Page 84 of The Soldier's Homecoming

Penny had no intention of protesting when it came to that particular request.

The helicopter movedwith a steady beat into the sky. Penny kept her eyes shut. Tight.

“You can look,” Daniel told her.

She could tell without peeking that he was smiling. That he had stolen his gaze from where he should be looking, and he had turned his aviator-glasses-clad eyes toward her. That his too-cute dimple was grinning her way.

Penny shook her head. No.

“I can’t believe in all these years that you’ve never been up with me.”

“You know I hate flying, Daniel.”

He chuckled. “Says the girl who’s just flown halfway around the world for the second time in four months.”

Not funny. He knew what she meant.

“It’s magical, Pen. Please look,” he pleaded.

She sucked back air like she was on the verge of hyperventilating.

It wasn’t that long ago that she’d seen a Black Hawk go down over the desert, and she hated having to go up in the sky.

“Penny?”

“Okay.”

She peeled one eyelid slowly back, then the other.

And her heart stuttered before kicking back into gear again.

It was amazing.

Daniel’s laugh made her look at him.

“Thank you.”

She didn’t know if he’d heard her whisper through the headset, but she couldn’t make her voice any louder. The breath had literally been stolen from her lungs.

“You’re not serving now, Pen. This is just me and you.”

She tipped her head back until it rested on the seat and looked through the wide windscreen.

“Where are we going?” she asked, confidence slowly trickling back through her body.

Daniel didn’t answer straightaway, leaving her to gaze out the window and watch the world disappear beneath them.

“You might not like surprises, Pen, but this is one thing you’re going to have to wait to see.”

She bit her lip to keep her mouth from breaking into a big grin. Part of her wanted to cry. To sob out loud and let all her emotions out. Being home was so surreal she could hardly describe it. Dealing with the fact that she was never going to have to leave her family again.

Penny lifted her arm up, relinquishing her grip on the helicopter’s door. Her childhood charm bracelet rested on her wrist, tiny charms swaying as she flexed her fingers.

When she’d seen Gabby wearing hers at the airport, she’d felt a sudden desire to wear her own, to remember her own mom. Now, high above the air,free, it seemed right.

“Prepare for landing.”

Already? “I was just starting to enjoy myself.”

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