Two Days Of A Dream (14 page)

Broan stepped forward. "It's been a tough three days and it doesn't seem to be over yet. Intel's informant says there's going to be an attack tonight. Unfortunately there’s no details. It could come from the sky or ground. For all we know, they could mole up in the middle of our camp. Everyone is to be at their posts with perimeter fully armed and watching. If anything moves, you shoot first and we'll autopsy later for answers. Any questions?" He looked around but no one twitched. "Gather your men, dismissed!"

Majors Trouter and Preston stepped in front of Duran before he and his friends could get out of the tent. "So, how's your birthday present? Has she seen the outside of your tent yet?" Both men guffawed. Trouter was never going to change.

"She's being guarded by a female MP, so you'll have to ask her how Kelly's doing. Excuse us Majors, we have artillery to man." Duran pushed past.

"Hey, Stover, you want to lose some more money? I'll make a side bet with you!" Trouter gaffawed.

Duran felt Stover hesitate, and grabbed the younger man’s arm to pull his second away from the hyenas while Talbit peeled off and headed for the hospital.

Duran got in Talbit's face and whispered loudly, "And she's not
my
blonde."

Duran motioned for two of his men to follow. Keeping to the shadows, he hoped they wouldn't draw any sniper fire.

"If you don't want her, I'll take her.” Talbit whispered directly behind him.

What was Talbit doing here; was he trying to get himself killed? Knowing Talbit, it was useless to try to send him away and guessed it was always good to have a medic along.

Duran whispered back. "Yeah, you wish. Kelly doesn't seem like someone who would trade down." He shushed Talbit's retort. "There she is."

What is she doing walking across no-man's land?
Cap was incredulous. Her white satin gown billowed about, revealing her slender legs. Now he understood why his men had made such a fuss earlier.

She didn't seem to be going anywhere in particular, just strolling along as though she weren't in a war zone and hadn't a care in the world. She looked ... happy.

Talbit was at Duran's ear. "We have to stop her before one of Trouter's men gets trigger happy."

"You stay here."

Duran signaled his men, and they crept through the shadows to the edge of camp. He was about to step out into the buffer area when he saw movement ahead of Kelly. Now how was he going to save her?

Chapter Nineteen

Her head fell forward and she jerked awake blinking a few times, confused by the heat until she figured she had to still be in Iraq.

The shadows had deepened shadows. As she peered around she noticed Coleman wasn't in the tent.

She felt the need for real sleep and didn't care what Coleman said. The book fell from her lap as she got up and her gown puddled at her feet. Rubbing her stiff neck, she stretched her back before picking them both up. She wanted nothing more than to luxuriate in the silky material that rested in her hands. Why not? It was her dream.

Changing, Kelly instantly felt beautiful. She lay out on the cot and her whole body sighed.

"Oh no you don't!"

Kelly turned her sleepy head to see Coleman at the door of the tent, her arms full of clothes off the rope outside. Her beautiful face was ripped between anger and fear. Kelly was too tired to argue with Coleman and let herself fall effortlessly into another dream.

In a meadow with yellow and blue flowers swaying in the gentle breeze, Kelly stood up among the prairie grass, their sweet spring aroma strong in her nostrils. Far away, at the other end of the grassy expanse, Cap stood waiting. He smiled and held his arms out to her. Getting to him was all she could think about. Kelly's heart tried to race to him, but her body held it back. Each step didn't get her any closer so she tried to run.

Her dream shimmered and then dimmed, changing.

Cap’s tent surrounded Kelly as it darkened outside. Cap wasn't there. She sat up wondering where he could be; the dream wasn't right somehow without him in it. She stood thinking only of how she could find him. The urgency that exploded in her whole being had her rushing to the opening. She had to see his smile again.

Kelly looked down, and a pair of sandals sat by the back door. Instantly convinced Cap had left them for her, she knew he must want her to come find him. They were a little big, but she put them on anyway. She had to find Cap. She wasn't sure why but she knew she must.

The row of tents were dark against the almost nonexistent moon and Kelley didn't see anyone as she walked along. Like a ghost town, not a sound but the rush of hot air past her bare skin, it was eerie.
They must all be asleep
. The odd feeling of being on the moon returned and intensified. There was nothing here but tents. Where was Cap?

At the end of the row of tents, a large expanse of sand opened up to her.
Perhaps
, she thought,
Cap is beyond that, somewhere in the dark
, kind of like in her dream in the meadow.

It didn't make sense, but since dreams rarely made sense, Kelly didn't question it.

She stepped out into the desert meadow, the soft crunch of sand the only other sound beside the wind that had picked up. The last dot of the baking sun stretched her shadow way off in the distance while the stiff breeze tugged at her gown and hair, causing them to flutter behind her. The movements made her feel like a character in one of the many chick flicks she had watched over her lonely years. The ones where the heroine stands on a hilltop looking off in the distance for her man's return as her dress is blown behind her: very dramatic. That must be where her subconscious came up with this scenario.

The cooler wind of the night felt good. She put her arms out to allow the breeze to slither around her body to wick away the day's heat from her sweaty skin.

There was movement ahead and to her right. A pair of dark eyes lifted from the ground, cloaked in a sand-colored robe. His curly black hair barely peeked out of a hood that framed his young, awe struck face. He knelt where he had lain, reaching up to Kelly. As she passed him, she ran her fingers along his smooth cheek. He followed with his eyes, turning as she passed, his mouth slightly open with a question he did not ask.

Looking ahead, Kelly searched for Cap. His smile was nowhere to be found.

Another young man rose. She paused only a moment to caress his cheek and run her fingers through his hair before continuing on. This one rose to his feet as he watched her pass. The first one crawled to join him, to stare at the ghostly image floating away from them and into the abandoned desert.

There were three altogether that greeted Kelly with dark eyes of wonder. The last one raised out of the ground taller and older than the other two—her age, perhaps. His hands were in front of him as though he were going to stop her but seemed afraid to touch her or move from the spot he was rooted to.

Aren't dreams wonderful?
She stroked his thin, soft beard as she passed.

She continued on, searching. Somewhere in the deepening darkness Cap waited for her, and she mustn't keep him waiting.

The men spoke from behind Kelly in a language she did not understand. Actually, many quiet voices rose up and floated after her, but she didn't pay attention to any of them because she had to find Cap.

Only one voice could have stopped her, a deep strong voice. "Kelly?" She turned to see him, pistol in one hand, the other stretched out to her. He looked confused.

Her soul revved to such a joyous feeling she couldn’t hold back the smile that leapt from her heart, a sensation she'd never felt before.

Slowly, a grin spread across his chiseled face. Ah, there it was, the smile she had been looking for.

A group of soldiers gathered behind him with the three dark-eyed sand dwellers. Kelly had no idea what had drawn everyone to this spot. But now they were all staring at her. She didn't care. She only cared that Cap was here and he had called her name.

He met her halfway, gathering her up into his warm embrace. She fell into his deep brown eyes and put her arms around his neck. She thought, as he lowered his face to hers, he would kiss her. But just as she closed her eyes, he turned her around and walked her back to the group. She was sure he would have kissed her if most of camp hadn’t been observing their every move.

He fought back a grin, that only Kelly saw, while he tried to sound angry, but just barely missed. "Yeah, but this time she didn't end up in my bed."

"No, and you weren't in your bed either when my dream changed. Where were you?" Kelly was a little ticked that he hadn't been there for her to snuggle up to. She wanted him to hold her now and locked her eyes with his. But she couldn’t ask this cold man, whom she felt would reject her again, to embrace her.

"I was doing my job," he snapped as he crossed his arms over his muscular chest and glared at Kelly. "What were you doing walking out of camp?"

She was tired of him barking at her and had enough. After all, she wasn't one of his soldiers. She put both her hands on her hips and stood as tall as she could, which wasn't tall enough next to Cap. "I was looking for you."

"Why were you looking for me?"

She exhaled, not sure she wanted to answer. "In my last dream, you were standing across a meadow calling to me. I thought maybe you were across the sand waiting for me." Now that she had said it out loud, it sounded rather stupid.

"That's the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard!" he declared, his brows raised.

Kelly crossed her arms over her chest and glowered at him. He didn't need to say that, even if it was true. "Excuse me if my dreams aren't smart enough for you!"

They proceeded to have a glaring contest that made her weaker and weaker as she stared into the brown depths of his eyes. It irked her to know she would eventually lose this battle of wills, all because she couldn’t see him as the enemy. He wasn’t her type, so why this man?

"I thought I might find you two here." Kelly spun around to see the doctor, at the entrance, helmet in hand and a grin plastered across his face. "I see you're still gift wrapped." He winked at her.

His grin reminded Kelly that she didn't like him. And she certainly didn't like the way he looked at her gown. She wrapped her arms tightly around herself and looked at Coleman, who held out Kelly's borrowed clothes. Kelly smiled appreciatively.

Kelly changed and when done whipped opened the flaps. She had more to say to Cap. "If you didn't want me to come to you in the desert, then why did you leave me the sandals by the back door?"

Another soldier came running in. "Captain, sir, the colonel wants to speak to you and the lady." The young man tipped his head at Kelly.