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“Caleb,” she whispered, “you are a good and decent man. It takes a brave and strong man to do the necessary things you did and survive.”
He reached for her hand and pulled her down on the couch next to him. He needed to talk about his time in Iraq and put it behind him.
“Tell me about your life over there. How did you and Jack spend your days?”
“You don’t want to hear about any of that.”
“I think you need to remember that there were moments when things were good.”
“Being here with you is good.”
“You will always be with me.”
“Do you mean that?”
“If it’s what you want.”
Caleb didn’t say anything, just reached up and cupped her cheek in his hand, his fingers sliding into her hair. She leaned into his touch and gave him a smile. Something he had a hard time doing most days.
“Did you and Jack live in a tent? How hot was it there?”
She hoped the innocuous questions would get him talking. Reluctantly, he gave her the answers. She waited patiently, and with a sigh, he elaborated and told her one story after another. He talked about the people, the children, and the markets. How he had to be on guard at all times against roadside IEDs and suicide bombers. He talked about Jack and the team of soldiers they worked with and the kind of work they did.
Late, his voice trailed off after a cute story about playing soccer with some of the local boys, and he and Jack coaxing some of the little girls to play, too.
She sat beside him, her head on his shoulder, listening and letting him talk about the ghosts he lived with. He leaned in and kissed her forehead.
“Now, when I sleep, I see nothing but the enemy coming at me through the dark, and my guard goes up and my heart pounds, and it’s all I can do not to sit watch with a gun in my hand praying for daylight.”
Those words tore her heart to shreds. After everything he’d been through, he couldn’t even find peace in sleep.
He went quiet after that, staring into the dying fire as the quiet wrapped around them. She shifted into the corner of the couch and pulled his hand to make him lie with her.
“I’ll squish you, sweetheart.”
“Tonight, I’ll keep watch and you sleep.”
He opened his mouth to protest, but she put her fingertips to his lips. “Just try.”
He settled onto the sofa, toeing off his shoes, and settling between her legs with his back to her chest and his head on her shoulder. She wrapped her legs around his waist, one arm over his chest, her hand over his heart. She brushed her fingers through his hair again and again. It took a few minutes before he relaxed into her and his breathing evened out. She leaned in and kissed his temple, still brushing her fingers through his hair. She stared at the flames in the fire and sighed.
“You’re safe with me,” she whispered.
His big hand covered hers on his chest. Within seconds, the tension in him gave way, and he fell asleep in her arms.
She stayed awake, watching over him until the predawn twilight broke the dark night. Sometime later, Caleb shifted to his stomach, dragging her beneath him. He slept with his head on her breasts and his arms wrapped around her.
That’s how Jack found them when he tapped her shoulder to wake her.
She squinted against the bright morning sun. Jack held up his hands in a gesture to ask.What’s up with Caleb?
She pointed to her forehead and then held her hand up with her index and thumb held up like a gun. That’s all Jack needed to understand Caleb couldn’t sleep because he’d been having nightmares. She wondered how many nights Jack lay awake at night, alone, and wishing for someone to protect and watch over him so he could find some peace.
Jack reached over to wake Caleb, but she grabbed hold of his wrist and held him off with a glare. He tried to pull free, but she gave him a dirty look, and he relented, so she released him.
“She’s fierce, isn’t she?” Caleb asked, opening his eyes and raising his head from her chest to stare up at Jack.
“She can be.”
