He already has most of my heart and he doesn’t even know it.
“You can’t stay away,” I murmur softly. “Does that mean one day you’ll let me in?”
Silence greets me back. Before doubt can creep into my mind he tells me, “If there is anyone strong enough to tear down my armor it’s you, Grace.”
Hope lights up inside of me. “Are you saying to keep fighting for you, Oak?”
“I’m saying that if there’s anything left of me to save, anything at all, I know you’ll do it. You’ll pull me from the trenches, carry me over your shoulder and bring me back to life.”
“That’s a lot of faith you have in me,” I try to joke but he sees past that.
“And you have a lot of faith in me to even want to fight. But you want to know what I think?”
“What?”
“That if we ever lose the faith in ourselves we will always have it for each other. It’ll never be lost.”
How is it that the most stubborn closed off man that I know can say the most beautiful things that are raw and vulnerable?
And why do I get the feeling that he only shows that side of himself to me?
“I needed to hear that,” I confess to him.
I imagine him smiling, the small ones he always seems to give me. “Everyday remember? I’ll tell you that every fucking day.”
My heart feels lighter now. The smile coming naturally to my face. “Thank you. I better go, don’t want to keep you.”
“Don’t ever think you’re keeping me from something, you’re not.”
My smile grows wider. “Well,Ihave to go. Connor gets off school soon and then I have to head into work.”
“So I take it you don’t need me there?”
“No, hearing your voice was enough,” I honestly tell him.
“Tell Connor I said hi, will you?”
“I will. He’ll be happy to hear from you.” We both stay on the phone, neither one of us wanting to hang up.
“You going to hang up?” He teases me. I can imagine amusement in his eyes.
“Are you?”
“Give in, Grace.”
“No,yougive intome.” We both know the hidden meaning behind that.
“Then I guess this will be a start.” He then hangs up and I feel like I’ve chipped away more of his armor. He’s letting me in. Slowly but surely he’s letting me in.
And just like that my day from hell has turned around.
Oak
Iwake up with a start. My mind heavily disoriented and my blood rushing with adrenaline. I blink rapidly, trying to decipher where I am. My heart beats pace has only quickened and so has my breath. They come in short and fast, as if I’ve exerted myself beyond my physical limits.
The smell of gunpowder permeates the air and the taste of heavy metallic explodes in my mouth.
With each blink I capture glimpses like a snapshot movie reel. The door busting down with a loud crack and wood splintering around us. Entering the building to only be met with a group of armed men. The angry expressions upon their faces as they rained down on us with bullets. My men. . .my brothers being shot. I choke on the sob that wants to rip out of my throat.
