AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He’s taken several strides toward his office before my mind catches up enough to call him back. “Colonel? I forgive you already. Life is full of tough decisions and you’re doing an amazing job.”
It strikes me that I have no idea what these males were like when he found them over three years ago: abused, caged, and trained as killers. That they are now the smiling, kind, extraordinary males they are today had a lot to do with the colonel in charge of their treatment.
“The next year and a half of my life is going to be more than tolerable, Colonel, at least if I have anything to say about it. I’m going to be great.” I tuck my arm around Sylas while I flash the colonel a genuine smile. “Thanks.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Sylas
Cally is about to enter our Quonset, but I gently grip her hand and pull her toward me.
“This feels momentous and my head is spinning. Can we wait a moment?”
She heaves a sigh and her shoulders sag as she nods in agreement. “My emotions are changing as fast as the numbers on the Wheel of Fortune, and I don’t know where they’re going to land.”
“When I heard the soldiers’ boots approach, I thought I’d be jailed at best and dead at worst. Then they pointed guns at me and brought me to the colonel’s office, where I thought the best possible outcome would be landing behind bars. Then, whoosh, a reprieve and finally the bonus of being able to share this Quonset with you.” She heaves a sigh, shaking her head. “It’s almost too much.”
After tugging her into my arms, it seems the most natural thing in the world to lift her up and cradle her against me. Her legs circle my waist and we simply hold each other. I settle my nose in the spot where her neck joins her shoulder and breathe in a deep gust of her scent. It calms me instantly.
“The moment I heard the SUVs while I was mushroom hunting, I knew you were in trouble, Cally. Immediately, I took off running, following your scent to find you, save you.” My fingers sift through her burnt-orange hair. It’s now my favorite color. “It’s been a long time since I’ve stared down the barrel of a gun. I can’t say it gets any easier with age.” I give a mirthless laugh.
She pulls away enough to search my face. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that.”
I’m still not ready to enter our new house, and since she weighs nothing, I tote her around the exterior of the Quonset as we inventory our new home.
“Windows,” I announce as though having them on a house was a unique and wondrous thing.
“Doors,” she proclaims as though the addition of doors to a dwelling is a shocking innovation.
Then, with much more excitement, she says, “Oh. Can you believe there’s a little fenced yard for the Tot?”
“The Totster.”
“Toteroni.”
“Tot-tastic.”
“Tot-ally Taterlicious.
The dog knows we’re messing with him because he’s jumping up and nipping a scant inch from Cally’s backside, wanting to get in on the joke.
“Are you my goodest boy, Tot-terrific?”
“Are you going to like it here, Totopotamus?”
He loves it and is whirling like a dervish and chuffing with delight. Somehow, this moment, as well as seeing this little slice of heaven that the Army has provided us, calms me to my very soul.
I open the gate to our backyard and set Cally on one side of a wooden picnic table—our picnic table—then pointedly take a seat on the other side where we won’t be tempted to touch.
Gripping her hand over the wooden slat tabletop, I glide my thumb across her knuckles. Just touching her like this, not having to hide her existence—or my feelings—anymore, is a gift. My chest feels full, expansive.
“Would it be hurtful if I mentioned that we got off to a bad start, Cally?”
“Naw. I think that would be an accurate description.” Her gaze roves over my face as though she’s memorizing every detail. It’s another way she lets me know how much she accepts me despite my differences.
“With my rut and the threat of discovery hanging over us like a noose, would I be crazy to say I think we got things a little backward?”
“Backward? Yes. Upside down and backward.” Her soft smile widens, as though our terrible beginnings were a good thing.
