Page 22 of The Soldier's Homecoming

What if, by some miracle, Daniel was right? That their marriage did deserve a second shot?

What if she did owe it to him to try to understand?

Right now, she didn’t believe it. Couldn’t believe that they could ever get past this.

But he was right about fooling Gabby. If they weren’t going to tell her the truth, they needed to make a better effort at pretending.

She took a deep, shuddering breath and marched back down the hall.

Daniel hadn’t moved.

“If we’re going to do this for real you may as well come to bed.” she said, voice shaking, trying so hard to be brave.

Daniel looked up when she turned. His eyes smiled at her. But he didn’t say a word.

Instead he followed her silently down the hall.

Goose bumps rippled up and down Penny’s shoulders, across her back.

She was more nervous than a virgin on her wedding night. Even though she’d be changing in the bathroom and wearing pajamas to bed.

Even though Daniel had been her husband for almost seven years already and her partner for ten.

Daniel saton the edge of the bed. It was like being in a stranger’s room, it seemed so foreign.

He ran a hand across the quilt, resisting the urge to look over his shoulder. Penny was in the adjoining bathroom, he could hear water running still, and he didn’t know what to do.

Whether he should leave her side lamp on and get under the covers, roll over and at least pretend he was asleep. Or sit up with his light on, waiting for her.

Or offer to sleep on the chair. Or the floor.

Daniel sighed. He didn’t know what the hell to do. When all he wanted was to do the right thing.

The running water stopped, leaving only deafening silence in its place.

Daniel peeled off his T-shirt, half folded it and dropped it to the floor. He did the same with his jeans, pulling them off, then his socks.

He left his boxers on, slid beneath the covers and rolled onto his side after turning his lamp off.

He listened to Penny as the doorknob turned, listened to her pad softly across the carpet.

Then felt her climb into bed as the weight of her body folded into the mattress.

The void between them seemed enormous. The ocean may as well have separated them. Even with his back turned, he could feel her there and at the same time he couldn’t.

Could hear the gentle inhale of her breath, could sense the indent of her body beside his.

But the cold sheets stretched so far between them that he would have had to reach right out to brush his skin against hers.

And he wanted to.Damn. did he want to.

Instead he silently pummelled his fist into his pillow and squeezed his eyes shut, hoping sleep would come quickly.

“Night.”

Penny’s soft voice jolted his eyes back open.

“Good night,” he said back, voice hoarse.

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