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“Did she say something to you?”
“No. During the snowball fight, she fell and scraped her head. He rushed to her, frantic she was hurt bad. He held on to her like his life depended on it. The look in her eyes. I knew.”
“Hundred bucks says we’re uncles within a year.”
“No bet. He had this look about him when he left here.”
“Yuck,” they said in unison, laughing together. Jack felt better for it. He envied his best friend. Finding someone special to share his life was probably not in the cards for him.
Chapter Eight
CALEB WOKE WITHa start, breathing heavy, his heart pounding so hard his chest hurt. He shook off the savage wartime nightmares along with the sweat-soaked sheets. Naked, he padded into the bathroom and ran cold water into the sink, scooping up handfuls and splashing it over his face. He grabbed a washcloth and soaked it, dragging it over his body to wipe away the sweat. Chilled, he dried off with a soft towel Summer had helped him pick out on one of their many supply runs in town.
Just thinking about her tightened his body until he was hard and aching for her. The clock read the same time he got up most nights. Two twenty-two.
Awake, but tired to the bone, he’d never get back to sleep. He dragged on sweats, a t-shirt, socks, and shoes, and grabbed his jacket. Quiet and deliberate, he moved through the house and went out the kitchen door and down the path toward the front of the house. He veered right and took the path to the cabin, but didn’t go too close. Instead, he went around back and stood in his usual spot on the bank of the creek and listened to the rushing water. For whatever reason, the monotonous tone soothed his mind and evened out his heart and breathing. Okay, he also had secretly hoped for weeks that Summer would find him out here and they’d ... well, he’d be warm in her bed and not freezing his ass off right now.
I better buy one of those noise machines before I’m walking hip-deep through snow to an iced-over creek.
He let the quiet night clear his mind and reminded himself he’d left that life behind for something better.
Yeah, your something better is in that cabin and you’re out here in the cold.
He couldn’t believe Jack gave him the all-clear. He’d waited months to be with her; he could wait until tomorrow, explain what happened with Jack and Sam, and ask her for a date.
Cold, exhausted, his mind a whirlwind of thoughts of Summer and war, he turned to stare at the cabin and sort out his thoughts about his future—with her. It had to be with her, because he just couldn’t go on without her. The minute Jack and Sam didn’t freak about him with their sister, he realized he’d have been back for her. No amount of time or distance would ever let him forget her, or allow him any kind of peace.
At first, he didn’t believe his eyes. He thought her a golden dream in the midst of his nightly wandering, but there she stood on the back porch, blond hair haloing her beautiful face and floating around her back and shoulders on the wind. She held her arms wrapped around her middle, warding off the cold. He liked her in nothing but a t-shirt and pajama bottoms, bare feet poking out the bottoms. She shivered, her nipples standing out against the cotton t-shirt.
She reached out one hand to him, palm up, offering for him to take it. He didn’t need any more invitation than that and closed the distance between them with quick, long strides. He took the five steps up to the deck, took her hand, pulled her into his chest, and wrapped his arms around her.
“Aren’t you cold, sweetheart?”
“Aren’t you tired?” Her arms held him tight, and he squeezed her back, needing her comfort. Tired of the nightmares, fighting his need for her, tired of being without her.
“You’re out here almost every night, lost and alone and hurting.”
“You knew?”
“You never once came to the cabin.”
“I couldn’t.”
“You know I’m here. I left the door open, hoping you’d want to be with me, but you never came.”
“So, tonight you came to get me.”
“You’re leaving. I don’t care if we only have this one night. Isn’t it better than spending the rest of our lives wondering what we might have shared?”
“We don’t have one night.”
She pulled out of his arms and stared up at him with eyes so filled with hurt, his chest tightened and his throat ached.
“You’re really going to leave and that’s it. I have no say. My feelings don’t matter. Caleb, please, stay with me.”
“Okay,” he interrupted, but she kept talking over him.
“We can work this out. Jack will understand.”
