by Vicki Hinze
“To hell with it. We’ll make a future of whatever time we’ve got together.” He nuzzled, whispered close to her ear. “We’ll make memories.”
She got suspicious. “When exactly did you buy these rings?”
He arched a brow. “Does it matter?”
“No, I’m just curious.” She affected one of Timmy’s shrugs. It mattered a lot.
Crushing his pillow under his arm, Jake dragged a fingertip down the slope of her nose. “Now look who’s being testy.”
She glared at him. “There’s nothing wrong with curiosity, Jake. It nets us trackers—and truths.”
“Okay, I bought them a while back,” he confessed, staring at her T-shirt.
The truth dawned. “Ohhh, I get it now.”
“What?”
“You bought them right before you got assigned to the ROFF mission, but your survival odds kept you from giving them to me. That’s why you asked me how I’d handle it if something happened to you. Am I right?”
Jake grimaced. “Evidently your intuition is working on me and Timmy these days.”
She gave him a wicked smile. “Better remember it, Major.”
He fisted his hand near her head on her pillow. “So will you wear them?”
Too moved to speak, she nodded.
He slipped the slim gold band onto her finger, and then the diamond. They fit, and he kissed her fingers where the rings circled them.
A reverent moment. One Laura thought she’d never live to see.
“I love you, Laura.” The twinkle faded from his eyes, and they turned serious. “Not just as a friend, but in every way a man can love a woman.”
Stunned that he’d recognized and admitted it, Laura couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t get her mouth to form the words she wanted to say.
“Honey?” Worry flickered through his eyes, and his voice turned apologetic. “I guess my timing is lousy, but I had to tell you. I couldn’t stand the idea of not telling you any longer. We’ve already wasted so much time.”
Finally, she found her voice. “I love you too, Jake.”
He stilled, cocked his head, and eyed her warily, as if he wanted to believe her but was afraid to hope. “As a friend?”
“Yes.” She nodded. “And in every other way a woman can love a man.”
The tension fell from his face, and he smiled. “Of course.”
“Of course.” She smiled back, happy and at peace.
“Thank God.” Jake closed his arms around her and kissed her.
And Laura kissed him back, exploring what would be for a time her last cohesive thoughts. There would always be another mission, another Sean Drake. Jake would always tackle them, and Laura would always worry about his safety. And if he survived, there would be frequent moves to contend with, and vacations that had to be canceled because duty called, and missed anniversaries and birthdays. There would be times when he’d be gone and socks would get stuck in the washer hose and the laundry room would flood. Times when Timmy would get the flu, and she’d have to pace the floor and worry alone. And there would be times when she needed her husband, and he couldn’t be there.
But during those times she’d know that, because Jake had the courage to do what he had to do, and she had the courage to support him and to carry the load at home while he did what he had to do, others could rest easy. They could sleep safe. And she’d have the comfort of memories of other times. Good memories of them being together, sharing a life with Timmy, with love. There was solace in that.
And in wearing his T-shirts.
Nothing is black and white.
No, she thought. Nothing is black and white. But, so what?
Fulfillment of the deepest desires just patiently wait for any brave enough to seek it . . . in those shades of gray.
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About Vicki Hinze
Vicki is the award-winning author of 27 novels, 4 nonfiction books and hundreds of articles, published in as many as sixty-three countries. She is recognized by Who’s Who in the World as an author and as an educator. For more information, please visit her website.
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