Walker: The Rodeo Legend by Rebecca Winters

Author:Rebecca Winters
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2010-04-01T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

May 25

Walker surveyed the assembled group of vets from the doorway of the conference room. Dr. Bader nodded to him. “It looks like you’ve brought someone with you. Come on in and find a seat in the circle.”

Cupping Paula’s elbow, he ushered her over to some empty chairs next to Stan, who’d told him about the Tang. Every guy followed her progress with varying reactions that ranged from blatant male interest to disinterest, to vague hostility over a woman’s presence. There were eight in the room, including Dr. Bader.

“As all of you know, you’re welcome to bring anyone you like to these sessions. Walker Cody is the most recent addition to our group. Please introduce your guest.”

“This is Paula Olsen. Her husband was killed in an explosion in Afghanistan eighteen months ago. She has a two-year-old son and is still dealing with issues that haven’t been resolved. I told her she could address them here.”

“Welcome, Mrs. Olsen. What we do here is totally informal. Anyone who has something to say can start.”

As several minutes passed without anyone taking the initiative, Walker felt as if he was at a poker game. Everyone was at a different intensity level and wore a different face, but nobody was prepared to show his hand.

To his surprise, Paula went first. “It’s pretty obvious my being here has stifled you gentlemen. It doesn’t intimidate me, but it does make me realize men have difficulty opening up in front of a woman. Even though I was Brent’s wife, he wouldn’t share his war experiences with me while he was deployed. I got angry about that.”

“Why?” One of the men spoke up in a surly tone. “You really wanted to know what he was doing out there in that hellhole day and night? You wanted him to tell you he’d just picked his buddy’s brains off his jacket because he hadn’t seen the ambush coming and it was his fault?”

“Yes,” she said without flinching. “I would have preferred that to the not knowing.”

He shook his head. “Your naïveté is pathetic.”

Walker’s hand automatically tightened into a fist.

“He went to war to protect me and Clay.”

“Was he in the Reserves?”

“Yes.”

“Then he never thought he’d serve time. No doubt he wanted a way to pay for his schooling and ended up being Uncle Sam’s pawn before he was sent home in a body bag.”

Her chin went up. “Whatever the reason that sends a man to war, the least I could do was listen to him if he wanted to tell me he was afraid so I could tell him I was afraid, too, and we’d get through it together. It hurt me to be deprived of that aspect of his life. In my anger, our communication suffered. I’ve been filled with guilt ever since. Can you understand that?”

“Hell no—”

“Speak for yourself!” another man interjected. “I’d have given anything if my wife had wanted to listen, but she didn’t. When I got home, she wanted life to get back to the way it was before I left.

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