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“Have you talked about it with him?” Erin asked.
“Not yet,” I said. “I mean, we talk in general, but not about us or what we want in a family.”
“That will come with time, I’m sure,” Erin said. “It was a given with me and Libby, as you know.”
“Right,” she laughed. “And I can see why. You got lucky with that one.”
“I got lucky all around, though I have to say you’re pretty lucky yourself with Gavin. He seems like a great guy,” Erin said.
“You think so?” I asked dreamily. “I think he’s the best thing to ever happen to me.”
“I think you two are amazing together. And what do we have here?” Erin stopped.
We had been discussing the kids on the way to the guest condo, and we stopped in the open doorway to see Gavin and Libby on the bench of the piano. Gavin was engrossed in teaching Libby how to play, and Libby was staring at the piano as though it was the first time she really understood the instrument.
She was doing her best to play along with Gavin, and watching how he was working with her, being so patient and helping her along with the music just melted my heart. It made me think of what life could be like for the two of us if we had kids of our own and if we had this kind of life.
“You’re so lucky,” I said to Erin.
“We just established that you are right there with me,” she replied with a small laugh.
We were talking in a low tone, not wanting either of the two at the piano to hear what we were saying.
“I just wish I knew what was going on with him,” I murmured. “I want to get that out of my head.”
“I think I know what it is,” Erin said softly. “And I think it will really help you understand why he is so, I don’t know, closed off at times.”
“Do you?” I asked, surprised.
“Come with me into the office,” she told me. “I don’t want Libby to hear, and I’m not sure Gavin wants to hear about it all over again. Not after he was the one who lived through it the first time.”
“How do you know about it?” I asked once we were in the office.
“Neils told me. He knew a lot more about Gavin from a military standpoint after I told him who you were seeing,” she said. “And he told me what he knew about Gavin, too. I really feel bad for what he’s been through, but I think if you understand, then you’re going to realize why he’s not telling you everything and why he might seem closed off at times.”
She had an expression on her face that told me she really did feel for Gavin, and it made me both sick to my stomach but also curious to know what it was he had been part of that would make her feel that way. He had only mentioned his K & R work a few times and only told me a little about one of his missions. The first time we had sex, he showed me a scar from a mission gone bad, but that was the only thing I remembered. He didn’t talk about his past in the military or when he was in Kidnap and Ransom work much at all, and I wanted to know more about it.
But I wasn’t going to ask him directly. I knew better than that. Especially after growing up around Erin’s dad and knowing how he felt about his past. It just wasn’t something that was brought up, and I was okay with that. I could give Gavin the same respect I gave Erin’s father, though there were questions in my mind.
“So, you know what type of work Kidnap and Ransom is, right?” she asked. “You know how they go about dealing with the bad guys?”
“Basically, don’t they do what they can to negotiate the return of the prisoners and hope that no one gets hurt?” I asked. “I mean, that seems pretty self-explanatory, you know?”
“Sure, I mean, that’s the gist of it. But there can be so many variants that it’s tough to lay it all out in black and white. Anyway, Neils said that Gavin is like a legend in the field for what he did on his last mission, and thanks to him, he saved a little girl who was close to Libby’s age who was being held with both her parents and her brother and sister.”
“Oh no,” I breathed.
“I guess they were threatening to kill the entire family, and Gavin was the one in charge of negotiating the safe return of this family back to where they belonged,” Erin continued.
“Who were they?” I asked.
She shrugged. “I don’t know for sure. I know they were wealthy, and the reason they were kidnapped was politically charged. I’m not sure what it was the people involved were fighting about, but they wanted that family dead, and it came down to Gavin to make sure they were returned unharmed.”
“Did he do it?” I asked, my eyes wide as my heart broke for that family and for Gavin being the one who had to deal with this himself. I couldn’t imagine being so terrified myself, thinking I was going to die with my family at the hands of some terrorists who didn’t agree with our beliefs. Or, even worse in my mind, to be Gavin on the outside, doing what I could to convince those bad people to let the family go.
“He did everything he could,” Erin said. “He worked with those men; he did what they wanted. For the most part, he delivered a lot of the things they asked for. But there were two demands he wasn’t able to grant. Neils said he only had so much bargaining power and on some levels, he was limited with what he could offer.”
“That’s not right,” I cried. “How can they do that to anyone?”
