Page 34 of My Forever Soldier

“I’m not attracted to Ricardo, but he means a lot to me, Luke. He’s been a great friend, and an even better employer. But that’sall.”

Luke bristled again, but this time kept his feelings inside. “I can’t stand the thought of you being around him, not when it’s so obvious how he feels about you, It’s written all over his face.” Luke sighed. “I trust you, Ollie, I promise I do. But I don’t trusthim.”

She just shook her head, a sad look turning her mouth down into a frown. “You haven’t earned the right to issue ultimatums, Luke.”

Olivia turned on her heel and didn’t look back as she walked away.

Anger like he’d never experienced before rippled through Luke. Not when he’d lost buddies on tour—never. Because he hadn’t been able to control his jealousy, an emotion he’d never had to deal with before, and his wife had just walked away from him. She hadn’t stayed to argue, she’d just stepped away, as if it wasn’t even worth it.

He took a deep breath and walked back into the living room.He needed to get out of here.

Luke found Charlie and headed his way.

“Hey, bud, I’ve got to go out for a while. You keep having fun, okay?” he told his son.

Charlie looked up at him, smiled, then went back to playing. Luke straightened and surveyed the room before he left. He saw Olivia talking to another mom, her eyes trained on him.

But right now there was nothing left to say. He met her gaze for a moment, then turned and walked out the door.

Olivia watched Luke go.Just as she’d watched him go the last time, when he’d never returned.

Her eyes were dry this time, but it didn’t surprise her. Deep down she’d known he would leave, she just hadn’t expected it to be like this. Luke had never been the jealous type, but then, she hadn’t taken him as the leaving type, either, and she’d been proved wrong there.

There had never been anything between her and Ricardo, but she had lied to Luke when he’d questioned her. Her boss had always made his feelings clear, had almost come close to proposing marriage, if her intuitions were correct. But even with the offer of financial security and complete stability, she would never go there. Because she didn’t intend to marry again, not when she was still in love with her husband.

“You okay?” Kelly approached with a cup of coffee, slinging an arm around her.

Olivia braved a smile. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe Luke had just popped out for some fresh air? But she knew she was lying to herself even thinking like that. Because she’d seen the way he’d looked at Charlie, seen the sadness on Luke’s face when he’d stood and watched his son, before walking away.

“I’m fine, thanks,” she replied, nodding her head to convince her friendandherself.

“Nothing a good, strong coffee won’t fix?”

Olivia forced another smile. “Exactly,” she lied.

11

AFTER ALL THOSE years of being away, of living rough, staying in places that he never hoped to see again, Luke had never thought he’d be bunking down in a shabby motel in his hometown.

He’d hardly expected Olivia to be waiting for him like a dutiful wife, because he knew he didn’t deserve that kind of a homecoming. But he had expected to have a home. Even if only temporarily, until he figured things out.

Luke booted up the computer and sat back, deep in his seat, eyes shut tight. The memory of arguing with Ollie played through his mind, impossible to shut off, impossible not to regret. He could see the hurt, the sad slant of her eyes as she looked back at him. He remembered how choked her voice had been as she’d stood up to him.

Damn it! Why did he always have to mess everything up? The only thing in his life he was consistently good at was his job. Everything else he seemed to fail at miserably.

Luke could still see her boss standing there, looking so at home. Watching Charlie,Luke’sson, as if he meant something to him. Giving him presents as if…as if he were his father. Luke swallowed hard, then gripped his fingers tight around the chair. Maybe if Kelly hadn’t given him a dressing-down he wouldn’t have reacted, but she had, and he’d taken the bait.

He’d felt threatened. He was jealous that this man, this Ricardo, might like to be Charlie’s dad—had been acting like Charlie’s dad while Luke was gone. And he’d flown off the handle, when what he should have done was stand up and be a man. Prove that he’d come home to reprise his role as father and show that he meant it. By not walking away.

Instead, he’d done the exact opposite.

His entire career had been about no emotion and absolute control. He thought he’d been doing it so long that it was a natural part of his life. But the tears falling down his cheeks proved he was wrong.

He kept his eyes squeezed shut for another few seconds, then opened them again, though he could barely keep them open. The pressure to try and fit in with the family he’d left, impress his kid, reconnect with his wife, had been making sleep almost impossible.

Luke forced himself to snap out of it. Exhaustion was traveling on foot for days on end with only one bottle of water and no food. Tired was when you had nowhere to sleep, no spot to lay your head. When you were constantly trying to stay one step in front of an enemy.

He sat up straighter and tapped in his log-in details, Eight new emails. Not bad, considering he hadn’t checked for a few days. Luke scanned the one from Fort Bragg and felt a weight lift from his shoulders as the words lit up on the screen in front of him.Wow.

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