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I pad barefoot into the kitchen and pour two glasses of red, just as Jack calls out, “Come check it out.”
“Oh, I love it.” I pass Jackson a glass of wine and smile as I study the mirror. “Dare I say I like it more than the other one?”
“I do, too, actually.”
“Thanks for hanging it.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Wanna sit for a while?”
His eyes darken, and he sips his wine. “Yes. I do.”
I lead him to the couch and sit on one end, curling my legs under me as I turn to face him where he sits on the other end of the sofa.
“Should we talk about what happened before?” Jack asks.
“No.” I shake my head and block what happened at the shop out of my mind.
“When you’re ready, then.”
“Where did you go?” I ask, digging into some of the nitty-gritty of our time apart. “After you left New Orleans. I mean, I know you went into the military, but where?”
He talks for a long time about boot camp, traveling, being stationed on the east coast, and then deployed in the Middle East.
“You’ve done a lot in the years since I saw you last,” I say and pour us each another glass of wine. “And all I’ve done is stay here.”
He took his jacket off a while ago, and his shirtsleeves are rolled up on his forearms. Jackson is tanned and muscled, and his dark hair is just a little too long. It makes him look…hot.
“Stop it. You’ve done a hell of a lot more than that. You started a business—a successful one at that. And you’ve been dealing with a lot in the past year or so.”
“It hasn’t been boring,” I admit. “I didn’t wonder about where you were back then. I told myself I didn’t care.”
“I wondered about you every day,” he replies, surprising me. “I regretted everything that happened. How I handled it. But I was also so damn angry. I’d think about you. Wonder how you were and what you were doing. But then a crazy fury would wash over me, and I’d block it out. Focus on the job. And then the job consumed everything. I guess being in a warzone does that to you.”
My heart aches every time I think of him being in danger.
“I had the premonitions,” he continues. “And I knew when my guys were going to die. It was its own kind of torture, Daph. I tried to tell a few of them, but they looked at me like I was fucking crazy.”
“I know how that is.”
“Yeah.” He rubs his hand over his mouth, and I scoot closer to take his other hand. “Yeah, you’d know. So, I stopped telling them. But I also had to block the premonitions because they were driving me insane. With Miss Sophia’s help, I finally did.”
“You got medals of honor.” I smile at his surprised glance. “I kept track of things, even if I did it begrudgingly. You saved lives.”
“Not all of them.”
“You’re only one man, Jack. And as awesome as you are, you can’t control everything.”
“So, you’re saying I’m awesome?”
I laugh and sip my wine.
“How long are you staying here?” I ask, changing the subject.
“Indefinitely.”
My eyes find his.
“You’re surprised?” he asks.
“Yeah. I thought for sure you’d leave again.”
“I did, too, to tell you the truth. I even had a job lined up in Idaho. But I just couldn’t go. This is home, Daph. I have people here. And you’re here.”
He reaches for my hand once more, and I want to pinch myself. Is this real?
“You know, back to the whole telling-each-other-the-truth thing. I’m afraid if we start something between us, and I see something and tell you about it, you’ll get angry and leave again. That’s why I acted like a big jerk to you since you started coming around again.”
“I get it.” He sighs and squeezes my hand. “I’m older and wiser now—and no less handsome, of course.”
I grin.
“I don’t carry around that horrible anger anymore, Daph. It was a disease, eating at me. I got some therapy. The thing is, that wasn’t me. That rage isn’t who I am. It never has been.”
“You were always so laid back and easygoing when we dated before.”
“I guess it’s true what they say. You never know how a person will handle grief. I guess I know how I handle it.”
“I suppose so,” I agree quietly. “Thanks for dinner tonight.”
“Are you kicking me out?”
I laugh and shake my head. “Not exactly. But I do have to open the shop tomorrow, and we both know that I’m not exactly a morning person.”
“You like to ease into the day,” he agrees. “I want to talk to you about something I’ve been thinking about.”
“Okay.”
“Remember when Millie mentioned that everyone needs to stay together until this is finished? For safety?”
“I remember.”
“Well, I know you don’t want to do that. And I get it. But I’d like to move in here with you. I’ll sleep on the couch. Mind my manners. I don’t like the idea of you being here alone.”
