Page 18 of Her Steadfast Hero

They both chuckled, as they said one another’s names in unison.

“You go first,” David said.

“I owe you an explanation. That’s why I wanted to talk.” A profound sense of relief roared through him.

“I couldn’t bear to talk to you back then. It would have been too much… Too little.”

Well, that cleared up nothing.

“I don’t understand.”

“Carys and I had been friends forever. She had been asking me to join her at Doctors Without Borders for years. After you left, I finally made the decision to do it.”

“That’s a huge step? You resigned your commission and uprooted yourself almost overnight. Then you never took my calls or answered my e-mails. Why? You scared the piss out of me, Woman. I had to pull in favors to find out what had happened.”

“I was fine.”

“Sarah, the woman I met, the woman I had in my arms, wouldn’t have pulled a disappearing act unless she was in distress. I needed to check up on you.”

He looked ahead. There was a spot. The truck bumped over ruts and rubble before he pulled to a stop.

David unbuckled his seatbelt, then hers, and scooched over so they were side by side on the bench seat.

“Can you tell me about it?”

“I don’t know why I thought smart and perceptive were attractive traits in a man.” She sighed.

“It was because of me, wasn’t it?”

“No,” she said at the same time that she nodded. She obviously didn’t know she had just admitted it was because of him.

“Ah, honey. I’m so sorry.”

“Why? You didn’t do anything.”

“I left,” he said quietly. He had left, just like Matt. He might not have died, but he was another man who had abandoned her.

“I was a big girl. You’d made no promises.” Her voice was so quiet, her chin trembled. His heart ached.

“I’m so sorry,” he said again. And he was. If he could kick his own ass, he would. “But why didn’t you take my calls?”

“Do you want me to be honest?” He remembered that question from that night. He answered it the same way.

“I’ll always want you to be honest.”

“I ended up wanting more than I should have. That was on me. We agreed it was just that night. I knew better. I couldn’t have kept it light and breezy, so I cut off all communication. It was for the best.” She looked down at her hands and mumbled, “I’m sorry.”

He pulled her into his arms. Considering the fact, he remembered the exact date, April seventeenth, his heart had been invested as deeply as hers had.

“I’m sorry, Honey,” he said as he cupped her cheek, relishing the feel of the soft silk of her hair caressing his knuckles. “I never meant to hurt you. But I’m not sorry for our time together, and I’m sure as hell not sorry for that night. You’ve haunted my dreams. I just feel like crap that I made you pull up roots and give up your career.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about. I made the right decision. I’ve been so happy with DWB. Carys had been a dream to work with these last few years. I’m glad I did it.”

“You’ve accomplished some amazing things. I read that article where you worked with the Liberian government to set up clinics. I was so proud of you.”

She blushed, and pushed her face against his chest.

“So you checked up on me, huh.”