But he hoped Bullard hadn’t done it just for Dave.
He shook his head, bringing this new clarity to his personal history, where he sheltered himself from future agonies. Did he really hold any devastation at bay by doing that? Or did he just reject any happiness along with the hurts? If so, it was time for him to embrace a new future, like Bullard.
That man was a force of nature. Dave had shared many ops with Bullard, and seeing him in action was death-defying. However, an unconscious Bullard, who couldn’t help anyone, not even himself? That thought scared the hell out of Dave. Thankfully Bullard had landed in Leia’s lap. Dave shuddered to think of the alternative ending, where Bullard had been found by anyone else.
Dave walked from the beach, where Bullard regained his strength, to the shelter, where he had lived for four months, while convalescing. Leia never explained how she had managed to drag Bullard this far. Probably some adrenaline surge, like reading about a mother lifting a car off a child.
Not knowing much about Leia but having spent years admiring Katie’s ingenuity, Dave knew what Katie would have done, faced with moving an unconscious Bullard. She would have constructed a sled out of all the available brush around here, with a rope attached to her waist and the sled. Dave laughed out loud, all by himself, just at the thought of Katie pulling that off. Much like Leia must have.
Katie was a loner too. She worried Dave at times, like when she went to feed the homeless on the streets, handing out leftover food after each event she catered. He kept telling her to check in with him before she did this and again when she returned home again. She would say, “You worried about me, Dave?” in that teasing voice of hers. Hell yes he was. But she never called him. “They know me, Dave. I’m accepted there.” Much like Leia was accepted here in the village.
Except for the one guy who had sold her out.
As Dave turned, he saw a yacht anchored a good one hundred yards offshore. He lifted an eyebrow to stare at it closer. Then he saw a small boat puttering toward the shore. He walked down to the edge of the beach and waited for it. And then he smiled.
It was Katie. Alone. She was fearless. She raised a hand in greeting.
He helped her out of the boat, saying, “You’ll get wet.”
“In a place like this? I would hope so. This is absolutely stunning.” She walked up on the shore and stared at the view. “This is really where he was for all those months?”
Dave nodded. “Insane, isn’t it?”
“It’s more than insane.” She chuckled. “Talk about being lucky.”
“Of all the things that Bullard is,” Dave agreed, “lucky is definitely one of them.”
She smiled and nodded. “What do we have for facilities?”
“It’s worse than I originally thought,” he admitted, “and I’m sorry about that.”
She looked at him with that unwavering smile. “Show me.”
On the way to Leia’s cook cabin, Dave gave Katie a tour, pointing out where Bullard had done his healing, while they had been searching for him, fearing the worst. Dave explained how Leia had built the bed and shelter up around him, and together Dave and Katie imagined how difficult it must have been.
She shook her head in awe. “That is one determined woman.”
“I know.” Dave smirked. “She’s very much in love with the man now, but, back then, he was just a near-dead stranger she found in the ocean.”
“Hard not to love Bullard,” Katie replied lightly. “He’s a good guy.”
“Oh God, does that mean you’re in love with him too?” Dave’s tone was joking, but inside he wondered because he’d heard that same sentiment from so many different women over the years.
“Nope, not like that,” she corrected, with a shake of her head. “He’s an all-around good guy, definitely a good boss man too, though not somebody you’d want to cross. Yet underneath all that, he is definitely all heart.”
“I know.” Dave smiled and then walked up to show her the cabin, where Leia had stayed all these years.
Katie stepped inside, turned around to take it in. For a Spartan cabin, Leia had made it a very feminine and yet utilitarian space somehow, with drapes of mosquito netting and brightly colored cushions. When they got to the small corner where Leia had cooked, Katie frowned and winced. “Wow, if she fed herself by cooking on this for all those years, she deserves a medal for that too. But to feed Bullard as well? That is amazing.” She shook her head.
“I don’t imagine it was easy, but she did have access to supplies from the mainland,” he reminded her. “Plus, a lot of fresh local fish is around here, and the village has its many gardens, and she was probably trading her medical services to help them out in return for foodstuffs for her use.”
“Right, but still a lot is lacking here,” Katie noted.
“Only for a big celebration,” he pointed out. “For daily living, especially such a simple life, it was probably easy enough to manage.”
“I’m jealous, actually,” Katie admitted. “I can’t imagine how joyful it would be to stay here, to live so simply, even for a week or two.”
“We’re working on purchasing other properties here.” He stood tall, hands on hips, taking in this part of the island. “So, if you ever want to come and stay for a while, I’m sure that can be arranged.”
She looked at him in surprise. “Why are you guys buying land here?”
“Leia doesn’t want to let go of this special place, where she got the respite and the peace that she needed to heal,” he replied quietly. “This is also where she and Bullard met and spent all that time together. And, day by day, she brought him back to life.”
“She’s a romantic,” Katie noted.
“Bullard too. The first thing he did when they got safely home was buy up the adjoining land, so we all could come here for holidays. Now he’s just waiting on the paperwork to make it legal.”
She chuckled. “Yep, he’s a romantic too.”
“What? Does that mean you’re not?”
“Of course I am.” Katie shrugged. “I’m female. That almost goes with the territory, for most of us anyway.”
He laughed. “So, will you make this work?”
“Do I have any choice?” she asked.
“Not really,” he said, with a laugh.
“In that case, I can make it work.” She spun around the tiny cabin, frowning. “But, if we’re talking food for three meals a day for a lot of people, over several days, we’ll need a decent amount of supplies.”
“We can get supplies brought up to the yacht on a daily basis, so I don’t think that’s an issue.”
“Not when you’ve got money,” she noted. “In that case, you can do pretty much whatever you want.”
“Oh, good.” Dave gave a nervous laugh. “I was worried I might have set you up for a big pain in the neck.”
“No, it’ll be fine, but all the trouble that happened here, all the danger here has passed, right?”
“Yes, for the most part. Leia and Bullard both had enemies after them, and both have been dealt with. Now somebody here on the island betrayed her, whether a local or from the mainland, which is how the word got out that the two of them were here, but we’re not exactly sure who that was and what it was all about. Money probably.”