Chapter Two
“Earth to Jim,” said the man to his right.
Rico and he were the same rank, but they’d only just met when Jim had come back to the States. It had been Rico’s idea to go out for drinks so the team could get to know the two newbies in their midst—Jim and the young ensign, Lydia—who had recently been assigned to their work group.
“Sorry, Rico. What were you saying?” Jim tried to get his head in the game. He didn’t want his coworkers to think he was a flake.
“We’d heard you ran into a shit storm in Afghanistan. Any truth to that rumor?” Rico was treading close to being rude, but Jim didn’t mind. He’d fielded questions about his time overseas from more intimidating men than him.
“It’s not as glamorous as you probably heard. Just a case of being in the wrong place at one hell of a wrong time.” Jim saw the interested looks on the faces of his new colleagues and knew he’d have to give them a bit more of the tale. “I deployed with an investigative unit looking into certain allegations that proved to be false. Turns out, it was all a ruse to get some officers out into the open where remnants of the Taliban could take potshots at us. The firefight didn’t last long, but it was a pretty intense few minutes. Gave me new respect for the combat vets we deal with, I can tell you that much.”
Jim and his fellow officers were all part of the JAG Corps. They were military lawyers. Not people who usually saw action outside of a courtroom, but they were all trained to deal with whatever faced them. Jim had been glad of his weapons training that day, and he’d acquitted himself well according to the after-action reports.
Still, the incident had made a lasting impression on him. Did he really want to work in a place where there was every likelihood that he could be shot at? Or did he want to use his legal skills to do what he’d always dreamed—helping the less fortunate among the population of his hometown? When he looked at it in those terms, the decision seemed pretty clear, but he still hesitated.
The Navy was all he’d known for a long time. They’d put him through law school and sent him around the world. It had been a great life, but just lately, he’d found himself wanting more. Ever since last year, in fact, when he’d first crossed paths with the songbird, Roisin. Something about that night with her had changed him in a profound way that he still didn’t fully understand.
His Aunty Maeve had noticed right off, when he’d gone to visit her. The family all believed she was psychic or something, but Jim wasn’t sure. He’d seen a lot of things all over the world, but he didn’t know if he could actually believe his little old aunty had second sight. Still, she was unusually sensitive to other people’s emotions. Empathic? Maybe he could believe that a little easier than the other.
She’d known that something about him was different. She hinted at knowing about the big decision he face, and while she hadn’t gone so far as to tell him what to do, she had reassured him that things would work out as they should. She was a big believer in fate, was his aunty.
He’d left her with a promise to come visit again. She’d smiled, her blue eyes twinkling as she told him to bring his girl with him next time. Now, Aunty Maeve knew full well that Jim wasn’t dating anyone right now. He’d only just arrived back in the States after a year away. He’d given her a puzzled look, to which she only laughed and told him to trust in what fate set before him.
He thought about her words, now, as he gazed across the room to the bandstand where his songbird was wrapping up another tune. She really had the most amazing voice. She looked like an angel too. And he knew for a fact that she was a wild woman in bed. She matched him…and dared him…and made him want to walk on the wild side with her. Always.
Could Aunty Maeve had known fate would bring the woman he couldn’t forget back into his life this way?
Nah. Couldn’t be. But yet…
He thought back on his aunt’s words. She’d told him to trust what fate set before him. Well, Roisin was certainly set before him, up on a pedestal, so to speak, sitting on the small bandstand with her instruments around her. Like she was offered up on a silver platter, sparkling in the stage lights.
Jim decided, then and there, that he wouldn’t leave here tonight without at least talking to her. He couldn’t. If only just to have her smile at him and to look into her eyes at close range… It was something he had to do.
He watched her closely as she finished her first set. Was there a man waiting for her? Was she involved with somebody else? Was she wearing a ring on her left hand?
She left the stage after putting her instruments aside with loving care. A flip of a switch and background music was piped in over the speakers in the ceiling as the applause died down for Roisin. She picked up an empty water bottle and headed toward the bar. As she passed his table—not too close, but close enough for him to see the hand carrying the water bottle—he had his answer to a least one of his questions. She wasn’t wearing a ring.
Of course, that wasn’t conclusive evidence. Jim noticed the way she went up to the bar and returned the empty plastic bottle, reaching for another that the bartender set before her. Was she smiling at the bartender? Were they involved?
No. The bartender was merely being friendly, not flirty. And he was wearing a wedding ring.
“She’s a beautiful girl,” Rico said, leaning in to speak near Jim so the others couldn’t really hear.
A quick glance showed they were all talking amongst themselves anyway. While Jim had been watching Roisin, the conversation at the table had gone on without him.
“I haven’t seen her here before,” Rico went on when Jim didn’t respond.
“She’s not a regular in this pub. At least she wasn’t last time I was here,” Jim supplied, figuring that was innocuous enough.
“You’ve been here before? I thought you just got posted here after your overseas stint.” Rico looked suspicious. Or maybe just intrigued.
“That’s true, but I’m from Baltimore. My folks live here. I spend my off-duty time at home, and when I’m home, I come here occasionally.” Simple enough, really, but Rico still looked like he wanted to know more. Damned inquisitive lawyers.
“So, you know the lady?” Rico asked, a smile on his face that Jim wanted to wipe off with his fist. But that wouldn’t be a smart way to get off to a good start with his new colleagues. He refrained.
“We’ve met,” Jim said finally, after a significant pause in which he hoped Rico got the message that he wasn’t about to tolerate any interference with Roisin, or more prying into Jim’s personal life.
“So, that’s why you wanted to come to this bar,” Rico said, as if he’d just gotten a witness he was cross-examining to admit to something heinous.
“I didn’t know she’d be here,” Jim blurted, realizing too late that he was giving himself away. Rico must be a better lawyer than Jim had thought, getting Jim to admit things like that.
Rico looked at Jim, then over to the bar where Roisin was chatting with one of the waitresses and back again. “It’s fate then.”
“Fate?” Jim echoed. There was that word again.
“My abuela would say it’s fate that brought you both here tonight. Then, she’d push you to go say hello to the girl and start making babies.” Rico laughed, and Jim was startled enough to join in. “Hey, my grandmother loves kids,” Rico explained as he drained his beer. “She’s always pushing us to settle down and make babies for her to spoil. Plus, she’s a little psychic.”
“Psychic? Really?” Jim tried not to sound too skeptical. He didn’t want to outright insult his new work colleague. But Rico laughed again as he stood to go to the bar.
“Hey, don’t knock it. She’s been right about stuff more times than anyone I know. Either she’s lived long enough to have figured out how things are going to happen, or she really does have the third eye.” Rico pitched his voice to capture the attention of the junior officers at the table. He was buying the next round and roped the young ensign into going up to the bar with him so they could carry it all back in one trip.
Meanwhile, Jim thought about what the other man had said about his supposedly psychic grandmother and her belief in fate. It was like Aunty Maeve was sitting on his shoulder, telling him he had to get a move on, already.
Jim resolved he would. He’d talk to Roisin as soon as there was a good opportunity. Her break was coming to an end, so she’d be on the bandstand for another set soon. Not enough time to speak to her now. Besides, he had to talk to his colleagues a bit—otherwise, what was the point of going out tonight?
Plan set, he settled down and made polite conversation with the lieutenant seated across from him. He was making friends with his new team, but his mind was only half-focused on them. The other half kept track of Roisin when she started singing again. It was like she’d put a spell on him last year, and it was coming back into play now that he was again in her presence, but Jim didn’t mind at all. His songbird could sing to him forever, and he’d never tire of it.
It was what he was going to say when he was face to face with her that he wasn’t sure about. One part of his mind worked on that problem even while he kept up his end of the conversation. When her next set ended, he only hoped he would know what he was going to say.