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Coffee turned into breakfast, then a tour around town.
“How did you end up in Fort Lincoln?” His shoulder brushed against mine as we walked.
“Long story.” I smiled, enjoying catching up with an old friend. “After we broke up and you were deployed, I was at loose ends. Then days before I mustered out, my grandmother passed away. I had no one and nowhere to go, and when I totaled my car—”
“How did you meet Luke?” His jawline hardened.
“He helped me after the accident.” Still amazed by the fluke of fate, I turned toward him. “Tuns out, we’re distant cousins.”
“Cousins?” He cracked a smile. “And you’re working at his vineyard?”
“Luke needed help. I needed a job.” I glossed over the physical attraction. “In the military, I had a routine—orders and schedules. After my discharge, I had no direction. Working at the vineyard gave me a sense of purpose.” I studied Cody’s body language, assessing him. “I’d had big expectations about civilian life…fantasizing about us and marriage…but they didn’t pan out.”
His chin dropping to his chest, he stared at the sidewalk.
“Loneliness is a powerful motivator. I’d understand if companionship were the only reason you contacted me, but I have to know. Why do you want to get back together?”
“I couldn’t get you off my mind in Afghanistan or Fort Carson, and now I can’t stop thinking of you in El Paso.” Meeting my gaze, he tucked a windblown strand of hair behind my ear. “I miss you. I miss us.”
His touch sent my pulse racing. Then the ache of separation slashed through the nostalgia like clippers lopping off vines. I can’t go through another breakup. I can’t take the chance. “Why do you miss me?”
“I just do.” He shrugged. “Who can say why?”
“Give me one reason.”
“I miss having you around. I miss us being a couple.”
“Specifically, what do you miss? The convenience? A ready-made plus one?” I shook my head. “No, I think you’re just lonely. Why don’t you adopt a dog or subscribe to a dating site?”
“Maeve, I miss you.” Wearing a wistful, half smile, he stared into the distance. “I miss the smell of your hair, the way your eyes would light up when you’d see me.” Then his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed, he turned toward me. “I’ve been thinking about the future, and I don’t see one without you. Can’t we patch things up…start over?”
Yes teetered on my tongue, but I shook my head. “You run hot and cold. How do I know you wouldn’t change your mind again?”
“Because I love you. I’ve always—”
“Then why did you break up with me?” I tilted my head, challenging him.
“Circumstances.” His voice cracked. “I was deployed and had no choice.”
“Circumstances didn’t call it quits. You did.”
“I didn’t want to stand in your way—”
“Are you sure it wasn’t the other way around…?” I tightened my eyes. “You didn’t want me standing in your way?”
“Look, Maeve, I was wrong.” He rubbed his neck. “I made the biggest mistake of my life, and I’d do anything to get you back.”
Despite his past performance, a part of me believed him…wanted to believe him…but his track record stopped me. “This is all too sudden.”
“What’s too—”
“You calling me last night, then showing up this morning.” Flashbacks of the breakup whizzed through my mind. “I’d resigned myself to never seeing you again. Now you’re here, professing your love.”
“If I didn’t realize it at the time, I do now. I love you.”
“Too little, too late.” I slumped, exhausted from sparring.
“What else can I do?”
