"Me too."
"Your brothers send their love. They're both hoping to make it out this weekend."
Charity straightened, and it was evident the moment Damon spotted Grace still standing in the doorway. So many emotions she couldn't decipher raced across his face as he went completely still.
She walked into the room with the intent to hug—and maybe even smother him with kisses—but before she made it more than a few paces, he spoke.
"Grace? What are you doing here?"
CHAPTER 24
Damon wasn't sure who gasped louder—Grace or his mom—but it was the hurt in Grace's eyes that made his gut twist and his gaze shoot toward the ceiling.
That infernal tank was back, steamrolling over his chest, pulverizing his heart into a million pieces. Grace was so incredibly beautiful it hurt to look at her, knowing he couldn't be the man she deserved.
"Damon Michael Knight, shame on you." Mom's look was every bit as scolding as her tone. "Grace has been worried sick about you, just like I have. She's the one who kept me from falling apart when I got the call that you'd been injured."
"I'm sorry." He wasn't sure if his apology was for his mom or Grace. He couldn't make eye contact with either.
He hated hurting Grace, but it was the only way to shield her from the burden he'd become. He also hated that she was here, seeing him like this. Broken. An invalid, missing integral parts of himself.
She deserves a whole man. Someone who can give her the children she longs for.
He looked at her now, frozen at the foot of his bed, looking like she was on the verge of tears. "I'm sorry, Grace. You just...surprised me."
Her lips turned up in a small smile that didn't reach her eyes. With stiff movements she rounded the bed opposite his mom and leaned in to hug him.
"I'm so glad you're home. I've missed you so much."
Bracing himself for the pain that hugging her was sure to cause, Damon lifted his arms to return the embrace the best he could. How could he not? He loved this woman more than life itself.
He inhaled deeply soaking in her sunshine and floral scent. "I've missed you too."
When she pulled back and pressed her lips to his, he accepted her kiss, needing it every bit as much as he did those first few swallows of water after waking up. But unlike the water, her kiss—though amazing as it was—couldn't soothe the scorched places inside him.
This one was goodbye. Not the welcome home he'd looked forward to for the last three and a half months.
When the kiss ended, she kept her face close to his as she ran her fingers over the stubble on his cheek. "I've never seen you with more than a five o'clock shadow." Her smile was more genuine now. "I like it."
She must have seen the rejection in his eyes at that point, because a small V formed between her brows as she slowly backed away. She cast a quick glance at his mother, her smile turning stiff as she sat on the edge of his bed and took his hand despite the oxygen monitor on his finger. But she didn't make eye contact with him again.
"Oh honey," Mom took his other hand. "I'm so sorry about your friends Ford and King. Their families must be devastated."
The sympathy in Mom's voice brought tears to his eyes and the burning in the back of his throat again. He squeezed his eyes shut as guilt and sorrow enveloped him.
"You don't need to be tough for us." Mom rubbed his shoulder. "Just let it out."
The heartache swallowing him was caused by so much more than the loss of his buddies. Knowing he needed to let go of the woman that had captured his heart and become his best friend—despite the thousands of miles between them—killed him.
They sat in silence for several long moments while he regained his composure, which took forever because he was about to break Grace's heart.
"Captain Moore wouldn't tell us what actually happened." Mom finally said. "Can you?"
Damon didn't want to talk about what happened. He didn't want to remember the deafening blast, the fear, the chaos, the pain. But one look at his mom's face told him she'd suffered these last few days too. With fear of the unknown. Was her son really okay? Would he actually come home alive?
"I can't talk about where we were or the mission." Damon stared at the dip in the blanket at the end of the bed where his left foot should have been. "But one minute..."
I was dreaming of kissing Grace under the mistletoe.
