Saving Easton (Oakside Military Heroes Book 2)(9)

I'm relieved to know she wasn't out partying, and I’m surprised that I don't like the idea of her putting herself in those dangerous situations. Not that I have any right to get upset about it.

"Well, I better get going. I want to do some more training with Atticus before tomorrow. I should be back the day after tomorrow."

"I’ll see you then," I say, and watch her and Molly walk out of the door.

I wait, and just like every time she visits, Paisley goes out the front door, turns, and waves to me with a smile. Then, she takes Molly to the front yard, removes her vest, and then lets Molly run. She throws a ball, and Molly has a blast.

I'm sure this is to tire her out before they head home, but I like to think Paisley is putting on a bit of a show for me.

***



When the knock on my door comes, I expect it to be Noah or maybe my nurse, but I don’t expect to see Paisley.

My heart clenches, because she looks upset, and I want to reach out and hold her, but I can't. She's wearing shorts and a loose t-shirt that looks like the swimsuit cover-ups she used to wear, and I can see the strings of her bathing suit around the back of her neck.

"You okay?" I ask, not knowing what else to say.

"Is it okay I'm here? I didn't know where else to go."

"Of course, sit down," I point towards the chair she sat in last time she was here. It hasn't been moved, and it's still facing me.

At her side, isn't Molly, but an Australian Shepard that is mostly gray with white, black, and brown patches.

"This is Atticus. Can he come to say hi?"

"Yeah," I say, holding my hand down for him.

Atticus looks up at Paisley for permission.

"Good, boy. Go slow." She says and nods to him. Atticus then starts slowly walking over to me. He sniffs my hand, and then puts his head under my hand to get me to pet him.

"If you want him in your lap, you’ll have to call him up. He's a bit more trained than Molly is."

"Atticus," I say and pet my lap.

He slowly climbs up on me. His steps are very measured, unlike Molly, who jumps up and settles right in. The more I pet him the more he relaxes.

"Is he being trained for someone specific?" I ask.

"Yep, there’s a soldier who was wounded in action about two years ago. Molly helped him a bit with some panic attacks and PTSD, and I finally convinced him to get a dog. Atticus has been great for him. We visit him twice a week, and he helps with the training. Having Atticus will finally allow him to live on his own, so he's excited."

We sit for a few minutes, while I pet Atticus.

"How did the party go?" I ask, wanting to know what made her upset.

"Not good. I lost it on my brother, then my parents, and then I left. I couldn't go home, because I know that's where they’ll go look for me. The next thing I knew, I was here." She says.

We both sit in the quiet for a few minutes.

"Want to talk about it?"

"I'm sure you don't want to hear it." She snuggles deeper into the chair.

"Paisley look around. My biggest source of entertainment is watching people come and go. Trust me, if you want to talk, I want to listen." I’m being the most honest I have been in a long time.

"Well, as expected, my mom was gushing over me being single and sticking her nose in where it didn't belong. It was fine at first. Atticus did well around the guys and the noise. I took off his vest and let him go swim and play, but it's like doing that was an open invitation for the guys, who had way too much to drink to be assholes." She looks out of the window.

I'm not sure I want to hear more, but I can tell she needs to talk about it, and I need to know how many of my old best friend's frat buddies’ asses I need to plow for upsetting this beautiful girl.

"What happened?" I ask.

"They started hitting on me. It was like a game. I'd say no to one and walk away and another would come on even stronger. When I got annoyed, I called Atticus back over and put his vest back on. He did great by the way, switching from work, to play, and then back to work. Then, they got rude and nasty, and my brother started egging them on. All I thought about was how when he was in school with you, he kept guys away from me. Good guys. Now, he’s egging on these assholes, so I lost it."

Even I can sense the tension in her, and Atticus looks up at her, wondering what to do. She takes a deep breath.

"It's okay, Atticus. I'm okay." She nods, and he lays his head back down.

"After I yelled at my brother, I went inside getting ready to leave, and then my mom tried to get me to stay. I snapped at her, saying things like what kind of a mother pushes her daughter on drunken assholes. How dare she keep pushing me even after I had told her no the first time. My father stood there dumbfounded, and I can't blame him. I've never talked to them like that. I left, and knew if they went looking, they'd look at my house or my friend’s house, so I came here." She says with another big sigh.

"I'm glad you came here," I tell her.

She looks over at me and studies me for a minute before she smiles.

"Tell me about Atticus here," I say, trying to shift moods, and it works.

She talks to me for an hour, ignoring her phone going off. As the sun starts to set, I sigh.