Page 39 of Knox's Mission

Breakups were hard. This one had to qualify as right up there with one of the strangest.

Since she and Knox had a little privacy, she decided to ask about the woman. “Who was she and why did she hug me?”

“Not my story to tell,” he said after a thoughtful pause.

“What do you mean? It’s clear the two of you meant something to each other,” she pointed out.

“Why do you keep trying to ship me off with her?” he asked, indignant.

“Because I have eyes and what happened invited questions before she threw her arms around me, so imagine my shock when she brought me into this…whateverthisis or was,” she said, forcing a calm in her voice that required a good amount of effort.

“You think I had sex with her?” he shot back. “Is that what this is about?”

She noticed that he didn’t tell her it was none of her business. He came across like he should be the one upset. Which caught her off guard even more. “It seems like the two of you have intimate knowledge of each other. She’s beautiful, by the way.”

“The reason she left my hut crying is because I had to deliver the news that the man she loves and hoped to spend the rest of her life with is dead,” he ground out, issuing her a challenge with his gaze. “Happy now?”

“Wait a minute,” Amy said, trying to piece together what he was really saying. “Why would you know about someone out here in the jungle? Haven’t you been in rehab?”

“Yes,” he said, looking at her like he expected it to click any moment now. “I was in rehab. She lives out here, cut off from news from the so-called civilized world.”

And then it hit her like a ton of bricks. The scenes played out like a movie reel in her head. The way the woman had come out of his hut, refusing tolook at her. And then how sorrowful she looked when she’d hugged Knox this morning. And then the hug with Amy.

“How could I have missed it?” she said under her breath.

“They were in love,” Knox said. “But she refused to leave her tribe. Garrett couldn’t leave you and your mom. So, they decided to take some time and see how they felt once they were apart. Garrett intended to come back here to live once his time was up. When he didn’t, she believed he’d moved on with another woman. Seeing me again stirred up memories. I had to tell her what happened.”

“That must have been what my brother wanted to tell us,” Amy said, her mind reeling. “My brother said he wanted to take us out to dinner when he came home, which was code for he had news. Mostly, it had been him telling us that he wanted to re-up his tour, so I didn’t think much about it at the time. Looking back now, though, it makes sense.”

She wished she could go back in time and hug the woman even harder.

“Why didn’t she want me to know about her?” Amy continued.

“What good would it have done?”

Amy didn’t have a good answer, except it would have been nice to know. “I would have treated her differently.”

“Yes, but you still would have left.”

“Even so, I would have spent time with the person my brother loved to get to know her better,” she said.

“It wasn’t what she wanted,” he said. “I’m not even supposed to be telling you now.”

Grief shrouded her like a cold, wet blanket. But it was quickly followed by comfort. “It’s good to talk about him. You know?”

Knox swallowedthe lump in his throat. He did know. “Not a day goes by that I don’t think about Garrett.”

Those words couldn’t be truer. The pain he held tight to his chest couldn’t be sharper. And the guilt couldn’t be more consuming. A growing piece of him wanted to tell Amy the truth.

The thought of her hating him stopped him cold. It was better to keep his distance.

“Me too,” Amy said.

“I’m sorry,” was all he could say.

“It’s not your fault,” she naively responded. He had to bite down on his lip to stop himself from responding. “You were like family to him, Knox. I know how comforted my mom was that you were with him when…”

Amy tucked her chin to her chest and cleared her throat. She turned her face away from him. Hiding the fact she was crying?

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