The Courage to Love Her Army Doc by Karin Baine Page A

you’ll neither have to ask for food while you’re here nor starve. Honestly, you put yourself through so much unnecessary stress you’ll make yourself ill. You should take a leaf out of your brother’s book and take this all in your stride.’ He rested his large hand on her shoulder in an act that should’ve been easy for her to shrug off along with his advice, but his warmth on her bare skin stole away any snarky retort. His touch had distracted her even from the arrival of her stepbrother, who was strolling towards them.
    â€˜Hey, you two. I saw your note and figured you might want to share a bite to eat.’ He held up a basket of fresh fruit and other foods not readily identifiable to Emily. At this moment she didn’t care. Her stomach was rumbling and Peter was family. She was entitled to take food from him guilt-free.
    â€˜Oh, ye of little faith.’
    Joe was really going to keep this gloating going all day.
    Thankfully he did release her from his thrall, abandoning her shoulder in favour of a banana. There was definitely a happy vibe about him, her brother too, which was surprising given their previous life before Yasi. It showed a definite strength of character in both of them to have come through the darkness that time in Afghanistan had surely brought to their door.
    She kind of envied this enlightened attitude they’d found where they no longer sweated the small stuff and trusted that everything would somehow work out in the end. Although not the path, or the losses they’d endured to reach this Zen place. A place that seemed so far beyond her reach when even the timely food delivery was causing concern.
    â€˜Er...what is this?’ She prodded the leafy parcels that were apparently the main component of their meal.
    â€˜ Rourou and cassava,’ Peter declared, as though that helped her identify what he expected her to eat. Time apart had made him forget who he was dealing with here. This was the girl who’d taken a great deal of persuading to partake of the mildest curries when they’d gone to an Indian restaurant for the first time. She needed any new dish explained in simple layman’s terms and a tasting demonstration before she ventured into new territory.
    Joe had no such qualms as he dug in with his fingers to take a sample. ‘They’re dalo leaves with boiled tapioca.’
    â€˜Just like real school dinners, then?’ With her food taster apparently unharmed, and Peter helping himself too, Emily braved the unknown. It wasn’t as bad tasting as she’d imagined and the starchy snack would fuel her for the rest of the afternoon, along with the more familiar fruit she took for later.
    â€˜I know you’d rather have a pasta salad and a fruit smoothie but this is the next best thing. You’ll get used to it. I have.’ Peter took a second helping to prove his point.
    â€˜I see that.’ She also saw the way his gaze kept drifting past her to watch the pretty Keresi in the background.
    â€˜Did you make these, bro?’ Joe scooped up the last food bundle after she declined it.
    Her taste buds had been enjoying the sweet and stodgy delights of comfort food these past months so it was going to take some time to adjust.
    â€˜No. The young mother whose baby you saved this morning sent them over to say thank-you. You two are her new heroes.’
    â€˜Hey, it was all your sister. This girl knows her stuff and I wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of her by claiming credit for what she did. She can hit pretty hard when she wants to.’ Joe held his hands up and deflected the praise back to her.
    â€˜Oh, I know all about it. She can be vicious if you take her toys without permission and as for her chocolate stash, if you touch that your life won’t be worth living.’ Peter made it sound as though they’d had a tempestuous relationship growing up when nothing could be further from the truth.