Page 83 of SEAL of Valor

My gaze drifts out of the dining room to the bottom of the stairs. I can hear the faint sound of a shower running, and I know that Reese is still upstairs, getting cleaned up.

How ridiculous is it that I miss her already?

“Here, try this.” Vivian sets a small bowl of chili in front of me.

It looks and smells delicious, so I lift the spoon to my lips and take a bite. It’s the first real thing I’ve eaten in I don’t even know how many days, and my stomach growls in response, clearly ready for more. “This is amazing.”

“Good.” Vivian beams at me, then takes a seat at the end of the table. She turns toward me, her smile fading. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

She reaches over and rests her wrinkled hand on top of mine. “You brought my girl home.”

“I’m the reason she was in danger in the first place,” I tell her.

“No, the people who grabbed you both are the reason. You, my boy, are the only reason my daughter walked through that door a few hours ago.” Her eyes fill. “You were always so good for each other.”

She was good for me, that much is true. But the jury is still out on whether or not I’ll ever bring her anything but heartache. “I’ll never let anything happen to her.”

“I know.” Vivian cups my cheek gently. “Be sure to protect yourself, too. Life just wouldn’t be the same without you.”

I try to hide the emotion burning a hole through me. The reminder that my own mother doesn’t want anything to do with me, but this woman sitting here considers me important enough to save.

A timer goes off in the kitchen, so Vivian smiles one final time before pulling away and heading into the kitchen.

“Having a pre-dinner snack?”

I turn as Reese comes into the dining room. Her hair is still wet from her shower, and she’s wearing a pair of baggy pajama pants and an old t-shirt with our school mascot printed on the front. But it’s her eyes that capture my full attention. They’re red and swollen, which tells me she spent a lot of that time crying.

Aragorn is beside her, where he’s practically been glued since we got back.

And even he looks defeated, his wide brown eyes trained up at her.

I push to my feet and cross over to wrap my arms around her. My body still aches, but it’s worth every bit of pain to hold her. And then I realize that she’s showered—while I have not. “Sorry, I need to grab a shower.”

Reese’s arms tighten around me. “Don’t you dare move,” she says.

I laugh softly and press my lips to her wet hair. “You’ve got it.”

“Sorry, it just hit me when I was in the shower. All of it. We almost died, Weston.” She pulls away and looks up at me. “You especially.”

“But we didn’t.” I look down at her. “Because we weren’t there alone.”

“We weren’t, were we?”

I smile and brush strands of hair off her cheek. “No, we weren’t. Because only a miracle could have gotten us out of there alive.” Truth be told, I wasn’t even sure I’d survive jumping from that ship. The fact that I did? That, injured and bleeding, I managed to make it to Reese alive?

That had to be God. There is absolutely no other explanation.

I just wish I knew one thing.

Why me?

“I’m going to go grab a shower.” I step away from her, a heaviness settling over me as I make my way up the stairs, trying so hard to keep it together until I’m alone.

God didn’t save Violet, and she was surely more worthy than I. I doubt she ever even thought a cross word in her life. But me? Look at the damage I’ve left in my wake. The lives I’ve ruined.

My mood shifts quickly, souring as I make my way up the stairs and into the bathroom. I flip on the light and catch a glimpse of myself in a mirror. I stiffen, shifting my gaze away just as quickly.