Songs of the Rainbow by Kellie Coates Gilbert

Author:Kellie Coates Gilbert [Gilbert, Kellie Coates]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Amnos Media Group

18

The road to Haleakalā Highway was proof that, on Maui, the shortest distance between two points was rarely a straight line. After seventeen winding miles, they finally arrived at the summit.

Aiden eased the Range Rover next to an empty tour bus and parked. “Well, this is it.”

He had to admit he’d enjoyed the conversation with Meghan on the way up. They had talked a lot about work-related stuff...the upcoming diving training next week, the requisition he’d put in for a second emergency vehicle, and the need for a single-serve coffee maker in the kitchen.

“The coffee gets stale in that glass carafe,” she’d told him. “I vote for a new Keurig with all those little individual K-cups. The guys and I decided we’d take up a donation, if necessary.”

Something in the lilt of her voice made his heart beat a bit faster.

“No worries. We can finagle the budget somehow.” He’d secretly foot the bill himself, if needed, just to please her.

Now, sitting in the car in the parking lot, their conversation turned to more personal matters. “So, tell me about your dad.”

The question caught him off guard. Intimate topics always made him feel unsteady. “Uh, what do you want to know?”

“You never talk about him.”

He hesitated. Talking about his dad wasn’t his favorite subject, and for a good reason. “I loved him very much.”

Meghan seemed to weigh the statement. “Why?”

Aiden’s eyebrows lifted. “Why? Well, many reasons. Lincoln Briscoe was a good man. I have many great memories.”

He smiled, recalling one of his favorites. He told Meghan about when his dad flew him to Washington for a Seattle Seahawks game. “My dad loved football. He told me some of the best leadership lessons could be learned on the field. For example, the need to know when to carry the ball and when to pass it off to someone else. My dad was a proponent of the need for teamwork. He was a huge people person with an outgoing personality. He believed that people rarely win on their own without the help of others.”

“Ah, that explains a lot about how you got your leadership skills,” she said. She pointed to the back seat. “You thirsty? I can grab a can of soda from the cooler.”

“Nah, I’m good.” Aiden adjusted the heater control on the dashboard to ward off the chill from the air at this altitude.

“Tell me more about your dad,” Meghan urged. “I love to hear about him.”

Aiden pondered this for a brief second. It’d been months since he’d let the accident and the aftermath back into his mind. Some things are better left on a mental shelf. Still, she had trusted him with the knowledge that she was a foster kid. For that reason, he found himself wanting to confide in her.

“Dad used to tell me his secrets—just me. Once, he confided that when Mom got mad at him, he’d tighten the pickle jar so she’d have to talk to him and ask for his help.”

Meghan laughed. “Clever.”

Aiden nodded. “I know, right?”

Several moments of silence passed before Aiden gathered the courage to continue.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.