Nursing the Soldier's Heart

She scurried away. Was she running away from their obvious attraction to each other? He closed the gap between them. “You’re in a hurry.”

“Have to be. We have a lot of ground to cover.”

Brady stared after her again. Despite her apparent attraction to him, she still seemed uncomfortable around him. Could he figure out why? Maybe her dad could shed some light on his daughter, but asking her father might not be a good idea.

Why did he even care, anyway? He was here for Cora, not to make friends with a prickly nurse.

But he knew why. He wanted to be liked. It was just how he’d always been.

He shook those thoughts away as Kirsten dragged him from store to store. They continued to find nothing. Why did women like to shop? He was developing a full-blown headache. What if the dress he’d envisioned didn’t exist?

As they left a specialty shop without success, Kirsten turned to him. “We have one more department store to check.”

“What if we don’t find anything there?”

“We will.”

“Okay. I hope you’re right.” Brady traipsed into the department store, his hopes about as low as they could get. Still, he wanted to see the surprise and delight on Cora’s face when he presented her with the dress. Was that going to happen? Maybe buying a dress for Cora had been a thoughtful idea, but not very practical.

Kirsten did her usual search through the racks, grabbing a dress here and there as she went. At least this time she carried a rainbow of colors on her arm. Brady trailed after her. “Need help?”

She shook her head as she forged ahead. Since she’d handed him the dresses in the first store and their fingers had touched, she’d avoided giving him anything to hold.

“Give me your opinion.” She held up the first dress.

“It’s okay, but I think it’s a little long. I wouldn’t want Cora to trip on it. She has her walker to deal with.”

“Okay.” Kirsten laid the dress aside on the top of the nearby rack and held up the next one.

Brady shook his head. “It’s green, but it’s kind of a washed-out green.”

Kirsten showed him another dress. “I like the cranberry color.”

“Yeah, it’s bright.” Brady shrugged. “But it doesn’t have any bling, as you say.”

Kirsten chuckled. “You may have to compromise. Something tells me the perfect dress you have in mind doesn’t exist. What about this?”

“Too low cut.”

“This one?”

“Too short.”

Kirsten smiled. “Making sure she doesn’t show too much skin?”

“Yeah. I wouldn’t want her to accuse me of dressing her like a floozy, as she would say.” Brady smiled, thinking maybe he’d found Kirsten’s less serious side. She’d actually joked about something.

“Did Cora warn you about them?”