Page 69 of Fade (Fighting Fate)

He sighed and closed the distance between us, placing the folder on the table as he went. “What’s wrong, Princess?”

I stared at him while I tried to find words that would sound reasonable. “I just think I need some fresh air, and I’d like you to find some with me.”

He grinned. “That sounds nice.” Taking my hand, he pulled me into his chest for a warm hug. “Come on, then. Let’s go take a stroll.”

I didn’t know why, but his kindness made me want to cry. What the hell was wrong with me? Why was I handling this so badly?

As he released me and took my hand, I made an executive decision. Enough was enough. Tonight was our last night before deployment. I refused to spend it moping with unpredictable emotions. While he was away, I wanted to be able to remember this day with as much happiness as possible.

Slipping on my flip-flops I stepped outside, holding the hand of the man I loved. Tilting my face up to the sky, I closed my eyes and smiled.

And I prayed for my man to come back to me.

Chapter 34

Daniel

Fuck. I hated goodbyes.

Especially ones with Amy. It seemed like I’d said goodbye to her more times over the last year than I had good mornings. I fucking hated that.

Leaning my head back against the headrest in the passenger seat of Mom’s Camry, I clenched my jaw hard, trying to stop the sting that was burning my eyes.

While Amy had been amazingly composed when I left her, I knew it was a fragile veil she’d been wearing. I hated that she felt the need to appear strong, but at the same time, I seriously didn’t think I would’ve coped well if she had broken down. Knowing that made me feel like shit. She was my wife now. She should feel free to be her true self, show her real emotions, in front of me, regardless of how I might react.

Sighing, I looked out the window.

“You okay?”

I tried to find the words before I turned to answer Mom’s question. “I don’t know. I knew it would be hard, but . . . ” Unable to finish, I sighed instead.

“Practice is always harder than theory,” she said softly. “The one variable we can never gauge is our emotions.”

I nodded. “Exactly.”

It was a few more moments before Mom spoke again. “She’ll be all right, you know. She has an amazing network of friends, and now family, who love her,” she said reassuringly.

“She stresses too much,” I said, pressing my lips together.

Mom gave me a dry look. “What human being in love wouldn’

t stress, Daniel? It’s natural. She’ll be fine. You’re not giving her enough credit.”

I frowned at that. “I just want her to be happy.”

“Then you just concentrate on getting back to her in one piece, okay?”

Inhaling, I took those words, and I made it a promise. I would do everything I could not to break it.

Conversation turned light after that, and I was sure it was Mom’s way of trying to distract me and get me out of my funk.

It worked. Kind of. But ten minutes later, we arrived at the airport, where I was to catch a commercial flight down to John Wayne. From there, I would head to Camp Pendleton, where I would join Delta Unit, who were deploying to Turkey. From there, I was on my own. Bound for Syria.

Almost seven thousand miles away from Amy.

Mom pulled over into the quick drop-off lane and put the car into park. We’d argued about this the night before. It took a while, but I’d finally managed to convince her that this was what I needed her to do. I knew it upset her, but I couldn’t do it any other way. It was just too hard for me.

When she finally turned to look at me, I took her hand and smiled. “Thanks, Mom. Look after Amy for me, please.”

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