The woman laughed. “I’m Willow. I’m sorry we haven’t met before. I’ve been so busy.”
She cast around in her mind for where she’d heard the name, thankful it only took a moment. “Rhae told me about you. It’s great to meet you.”
She held a small box packaged in brown paper. “I’m sorry to bother you so late.”
If she’d been a few minutes sooner, Church would still be moving inside her.
Warmth crept over her skin.
“This package came for you today. I’m late going through the mail, but I wanted to bring it to you right away.”
She frowned. “For me?”
Willow held it out, so Zee took it. “Thanks for bringing it.”
“No problem. I hope to catch up with you soon, Zee.” Without another word, she turned and ran back down the stairs to the barn.
Zee stared down at the package, her insides wobbling. She carried it to the coffee table and set it down. Church had left his phone, and it came awake when she jostled it, the screen flashing that it was almost midnight.
Then she focused on the box. The label was written in Matt’s old military format.
Her heart stuttered, then battered hard against her ribs. For one wild moment, she wondered if he could be alive. Rhae told her Denver was ghost ops, so deep that he was dead to the world. Could the same be true for Matt?
Her hand fluttered to her chest but it did nothing to slow her slamming heart.
No. She’d seen Matt’s body when they returned it to the States. She saw his face.
She didn’t know how long she sat there, staring at the box with so many stamps from all over the world, tape layered over tape, the corners battered and dirty from being in the system for three years. Maybe longer.
Could this be the thing she’d waited for all this time? After he died, she’d waited for any sign he’d thought of her at the end—that he hadn’t just left her behind to figure it out alone.
Church stepped back into the room, two mugs in hand.
He saw her and stopped.
“Zee?”
She couldn’t speak around the thickness in her throat.
“Do you regret what we did? I can sleep out here tonight.” His question made her gaze snap to his.
“No,” she whispered.
He saw the package and rushed forward to set the tea on the table. Leaning over, he read the label.
She felt when Church recognized it for what it was. Her hands started to shake.
He straightened with a jerk.
“It’s from Matt,” she rasped.
He didn’t respond.
“It took three years to reach me.” She stared at the label addressed to her, replaced several times as it was rerouted. Under the corner of the new address for the Black Heart Tactical Training Facility, the address of the base she’d lived on with Matt peeked out.
Church dropped heavily to the cushion beside her. “It kept getting forwarded.”
She nodded. “They finally found me.”
