Page 33 of Knox's Mission

“So he cut you?”

“Slammed the can into me and then kept pounding it into my chest area below my neck,” he said, his voice monotone like he was talking about changing the oil in his car. “I think the fact he cut me was unintentional.”

“You were barely a teenager,” she said, hearing the indignance in her own voice. A few more puzzle pieces clicked together as she realized, for the first time, Knox was opening up to her and sharing something that must have hurt him deeply. Not just on a physical level. Though, the scar was obvious there too. But more deeply than that because his father should have created a safe place for Knox.

If only she could go back in time and give the bastard a piece of her mind. He’d moved away not long after Knox went into the military. She’d heard something about him moving to Galveston, a town south of Houston.

“Do you still speak to him?” she asked, gently running her index finger along the raised skin of the scar.

“Hell no,” he said. “I have no reason to contact the man. He wasn’t a real father so I saw no reason to keep in touch.”

“What about your mother?” she asked.

His laugh held no joy. “She got the hell out earlyon and never looked back. I was notified of her passing two years into my service.”

“I’m sorry, Knox. That couldn’t have been easy.”

“I didn’t know her,” he said honestly. “Hard to mourn someone you have no real memories of.”

“Is that why you never came back?” Amy asked.

“No reason to,” he said. Why did those words sting?

“You had friends there,” she pointed out.

“Garrett went with me,” he said. There was a hitch in his voice when he said the words. He must miss her brother as much as she did. She’d noticed the silver dollar necklace that hung around his neck. He kept it tucked inside his shirt, same as she did.

“You could have come back on holidays,” she said. “We would have made room for you at the table. My mom would have set an extra place.”

“Between her and Garrett, I managed to finish high school with a full stomach,” he countered. “I wasn’t about to ask more from your family. You were dealing with your own lives and didn’t need to take on mine.”

“I never heard anyone complain,” she said softly.

“Your mom had a hard time making ends meet,” he said. “She didn’t need the burden of an extra mouth to feed.”

A picture was emerging as to why Garrett rarely came home for holidays either. She had a sneakysuspicion her brother didn’t want Knox to spend the time alone. Since those two were more like brothers than best friends, it made sense Garrett would go where he was most needed. He always came home afterward, though. And she’d checked over his shoulder every time to see if Knox was behind her brother.

“My mother never complained about not having Garrett home for the holidays,” Amy said. “I think I’m beginning to understand why.”

“Life is complicated,” he said.

“I’m sorry,” she said to him, doing her best to find the words to ease some of his pain. “Thank you for telling me something so personal.”

“It’s nothing.” He tried to play it off, but his expression belied those words as he looked at her with such vulnerability in his beautiful eyes. In an instant, the moment was gone and his gaze was focused.

Since she didn’t want to ruin the moment by filling the space between them with words, she lowered her chin and nestled into the crook of his arm.

“We should probably get up at some point,” he finally said.

“True,” she agreed.

“But this spot is as close to heaven as I’ll ever get.” He said the words so low they barely registered.

She’d heard, though. And couldn’t help but smile.

Leaving Knox would shatter her, but she couldn’t think about that right now, or about the fact she would never see him again once this was over.

“Where do you live now?” she asked, wanting to capitalize on the mood.

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