Page 49 of Chasing Amanda

He liked that, knowing she’d be here. “You should know…” He hadn’t thought this part through. “Your father’s not excited about us being together. He thinks⁠—”

“Is that why you⁠—?”

“He just said a few things that led me to doubt myself. It was my fears that deceived me.”

“I’ll talk to him.”

“No. I wanted you to know because I don’t want secrets between us. But I’ll talk to him. Over time, I’ll prove myself to him. He’ll see.”

She regarded him a long moment. “If that’s what you want.”

“It is. And, if you change your mind about me⁠—”

“Don’t.” She pressed a finger over his lips. “Don’t do that. You’ve protected me enough. You don’t need to protect me from you.”

And he didn’t need to protect himself from her.

When he returned from Afghanistan—and he’d do everything in his power to ensure he did—he would marry this woman. There was still so much they didn’t know about each other. But they would learn together. Grow together.

And stay together. No matter what.

EPILOGUE

EIGHTEEN MONTHS LATER

Amanda waited outside the gate area at Logan Airport, clutching a small bouquet of multicolored tulips. Because of the unpredictable Boston traffic, she’d left much earlier than necessary and arrived twenty minutes before. She couldn’t wait to see Mark, to feel his arms around her, to feel his breath on her face.

She couldn’t wait to feel his lips against hers, to welcome him home with a kiss.

According to the screen overhead, his flight was due any second. Had time ever moved so slowly?

It was Friday afternoon, and people jostled for position all around her. If Mark were returning with his platoon, there would be spouses and children and family and friends, eager to welcome their returning heroes. There’d be signs and flags and balloons, music and fanfare.

Mark deserved all that and more, but he was arriving without his platoon, home for a few weeks to recover from an injury.

“It’s minor—nothing to worry about,” he’d assured Amanda on a rare and precious phone call a few days earlier. “The doctors won’t clear me for duty for thirty days, and Major Sapp insisted I recuperate stateside.”

Insisted?

Amanda hadn’t asked why his CO had been forced to insist. Mark had been drowsy and distracted. He hadn’t told her about what he’d been through—not on that call or in any of his emails or letters. He hadn’t shared details about his injury. He hadn’t told her about any of the difficulties he must’ve faced. Instead, he kept their conversations focused on her and her life. Occasionally, he talked about the future. But when she asked about his world, he kept his remarks surface-level—the weather, his living conditions, his buddies.

Amanda had read everything she could get her hands on about the war in Afghanistan, and though she didn’t know exactly what Mark endured, she knew, regardless of what he said about his injury, none of it had been minor.

If Mark was conflicted about returning home, she wouldn’t heap guilt on him for it. All she wanted was for him to feel welcome and comfortable and loved.

If only she didn’t have to share him with his parents.

The thought of them made her stomach flip, as if she weren’t already nervous enough. After she and Mark had spent those amazing—well, bizarre and amazing—days together, he’d been deployed. Since then, they’d shared letters and emails and a couple of phone calls, but this would be the first time she’d seen him since the weekend she’d met him.

The first time in a year and a half.

What if his feelings had changed? What if…?

She shook off her fears. He’d called her, hadn’t he? He wanted her there. And she knew her feelings hadn’t changed. With every word he’d written, she’d fallen a little more in love.

Stragglers from the previous flights wandered down the aisle created by retractable belt barriers and toward baggage claim. People surrounded the barrier on both sides, some glancing at watches, others chatting while they waited for arriving passengers.

Two college-aged guys across from Amanda were trying to decide what bar to go to that night. One older woman beside her complained about the increased security since the September eleventh attacks as if they weren’t warranted. Funny how quickly people forgot what’d happened.