Page 78 of Inked Persuasion

“I can be jealous of anybody I want,” he said softly. “I love you,” he whispered.

My heart squeezed, and I let out a happy sigh.

“I love you, too.”

“There are a lot of people in this home that love you. A lot that are your family.”

“Like your parents, and you.” I paused. “Jonah’s here, too, you know. Don’t you feel it?”

I did my best to mention him often, to never forget, and I knew Jacob was doing the same. And when his eyes filled with the barest hint of sadness before he smiled, I knew I’d said the right thing.

“It’s precisely what I was thinking. He’s here, probably telling jokes, and wondering why it took us so long.”

“I had to become me before I could find you.”

“That’s a very good answer,” he whispered and kissed me again.

“Get a room!” Archer called.

“Or not,” Dad corrected. “Let’s sit down and act like civilized people and stop making out in corners. Both of my young ladies,” Dad scolded, and Paige laughed until I pulled away, sliding my fingers along Jacob’s.

“Well, you’re about to be inundated by the full Montgomery experience. Are you ready for this?”

He winced. “I don’t know if I’m ready for the Montgomerys, but I’ve always been ready for you. It just took me a little while to realize it.”

I turned under my fiancé’s arm and made my way to my family, connections and all. I knew that we might not be fully steady, we might have a little more broken bits than others, but we were finding our way.

One promise at a time.

Broken

Eliza

Iset my phone and purse down on the table as I walked in and rolled my shoulders back. It was a fun party, seeing Annabelle so happy meant the world to me, but it was still hard to see others so ecstatic about their futures when mine wasn’t home yet.

What an odd thing to say, considering it felt like I had spent more of my adult life alone than with my husband. But Marshall would be home soon. Within the next sixteen days.

I could not wait to see him.

It had been a long tour this time. Longer than all the others. And I hoped it would finally be the last. Between Marshall being on tour, and all four of my brothers being strewn across the world, I was tired of being alone. And though Annabelle and the others did their best to make sure I was never truly alone, that I knew I had them as family, I wasn’t entirely right yet.

I wasn’t completely whole.

But soon, Marshall would be home, and then my brothers, and then everything would be okay. Finally.

I slid my earrings out of my ears, tossed my shoes onto the floor, and looked around my small home that didn’t feel like mine yet. I was a military wife. I didn’t get to put many things on the walls or put my finishing touches on everything until I knew that we would be in a place for a while. These past two tours had extended Marshall’s duties here, which meant I had been in one place longer than planned. I’d been able to put down some roots with friends, and at least get a decent job. But I still hadn’t made this place a home. I needed to change that, but not until Marshall was here. I didn’t want to make too many changes unless he was back. That way, when he came home, it wasn’t too much of a shock.

He would already have enough stress when he came back stateside. I didn’t need to add to it by changing everything and decorating things he had no chance to voice his opinions on.

It would have been nice to have my big family close, to not feel as though it had been ages since I’d seen them. But soon, that would change. I was only a little jealous of Annabelle and her family, but then again, they’d opened their arms to me, and I was never alone when it came to them. They were always there, Annabelle and Paige and Brenna and the Montgomery brothers. They were loud, boisterous, and always had open arms, even if the older two brothers, the twins, glowered a lot most days.

I was thinking about taking a bath when the doorbell rang. I frowned, wondering if maybe Annabelle had decided to check on me.

Or perhaps it was a salesperson who wanted to sell me exterminator services or water. They seemed to come around more often these days, and it annoyed me to no end. It would annoy Marshall even more, so maybe I should get one of those signs that most solicitors would ignore, but at least I could point at it and scowl instead of having to speak and open the door fully.

I looked through the side window and my knees went weak. But I didn’t say anything. Maybe it wasn’t what I thought it was.

Perhaps this was just a mistake.

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