Page 10 of Hayes
“Of course I have! I mean. I know she’s scared, but she has to get over it.”
“She really doesn’t,” said Brax. “You need for her to get over it, but she doesn’t have to. She loves her life here, Hayes. She loves living with all of us and working here, and she loves you. But asking her to do something that will cause her immeasurable pain before she’s ready is not okay.”
Hayes stood and shook his head, heading toward the door.
“What will you do?” asked Brax.
“I don’t know. I have no fucking clue, but I can’t be trapped in one place forever, and I can’t live without her.”
CHAPTER SIX
“He didn’t hurt me,” sniffed Victoria. “Not physically.”
“What do you mean?” asked Stephanie, the other women huddled around her.
“He’s tired of me being scared to leave the property. He wanted me to just get over it and come and live in San Diego with him. I’m just not ready for that,” she said, wiping fresh tears.
“Oh, honey. You have to find a way to get over that,” said Ajei. “He means well, and I’m going to guess he’s lonely. And. As awful as it sounds, he may be tempted by women coming on to him.”
“Wh-what?” gasped Victoria.
“I didn’t say he’s done anything, but he is a man. A very handsome, well-built young man who is also a Navy SEAL. Luke and I knew we loved one another. While he was at Annapolis, I was in nursing school in Baltimore. We saw one another all the time. But believe me, I noticed the women watching him all the time.
“Then we came back here and married. I lived near base for a while, and then when I got close to delivering Garrett, I came back here until he retired.”
“It was the same for Eric and me,” said Sophia Ann. “But everyone is different.”
“Cam and I definitely were,” frowned Kate. “I had his son and kept that from him. It was so wrong of me, and I regret it every day.”
“Hex and I met later in life,” said Gwen.
“We all have different stories,” said Lia, Scout, and Lucinda, seated beside her. “Yours is unique, Victoria, because of your fear of leaving the property.”
“I agree with that,” said Julia, “but you can’t expect him to have a ten- or twenty-year career as a SEAL, and the woman he loves lives across the country or the world, unable to come to him if he needs her.”
They all looked at Julia, surprised by her direct approach.
“I don’t mean to be cruel, Victoria, but you can’t expect him to not see anyone else if you’re not willing to go and visit him now and then. Think about all the weekends and days off that he has, but it’s not enough time to come home. You’re here, able to go and see him, but you won’t.
“I know it’s difficult for you. I know it’s an awful thought, but you have to find a way to do it for him or let him go. Even if it’s just for now.”
“I don’t want to let him go,” she said in a shaky voice. “I love him.”
“But do you love him enough to let him go?” asked Julia in a soft voice.
“I know you love him, honey, but there needs to be a give and take in this relationship,” said Ajei.
“I don’t know what to do,” she said, looking out the window.
She watched as Hayes emerged from the offices, the other men following him. When he entered the cafeteria, she stood and walked toward him. He said something to her, and she nodded.
Leaving the building, the team watched them head toward Victoria’s cottage, watching them closely. It seemed, atleast for now, they were talking about options. Then, just a few days later, he would be gone again.
Brax watched the young couple, both nodding, both looking as though they’d reached an agreement. Neither looked like they were upset by anything, and then Victoria hugged him, turning and waving at him.
Hayes looked up to see Brax and Stephanie and walked toward them. To ask them a favor.
“Hi. Everything okay?” asked Brax.
