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Holly blushed at his blunt statement, and I gave Aaron a shove to get him in line. “Well, you won’t have to worry about us for long. I’ve been called back to base.”
“What?” Holly’s eyes flew to mine, full of concern.
“Just some final debriefings.”
She nodded but her eyes remained wide.
“How are you gonna get there? You need my ride?” Aaron asked.
“They’re sending a car,” I explained.
“No way, Mr. Hot Shit,” he teased, giving a low whistle.
“Don’t be jealous,” I fired back, grinning at his scowl.
As we were finishing breakfast, the phone I’d been given lit up on the table beside me, interrupting the meal. “That’ll be the car service,” I said, picking it up and silencing the call.
“I’ll go out with you,” Holly said, standing to follow me outside.
Sure enough, out in front of Player’s house was a black town car. It was unmarked, but I knew it was likely only used for military purposes. I stopped short of the car and signaled to the driver standing at the door that I would be another minute. After he nodded, I turned back to Holly. “Hey, hey, what’s wrong?” I asked, tipping her chin up with the crook of my finger.
“I don’t want you to go…” Holly said, her voice trembling. “When am I going to see you again? Am I supposed to go back to Irvine and just go back to long-distance?”
Her questions shouldn’t have surprised me, but I’d been so focused on getting back to base and tying up the last loose ends, and getting my next set of orders, that I was sidelined by the realities she pointed out.
“I come back tonight. We could spend another day here and figure it out.”
“What about Aaron?” She glanced over her shoulder at the house.
I shrugged. “He won’t mind. Can you afford to take another day off? Away from the office, I mean?”
She nodded, “Yeah! I’m not going back without you!” but her expression wasn’t totally convincing.
“That’s my girl.”
“I’ll try to get some work done here. Aaron said I could use the computer in his office if I needed to. I can follow up on messages and get on top of things.”
“Okay. Then, when I get back, we’ll talk and figure this out.” I kissed her firmly, hoping the power of it would steady her heart. “I’ll be back before you go to sleep. I promise.”
She kept her eyes locked on mine for a moment longer, before breaking away and nodding her understanding. “Okay. See you tonight.”
I squeezed her hand before releasing her and jogging the last few paces to the waiting car. The driver opened the back door and I ducked inside. We set off and I watched from the rear windshield as Holly slowly turned and went back up the steps into Player’s house.
Once we reached the highway, I started messing around on the phone—my only distraction—and logged into my email account. I hadn’t checked my email since the last day aboard the ship.
In the flurry of activity at the base in Turkey, and the long travel back to California, I hadn’t had a chance to catch up with the rest of the world, beyond calling my family to talk to them and assure them that I was all right and would come visit as soon as possible.
The box filled quickly, message after message filling the screen. I began to scroll down, but stopped short when I saw one from Holly:
You’re not here.
I quickly flicked the rest of the message and with each word my eyes filled with tears.
Jack,
You’re not here. And I really need you to be.
There’s something I haven’t told you. Something that I—for whatever stupid reason—wasn’t letting myself feel. But now that I’m here, alone, wondering if I’ll ever see you again, it’s all I can think about. It’s all I can feel.
You are the love of my life.
I’ve never felt the things I’m feeling and while they mostly scare me to death, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
I need you to be here, so that I can tell you the three words that I’ve been ducking and dodging with every fiber of my being because I can’t imagine going through the pain of having my heart shattered again. But now, it’s too late, I’ve fallen and you need to know.
I, Holly Marie Parker, am madly in love with you, Jack H. McGuire.
Please come home so I can tell you in person. I miss you.
Holly
I read through the email once more, my eyes slowing to absorb each word as it was written. I swallowed a lump in my throat. The sweet words were what I’d been waiting to hear—possibly for longer than I’d even realized. For even longer than I’d known Holly. In the past, I’d never had a relationship that got to that stage.
I’d had a few occasions where I thought I was falling in love, but never got the balls to say it, because at those times—I hadn’t been ready to follow it through, and I respected the women I was with to put them through it until I was without a shadow of a doubt, certain.
