Sanctuary Island by Lily Everett - Sanctuary Island 01 - Sanctuary Island

Author:Lily Everett - Sanctuary Island 01 - Sanctuary Island [Everett, Lily]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Contemporary, Romance
ISBN: 9781250018373
Google: d337AHkVcocC
Amazon: 1250018374
Barnesnoble: 1250018374
Goodreads: 16160774
Publisher: Macmillan
Published: 2012-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 18

“It’s not a pretty story, but it’s not some deep, dark secret, either.” Grady tried to laugh, but it sounded kind of choked. “You sure you want to ruin our afternoon with this?”

Determination hardened the lines of her jaw and sharpened her eyes to navy blue. “I’m sure.”

“Come on, we might as well get comfortable.” Heart hammering, Grady led her over to the large slanted boulder that served as a convenient backrest when he wanted to lose himself for a few hours in the infinite horizon.

This time, he took comfort in the familiarity of the view while he braced himself to go spelunking in the darkest corner of his own mind.

“I told you I was with Texas Task Force One.” Even now, he could hear the immediate surge of pride in his own voice. “Do you know what that is?”

She settled on the ground next to him, pulling her raised knees into her chest and wrapping her arms around them. “Not really, sorry.”

He shrugged. “It’s okay. We—they are an elite urban search-and-rescue team that operates out of Dallas. But we used to get sent all over the country, and even abroad sometimes, whenever there were disasters—man-made or natural. The force was there to sift through the rubble in the aftermath of September eleventh, and we went into New Orleans after Katrina hit.”

Every bit of Ella was intent on his story, her entire body inclined toward him and her eyes fixed, unblinking, on his face. “Search and rescue,” she said. “Tell me what you did, exactly.”

He rolled his shoulders, remembering the weight of his gear. “We did it all. Whatever it took, when people were in trouble, we went in and got them out. Floods, collapsed buildings, earthquakes, train derailments, you name it, Texas Task Force One has dealt with it.”

“It sounds like worthwhile work. You must have done a ton of training to prepare you for such a variety of situations.”

“More than ninety hours of training a year, in addition to the cross-training for the specialist position I held on the structural engineering team.”

Ella’s gaze flickered and went transparent. For a moment, Grady imagined he could read the thoughts spooling out into her active mind.

“So.” He took a stab at it. “How did a guy who trained with the best and worked a job like that for years wind up a handyman on a tiny island, rescuing nobody but the occasional wild horse that gets caught in a bramble patch?”

Red scorched up her neck and into her cheeks. “I’m not judging you,” she said hurriedly. “Really. But the task force sounds like a job that requires a level of dedication and commitment that, honestly, I can barely even imagine … and I’ve literally been diagnosed as a workaholic by a mental health professional!”

“You needed a professional to tell you that? I pegged it the minute I met you.”

That got her to quirk a smile and slug him in the shoulder.

Grady grinned, feeling a little easier in his skin. “I get it, though.

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