Page 101 of The Best Thing He Never Wanted

He hadn’t known what to expect of Crete, but so far it had lived up to the description he’d read of it as its own tiny continent. They’d seen the sea to the north and the south, and the lush valley around the village. Here, as they headed farther south, the land was different again. The olive-grove-covered hillsides had given way to drier, scrub-covered slopes and rockier terrain, with mountains rising beyond.

~ ~ ~

By the time they made it back to the house, Bea was feeling much more confident. She knew Blane was right and that she’d have to practice, but she was less nervous about it now that she’d actually done it. She shook her head as she took the orange juice from the fridge. She’d practice with Blane every day, as he’d offered, but that still didn’t mean she’d get much practice—there weren’t enough days left.

Blane looked over from where he was chopping tomatoes at the counter. “You okay? That was a big sigh.”

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t realize I sighed. I’m fine. What do you think? Should we eat at the table outside?”

“Sure.” Blane tossed the tomatoes into a bowl he’d already filled with lettuce, cucumber, and feta.

They’d wondered about stopping for lunch while they were out on their drive but had decided against it. Bea hoped he didn’t mind. With the way time was ticking down, she was starting to feel quite greedy about having him here in the house with her while she could.

While he finished preparing lunch, slicing some bread, and setting out cheese and olives to go with the salad, Bea laid the table outside. It was much cooler this afternoon, with the first real gray sky they’d seen since they arrived, but it was still pleasant and warm enough to sit out to eat.

She went back inside to help him bring everything out, and it was only as she set the salad bowl in the middle of the table and he put the oil and vinegar down beside it that she realized how well they worked together as a team. She couldn’t say how or when it had started. They made most meals together now. They didn’t even get in each other’s way. They just seemed to move around each other naturally, each doing whatever needed to be done without discussing it.

She glanced at him. They simply… worked.

He cocked an eyebrow. “Did I forget something?”

“No, Blane. You didn’t forget a thing.”

He met her gaze and held it for a long moment. “What, darlin’?”

She shook her head. “Nothing. Well, it’s just that we work well together, don’t we?”

His jaw worked once as he continued to stare at her. “Yeah, darlin’. We do.”

She forced a bright smile. “We should probably get to work on this lunch. I was thinking after we’ve eaten, we could still go out for our walk. It’s not too hot this afternoon, is it?”

His eyebrows drew together as he studied her, and for a moment she willed him to say something. Not about the weather, or the afternoon, or the walk, but about how well they worked together.

The corner of his mouth twitched, but she knew full well he wasn’t fighting a smile this time. Instead, he straightened his shoulders.

“A walk sounds good to me.”

~ ~ ~

As they set out down the lane, Blane wrapped his arm around her shoulders. The way time was passing so fast could weigh on him if he let it, but he needed to take a page out of Bea’s book. She was feeling it too, he could tell. But each time that shadow crossed her eyes, she changed the subject and smiled. He didn’t believe for a second that she didn’t care—he knew she did. She was just being realistic, and he had to remind himself to do the same.

He looked down at her, letting himself take in for a moment how much he was enjoying this, how much he enjoyed being with her.

She caught him watching her and smiled. “What’s the matter, Mr. Wilder?”

“Not a damn thing. You good?”

She nodded. “I am; I’m wonderful, thank you.”

They walked on in silence for a little while. He dropped his arm from her shoulders and reached for her hand instead. Just because he loved having her close by his side like that didn’t mean she needed to carry the weight of him.

She’d only been walking with him for a few days, but he’d meant what he said when he told her he’d rather walk with her than run by himself. He could tell she enjoyed it too. She noticed little things that didn’t register with him. He was constantly scanning the ground and their surroundings for possible threats. That had been drilled into him so hard in the military that it was second nature. Bea had no training or reason to notice things the way she did. She was observant and smart, no doubt about it, but she was curious about life too. She saw the beauty in things.

He smiled as they approached the highest point on their loop and chuckled when she stopped, just as he’d known she would. She did it every time.

The village sat in a green valley, surrounded by hillsides covered in olive groves, with mountains rising beyond them. But there was one break between the mountains where, from this particular spot, they could see a thin blue line of sea in the distance.

Blane had never noticed it until Bea started walking with him. She’d spotted it the very first time, and her excitement at discovering she could see the sea from here had settled somewhere deep and warm inside his chest.