Page 12 of Strike Fast

A grin spread across her face. “Sure. A walk sounds great.”

Inwardly, he sighed in relief.Perfect.

He got out with her, locked up the car and fell in step beside her as they headed around the north side of the hotel and onto the brick-paved path that ran along the bay. Antique lampposts lined the walkway, spilling warm yellow light onto the path and surface of the water, making it ripple with a million sparkles.

To stem the urge to touch her, he stuck his hands in his front jeans pockets. “I’m glad you came with us tonight. Autumn was thrilled.”

Tess tucked a lock of golden hair behind her ear as the breeze blew it around her face. “I’m glad I did too. And she’s a great kid.” She shot him a sidelong grin. “Like a fifty-year-old woman in a little body.”

He laughed at the spot-on description. “Exactly. It’s just…”

She tilted her head to the side. “What?”

It had been bothering him for a long time now, and he didn’t feel stupid telling Tess about it. She was easy to talk to. “Sometimes I think she’s way too mature for her age. And she worries too much. Way more than a little girl should.”

“About what?”

“Everything.” He wished Sarah had honored his request and kept her from watching the news, but that was yet another battle he’d lost in the raising of their daughter and there wasn’t much he could do about it since Autumn lived with Sarah eighty-percent of the time. “And a lot of the time she worries about me.”

Tess didn’t say anything, just kept glancing at him as they walked.

He let out a breath. “Not sure if she told you, but her mom and I split a long time ago.”

Tess nodded. “She mentioned it.”

“Well, to be honest, things didn’t end well.” And how did he put this without sounding like an asshole? “My ex is still pretty angry about it.”

“So the divorce wasn’t by mutual agreement?”

“Sort of. She was the one who finally filed, but I guess some part of her thought I’d never actually go through with it.”

“Ah.”

He glanced at her, curious. “You married?” She didn’t wear a ring, but that didn’t mean anything.

“No, widowed, actually. I lost my husband a few years ago.”

Oh, shit. “I’m sorry.”

“Thanks, me too. He was a good man, and I was lucky to have him as long as I did. We met in college.”

Silence followed her response, and for the first time that evening, it was an awkward one. He wasn’t sure whether he should ask more about it, change the subject, or shut the hell up.

“What happened?” he finally asked, going with his gut. He wanted to know her better, and losing a husband must have had a big impact on shaping the person she was.

“He was killed in combat in Afghanistan. His squad’s helo was shot down.”

He winced. “God.” She must think about that every time she climbed into the cockpit. And when he thought of their near escape during that firefight in the mountains back in January, he felt even worse for her. That had to have stirred up a hell of a lot of shit for her, but he’d never have guessed that when he’d spoken to her right afterward. She’d seemed perfectly calm, standing there next to her shot-up aircraft.

“Yes. Anyway,” she said with a wave of her hand. “You were talking about Autumn worrying too much.”

“Right.” It was a relief that she changed the subject again, since he felt uncomfortable and tongue-tied and had no idea what else to say about her loss. He wasn’t good with that kind of stuff, emotional stuff. One of the many faults Sarah had found in him. “She’s only nine, but she’s smart, and she can tell things aren’t good between her mom and me.”

“In what way?”

Every way.He couldn’t say that aloud, though. Not without sounding like a bitter douche. “My ex bears the brunt of the parenting because I’m away so much. I get why she’s mad about that, but she tends to, ah, interfere with my efforts to maintain a good relationship with Autumn.”

“Really?” She sounded surprised.

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