“There she is over there.”
Frederick pointed toward the right, and sure enough, a crowd of four men surrounded her. She looked incredible. The black cocktail dress hugged her shapely figure, and her long brown hair hung past her lower back in an abundance of curls. She looked as sweet and youthful as he remembered. Shocked the crap out of him and the other soldiers that she could shoot the way she did and react as swiftly.
She caught sight of him, completely dismissed the four naval officers she was with, and headed toward him.
“Look at that. Maybe you do have a chance,” Frederick teased, and Red shook his head at Frederick.
“She’s younger than my youngest son,” he replied as Cassidy approached.
She immediately stopped, stood straight at attention, and saluted him. Red saluted her back, and then she embraced him.
“My God, Cass, you look incredible. How the hell are you?” Red asked.
“I’m doing well, sir. How about yourself? Retirement life all it’s talked up to be?”
“You tell me. I hear you’ve left the Corps and are now engaging in some sort of civilian affair. Sounds boring.”
She chuckled, her hazel eyes sparkling as she glanced at Frederick then back at Red.
“I wouldn’t say that. I’m keeping busy. I was working at the military hospital for a while but then started focusing on private care. I’m currently working at a small non-profit agency in Houston.”
“As a nurse?” he asked.
“Not in surgery or trauma like before. I’ve decided to slow things down a bit. I enjoy helping injured soldiers get back on their feet again and work out regimens of physical therapy, nutrition, and exercise. You name it. It’s a new way of approaching the special physical and psychological aspects of a soldier’s experience with combat and their injuries.”
Red was really impressed. He couldn’t help but want to learn more about Cass’s new profession.
“Can I grab you a drink? Maybe you can tell me more about this new profession. Do you work privately as well?” he asked.
Frederick chuckled.
“That’s a hell of a line, sir. I’ll leave you two alone,” Frederick said, and Cass chuckled as Red pointed at Frederick.
“You watch it. She could be my daughter. Remember that.”
“Well then, I’ll be back in a little bit to see if I can make some leeway and get Cass to accept a dinner date with me,” Frederick said and winked at Cass.
Cass walked with Red and smiled. “He’s harmless. Besides, he might be a little jealous because I declined his offer of a date.”
Red turned to look down at her. She was about five feet seven, but Red was six feet two.
“He’s a good man, Cass. He just acts like a flirt, but I bet he would be loyal to you.”
She looked away.
“I’m not really interested right now.”
He asked what she wanted to drink, and she said white wine, so the bartender poured it for her.
“You sound like you had a bad experience.”
She looked at him, and he could see the sadness in her eyes. But then it quickly disappeared. She had always been tough, especially on the outside.
“Not my business. I didn’t mean to pry.” He raised his hands.
“No, sir, it’s just fairly new. I got involved with the wrong guy. Fell for the charms, the money, and well, it got bad quickly. I think I’m better off helping people and working in my profession than anything else.”
“Did he hurt you?”