Jameson (In the Company of Snipers #22) - Irish Winters Page 0,22

tone said otherwise. She wasn’t pleased. Not at all. And that handshake had been more like gripping tense pencils instead of warm fingers. “I’m sorry I ran into you. I was in a hurry, then you were there, and… and…” She stammered. “I wasn’t looking where I was going. I’m sorry.”

The sorry part he believed. But Maddie seemed as if she’d been in more than just a hurry, almost as if she’d been running from something. Or someone.

“Apology accepted and forgotten,” he replied, gesturing for her to walk ahead of him. “Lead on, and I’ll follow. Just don’t stop too short.” He tapped his index finger to his dark glasses in case she hadn’t noticed. “Blind man coming through and all that. And never move the furniture. That’s not funny.”

“I would never! That’d be mean.”

Joking about himself always did the trick. Her heartrate settled into a normal rhythm. She stepped to the side of his walking cane and waited on him to join her, which was nice. Despite him telling her to lead, he’d never been much of a follower.

“You’re blind?” she asked, a completely different tremor in her very lovely voice.

People often asked the obvious. “Yes. Five years now.”

“If you don’t mind my asking, how’d it happen?”

“I’ve never minded honest curiosity. It’s what keeps life exciting. Simple answer: improvised explosive device. Iraq.”

“How awful!” Another obvious response, although this one had been honestly spoken.

But awful didn’t begin to describe the terror of waking up sightless in a strange place. Jameson had learned early during rehabilitation that he could either stay in bed snuggled up with pity and survivor’s guilt, or he could throw himself back into the deep end of life, learn how to swim all over again, and continue to contribute… something. Somehow. Man, he hoped The TEAM was that something.

“How long were you in the hospital?”

“A couple weeks,” he answered easily. “Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. It’s near Ramstein Air Base. But I wasn’t crippled or anything. Most of that time was just spent taking tests and more tests. You know how the military is. If it ain’t broken, fix it till it is. In the end, there was nothing to be done that hard work and rehabilitation couldn’t resolve. The IED my team encountered blew me backward into a brick wall. I hit my head pretty hard. When I came to, I thought I’d gotten off lucky. Still had all my fingers and toes. I wasn’t bleeding anywhere that I could see…” Which should’ve been my first clue. “Actually, I couldn’t see anything, but I could feel my helmet. It was still on and wasn’t damaged, but…” He tapped his temple. “Both retinas detached from the impact. Everything went black. No big deal. I’m still alive, and I’m doing just fine.” Because I’m no quitter, and I freakin’ love lemonade!

They were inside the circular aisle that led to the work bay before she murmured, “I’m still sorry you lost your sight. That must’ve been hard, going from being able to see everything to seeing nothing.”

“Was. Not is. It happened a long time ago, Maddie, and I’ve moved on.” He turned toward her and changed the subject. “Why were you late? Traffic?” Or something else? Someone maybe?

“No. Traffic’s not a problem.”

Not a problem or not the problem? Jameson detected the coverup and the twinge of panic behind it. Fear maybe? Or was she just brushing him off?

Reaching out, he grabbed her hand and secured it under his elbow, patting it when she closed her fingers around that pointed joint. “Sorry, but it’d be easier if you directed me where to go while I’m meeting everyone. I might become disoriented. We’re going in a circle, right?”

Which Walker had explained thoroughly, but Maddie didn’t need to know that. It seemed she needed something to hold onto, and an elbow was, well, an elbow was so damned genderless it couldn’t pose a threat to anyone.

He turned toward his new teammates, eager to meet the men and women of The TEAM Walker was so enamored with. At last, Jameson Tenney had a real job and an upcoming mission. All in the same day!

Chapter Four

Maddie licked her bottom lip, flustered at the seemingly innocent, useless assignment she’d been given. But that’s what she got for being late. Leftovers. This was her third tardy in two weeks. If Alex knew why she couldn’t make it on time, he’d fire her for sure.

Jameson Tenney was a good fit for The TEAM. He already knew