Page 38 of The Soldier's Homecoming

“I beat you again, Grandma!” she squealed, before coughing.

Daniel exchanged looks with his mother as she put up her hands in defeat, “So you did. But don’t forget to cover your mouth when you cough.”

Daniel went to sit on the sofa to wait, but his body stuttered to a stop. He didn’t even have a chance to ask Gabby how she was feeling.

Wow.

“You look fantastic.”

He couldn’t help but stare as Penny walked into the room. She had on jeans that were so snug he could see almost every contour of her legs, paired with a low-front, slinky looking T-shirt, and she had her favorite leather jacket on, hanging open.

Geez. He’d forgotten how incredible she looked dressed to go out.

And he’d always loved that worn biker-style jacket on her.

“I haven’t worn this stuff in forever,” she said with a sigh, cheeks flushing ever-so as he watched her. “I hope it’s still okay.”

Daniel was struggling to stop his jaw from hitting the floor. “You look fantastic, Penny.”Good enough to eat.

He saw Gabby move from the corner of his eye.

“You okay, hon?” Penny asked.

Their daughter nodded, before moving slowly over to her mother. She took her hand, looking her up and down.

Daniel realized she probably didn’t remember Penny ever looking like this.

It was the Penny he knew before they’d gotten married and had Gabby. This was the smoking-hot Penny he’d first fallen in love with.

“You look so pretty, Mommy.” Gabby was clearly impressed with her mother. “Like,reallypretty.”

Penny laughed and bent to kiss her on the cheek.

“Will you be okay with Grandma? Are you feeling okay?” She pressed her palm to Gabby’s forehead.

Gabby nodded. “Is Daddy going with you?”

He took a step forward, his body recovering from the shock of Penny standing in front of him.

From his wife.

Daniel grabbed his keys. “Yeah, I’m taking Mommy out for dinner.”

“Have a nice night, kids,” Vicki called from the table.

“We won’t be late,” Penny told her, walking ahead of Daniel toward the front door.

Daniel ran a step ahead to grab the door for her, to hold it open for Penny to walk through.

“Thanks,” she said, eyes flickering over his as he passed.

It was the little things that counted, he knew that. Just like he knew that she’d always liked being treated like a lady. Liked the fact that she could be in a male-dominated career like the army and still feel like a woman when she was home.

Maybe it had been the little things he’d forgotten about. And maybe she had, too.

But tonight, he was going to remember every single little detail.

“I’m really glad we decided to go out,” he said, unlocking the car by remote as they walked.

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