Chapter Fifteen
“Man,Gunnar, I’m telling you, Sadie is amazing.” Bjørn pulled a soda out of Gunnar’s fridge and popped the tab.
“I know.” Gunnar grumbled from the kitchen table. “It’s all you’ve talked about since you got here.” He glanced at his watch. “Two hours ago.”
“Whatever.” Bjørn took a deep drink. The carbonation bubbled down his throat, adding its pop to his already excited nerves. “And it’s not all I’ve talked about.”
Gunnar didn’t say a word, just raised one eyebrow. He twirled his pen between his fingers, then tapped it on the table.
“Okay, sorry. I’ll focus.” Bjørn sat down with a huff and shifted the papers around in front of him. “It’s just that I’m not sure where to go from here with her.”
Gunnar pushed back from the table with a groan and threw the pen onto the papers. “We aren’t getting anything done, so talk.”
“Man, I don’t know. Like, I think she’s the one.” Bjørn pushed his hand through his hair as his neck heated. He sounded like such an idiot. “It’s crazy, and it all seems so fast. Is it possible to fall in love that quick, or is it just my need to check off the next thing on my list that’s making me lift off without doing a safety check first?”
“It’s possible.” Gunnar looked at his hands as he open and closed them. “Happened with me when I met Julie. Though, I guess a little different. One minute we were just friends, then suddenly she was so much more.”
Bjørn froze. Gunnar hadn’t talked about his high school sweetheart and only love since he left home for basic. Bjørn understood why Gunnar broke things off with her before going into the Air Force. He had needed to concentrate to become a pararescueman. What Bjørn didn’t understand was why Gunnar didn’t at least see what Julie was up to now. He obviously still had feelings for her, from his lack of dating anyone since they broke up and her unopened letters he carried in his pack. Finding them while Bjørn had looked for a flashlight had surprised him so much he hadn’t thought it smart to bring it up before. But now, all bets were off.
“You ever going to call her?” Bjørn’s question dropped into the space like a well-placed grenade. The pause was deafening.
“No.” Gunnar clenched his hands into fists and leaned his forearms on the chair’s armrest. “I botched it.” His gaze darted to his pack that he took everywhere, then down to the ground. Bjørn could almost feel the letters burning a hole through the material. “Probably married with kids. She doesn’t need me asking to catch up over coffee.”
“You never know. She might not have gotten married.” Bjørn hated that Gunnar thought there wasn’t hope. “Wouldn’t it be better to know than to always wonder?”
Gunnar shook his head. “I want her to be happy, but I’m not sure I could handle seeing it.”
“But what if she’s not?” Bjørn quickly continued when Gunnar’s head snapped up and his face went all stormy. “I mean, what if she’s not married, man? What if you could have a second chance with her?”
Gunnar shook his head and pushed off the chair, stomping to the kitchen. “We’re talking about you here, not me. Let it go.”
Bjørn wondered what it would be like to love someone as much as Gunnar obviously loved Julie but let her go for a greater cause. Is that what Bjørn would have to do with Sadie? Her father didn’t want them together. If they continued dating, would Will kick Bjørn off the SAR team? Bjørn shook his head at his thoughts. He didn’t think he could handle just flying tourists around. He needed to feel like he was helping, adding benefit to the community he called home.
“Sadie’s dad found out about that mission Yancy botched and blamed on me.” Bjørn rubbed his finger along the smooth wood of the table. “Doesn’t want me helping Sadie with her training and the TV show.”
“Your name got cleared,” Gunnar called from the kitchen.
“Yeah, but not everyone knows that part.” Frustration built in Bjørn’s chest at the injustice. “They only remember the juicy gossip. Doesn’t help that Will’s cousin is brass in SOAR.”
Gunnar grunted and turned the water on. Memories of the mission and months after ran through Bjørn’s brain, filling it to the brim with the anger, hurt, and dismay that had overwhelmed him during those months of investigation. He thought he’d put all that behind him. Guess he still had work to do on that end.
“Don’t worry.” Gunnar set his glass of water on the table with a clunk and sat. “The truth will surface.”
“Yeah.” Bjørn sank against the back of his chair with a sigh. “What should I do about Sadie? I mean, I’m out here to go over our business stuff, and all I can think about is calling to see how the shoot went. I’m like flying without instruments here. Should I power down or go ahead and lift off?”
Thirty-one years old, and he felt like a teenager with his first crush. He shouldn’t need his older brother to tell him what to do. He’d flown with SOAR as one of their top pilots, for Pete’s sake. He could handle pressure … unless it came to a certain brown-eyed woman who tackled life headfirst and had the scars to prove it.
Gunnar snorted. “Go call her. Don’t screw up like I did.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Be ready to work when you’re done.”
“Yes, sir.” Bjørn saluted and rushed out to the front porch.
Pulling up her contact on his phone, his mouth stretched into a goofy smile he couldn’t contain, and his heart pounded in his chest like he was firing a Vulcan M134. His shoes slapped hard against the wood planks of the porch as he paced back and forth while the phone rang on and on. She must still be busy. He stopped, his shoulders drooping as he prepared to leave a message.
“Hello? Bjørn?” Sadie’s out of breath voice had his insides jumping like he was a six-year-old hopped up on sugar.
“Hey, beautiful.” He leaned against the railing as his world suddenly righted and he could think straight. Oh, this was bad. It was like she was a drug, and he was addicted.
Her soft laugh settled warmth in his stomach. “What are you up to?”