“Maybe,” he said with a shrug. “Or maybe I’m just trying to protect them from the darkness that seems to follow me, even here.”
She took a step closer. “We all have shadows, Jacob,” she said quietly. “But we also have light. And sometimes, we need someone else to help us find it again.”
His eyes met hers, and for a brief moment, the barriers he had erected seemed to waver. “Help me, Poppy,” Jacob whispered. “I don’t want to be lost anymore.”
Poppy took another step toward Jacob and wrapped her arms around him, feeling him stiffen against her. Slowly, though, he relaxed into her embrace, accepting the comfort she was offering.
“Jacob,” she said softly, the warmth in her touch bridging the distance between them. Her eyes locked onto his. “You carried this burden alone for so long, but you don’t have to anymore. I’m here.”
“Every time I close my eyes,” Jacob said, “I see him... My brother, falling again and again. And I…” He paused, gathering the shards of his soul scattered by the recollection. “I wonder why it wasn’t me.”
“Because you’re meant to be here, Jacob,” Poppy insisted. “Your life—it has purpose.”
“Does it?” He searched her face. “Going west was always Lucas’s dream. We were supposed to do it together after the war. Of course, he didn’t last until after the war.”
“I understand.” She spoke with assurance. “The past may shape us, but it doesn’t define us. We can forge new paths, together.”
A heavy sigh escaped him. In the coolness of the impending night, their breaths mingled.
“Poppy,” he breathed out her name like a prayer. “I never thought I’d find someone who could understand…someone who could look beyond the scars.”
“Scars are just maps of our trials,” she whispered back,. “They lead us to places where we can heal, with the help of others.”
Their gazes remained locked. “Stay with me tonight,” Jacob murmured.
“Always,” Poppy replied.
She prayed that his admission that he needed her would lead to the changes necessary for their marriage to continue.
