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“Where do you want to go?” he said as they turned the corner and the all-American rapist disappeared from sight. He wanted to get her away from here and find a place where he could take care of her.
“The beach,” she murmured. “Take me back to the ocean.”
“As you wish, Caroline.” He headed for the highway, determined to put a few miles between them and the man who’d managed to do what Caroline couldn’t—move forward.
Chapter 13
CAROLINE BURIED HER toes in the sand. Then she waited for a wave to rush up and sweep the fine white grains back to sea. But the tide had already receded and her feet remained buried. Still, the chill from the rushing waves ran upward from her feet to her calves. She’d rolled up her cargo pants and removed her boots. She’d needed to feel something other than shock and sadness.
If I stay here long enough I’ll freeze and break into pieces, she thought. But at least then I won’t have to run anymore. To live in hiding while he plays ball with his kids.
Seeing Dustin hadn’t delivered a neatly wrapped box full of closure. She’d been naïve to believe driving down here would lock her past aw
ay where it belonged. And she knew that she couldn’t stop running unless she turned herself in to the military.
Five hours sitting on the beach, watching the waves and noting the tide, delivered a hefty dose of clarity along with the chill.
And Josh.
He’d offered a strong, determined presence seemingly at odds with his charming smile. Along with the burger he’d set on her lap and told her to eat, he’d secured rooms for them at an oceanfront motel. It wasn’t the Oregon cottage, but seeing as she’d spent most of the day sitting on the motel’s beach, it felt like the right choice.
So had leaving the Marines, the branch of the military that she’d wanted to join since she was a kid. And standing up in military court and telling the truth about her CO. All good, solid choices.
Yet she was the one who’d spent the past year hiding and constantly looking over her shoulder. She’d been terrified to live her life.
But not Dustin. He’d picked up the pieces and moved on.
The injustice turned her stomach. And for a moment, she felt as if she would throw up the burger.
“Are you cold?” Josh settled in the sand next to her and held out a Moore Timber sweatshirt.
“Yes,” she said, taking the extra layer and pulling it over her plain black T-shirt.
“I’m guessing that wasn’t what you were expecting to find,” he said.
She turned away from the water and looked at him. He still wore the same jeans and long-sleeve flannel shirt. But he’d traded his boots for a pair of flip-flops.
“No,” she said slowly. “I had this picture in my head that he would be sitting in his rented apartment alone. Maybe drinking a beer in the middle of the morning.”
“I’m guessing he didn’t have the beer gut when he served,” Josh said.
She shook her head. “Yeah, that’s something. But I still can’t believe his wife took him back.”
“You don’t know that full story. I’ve been thinking about this since we left. A sick kid, home from school while the mom needs to work. Maybe she called and demanded that he come over.”
“Maybe,” she said. But Dustin had appeared at ease, at home on the picture-perfect lawn.
Josh looked down at his feet. “You know how I told you my mom left when I was a kid?”
She nodded.
“It happened just like that,” he said. “One day she just walked out the door. My father was back from flying choppers for the army and I don’t know, but I guess she decided she’d had enough of taking care of four kids on next to nothing.
“I’ll never know why she left.” He looked up and met her gaze. “Once or twice I thought about trying to find her. I wondered if hearing her side of the story would bring, I don’t know—”
“Closure,” she supplied.
“Yeah. And look, I know it’s not the same. Dustin attacked you. What he did . . .”
