Chapter 18
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A VERY CLICKED ON RYAN’S email Saturday night, smiling as she saw the pictures of him playing volleyball that afternoon. He’d sent a couple candid shots as well, and it was bittersweet to look through them. She’d become friendly with the women dating his teammates, and their lives were all moving on in Hawaii without her.
She didn’t think it would sting so much to miss out on things, but having the few pictures just made her see that life continued on anyway.
Aaron was in the background of one photo, with Emersyn naturally right at his side. She wondered if Aaron would pop the question soon. It would be fun to have a sister-in-law, and Avery was positive her brother and Emersyn would eventually get married someday. The question in her mind was only ‘when?’ Avery realized that she didn’t even know if Ryan had siblings. He’d never mentioned any, but then again, they didn’t know everything about one another. Maybe he had siblings but they weren’t close. It was one of the many things she’d have to get to know about him.
Quickly finishing off her email, she asked him exactly that at the end, then clicked the send button.
Avery had glossed over her issues with Dr. Walters in her message to Ryan. The guy was annoying, but it was nothing she couldn’t handle. She dealt with her fair share of arrogant doctors and surgeons back in California. She’d do her best to ignore his annoying behavior, and life would go on.
She zoomed in on the shot of Ryan, looking at him wistfully. It was hard falling asleep at night without hearing his deep, sexy voice telling her goodnight. Sure, it had been over the phone in the past, but it always gave her a sense of comfort. Not being able to talk with him was rough. They’d tried a video chat over the Internet, but the connection was too slow on her end to be more than a pixelated image. It was enough of a miracle that any photos had come through. He’d zipped them into a file to make them easier to download, and it always made her feel good to see his smiling face.
“How long have you and your man been together?” Luciana asked, noticing Avery looking at the picture on her laptop screen.
Avery’s gaze landed on her friend. “Well, officially, just over a month. We were friends first for a long time because he works with my brother.”
Luciana laughed, coming over to look more closely at Ryan’s photo. “That’s right. That sounds like trouble. Military, no? I can tell. There’s nothing like a strong military man.”
Avery’s ears perked up. “You’re single, right? There is another single guy on their team. He’s a total player though.”
Her friend shook her head. “No, no. I don’t need any man who’s got a wandering eye. That’s more trouble than it’s worth, and I’m too old for that sort of thing.”
“What? You’re barely older than me,” Avery protested.
“My life has been very different than yours,” Luciana pointed out.
Avery sobered. The other nurse wasn’t wrong. “Well, it wouldn’t be easy to date him anyway given that he lives in Hawaii.”
“Hawaii? That sounds downright luxurious compared to Bajo Chiquito. Maybe I will go there and find me a cute cabana boy,” she teased.
“They wouldn’t know what to do with you,” Avery said with a giggle. “Did the group finish unloading all the supplies from the truck?” she asked, changing the subject. “I offered to help, but Dr. Walters shooed me away.”
“Tsk. Tsk. That is a surprise. Normally he’s happy ordering us nurses around. Then again, he favors you.”
“I’m sorry,” Avery said.
“It’s not your fault Mr. American Doctor thinks he’s better than the rest of us. I will be sad when you leave next year, but him? Please. Send him off tomorrow, thank you very much.”
Avery frowned. “Did anything else happen with him?”
“Si. Ada asked if she could take some of the supplies back to the medical tents. We’re low on plastic gloves and know he ordered more. Dr. Walters was belligerent with her, ordering Ada not to touch anything before he looked through the boxes.”
“That’s weird. Do you think he’s hiding something?”
Luciana shrugged. “What could it be? We were all with him today picking up the supplies. Everything was labeled, but I didn’t inspect the packages.”
“But those other boxes were missing from the storage cabinet,” Avery pointed out.
Luciana shook her head. “No. We compared everything to the inventory list. There was an empty space where the boxes had been, si, but according to our supply list, all was accounted for.”
Avery’s computer dinged with a new email, and she smiled as she saw Ryan’s name.
“Ah. Lover boy,” Luciana said, pretending to swoon. “I’ll let you read your messages.”
Avery laughed but let her go, happy that Ryan had responded so quickly. Since he’d emailed her earlier, she hadn’t expected to hear from him so quickly. She eagerly clicked on his email.
Guy sounds like an ass, Av. There are plenty of dicks like him in the Navy, too. Men who think they’re in charge of the world. Let me know if he causes you any problems.
The beach was fun today, but I missed you. It wasn’t the same without you there letting me rub sunscreen all over your bare skin.... xx Ryan
Avery flushed, the memory clear in her mind as well.
They’d been to the beach together plenty of times, but there’d only been once where his hands had been on her. That entire weekend was burned into her mind. His kisses. His touch. His mouth on hers and cock buried deep inside her body.
Inexplicably, tears filled her eyes. She’d been so sure she wanted this job, and the reality was, it was more difficult than she’d imagined.
***
“W HAT’D YOU ORDER?” Avery asked the next morning, watching as Dr. Walters unloaded some new boxes from the back of a truck, stacking them up beside the building. They were different than the ones they’d just picked up yesterday—rectangular in shape rather than square. Unlabeled as well, she noted. It seemed odd that he’d gotten more supplies less than twenty-four hours later and that he was out here alone so early. They normally had regular deliveries, and the team would head up to Panama City as a group if additional items were needed.
His head snapped in her direction, Dr. Walters looking surprised to see her at this early hour. “Just some needed supplies,” he said brusquely.
She nodded, wondering why he was being so vague. They did inventory every day, so it wasn’t unusual to chat about new things coming in. Just then, Luciana and Ada came walking out of the building where they were housed, conversing among themselves.
“Hola!” Ada called out.
Avery waved. She’d already seen Luciana that morning, given that they were roommates. “Hola! I love your hair,” she added. While the women had little time for primping in the field, Ada had recently begun braiding her long, thick hair and twisting it up and away from her face to deal with the heat. Avery wasn’t even sure what the style was called, but it suited her.
“And what about me?” Luciana joked, twirling around.
“Muy caliente,” Avery teased, recalling how Luciana had said that about Ryan’s photo.
“Nurses,” Dr. Walters said before turning back to the boxes. Luciana rolled her eyes as he busied himself with grabbing the last ones, and Avery bit her lip. He was always short with them.
“Where are you ladies headed off to?” Avery asked.
“Just grabbing a coffee,” Luciana said. “Want to come along?”
“No, I just came outside hoping for better cell reception. It’s a clear day, but no such luck.”
“Tsk. Tsk. I’m sure your man wants to hear from you,” Luciana said in a sing-song voice. “Maybe send him another picture.”
Avery smiled. Ryan had asked for a picture of her—nothing scandalous, but he missed seeing her. While Avery had been attempting some selfies in her bedroom that morning, which was absolutely not like her at all, Luciana had come in, accidentally interrupting, and taken a few pictures with Avery’s phone.
It was a silly moment at the start of what would be another stressful week, and Avery appreciated the brief period of levity they could share.
“I’d rather see him in person,” Avery admitted. “Hopefully in a few months.”
The women said goodbye, continuing on their way, and Avery went back into their building to grab breakfast. Dr. Walters had already walked off with the boxes, and she made a mental note to add them to her inventory when she got to the medical tents.
***
“W ANT ME TO INVENTORY the new supplies?” Avery asked later that morning, clipboard in hand.
“What?” Dr. Walters asked, turning with the tray of vaccinations. He shut the lid of the solar powered cooler and brushed passed her as he moved to set the tray on the table. It was Luciana’s job to gather the vaccines each morning, and Avery wasn’t sure why he was taking matters into his own hands today.
“The supplies from this morning,” she said. “I’ll add them to my list. We didn’t have anything scheduled to come in until Wednesday, so I want to make sure I record everything we’ve received.”
“Why don’t you update me on yesterday first,” he said, looking distracted.
“Okay. The list of things that we picked up from our trip to Panama City is still on my phone. I didn’t bring my papers, so I recorded everything digitally. I can’t get good cell reception here, but I guess my phone is good for something, even if just taking notes.”
He nodded, looking impatient. “Just let me see it. I want to look over some things before we get started today.”
Avery swiped the screen on her phone and handed it to him, turning to wave at a small child. She’d helped the girl last week, and it appeared she had a new friend judging from the child’s shy smile.
“Hmmm,” Dr. Walters said noncommittally, staring at something on her screen.
Avery glanced over at him, her blonde hair swinging with the movement. “Oh, sorry. That’s my photo gallery.” She flushed as she quickly took her phone back, certain that he was wondering why she had pictures of herself posing on there. Luciana had taken the photos that Avery sent to Ryan earlier. They were perfectly PG, but she felt embarrassed anyway. She was beaming at the camera, smiling flirtatiously, and even blowing Ryan a kiss. They were meant for her boyfriend to see, however, not the arrogant doctor.
Quickly closing the picture, she opened the supply list she’d made and handed him back her phone, watching him closely. “Is everything accounted for that we were meant to get yesterday?” Avery asked.
“Yes, it seems that way,” he said, clearing his throat. “We might make another trip sometime if I find something else is needed.” He handed the phone back, their fingers brushing. Avery wanted to recoil but kept her composure as his cool blue gaze met hers. “You’re a beautiful woman, Avery.”
Her lips parted in surprise. “That’s hardly appropriate—”
“Let’s not waste our time discussing it when there’s work to be done,” he snapped. “We have patients to see soon, and that nurse isn’t even here yet. Make sure I have everything. We have a lot to get done today.”