Page 19 of Saving Her Dragon

"I know," he said, turning around with a faint, sheepish smile.

"You checked it twice."

He rubbed the back of his neck, the casual smile returning. "Occupational hazard, Syd. Just establishing protocol."

She let it go, matching his smile. He would forever be a Guardsman, a protector, and she loved him all the more for it.

As they climbed into bed and clicked off the bedside lamps, the quiet ritual they were building took over, wrapping them in a sense of safety.

"Coffee tomorrow?" Sydney whispered into the dark.

"Absolutely, Mo chroí," Garrett murmured back, his voice thick with sleep. Scooting up behind her, he wrapped his arm around her waist and nuzzled her neck. “Gotta have my coffee just as much as I gotta have you.”

The promise was warm, cute, and completely meaningless for the moment. Just a quiet thread tying one safe day to the next.

Sometime during the night, Sydney woke. Her hand brushed Garrett’s on her hip. He was right there with her, his chest rising and falling in a deep, steady rhythm. She relaxed, closing her eyes, and drifted right back to sleep.

Morning arrived with absolute perfection. The rich aroma of fresh coffee was already brewing downstairs, and bright, golden Texas sunlight flooded the bedroom.

Sydney dressed quickly, humming a quiet tune under her breath. She headed down the stairs, targeting the kitchen, but her path took her past the mudroom door.

A quick look as she passed the doorway, and she stopped dead in her tracks.

Garrett’s heavy leather combat boots were sitting perfectly side-by-side beside the doorway where they had been the night before… but they were no longer clean. They were completely covered in thick, dark, dried mud. It wasn't a light splatter from a puddle. The clay was caked heavily into the treads and caked up the sides of the leather.

Sydney stared at them. She slowly walked into the room and knelt down. Reaching out a hesitant finger, she touched the edge of the heel. The dirt was completely dry. A small chunk broke away under her touch, clattering loudly against the hard floor.

The door from the kitchen on the other side of the room swung open, and Garrett stepped in carrying two steaming mugs of coffee. He froze when he saw her kneeling on the floor. "What's wrong?"

Sydney didn't look up at his face. Her gaze stayed fixed on the dried clay. "Did you go outside last night?"

Looking up, she saw Garrett’s easy morning smile instantly vanish. The mugs remained steady in his hands, but his posture went completely rigid. "No. I slept right through until six."

Slowly pointing down at the boots, she whispered, “But look…”

Garrett lowered his gaze, his eyes locking onto the heavy boots. The blood drained from his face so fast that he suddenly looked ghostly in the morning sun. She saw the instant recognition that they were his boots register. She knew he knew their exact state because for the last two weeks he had been obsessively polishing, organizing, and maintaining his gear to rebuild his military routines.

"Garrett..." Sydney whispered, her voice trembling.

He said nothing. He just stared at the caked gray clay, the steam from the coffee rising between them like smoke.

“…maybe you wore them last night?”

"No, I didn’t," he whispered quietly.

5

Following the Evidence

"Maybe..." Sydney started, her voice a small, fragile thing in the quiet hallway. "Maybe you wore them yesterday afternoon when you were out on the ridge with Carrick? You said you were looking at old flumes."

Garrett didn't move. He stood frozen, the two steaming mugs of coffee steady in his hands, his knuckles turning stark white against the ceramic.

"No," he quietly responded, his voice dangerously flat even to his own ears. "I didn't."

Silence filled the small room. It was thick and suffocating, growing with every breath he took. Abruptly setting the coffee mugs down on a nearby side table, the sudden click of the ceramic against wood snapped something inside him awake.

The vulnerability vanished. The fear receded. In its place, the seasoned Guardsman took complete control– and it just felt right.