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“The colonel wants somebody who knows the area and has a relationship with the locals to keep from losing the trust we’ve built. I replaced Elauria, so he knows the area too, but he’s married and his wife’s expecting their third kid in two weeks. He missed the birth of number two.” No way John could ask Elauria to go in his place. “The company that deploys next is still training. They need their captain here. Since I’ll be transferring out, I’m replaceable here, and the reason I was tapped for promotion early is that I’m good at what I do. If anything were to happen to one of the team that I could have prevented, I’d have to live with that.”
Elizabeth sighed, not meeting his eyes.
He gave her several moments to take it all in. “I know this timing totally sucks. If I say no, it goes in my record. It’s not like they’ll force me out, but it could slow things down for my next promotion.”
When she finally met his gaze, he couldn’t read the look in her eyes. Was it hurt? Anger? Disappointment? Or worse—was she throwing in the towel and surrendering? Was she not willing to fight for what they could have after she helped him realize he hadn’t fought for relationships in the past?
“We haven’t talked about how we could make this work long-term. That’s on me,” she started.
“We both thought we’d have more time.”
“A while back I asked about goals you haven’t met. You brought up marriage and family, but we didn’t talk about career goals. What are your plans and things you want to accomplish?”
He stood a little straighter. “With this promotion, I’m on track to make lieutenant colonel before I hit my twenty years, but I’m not saying I’ll get out then. Full colonel is a nice pay bump and commands a lot of respect. I’m not sure I’m cut out to be a general. I can be diplomatic, but dealing with politicians? I’d rather face down a band of insurgents.”
Elizabeth gave him a slight smile and head nod. “I can’t see you enjoying the political side of things. For the record, you don’t have to hit a rank to impress me. You already have my respect for your mad skills and service. I’d rather you do what you love and be happy.”
“I love my team and what we do, but to move up, I have to do the staff slot as a major, whether here or at SOCOM. That they fast-tracked me for promotion and selected me for a position with the SFAB—”
“I know SOCOM is Special Ops Command, but what’s the SF . . .”
“SFAB. Security Forces Assistance Brigade, where we partner with our allies to train their military. Sometimes called Special Forces Light.”
“Does that mean it’s not as dangerous?”
“Typically,” he sought to give her some reassurance.
“Would they come here to train, or do you go there?”
“I’d still have to do some six-month deployments.”
She gave a slight grimace. “How long does this new position last?”
“A minimum of two years. Then I could be extended or reassigned.”
“Back here?”
“That’s a definite possibility, unless I screw up or . . .”
“Say no now?” She drew in and slowly released a long breath. “How soon will you leave?”
“Depends. I hoped you’d be willing to take care of Boss.”
“Of course.”
“And I still get him when I come back?” he defaulted to humor.
“I might hold him for ransom.” She cracked the hint of a real smile. “Make you work off his care.”
“I’m happy to do that.” That she was trying to keep her sense of humor too released some of the tension coiled in his gut. “Then I leave as soon as I can update some paperwork. One of the guys on my team has a son who’ll mow the grass at my house. I’ll leave you a key. Will you go by and check on it every couple of weeks for me?”
“You don’t want to list or rent it now?”
“I don’t have time to set that up, and I’ll need a place to stay when I get back.” Unless she was offering, but it would be pushing things to ask.
“How would you feel about having a short-term renter in there?”
“Which one?” He could see where she was going with this.
