The Nurse's One Night to Forever

Justin shrugged. “It’s the other way around. I’m lucky to have them in my life.”

He certainly seemed to enjoy being with the kids. Still, Riley knew it wasn’t all fun and games to organize trips for ten kids. At least, she didn’t imagine it was. Reality was she’d never organized a trip for one kid, much less ten.

“Why did you call it Wilderness Group?”

One side of Justin’s mouth hiked up. “Would you believe it’s because they’re wild?”

She glanced at the playing boys, then gave Justin a skeptical look.

He laughed. “Stan came up with the name before we even officially formed the group. We needed to call it something, but we wanted a name the boys would like being a part of—something that was for them. Wilderness Group sounds good to ten boys who are in and out of foster homes because they have parents who can’t or won’t take care of them.”

Realizing what poor home lives they had, Riley stared out at the kids as they balanced on an old log, walking from one end to the other with their arms held out to their sides.

“That breaks my heart for them.”

Justin nodded. “Mine, too—which is another reason I love doing this. For at least a couple times a month they get to do fun, normal kid things. Don’t get me wrong—some of these boys are in great foster homes—but they’ve all known heartache none of them should have experienced.”

Riley stared at him, amazed by the empathy in his voice, the affection she could hear for the boys. He truly cared about them and he was willing to do something to make their lives better. She didn’t know anything about Stan’s finances, but she’d bet Justin funded the group’s activities without even thinking twice.

Because he was a giver rather than a taker.

Because he was so much better a man than her own father had been.

Her father hadn’t thought twice about abandoning Riley and her mother, much less tried to do anything to lessen their financial burden. Thank goodness Riley’s mother had loved her so much and had been able to take on extra work to provide for them.

Reaching up to tug on her necklace, Riley let her hand fall away in disappointment as she recalled her missing necklace.

What would her mother think of Justin?

Now, where had that thought come from? What her mother would have thought of Justin didn’t matter any more than it mattered that Riley’s father had skipped out. He’d just been preparing her for life—for men like Johnny who’d come along and then leave her, too.

Was Justin even for real? And, if so, how was it that he wanted to date a slightly plump, jaded about love, nurse like her?

“Captain Brothers!” Kyle shrieked, just as a loud cry of pain filled the air.

Riley’s throat tightened as she glanced toward the boys.

“Man down! Man down!” Kyle motioned for them to hurry.

Justin leapt from the log and took off toward where the boys were now huddled around Stephen, who was lying on the ground and holding his bent leg against his belly. Blood covered his hands.

Heart racing, Riley ran to where Stephen lay. Blood gushed down his leg from a jagged gash on his knee.

“Get the first aid kit out of my kayak,” said Justin.

Riley rushed to the kayak and grabbed the first aid kit from inside the supplies box. When she got back to the boys, Justin had taken off his lifejacket and his shirt. He’d torn a strip from the bottom of his T-shirt, exposing a sliver of tanned belly, then made a makeshift tourniquet and was now tying it to Stephen’s leg to slow the bleeding.

Riley opened the kit, grabbed some gloves for Justin, handed them to him.

Hoping to help, Riley gloved up, too, and opened a packet of gauze and disinfectant.

“Thanks,” Justin told her as she bent down beside him and began applying pressure to the wound with the gauze.

“Stan, will you get the boys to pack everything back into the kayaks?”

With one last glance at his son, Stan nodded, knowing Justin was trying to occupy the other kids rather than have them surrounding Stephen. “Come on, guys, let’s give the doc some room while we make sure we leave this place the way we found it.”

The guide, realizing something had happened, had ended his phone call and come over to check on them. His face paled at the sight of the blood oozing down Stephen’s leg. It had slowed significantly with the makeshift tourniquet but hadn’t completely stopped.