Lucy & the Lieutenant by Helen Lacey

Author:Helen Lacey
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2016-08-15T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

I’ll be around...

Brant had been hearing those words in his head for three days.

Even with a busy weekend, traveling back and forth to the hospital to visit Joe, and then immersing himself in the renovation for the tavern, he couldn’t get Lucy from his thoughts. He’d said too much. Admitted too much. And he couldn’t believe he’d asked her if she was going to be at the appointment with him. No wonder she thought he was a head case who needed a shrink.

He lingered outside Dr. Allenby’s small office at the veterans home five minutes before his appointment. He knew the doctor reasonably well and respected his abilities as a counselor. But that didn’t mean he wanted to bare his soul to the other man. There was no one else in the office other than the middle-aged receptionist who kept glancing his way every time he moved.

Just over an hour later he was forced to admit that it hadn’t been as bad as he’d expected. Dr. Allenby didn’t try to force him to talk about the war. Instead Brant spoke about his uncle and the tavern and what it was like being back in Cedar River after so many years away. Of course, he wasn’t entirely fooled. It was about gaining trust. Therapists employed tactics just as soldiers did. But at least Brant didn’t break out into a cold sweat or completely shut down to the idea of conversation.

And he knew why.

Lucy.

He’d made a promise and he didn’t want to disappoint her. Over the past week he’d seen enough hurt in her eyes and it was almost unbearable. Thinking about what she’d been through made him want to wrap her in his arms and protect her from the world. Of course he couldn’t. He wouldn’t. She wasn’t his to protect. Besides, it sounded old-fashioned and foolish. She was a smart, independent woman who could obviously look after herself. Still...the thought lingered because imagining her hurt or in trouble somehow switched on something in his brain and made him feel protective and stupidly macho at the same time.

When he walked out of Dr. Allenby’s office he saw Lucy sitting by the door, her head down, flicking through a magazine. He stopped in his tracks when she looked up and met his gaze.

“Hi,” she said and placed the magazine down on the small table in the middle of the waiting area.

“Hi, yourself.”

She got to her feet. “How did it go?”

He briefly raised one shoulder. “Okay.”

She was just about to respond when the receptionist spoke. “Mr. Parker, will you be making another appointment to see the doctor?”

Brant’s instinct was to reply with a resounding no. But he looked at Lucy and saw her gazing at him questioningly. As though she expected him to say no but hoped that he’d say yes. And, foolishly, he didn’t want to disappoint her.

“Sure,” he said, ignoring the heat filling his chest at the idea of another session under scrutiny. “How about the same time

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