“You never talk about your time in the military. Why is that?”
Bodie looked up from where he was cutting the corners of the bathroom wall with paint. Sarah had come into the room to ask his opinion on a couple of recipes. Within minutes, she had a brush in her hands and was helping him paint the bathroom walls just as she’d done with the bedroom trim.
“Not everyone talks about everything that ever happened to them.”
Holding up her paintbrush in a mock warning, she veed her brows at him. “Was that a jab at me? I’ll have you know I don’t talk about everything that ever happened to me. I just—”
“I was teasing, Sarah.” It surprised him how much he enjoyed teasing her.
“Good thing you explained.” Lips twitching, she lowered her paintbrush. “So, tell me about your time in the military.”
“Some things don’t need to be talked about.”
“Sometimes it helps to talk about things that don’t need to be talked about.”
She had no idea what she was saying. He sure didn’t want to put the grim images in his head into her mind. No one should see the things he’d seen.
“Not these things,” he promised.
She seemed to be considering what he said, then asked, “Do you see yourself going back into the military?”
If only.
“No.”
“With what little you’ve said, I sense you liked being in the Army and have the utmost respect for the military.” She pinned him with her gaze. “Why aren’t you there now?”
“Things.”
“You aren’t going to tell me, are you?”
Talking with Sarah was easy. Too easy. Easier than talking to the therapist the Army had made him work with for months after coming back to the States. But no matter who was listening, some things were better left unsaid.
Not looking up from where he worked, he shook his head. “No.”
“Because what you did was top secret and you’d have to take me into custody if you did?” she teased, obviously wanting to lighten the tone.
“I think you have me confused with a federal agent. I was an Army Ranger. Totally different.”
“And before that you were a carpenter.”
“My stepfather is a carpenter.” He glanced toward her, saw that she was studying him with big, curious brown eyes. “You spoke with him when you checked my references. But, yes, I worked as a carpenter prior to joining the Army.”
“I didn’t realize your reference was your stepfather. He never said anything to that effect.”
Dipping his brush into the paint, Bodie eyed her. “Does it matter that he was one of my references?”
“I suppose not.” She shook her head. “You told me you’d only be in Pine Hill for a few weeks because of another job. Is that a carpentry job, too?”
He chuckled. “Not hardly.”
“Then what?”
“I’ll be working for a security company.”
“That’s right. Your other reference told me you’d be working with him. Will you be a security guard?”
He supposed she could call it that, so he nodded. iSecure had a lot of different levels. On the surface, they provided security to bigwigs. That was all Sarah needed to know.