When I didn’t say anything else for a second, my wife did.
“Hi.” She blew out a breath. “Thank you for being there for my husband. I don’t know what Griffin and I would do without him.”
Her words choked me up again.
“I’m not going to let you find out,” I told her softly.
For the second time that day, I helped Patience off my lap and we both stood, silently staring down at the resting places of two remarkable men. It had been a rollercoaster of a day, and while I made it through this one, there was still another one coming that I knew would be just as hard.
“I guess it’s time for us to take off. Tomorrow, I’m headed to talk with Ryan’s family and him. But you guys all take care of each other.”
My heart pounded as I worked up the nerve to walk away. Leaving them made it feel more final, and that was something I was still struggling with, even if I was beginning to believe the trip was therapeutic—as my therapist would say. Patience ran her hand up and down my back, her touch both soothing and supportive.
Raising my right hand to my forehead, I saluted my brave friends. When I dropped it, my wife slipped her palm into mine and entwined our fingers.
As we began walking away together, I gave one last, long glance at the headstones…
And whispered, “Until I see you again.”
“Because you loved me.”
Patience stirred against me. “Hmm?”
I’d been lying in bed, just staring at my wife for probably an hour. The events of the day before had worn both of us out, so I was doing my best not to wake her. She’d held me all night long, letting me know she would fight my fight with me and always be by my side.
Struggling not to touch her, I found myself murmuring softly instead.
Only I’d ended up waking her anyway.
Her silky, smooth leg hooked over my thigh, and she snuggled as close as she could get. After she planted a kiss on my bare chest, she mumbled against it, sending goosebumps trickling across my skin.
“Were you whispering sweet nothings to me?” Her eyes fluttered open, and her head tipped up so she could meet my gaze. “Are you trying to butter me up?”
Silent laughter rumbled in my chest.
“Maybe.” I cocked a brow. “Is it working?”
Giving me a flirty smile, she answered by copying me. “Maybe.”
I loved her playful side, but I did really want her to know why I’d said what I had. We’d come home from our emotional day, ate, and then we stayed in bed just holding one another. All I could think about, when sleep wouldn’t come, was I couldn’t have gotten through anything without her.
Like I’d told her while we stood mourning my friends, I got through those tragic filled days because of her, but that wasn’t all. She’d been rescuing me—just like she’d told me she would in the beginning—since the day I came home.
“Because you loved me,” I repeated softly, reaching up to caress her cheek. “It’s your love that changed me for the better at eighteen. It’s your love that got me through the days when I thought I would die. And it’s your love that saved me from myself after I came home.”
Tears fell onto my fingers resting on her cheek.
“Don’t cry, Roo.” I leaned in and kissed her sweet lips. “I just needed you to know.”
As she rubbed her leg up and down my calf, I watched as she tried to gain her composure before she could talk.
“It’s because you loved me too that I wasn't alone the day I had Griffin. Because I had a real family, starting with you and my son. Your love is what always gets me through the rough times.”
Speechless for a moment but needing her to know how I felt, I slanted my mouth over hers and tried to pour all my feelings into the kiss. Her tongue met mine stroke for stroke as we explored each other's mouths, our breaths mingling as one.
Morning breath be damned, my wife still tasted as sweet as honey.
Then all of a sudden, her lips ripped from mine, and she was rolling away from me as she jumped off the bed and rantoward the bathroom. I was hot on her heels, following, but as I reached her, she already had her head hung over the toilet—for the second morning in a row.
