“Maybe,” she said gently. “But it’s hardly today’s issue.”
“That depends on whether whoever is out there watching us is a part of it.”
“No,” she said, with a shake of her head. “Definitely not.”
“I’m not so sure about that.”
“I think you like to have answers with the Ts crossed and the Is dotted,” she murmured.
He looked at her, nodded. “You know what? I think you’re probably right about that. But is that wrong?”
“No,” she said, “but justice doesn’t always come with the answers we want, does it?”
Again that question in her statement made him wonder about her history. “May I come up to your place?”
She looked at him in surprise. “If you mean my cabin, yes, of course. That’s where I cook, so, if you want, we could have dinner up there tonight.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Is that like a date?”
She chuckled. “You’d have to be pretty desperate to call that a date.”
“Hey, special times,” he said, looking around him. “Many people would pay millions of dollars to come to a place like this and to enjoy everything all this has to offer.”
“Maybe,” she said, “but that doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do.”
Again, an interesting statement from her. He just nodded and smiled.
“Besides, we don’t want millions of people coming here,” she said. “I’m here for the peace and quiet.”
“Peace and quiet was what you came for,” he said, “but you stayed because it was easy.” She looked at him in surprise, but he gave her a knowing nod. “Believe me. As I slowly regain everything in my mind, I understand completely.”
“Maybe,” she said, “but until you walk a mile …”
“I get it, and you’re entitled to have privacy.”
“Glad to hear you say that,” she said, “because I was getting the feeling you’ll be up in my business, trying to get answers all the time.” He gave her that lopsided grin, and she continued, “I can’t imagine anybody cares enough about me after all this time to be hiding in the bushes.”
“You’re a delightful person, Leia. You’re a beautiful woman in her prime, so I’m sure many men would like to have you walk beside them.”
“If you really mean have sex with me,” she said candidly, “I’ve had a few offers, but nothing I cared to respond to.”
He’d stared at her in surprise. “Is there a reason why not?”
“Of course there is,” she said but refused further comment.
He frowned at that because it was just one more in a series of mysteries, and he didn’t need that. He was looking for answers. Something solid that would make him feel like they were getting somewhere. But she also wouldn’t let him get away with that. She was a very private woman in many ways. Yet open in others. She was also very skilled, yet kept herself isolated. He couldn’t understand the contrast and wondered again what had happened to her.
“Come up to my place when you feel better,” she said. And, with that, she stepped away from the water and headed to her cabin.
He watched her go, and, seeing the gentle sway of her hips, he realized he was obviously healing because his whole body responded to every ounce of her. She was sleek, smooth, and honey-toned from so much sun, not to mention gorgeous inside and out, plus incredibly kind and generous. She had been the saving grace in the craziness of his world. He owed her so much, yet knew she would be offended if he even brought up repaying her. Hell, he probably would be too, if their situations were reversed.
At the same time, he couldn’t quite let go of the pain at the prospect of leaving her. He sat once more on the rock ledge around the ponds. That brought on his tentative questions about her interest in leaving. Not that she had given a very solid answer, but still it was something. He just couldn’t imagine not having her around him. He’d been here for what seemed like forever now, but he understood it was only a matter of months. That thought turned his mind back to wondering what the hell had happened in his world and who would know. To try and get answers, she said she could get him a cell phone. Well, he needed that, and he needed it now.
The longer Bullard sat here thinking about it, the more irritated he got because he wanted a cell phone in his hands right this instant. But island life didn’t work that way. It was very much a case of tomorrow—or whenever even. Nobody seemed to give a crap about timing or who would need something today, not next week. He couldn’t imagine how long it had taken Leia to adjust to this world, but she had.
He also understood that she was the one who had stitched his head and elsewhere, but he didn’t know what else she might have done. She had looked after him like a baby for weeks. He felt no shame in that because he’d been terribly injured. And, at the same time, he had looked after many a person in the same way. But now that he was healthier, he felt a restlessness taking over. He gazed about, wondering at such a gorgeous location.
In the western world, this would have been eaten up by a millionaire as a place of their own, locked down so nobody could come in and enjoy it. But, if it were a public park, he could just imagine how badly it would be abused by people who wouldn’t take proper care of it. That mindless devastation of Mother Nature also hurt him. Somewhere along the line, he’d apparently picked up quite a critical view of the world around him. It might be justified, or maybe not, but it’s the one he carried, so he could only assume that enough had been going on in his world to give him that kind of an attitude. As soon as he thought about that, more memories slipped into his mind.
He sat here for a long moment as he took a trip down memory lane, revisiting old missions, even throughout the United States. With friends. Some names were still elusive, as were the people behind them. He got a sense of Levi and knew that he was important, but Bullard didn’t understand quite how or why he couldn’t pick up the names of different members of his team. He remembered Ryland and Kano and Garret and Cain. Bullard frowned as he thought about them, wishing the entire set of memories would slide back.
At the moment, those memories were stuck in limbo, as if looking for that extra little prod to open them up. It was frustrating in many ways, but Bullard had come a long way since he’d first started this recall of his memories, so it was hard to imagine that it would stop now. He just didn’t want to even be concerned about it. And yet he was concerned because that’s just the way life worked. At the same time he had to let his body—and his mind—heal a little more.
He still had time before dinner, so he put himself through a punishing set of push-ups and sit-ups, trying to get his muscles to respond the way they needed to. He knew he’d always been in tip-top physical form and also knew that he was still a ways away from that.
Closing his eyes, he let his body slide into a series of moves that were instinctive and likely as old as he was. It was a mixture, a combination of martial arts, yoga, and tai chi; yet he immediately knew it was toning his body and toning his mind, as he prepared for his return to the world. He’d been gone just long enough that, if his accident had been no accident, some people would be very unhappy to see him again.