Page 52 of Steinbeck
“Today was amazing.”She opened her eyes, her beautiful green-eyed gaze on him.“Normal.One perfect day.”
“Yes—”
“But we don’t live in normal.We live on the edges.Trying to save normal for the world.And...maybe it’s dangerous to”—she offered a smile—“to enjoy it too much.”
He had no words, Jack’s, instead, in his head.“You think you have a future with this woman?”
Today, yes, maybe.
Right now?
He too had liked today.Likednormal.
“When I was training to be a SEAL, one of the greatest fears of the Navy was for the guys who didn’t make it through BUD/S.They had three suicides in the classes ahead of mine—guys who failed out, walked away, and...quit their lives.So the trainers came up with a new policy.As soon as a recruit rang out, they sent him home for a week.Made him see his people, eat his mother’s cookies, pet his dog—whatever made him reset, realize that this one thing didn’t have to define his life.Change him, yes.But tattoo failure on him?No.”He put his hands on her shoulders.“Normal helps you get a view of your life.Of the things you love, the things that matter.”
He hadn’t meant to go there, not really, but...he let the words reel out.Let them sit there.And held on to her gaze.
She sighed then, nodded.“Yeah.Maybe.But time-out is over.”She pulled away from him.“Apparently Luis was being held in a Russian safe house in Porto.I’m not sure how, but he got away and sent an SOS through the dark web.He’s in hiding, and he won’t come in without...me.”
“And London doesn’t want you going in to get him withoutme.”
“Apparently.”She sighed.“We’re supposed to meet them there...Okay, maybe it’s not a terrible idea.”
“Scared you might like me sticking around?”
Her eyes widened.“She’s arranged a flight back to Portugal in two hours.”
“Shoot.I would have liked to stay for the fireworks.”
“Keep up the whining and I’ll lock you in the bathroom the entire flight.”
Maybe he wouldn’t miss the fireworks after all.“You could try.”
She rolled her eyes.“Let’s say goodbye to your family and catch an Uber to the airport.We’ll have to pick up some clothes on the way.”
He turned as she headed toward the grandstand.“Why does it feel like we’re going to check on our kid?”
“Seriously?”
“We did fight over him.”
She shook her head.“Am I ever going to be rid of you?”
He didn’t know how to answer.Instead, “What, you still think I’m slow and annoying?”
She stopped just outside the side entrance.“Maybe just annoying.”
But she smiled.
And he didn’t need normal anyway.
* * *
“Something’s up with Harper.”Jack didn’t know why he let those words out to Conrad as they stood in line for french fries, the stars arching overhead, sprinkling magic down upon the fairgrounds.But the words had been soaking for the better part of the past day.Maybe he was imagining the chill from his girlfriend.She’d been normal.Nice.Just...something felt not quiteright.
Behind him, in the grandstand, a mid-concert band stoked up the crowd, country music twanging into the night during the break between Oaken’s sets.
“Well, I think everyone is a little weirded out about Steinbeck.I mean, who is this girl, really?A spy, like Austen said, or a regular girlfriend?I mean, he’s been holding her hand all day.And now, what, they’re leaving, just like that?”
