn’t look at him.

              “You’re a beautiful woman, and I like all the girly things about you.”

              She glanced back to him, still skeptical.

              Slater thought about the colonel’s words earlier, “I’m sorry I’ve been neglecting you as a woman, Anna. I’m guessing I’ve missed dozens of chances to be romantic, but if you’ll forgive my stupidity, I’ll try to be more romantic in the future. I’ll even take you out on Valentine’s Day.”

              Anna looked at him, her lips pursed, “I really don’t want to go out in the crowds then.”

              He laughed a little, “You just wanted me to notice you. I get it.”

              She swiped at a tear that hadn’t obeyed her order to disappear.

              “Please don’t cry, Anna,” he caught the tear on her other cheek.

              “Because it’s too girly?”

              The enormity of what he had done – or hadn’t – hit him.

              “Anna,” he pulled her hand to his mouth, “I am so sorry I haven’t been treating you like a woman. I’m sorry you feel like I take all your feelings for granted. It’s not too girly to cry. You can cry all you like, but it breaks my heart that I hurt you. I love every girly thing about you.”

              She planted her head on the steering wheel, “I’m sorry I overreacted.”

              “I don’t think you did,” he mentally kicked himself for ignoring what his team had been telling him. “I think I haven’t been treating you right.”

              He leaned across the center console and pressed a kiss to her cheek, “Forgive me?”

              She nodded and blinked, “Supper?”

              “If you want, we can go to the grocery store and pick up something to make.”

              She turned the corner, “Are you inviting yourself over to my house?”

              “Not necessarily. We could go make it the team kitchen.”

              She pulled up to the stop light, “Better buy a lot of groceries.”

              “Most of the guys are out tonight anyway,” he assured her.

              She drove toward the grocery store, “I think we should go to my house, Slater. I was just teasing you.”

              They got what they needed, and Slater was soon at the stove.

              He had worn street clothes to the hospital, but nobody would mistake him for a civilian. His bearing would give him away even if his hair did not. Somehow, even his polo shirt and crisp jeans looked like standard military issue.

              “I’m going to go change,” she stood up and left the room.

              Anna knew she had overreacted that morning, but she honestly wondered if Slater knew there was a difference between her and his men. She threw off her uniform and grabbed a pair of jeans.

              “No wonder he thinks you’re just like the guys,” she muttered to herself.

              She walked to her closet and searched through to the back. She smiled when she found what she had been looking for. It was a deep green knit dress. It wasn’t very fancy, but it was very feminine.

              She pulled it on over her head. The capped sleeves showed off her tones arms, and the scooped neck accentuated her figure without showing any cleavage

              She pulled on some black stockings and high heels before going into the bathroom to reapply her makeup. Releasing her hair from its bun at the nape of her neck, she simply brushed through it and left it down.

              “Anna?” Slater was coming down the hall to find her just as she was putting earrings in.

              “Yes?” she came out of the bathroom to meet him.

              He stopped dead in his tracks.

              She brushed by him on the way to the kitchen, “You ready?”

              He spun and followed her.

              She seated herself and waited for him to join her.

              “You look really nice,” he finally sat down. “I feel underdressed.”

              She was glad he wasn’t more formally attired, “I just thought you needed a reminder.”

              “Of what?” he poured the wine.

              “That I’m not a guy.”

              “Anna,” he sounded pained, “I do not think of you as one of the guys.”

              He served her some pasta, “I am so sorry that I have been treating you in a way that would even allow that thought to cross your mind.”