Page 23 of Forever My Soldier

She smiled. “Have I told you already how glad I am that you’re back?”

“I believe you have,” I said, “but I’m good with hearing it again.”

When we made our way over to the spot I had in mind, I told her, “It should be happening soon.”

She wrapped her hands around the thermos as I placed the blankets on the ground for us. “You’re cold,” I said as I observed her rubbing one hand up and down her arm.

“No, I’m fine, really.”

I grumbled, “You’ve always been a horrible liar.” I slid my leather jacket off and placed it over her shoulders.

She adjusted it so it was on her comfortably over her soft pink sweater. Just then, the time had come and Jenna pointed upward. “Look! It’s starting.”

I stood next to her and looked up at the full moon sitting in a sky full of stars. As beautiful as it was, though, the thing that really captivated me was how it captivated Jenna, how she was so enthralled by the astronomical event.

Turning to look at me for a split second, I could see her eyes were filled with hope for the first time since I’d returned. “Deke, it’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before.”

I placed my hand on her back and glided it up and down. “Told you tonight would be worth it.”

She chuckled, not turning her face away from the sky, though. “You’re two for two.”

After a few minutes, she peeled her eyes away and sat down on the blankets. “This is so much better than the plans I had for tonight.”

Very aware of the casual criss-cross position she sat in, I got down beside her, leaning into her. “Which was?” I asked.

She waved her hand in the air and pulled at the jacket to cover her more. “Work. There’s always paperwork to be done with my job.”

“Don’t you have an assistant or a paralegal?”

“Both, actually, but some things I just have to do myself,” she said, and I knew we were now entering an area of her life where Jenna’s control freak dominated. She took a sip of the coffee and licked her lips. “This is good. Thank you, Deke.” Her eyes were back on the moon as it was slowly being covered in a cloak of darkness.

The last thing I wanted to do was ruin this moment, but she needed to know what I already knew. I placed my hand gently over hers that were now sitting in her lap. “This could be our lives,” I pointed out.

Her head snapped to the side and her eyes darted back and forth between mine. “You’re serious,” she observed.

“As a heart attack.”

Jenna removed my hand from hers and stood up immediately. “Are you out of your mind?” She pulled at her hair and then rubbed her hand across her mouth. “I can’t believe this.” She looked down at the grass and then me. “I knew it,” she said. “I just knew it.”

“Knew what?”

“That this was a mistake. It always is.” She bit her lip, frustrated. “I should’ve never let this go this far. I mean, I shouldn’t have even started this.” She began walking away and then turned around. “Let me ask you something,” she spat out.

I repositioned myself on the blanket to look at her, my hands now behind me, propping me up. I felt like I was bracing myself for the firing squad, but went ahead with it anyway. “Shoot.”

“If I didn’t go to see you when you came back, would you still be this determined to ‘fight for me’?”

Never mind, this required me to be standing. I took a deep breath and tried to get her to stand still, but it was useless what with all her pacing. I finally confessed, “Princess, I never expected you to show up when you did, but if you didn’t, I can assure you, I was coming to see you eventually.”

I could see tears welling in her eyes and it felt like I was punched in the gut.

“Why?” she asked.

“Don’t you see? I love you.”

“We haven’t been together in a long time, Deke,” she insisted. Soon I knew I was going to hear some crap about me just being back, but that didn’t matter to me. For me, all that mattered was that I was back now, period.

“So what? It’s always been you, princess.”

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