Faith.
He slid to the ground, the numbness of fading consciousnesswinning.
Chapter 14
That day,after breakfast, King took them on a tour of the mansion and introduced them to the entire team and their wives. Laura had been tentative at first, but the women quickly put her at ease, taking to the newcomers like oldfriends.
Seeming relieved, King left them for most of the day, disappearing for hours at a time only to reappear to check on them periodically and make sure they were being taken care of. After about a full week of this routine, Laura started to grow impatient. And that morning, after he escorted them down to breakfast per usual, he’d surprised them by taking them downstairs to the trainingfacility.
“Come on, we’ve got the place to ourselves.” King pushed his way through the double metal doors, and Laura and Faithfollowed.
He’d showed her the inside once before, but they hadn’t gotten to stay andexplore.
King swept out an arm. “You said Faith likes to do gymnastics. Think she could use any ofthis?”
Laura followed his gesture to the huge blue pad gracing the center of the large room, a couple of large multicolored wedges were scattered on its edge. Lockers lined the back wall, several feet away. Various punching bags and weight benches, dumbbells and treadmills filled up the perimeter of the room. From the ceiling hung two long ropes, and two sets of wooden rings. One set of those rings had been lowered to hang just a few feet above the floor. The perfect height forFaith.
“King,” Laura breathed out, “it’sperfect.”
He shoved his hands into his pockets and looked out over the room, avoiding her. “Just some stuff we had instorage.”
Laura bit her lip. She couldn’t come up with any reason for this group of military men to have children’s gymnastics training wedges. She knew almost without a doubt he’d had it sent here just for Faith. The thought warmed her insides and wordlessly, she took his hand and gave it a light squeeze. Half expecting him to drop it, she was surprised when he threaded his fingers through hers and held firm. Heart thudding in her chest, she gestured to Faith to goexperiment.
Without a backward glance, Faith took off for the mat, making an abrupt stop at the edge to carefully set Kitty down, then rushing forward she sprung into a series of cartwheels and groundrolls.
Laura edged closer to King, savoring the feel of his rough and calloused palms against hers. He’d barely spoken to her all week, let alone touched her. And she found she’d missed him. “Thank you again for this. She’s been getting a little antsy cooped upinside.”
They both had. Laura could only play so many rounds of Go Fish without wanting to pull her hair out, and while the rest of the women had stopped by to visit at various times, they each had their own lives to attend to as well. She was used to coming and going as she pleased, leading her life, independently, not to mention working every day. The sudden wall of inactivity was a hardadjustment.
King started stroking his thumb absentmindedly over the back of her hand, drawing Laura’s attention back to him. He’d been watching her, studying her. She blushed, refused to avert her face, hungry to hear his voice. “What?”
He tugged closer so that only mere inches separated them. He started to talk, and then hesitated and cleared histhroat.
“King?”
“I’m sorry about this week. I know I shouldn’t have left youalone.”
She tried to play it off like she didn’t care. “It’s okay, Iunderstand.”
“No, it’s not. It’s just that, well, your brother…and…Faith,” he saidhaltingly.
She tensed. Had he figured out Faith was John’s daughter, not hers? “What do youmean?”
He watched Faith this time, and beneath the thick black beard and eye patch she could see the struggle on his face. “I mean, I was scared of hurting you over Dawson. I am worried about your brother. And I don’t want to upset you. So, I thought it might be better if I tried to put some distance betweenus.”
“You did?” she asked, shocked. As a social worker, she’d counseled tons of teenagers, spent hours trying to pry the truth out of them. She never expected King to share something so open and honest with her withoutprying.
Faith continued to tumble and roll about in abandon. She ran for the rings headlong, caught them just above her head, and slung back and forth, kicking out her legs injoy.
King squeezed her hand. “Yeah.”
“AndFaith?”
He turned to her then, and everything around her fadedaway.
“I haven’t been around kids since, youknow.”
Her heart squeezed for him. He was so open and hurt and hopeful. The last thing she would expect out of this rough soldier. “It has to be sohard.”
