Saving Grace

Chapter Two: Will

     My eyes burned in my skull as I stared at the road before me. I only had a few miles left to go before reaching my destination and I could not be more grateful for that. When I got the order to head to the small beach town of Brighton, Florida, I thought the trip would be easy. I packed everything in my pathetic excuse for an apartment into my truck and headed off. It all started out great and I figured I would be there in two days, leaving plenty of time to unpack and get settled before I reported to work. 

  That was all before my truck decided to go haywire and I had to spend two days in a small town in Louisiana, leaving me one day to make up for lost time and unpack before going to work. I had been up for around 23 hours straight and I was exhausted. 

   I sighed a sigh of relief as the sign for the complex I would be living in came into view. Some friends suggested that this place was accommodating to service members and would accept my last minute inquiry for a lease. The owner even left the key under the mat so I could get in since I'd be arriving so early. The clock on my dash read 6:10 and I had less than an hour until I had to report back. 

Great. 

  I pulled into the small parking lot and eyed the row of pink houses, all connected. I hope this place was nicer than the last one. At the least the beach is right across the street. And, it was on an island ten minutes from town, so that was really nice too. 

  Brighton was just a small beach town with not much to offer except the Navy base, recruitment center, some small shops, and hotels and houses for tourists. It was a beautiful town, so I could understand why so many tourists came here. Still, I was not looking forward to living here. 

 I quickly found my place and realized that I was in the second to last house. Great. 

  I park my truck outside and go to head up the stairs to check out the new place. As I go up the stairs I see a beautiful Golden Retriever and it's owner on her phone, not even looking. Before I can move out of her way, she walks right into my chest and lands on the stairs. 

 "Oh!" She exclaims before looking up. 

"Whoa there, are you all right?" I ask, not able to hold in my chuckle. 

  Right away I notice that state of her appearance. Training has taught me to notice people. Her long, wet hair sticks to her, leaving distracting wet spots on her shirt. Her big brown eyes look up at me, and I can't help but notice the flecks of gold in them. 

"Yes, I'm fine. Excuse me." She says before stepping around me and continuing down the stairwell. 

 Quickly, I realize that I could use her help. 

"Wait!" I call out, trying not to sound too desperate. "Could you possibly tell me where the elevators are? I'm moving in and I can handle carrying the boxes up the stairs, but it would be faster on an elevator and I have to go to work in" I check my watch on my wrist and inwardly groan. "forty five minutes." 

 She points in a direction and explains where they are. I should be listening, but I get distracted by her tone and tan legs. She's just wearing simple khaki shorts and a tee shirt with faded writing on it, but she looks amazing in that outfit. At least I didn't move into a place with all old people. 

 All too soon, she stops talking and waits for me to respond. Wait, what did she say again? Something about old people and elevators. 

 "Thanks for the warning." I say, flashing my best smile. "And cute dog." 

 She mumbles something and walks away as I turn to head back up the stairs. I have too much to do in too short amount of time to focus on cute girls and hot dogs. Wait. Hot girls and cute dogs.