Free Keeping Guard by Christy Barritt Page A

circled overhead, looking for bread crumbs or any other food that the sparse crowd on the beach might offer. The sand cushioned Kylie’s feet and gentle waves lapped at the shore. A group of college kids played Frisbee in the distance and a young family picnicked on a blanket.
    Kylie noticed that despite the difference in their heights, her and Nate’s strides matched well. Colin had always been a fast walker, and she’d had to practically race to keep up with him. He’d had a brisk pace, while she enjoyed taking life at a more leisurely speed. She liked the fact that Nate walked with his hands casually stuffed into his jeans, looking as if he enjoyed simply being around the water.
    After walking around a rock jetty, Nate showed her an historic cave that nestled into the bluff. Cornwallis’s Cave, he’d said. Then they started down the pier that jutted out into the river. Several people fished off the side of the wooden structure, while others took pictures or simply looked at thebeautiful river in front of them. Nate and Kylie walked to the end and leaned against the railing. Out in the river, three rubber-sided rescue boats skimmed the water.
    Nate pointed to them. “Those are Coast Guard boats. They’re doing training exercises. The Training Center isn’t too far from here, so you’ll see a lot of these exercises while you’re here.”
    â€œBruce said you received a medal of honor from the government before you retired from the Coast Guard. He always spoke—speaks, I should say—highly of you.” Kylie watched Nate as his eyes focused on the crews out in the water. “Do you miss the Coast Guard?”
    â€œIt was my life, what I’d always wanted to do since I was a boy. I would come out here and watch practice exercises similar to these on the river. I knew that’s what I wanted. In high school, I took swim lessons and worked the summers as a lifeguard in Virginia Beach. Whatever I could do to get experience. After high school, I enlisted, went through training in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. I spent the rest of my career there as an aviation survival technician, also known as a helicopter rescue swimmer.”
    â€œWhy did you get out when you did, then?” Kylie inhaled deeply as the scent of river water blew up with the breeze.
    He shrugged. “So I could take over the restaurant. You know what they say about the best-laid plans…”
    â€œI do. I really thought I wanted to play oboe for the symphony one day.”
    â€œWhat happened?”
    She sucked in a breath. “In high school, I got accepted into a national music program, one that would look great on my résumé. I thought my life was laid out in front of me.”
    â€œYour dad was a music teacher, right?”
    Kylie nodded. “Yes, and he was thrilled that I wanted to follow in his footsteps and pursue music. I think he’d alwayswanted to play music for a living instead of teach, but life didn’t work out that way for him.”
    â€œI have a feeling there’s a ‘but’ in here somewhere for you, too.” Nate glanced at her, his eyes showing he had truly taken an interest in the conversation.
    Kylie licked her lips, leaning still against the railing of the pier as she vividly remembered that time of her life. “A week before I was supposed to leave for the music program, I was diagnosed with lymphoma.”
    Nate’s eyes widened. “Cancer?”
    She nodded. “Yep. Cancer. At sixteen. It’s not a diagnosis you expect to hear.”
    â€œI can’t imagine.” His voice sounded soft, as if he really cared. “What happened?”
    That period of her life came back in a flash of vivid memories. “I decided not to go to the program. I had more important things to do, things like chemo. The cancer took a year to beat. But I did.” At just the mention of chemo, the scar from her medical port began to