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him moaning so I knew he was still alive. Then another explosive device went off close by and I guess I was hit by the shrapnel. An awful pain ripped through my head and I could hardly see for my own blood running into my eyes, stinging. Still, I got myself and the wounded guy into the shelter of the vehicle. I don’t remember any more after that until I woke up in a transport plane on my way to the armed forces hospital in Germany.”
    Brett leaned down and kissed her gently. When he raised his head she could see the pride on his face. “I could only imagine what you went through out there, and what guts it must have taken to put your life on the line to save another soldier’s.”
    Tears sprang into her eyes, but she shrugged his praise away. “What I did was nothing compared to the courage and sacrifice of some of the other guys,” she insisted. “Three of my buddies died in that attack—they paid with their lives to keep us from being overrun until help arrived. I owe it to them that I survived and was airlifted out to the military hospital.
    “Head wounds are funny things, often unpredictable. I was in and out of consciousness for quite a while and it took some time before my memory came back. I had speech problems, too, but the docs assured me it would all clear up. One thing they couldn’t be certain about was the … hallucinations … I was having.”
    “Like post-traumatic stress disorder flashbacks?”
    “Something like that.” How could she explain to him that the woman he was caressing actually saw restless spirits?
    Suddenly the front door opened and Noelia Russo came rushing in.
    In one hand, she had a plastic container of what looked like soup, in the other a bouquet of fresh flowers. She stopped short at the sight of Kelly lying on the sofa with Brett hovering over her like a protective sheepdog, then grinned.
    “Here I was, worried sick about my poor friend who I heard collapsed and was at death’s door, and here she is, cuddled up with a gorgeous guy! If I’d known you were in such good hands … ” The head to toe and back again look she gave Brett made her double entendre obvious. “I wouldn’t have worried at all.”
    Kelly struggled to sit up while Brett stood, not sure whether to scowl or laugh at Noelia’s suggestive wink.
    Noelia shoved the flowers and plastic food container at him. “Make yourself useful, dear, and see to these. The flowers go in a vase filled with water and the soup goes in a casserole dish and into the microwave for four minutes when Kelly is hungry.” She handed them to him and then stood back, looking skeptical. “You will get that right, won’t you?”
    Brett was quick to recover. “Yes, of course. Flowers in the microwave, soup in a vase.”
    Noelia laughed out loud. “No need for cheek, young man. Get outta here.”
    When he was gone, she sat down on the edge of the sofa and gave Kelly a hard look. “All joking apart, I meant what I said, honey—I really was worried. What happened?”
    Kelly quickly filled the older woman in, and then asked, “But how did you get to hear of this?”
    Noelia gave her an incredulous look. “Surely you’ve lived here long enough to know that news travels faster than the speed of light in Marina Grove? And remember, I live next door to Julie Carlson … ”
    The penny dropped. “The police department secretary? And she heard it from the 911 dispatcher.”
    “And if Julie knows about it, so does everyone else in town. You’ll probably have a house full of visitors before noon. I guess there’s no point in telling you that you should take the day off and rest?”
    Kelly shook her head. “This whole thing with the wedding dress is driving me crazy. Brett is convinced that I bought a wedding dress belonging to his aunt, who wants it back—oh, for a lot of reasons. Apparently it should never have been sold.”
    “Ooops, that really puts you down the creek with no paddle. I really doubt you’ll get Ms. Welcome to