A woman who didn’t like to party but could fix up a meal to feed an army and engage everyone from freshly enlisted eighteen-year-olds to four-star generals. In short, the perfect officer’s wife.
The antithesis of Kaci, that was for sure.
Except Kaci had something Allison never had.
She had Lance’s full, undivided attention. Even when he’d been on the flight deck this past week, she’d been in the back of his mind.
He’d always been able to shut Allison out and just do his job.
But tonight, he couldn’t get the image of Kaci’s grief out of his mind.
Once the tent was up, he hauled his old charcoal grill from the garage, pulled the legs off, and tossed in his spare firewood.
“Got marshmallows?” Juice Box asked.
“In the truck.”
They roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Juicy’s date—the same Nikki, obviously—showed up after a while, and the two of them took off. “Be safe,” Lance called after them.
“Yes, Dad,” Juicy shot back with an amused grin.
Kaci didn’t text.
Or call.
Or email.
Lance had been at field training the summer between his sophomore and junior years of college when his family dog died. Sunflower had only been nine years old. They’d thought she’d live another four, five, six years, but she’d been hit by a car. He’d told himself men didn’t cry over dogs. Plus, Cheri hadn’t cried. Hell if he would.
But he’d missed that dog. And he’d spent more hours than he could count wondering if she’d been scared. If she’d felt any pain. If he could’ve saved her if he’d been there.
He poked at a log in the fire.
Kaci’s cat was ancient. She’d had a good life, and she’d obviously been loved.
But goodbyes sucked.
And Lance had a feeling he had a goodbye of his own coming soon.
As fun as Kaci had been, he was deploying soon. He had to put his job first.
Period.
Maybe not tonight—he wasn’t cruel—but soon, he had to leave.
Kaci pulledher Jeep to a stop in front of Lance’s house shortly after nine. She tightened her sloppy ponytail, wiped her face with a spare makeup removal cloth she found in her purse, and refused to look at the towel in the passenger seat.
Wood smoke drifted through the crisp night. She wrapped her knit cardigan tighter around herself. When no one answered her knock at the door, she followed the campfire smell into the backyard.
She hadn’t been back here yet, but she wasn’t surprised to find a big lawn and an inground pool. The yard fit both theneighborhood and what she would’ve expected Lance to want to give his former fiancée.
He was stretched out on a sleeping bag next to a dwindling fire pit. When the privacy fence gate clinked shut behind her, he sat up.
She couldn’t read his expression in the dark. He lifted his arm, an open invitation for a hug. The empty hole in her chest pulsed.
“The vet has her body.” She curled up next to him and swiped at her eyes. “Said I can pick up her ashes on Thursday.”
He wrapped her tight, warm and solid and dependable, and pressed a lingering kiss to her hair. His capable hands stroked her back, and she had to fight against another wave of tears.
