Chapter 1
Jake
It feels weird walking around Oakside without Atticus at my side. Since the day I got him, my therapy dog has pretty much been attached to me, and it's not far-fetched to say that he is my best friend. But walking around without him feels like I'm missing a limb.
When Dr. Tate approached me about dropping Atticus off for a patient to spend a little time with him, I was hesitant. Apparently, the patient hasn't been opening up to the doctor and thinks that she would be a good fit for a therapy dog, but wanted to see first.
Normally Paisley would just bring in her therapy dog, Molly, who meets with everyone here. But after Paisley found out that she was pregnant, she has had some bad morning sickness. So, she's been staying home and in bed.
Working security here at Oakside has been the best job I could ask for. Not only do I get to see my friends every day, but I also get to feel like I'm actually making a difference in other people's lives. Besides Atticus, Paisley's husband, Easton has become one of my best friends, and he's also my boss, being the head of security.
"Only fifteen more minutes. I really appreciate you doing this so Paisley didn't feel obligated to come in," Easton says as he walks up beside me and catches me checking my watch.
"I'm happy to help. It just feels really weird not to have him here," I confess.
"Yeah, I know the feeling. Even when Allie is here is in the backyard with the other dogs, it still feels like something's missing because she's not right at my side," he says of his own therapy dog.
Right now, like always, she is at his side and stands between us. On a good day, Easton hates being touched by anyone other than Paisley. So Allie is great at forcing space between Easton and other people. Though she’s more relaxed around me now. As if she could read my thought, she looked up at me and I swear she is smiling. I'd pet her, but she has her vest on, so I just return the smile.
I get why Dr. Tate didn't ask Easton to borrow his dog. Since he is head of security here, Easton needs her more than anyone else. Easton was a former prisoner of war so knowing that his therapy dog has his back means everything. Atticus is to help my calm my anxiety and to pull me out of any PTSD episodes. Having him around and knowing I'm not alone has helped more than I could have imagined.
Glancing at my watch again, I see there is less than ten minutes until the end of the patient's appointment and I can finally collect Atticus.
"I'm going to head over to Dr. Tate’s office. The appointment is almost over," I tell Easton, already moving off.
One thing I love about Oakside is all the natural light, so it never feels dark and gloomy. It was ingenious the way they planned the little courtyards. Because of them, there is always natural light even in the center of the place. An added benefit is almost everywhere you have easy access to an outside space.
When I get to Dr Tate's office, I check my watch again. Shrugging my shoulders, I figure it's close enough for the appointment to be over, so I knock on the door. I hear Dr. Tate chuckle on the other side before he opens it. Smiling, he steps aside and lets me in. "Well, you lasted longer than I thought you would," he greets me.
As soon as I stepped into the room, Atticus leaves the side of the patient and is right in front of me. Bending down, I pet him and give him a treat, letting him know that he acted correctly.
It's only then I glance up and see the patient looking back at me, her eyes wide.
"Jake?" she whispers. It’s obvious that she’ in as much shock at seeing me here as I am at seeing her.
"Kassi?" I say, knowing there's no possible way that my brother's ex is sitting in a chair staring at me right now.
Though she looks a lot like the Kassi I know and remember. So, it has to be her, all grown up since I saw her last. Her blonde hair is longer and falls against her shoulder in waves. She no longer looks like the young girl who dated my brother. Now she’s a stunning woman staring back at me with full, kissable lips, and bright hazel eyes. Her figure is beautifully filled-out with curves for days.
"You two know each other?" Dr. Tate asks.
"She dated my younger brother. The last time I saw her was right before I shipped off to boot camp." Even though I’m speaking to him, I’m not taking my eyes off the woman in front of me.
"We broke up a couple of weeks after that," she says, staring right back at me.
It's then that I realized that if she's here in that chair talking to Dr. Tate, she joined the military as well. More to the point, if she's here, she was badly injured. My heart starts racing, and this protective instinct I haven't felt in a really long time takes over.
"I didn't know you joined up."
"Yes, I'm a nurse in the Army. You went into the Navy, didn't you?” she asks curiously.
"Yes, and then I joined the Navy Seals and was medically discharged a few years ago. What are you doing here? Are you okay?"
This time, she glances at Dr. Tate before looking back at me, and it’s obvious she's uncomfortable about discussing it.
"After I was deployed, the hospital I was stationed at was bombed. Unfortunately, I was injured," she says quietly. Though her tone clearly states that this is a topic that is not open for discussion.
"Well, I was going to go to the dining room and get some lunch. Would you like to join me?" I ask. One of the benefits of working here is any meals on my shift are covered. While the food they serve is all healthy stuff, it isn't half bad.
She hesitates before nodding. When she stands up, Dr. Tate hands her a set of crutches. That's when I noticed one of her legs was in a cast from her ankle past her knee. The blanket on her lap when I walked in had hidden it.
Remembering my time while I was healing at the hospital before Oakside was around, I know I hated having to explain my injuries. Even more so, I hated everyone trying to help me instead of letting me do things on my own.
So, while it pains me to not try to help her and do everything I can to make the walk to the dining room easier, I bite my tongue.
Leading the way with Atticus by my side, I glance at her a few times. I don't say a word and she smiles when she catches me checking on her. Only once we hit the dining room do I offer help.
There are dining room assistants who help those get their food that need it, like Kassi, who is on crutches.
"I'll grab a tray. Just tell me what you want," I say, and she nods as I grab a tray in each hand.
After we get our food, she picks a table in the back so that she can stretch her leg out without it being in anyone's way.
"So, what is your story? Since you know a little about mine," Kassi says once we are seated.
"I was on a few missions I can't talk about. All dangerous. I saw things that would haunt even the devil himself. On my last mission, the building collapsed around us. Crushed my arm, and it didn't heal back the way they wanted it to, especially since it was my shooting arm. Add in a diagnosis of PTSD, and anxiety, so they medically discharged me." I shrug like it's no big deal. Even though it totally turned my world upside down.
"So, is Atticus to help with your PTSD?" she asks.
"Mostly yeah," I say, leaving out the parts only Paisley, Easton, and my doctors know about.
"What made you join? You never talked about the military," I ask curiously.
I specifically asked her that question because I spent a lot of time with my twin brothers Brantley, Caden, and my youngest brother, North. During that time, Kassi dated Caden, and they spent a lot of time at the house with us and our mom. There were many family dinners and not one mention of the military from her.
"I hadn't thought much of it, but my parents split the start of my senior year and the divorce used up my college money. I didn't like the idea of starting my life in so much debt. Then I remembered what you had said about them paying for college, so I talked to a recruiter and ended up joining."
"How did your parents handle that?" I ask knowing it wasn't good.
"Mom blamed Dad for it saying if he hadn't cheated, they wouldn't have had to use my college money for a divorce, and I wouldn't have joined. All true. But I'd never tell her that because she has become insufferable to be around. I haven't even told them I'm here because I don't want them fighting while they’re visiting."
"They weren’t notified when you were hurt?" I’m shocked because the policy is to inform the family.
"I put it in my paperwork. They were to only be contacted if I died," she tells me looking sad.
Ouch. This isn't just some small fight then. She is really distancing herself from them. Just by how tense and stiff she is, it’s evident that she doesn’t want to talk about this much more.
“I get it. I didn’t want my brothers visiting either. They all took leave to come see me. But thankfully, Mom made them do it in shifts, so they weren't all there at once. The upside is I wasn't really alone while I was in the hospital."
"You weren't transferred here?" she asks.
"This place wasn't available then. It opened after I was released and on my own. Though I wish it had been open because it would have been better than rehab at the hospital for sure."
We talk some more about my brother and my mom, and other safe topics. Then we go on to catching up on people we went to school with and happenings around town. Because she was only a grade behind me after skipping a grade, we knew many of the same people.
Talking was always easy between us. But I still can't wrap my head around the fact that this is the same girl that would kick my ass in basketball every weekend and sat across from me at dinner talking to my mom like she had been part of the family her whole life.
That girl never made my heart skip a beat when she smiled at me.
That girl never made me feel this nervous around her.
And I sure as shit didn't have the kind of feeling for her as I do for the women in front of me.
Why the hell are things so different now?
