Page 57 of Protecting Kelli
He sighed. For them, nothinghadchanged. The trip to Jamaica had been a slight detour in their schedule, nothing more. But for Flash, the few days were life-altering.
He’d taken the time to talk to his sister and parents that morning, reassuring them that he was fine. They’d heard about what happened, of course, since Chuck had arrived home from the trip the night before, earlier than expected, and told Nova that he was missing. They were all freaked out, but Flash had been able to talk them out of flying to Riverton to see him. He promised Nova he’d call her later and tell her everything that happened.
Kelli had also called her mom, who didn’t seem quite as emotional as his own family had been about the entire situation. She was relieved her daughter was all right, and wanted to hear all about what happened, but by the time Kelli had hung up, they were talking about things like her mom’s latest trip to the grocery store and what her plans were for the week.
All-in-all, he and Kelli had been lucky.Damnlucky. If he wasn’t who he was, if he didn’t have the resources that he had, namely a team of highly trained Navy SEALs who had his back, the outcome could’ve been very different.
As soon as they exited the plane, Flash took hold of Kelli’s hand as they walked toward baggage claim. He was already getting used to being around people again, but he could feel Kelli inch closer as they walked.
“It’s crazy how chaotic this feels to me now,” she said, glancing up at him as they walked.
“I feel like this a lot after missions. Our work is intense. Often times in the middle of nowhere and in complete silence. And when I come home, the noise and hustle and bustle always take me by surprise,” Flash said, wanting her to know what she was feeling was normal.
When she giggled, he looked down at her.
“What? Was that funny?” he asked, confused.
“No. Not really. I mean, it makes sense, and I’m sorry you have to go through this all the time, because honestly, it’s not very fun. I was laughing because you saying ‘hustle and bustle’ reminded me of Heckle and Jeckle.” She shrugged. “I don’t know, it struck me as humorous.”
Flash smiled at her. “So if I said shake and bake, it would be even funnier?”
To his delight, her smile widened and she giggled again. “Artsy-fartsy,” she said between giggles.
“Jeepers-creepers,” Flash countered.
“Frick and frack.”
“Gloom and doom.”
“Holy moly guacamole!” Kelli said, laughing so hard it was almost hard to understand her.
Flash shook his head. “I think you win with that one.” His face hurt from smiling so hard. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this genuinely amused.
“What’s so funny?” Safe asked, glancing at them over his shoulder.
Flash’s gaze met Kelli’s, and they both burst out laughing. Eventually he controlled himself enough to tell his friend, “It’s impossible to explain and you wouldn’t find it funny anyway.”
Safe rolled his eyes but let it drop.
Flash’s humor slowly died with each step closer tobaggage claim. Now, he felt kind of sick. This wasn’t a normal reaction, but he couldn’t help it. It was probably because of what they’d been through together, although he’d never felt this way about one of his teammates after an especially gnarly mission. He couldn’t explain it, and that made him uneasy.
The second they walked through the gate that separated the secure area of the airport from the public part, Flash blinked in surprise.
Instead of walking past the people waiting to pick up passengers, ignoring them as he was used to doing when he flew commercial…he stopped abruptly when he saw some very familiar faces.
Remi, Wren, Josie, Maggie, and Addison were all there. And instead of running to their boyfriends or husbands, they headed directly toward him and Kelli.
In seconds, they were surrounded.
Flash had to let go of Kelli’s hand as his friends’ women all hugged him and fussed, saying how relieved they were that he was all right. Glancing back at Kelli, he saw that her eyes were wide and she looked confused…and slightly freaked.
He met Kevlar’s gaze, and his team leader obviously read what Flash was trying to tell him nonverbally, because he stepped up and wrapped an arm around Remi, pulling her back a little. “How about we give them a little space, sweetheart.”
The others all claimed their own women, giving Flash and Kelli some room to breathe. Flash regained Kelli’s hand as the group moved their reunion out of the way of other travelers. Then Flash said, “Thank you all for coming. I didn’t expect it.”
“Why not? You’re one of us. Part of our group,” Wren said.
“When we heard you were missing, we panicked,” Remi explained.
