Page 109 of Spark of the Everflame

His voice slipped, just slightly, and the distant haze of nostalgia left his eyes. He sat up straighter in his chair before knocking back a large swig of his drink.

“I thought about asking her out many times, but I always talked myself out of it. I told myself I was committed to my job and I had no time for a woman or a family.”

“What changed?” I asked.

“She left on a long mission. She was gone for an entire year. It was highly confidential. I didn’t have the clearance to know the details, and those... well, those are the kinds of missions soldiers often don’t come back from. I didn’t know if I’d ever see her again, and the whole time she was gone, all I could think of was how I’d had this incredible woman right in front of me, and I’d let her walk away. I told myself that if she did come back, I’d walk right up to her and confess my feelings the second I saw her.”

“Did you?” Teller asked.

“No,” I answered on Father’s behalf, grinning. “Mother told me this part. You took one look at her and ran away.”

He smiled sheepishly. “I’d never been more scared in my life. I’d taken on every manner of danger you could imagine, but the idea of asking to court your mother...thatwas true terror. I avoided her for damn near a month.”

“The mighty Andrei Bellator, finally brought down by a pretty girl,” I teased him.

He and I broke into laughter, but across the table Teller’s expression had gone thoughtful.

“How did you get the courage to finally do it?” he asked. “How did you know she wouldn’t reject you?”

“I didn’t. But I eventually decided the chance of her saying yes was worth the possibility of her saying no. To be able to call her my girl—that was worth any risk.”

Teller nodded and looked down at his empty glass, frowning as he traced a finger around the rim.

“So you asked her... then what?” I prodded.

“Everything was normal at first. I courted her like any man courts any woman. I took her into town for dinner, brought her flowers and sweets. I was head over heels for her, but I could sense she was holding back. I had a hunch there was something she wanted to tell me but wasn’t ready to say.”

I gave a dry, sarcastic laugh. “Our mother, keeping secrets? What a surprise.”

Father smiled knowingly. “Auralie’s always been a private person, even then.Especiallythen. Perhaps that’s why she and I got along so well. I always trusted that if there was something she was keeping from me, she had a reason for it, and that was good enough for me. I was happy to take whatever piece of herself she was willing to give.

“Frankly, the same was true for me. Most women wanted to hear stories of war and the battles I’d fought...” A shadow passed over his face. “But I had no desire to relive those moments, and your mother was content with that. We never needed to see all of each other to love all of each other.”

I forced down a thick burning in my throat. “You said she was holding back. What finally brought you together?”

“You did.” He gazed at me, eyes gleaming. “One day, Auralie showed up at my door with a beautiful baby girl in her arms. She confessed she had fallen pregnant and given birth while away on her mission. She’d decided to leave the army and go make a new life with you somewhere else. She was distraught, but even in her tears, she had that same Auralie determination. I knew there was nothing I could say to convince her to change her mind and stay.”

“She asked you to leave with her?” Teller asked.

“No—the opposite. She was going to leave without saying anything, but at the last minute, she decided she couldn’t go without telling me goodbye.” He laughed, soft and sad. “Your sweet, selfless mother... she wanted me to have closure so I could move on without her. And something in me clicked. I took one look at the two of you, and I realized there was no sacrifice I wouldn’t make to keep you both in my life.”

I tried to blink away the heat prickling my eyes, only to feel warm tears already rolling down my cheeks. Father reached over and pulled my hand from my glass, clasping it in both of his.

“My darling Diem, you asked how I knew your mother was the one? The truth is that I justknew. There was never a decision to make. Whatever path she was on, that was where I belonged. By her side, and by yours. Any other option was unthinkable.”

My stomach felt leaden. His words were beautiful. Perfect. Exactly what a person in love should say, exactly how a person in love should feel.

“Even though you had to give up everything?” I asked. “Your career, your life in Fortos, all your own goals—you weren’t scared of having to walk away from all of that?”

“No,” he answered without hesitation. “It was only the thought of living without her that scared me. Everything else felt trivial in comparison.”

“And you had only known her a month,” I said weakly, more of a statement than a question.

He patted my hand. “Every love story is different. Perhaps for you and Henri, you need...” His voice trailed off, and his eyes dropped away.

The silence, and the words left unsaid, thundered in the air. I dared a look up at Teller, but his mind was elsewhere, his expression clouded with his own impossible decision.

Father sat upright suddenly. A bright, albeit strained, smile illuminated his face. “What I mean to say is, there’s no sense in rushing to a decision. You should wait and speak with your mother when she returns. She’ll have a wise perspective on all of this.”

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