Chapter Two

Chapter Two

I went cold all over. I couldn't take my eyes off Ryan.

He strolled over as if nothing were going on, gestured for Kayla to lie down, and dropped to one knee beside her.

"Open chest wound. First you locate the wound, then you apply an occlusive dressing." As he spoke, he laid his palm flat on her chest. "Right here."

Someone in the crowd wolf-whistled.

"Kayla, didn't you say this class was super serious?"

"Why are you blushing?"

Kayla, flat on her back on the grass, shot back, "You'd blush too if the instructor touched you. Sorry he didn't pick you."

Another round of laughter.

Ryan didn't say a word to explain himself. He just looked down and smiled—a smile so fond and sweet it practically dripped honey.

My hands on the steering wheel were shaking, and I couldn't make them stop.

I waited until dinnertime and finally found Kayla in the cadet dining hall.

She and her roommates were laughing and shoving each other, loud enough to hear from halfway across the room.

"The instructor asks you to dinner and you say no? Who are you kidding, Kayla?"

"What do you know? Kayla has a plan."

Kayla cleared her throat to cover. "That's not a thing. I barely even know the instructor. Stop spreading rumors!"

I nearly laughed out loud.

Barely know him?

Barely knowing him gets you into my shower and my bed?

What does knowing him well get you—an audience? Me, sitting by the bed taking notes?

I carried my tray over and sat down across from them.

I was in civilian clothes, but between my age and the way I was dressed, Kayla could tell at a glance I wasn't a cadet.

She seemed a little tense, then suddenly smiled. "Ma'am, there are plenty of empty seats. No need to share a table, is there?"

I didn't play along. "Kayla, you know Ryan Calloway is my husband, don't you?"

Ryan was thirty. In the military, most officers his age are married.

Besides, our wedding photo had sat on his office desk for years. His cadets couldn't possibly have missed it.

I didn't believe for a second that she knew nothing.

Her roommates went silent.

Kayla, though, looked all wide-eyed innocence. "Oh! So you're Mrs. Calloway? What can I do for you, Mrs. Calloway?"

When I didn't answer, she put on a look of sudden understanding. "Did you see our field exercise this morning? Ma'am, you might not really understand how it works—that was a completely standard teaching exercise."

And who, exactly, was that little dig aimed at?

Did she really think I was just some officer's wife who sat at home waiting for her husband to come back from work?

I smiled. "You've done your surgery rotation, so you've read Principles of Surgery, I assume? My name's on the list of authors."

"And I'm not Mrs. Calloway."

"I'm Lieutenant Colonel Lauren Pierce, Deputy Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Alamo Army Medical Center."

"'Ma'am' will do."

Lieutenant colonel to second lieutenant. That wasn't a gap. That was a canyon.

The color drained from Kayla's face.

Like a reflex, she sat bolt upright in her chair. "Yes, ma'am."

"Your class rotates through cardiothoracic next month," I said. "I look forward to seeing you in my department, Lieutenant."

My gaze dropped to her wrist. A gold bangle gleamed softly under the dining hall lights.

"That's a beautiful bracelet."

I kept my voice even. "It belonged to my grandmother. My father left it to me when he died. I'd like it back, please."

Kayla's head jerked up.

Her lips moved. Her face flushed deep red.

In the end, the bracelet I'd thought was lost forever was back in my hand.

Four years ago, my father was dying of cancer.

Before he went, he pressed this bracelet into my hand. "Lauren, this was your grandmother's. It's a Pierce family heirloom. Pass it on for me."

"Ryan's good to you. That means I can go in peace... I want you to always be happy."

That day, Ryan held his hand, eyes red, and swore he'd take care of me.

A year ago, the bracelet disappeared.

I tore the whole house apart. For months I was sick with regret, lying awake night after night.

Ryan held me and said he'd buy me an even better one someday.

It never once occurred to me that he was already sleeping with Kayla back then.

That was when he'd started teaching her class.

Kayla had liked my bracelet, so he'd just given it to her.

I got home, and I had barely finished copying the dashcam footage when Ryan stormed into the garage and blocked the doorway.

"You went to the school today?"

"Lauren, whatever it is, why couldn't you come to me? Why did you have to humiliate Kayla in front of all those people?"

"Are you even an adult?"