Page 56 of My Forever Soldier

But she wasn’t going to listen. Not to him, not ever again. Their marriage was over. The fact that he was even thinking about leaving them told her they’d never be able to make things work between them.

She slammed the door on him. If he loved her, he’d never want to let her out of his sight.

She should never have come here with Luke, just as she should never have lost herself in the romance of being with him last night, because the only thing she’d done right since he’d returned was to tell him she wanted a divorce. If she’d stuck to her plan, none of this would have happened.

Olivia wiped her nose and brushed at her eyes, then took a few moments to steady her breathing. That was the last and only time she would cry over Luke Brown. Their marriage was finished.

Talkingto his wite hadn’t exactly gone as he’d planned.

Luke paced up and down the small room before looking out the window. He’d watched her go, seen her run across the street, and known he should have gone after her. Should have forced her to listen to him, tell her that he’d already turned the job down, but he knew that he needed to take some sort of active role within the army to be true to himself.

Luke pulled on his jeans and threw everything into his pack. He might have made a fool of himself just now, but he wasn’t going to do it again. Not if he could help it.

If he’d just managed to get the words off his chest in the right way… Luke stopped himself. Beating himself up wasn’t going to help, but he knew what would.

He picked up his phone and dialed his commanding officer. He needed to find a way to stay loyal to his familyandthe army, and he needed to do it now. Because he couldn’t be the father and husband he wanted to be if he gave up his career, if he walked away from something in his life that meant so much to him. But if he went back to being a soldier in the field? Then he may as well forget about the life he wanted to be part of here. The life that he’d fallen in love with.

His superior answered.

“Sir, it’s Luke Brown here.” He took a deep breath. It was now or never.

19

THE PAIN DIDN’T go away, but it had faded to a dull ache. Olivia didn’t want Charlie to see her cry. It had been bad enough having him ask why she had red eyes. Although the hardest question, hands down, had been “Where’s Daddy?”

Kelly hadn’t been so easy to fool. She’d taken one look at her and demanded to know what had happened. But talking about Luke wasn’t something Olivia had any intention of doing anytime soon.

“I’m all packed up.” Kelly stood in the lounge, her overnight bag hooked on her shoulder. “You sure you don’t want to tell me about it?”

Olivia shook her head. Any harder and it would have fallen off.

“You sounded so happy when you phoned last night.” Her friend came forward and gave her a hug. “I’m sorry, Liv. For what it’s worth, I’m really, really sorry.”

It wasn’t that Olivia didn’t want her comfort. But being enveloped in a big, caring hug made her want to sob her heart out all over again, and she wasn’t going to let herself. There would be no more tears shed. Not one drop if she could help it. Because she already felt like a fool.

“Thanks so much for taking care of Charlie. I’ll call you soon.”

Kelly squeezed her arm one last time, eyes locked on hers, before leaving. Olivia was too exhausted to even walk her to the door. It was like she’d been on a roller coaster, over and over again, and now was physically sick and emotionally drained from it.

“Mommy!” Charlie appeared in front of her, grasping the wooden gun Luke had made for him. “Was that Daddy?”

She shook her head sadly. “No, darling, it was just Kelly leaving.”

His little face fell. “Oh.”

She didn’t know what to say to him. Would Luke be coming past to see him again before he left? Or was it going to be like last time? Would he just disappear?

Part of her wished it had worked out, still believed it could have, but the other part? It was telling her what an idiot she’d been. He was a soldier and going away was what he did. She only wished he’d talked to her about it sooner, instead of them repeating their same old pattern.

When her mother had kept letting her father came back home, Olivia had started to think her mom was a coward. She’d vowed, even as a child, never to let anyone treat her like that. And she’d been so proud when her mom had finally kicked him out.

And yet she’d forgotten the one piece of advice her mom had given her, the one thing she should have held on tight to: that a leopard would never change Its spots.

Well, she’d believed Luke had changed his, and she’d fallen for him all over again. Now she had to explain to Charlie that his dad had gone. Be honest with him that he might not come back. That he’d broken the promise he’d made to his son.

If she didn’t love him so much, perhaps the pain wouldn’t feel like it was ripping her insides apart, piece by painful piece. Because this time, surely, they could have made it work.

Luke sat outside,willing himself to get out of the car. No matter what happened now, he’d made his decision. Even if Olivia said no to him, turned him away, he was going to be part of his son’s life. Wasn’t ever going to be serving offshore again.

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