Conard County Marine by Rachel Lee

to do was think about what had probably happened to some of them after he left.
    But someday he’d tell someone about the rebel soldier who had let him live simply because he remembered playing soccer with Coop a few years earlier. Just let him go, sending him off into the night and telling him to stay away.
    He didn’t like to think about the youth of many of the people he’d had to fight. Some things were past bearing.
    He also knew that eventually he was going to deal with all that stuff he kept socked away in his emotional and mental backpack. Someday. Just not yet.
    His feet pounded the pavement in a rhythmic stride. A few people peered out to see what was going on, then waved. He’d become familiar. He liked that.
    His thoughts turned to Todd, however, a more present problem. Kylie’s reaction to him was troubling. She didn’t remember the past three years, so perhaps she didn’t remember cozying up with him, but her overall reaction said she was troubled by the man.
    Maybe it meant nothing. Or maybe it meant something. He just knew he had to keep an eye on the guy, at least while he was here. He wondered if he should put a bug in Connie’s ear, although he wasn’t sure she had room for another bug when she was so worried about a stranger approaching a little girl.
    It had been a few days, though; it might have been meaningless. Not that anyone was going to act on that yet.
    When he thought about Kylie, however, he was disturbed. She was inclined to dismiss her reaction as crazy from her head injury. He was not so inclined. Life had taught him the hard way that dismissing instincts could be fatal, even if you didn’t have a single hook to hang them on. He was not prepared to dismiss Kylie’s uneasiness at all.
    When he got back to the house, pleasantly tired, he discovered he’d been missed. Glenda needed to run to the grocery, and Kylie didn’t want to go with her.
    “It was too hard the last time,” Kylie explained.
    “I get it,” Glenda answered, “but I won’t leave you alone. So, Coop? Do you have time?”
    “All the time in the world,” he answered. “I can shower when you get back.”
    “Thanks.” Glenda buzzed out the side door, leaving the two of them alone.
    “I’m sorry,” Kylie said to him. “I’m complicating life for everyone. Why should I be afraid to go to the grocery?”
    “I don’t know, but you are and that’s enough for me. And you’re not complicating my life at all.”
    Not in any way that really mattered. His continuing desire for Kylie Brewer was something he could manage. As for the rest, being a guard dog came naturally to him, given his background. Whether he was protecting a unit or an individual made little difference.
    Protecting Kylie. The thought gave him pause as he realized that he was doing exactly that, and felt a strong need to do even more. But protecting her from what? A creepy ex-boyfriend? Or something more? He couldn’t do anything about her lost memory and how uneasy that made her feel. So what more was there? Lending an ear? At least she had said she felt comfortable talking to him.
    But he was the kind of man who wanted to do more. He knew that life couldn’t be fixed—there were no magic wands to make it all better—but he still wanted to offer more than his presence.
    But damned if he had an idea how.
    *
    Kylie made a valiant effort to pull herself out of the funk Todd’s visit had cast her into. It was ridiculous to let old feelings about him mess her up. He shouldn’t have that kind of hold on her. So she made some popcorn and pulled a DVD off Glenda’s rack, a comedy that she hoped would make her laugh.
    Coop seemed content to join her in front of the TV, and his frequent laughter made her feel good. The shadows that haunted her pulled back, receding into the night outside where they belonged, for a little while leaving her feeling almost normal and cheerful.
    God, she needed to feel happy again. She remembered the happy woman she