And there she was. Standing near the exit, scanning the crowd, her face lighting up the second she spotted him. She looked good. Healthy. The scars from Iraq had faded to thin white lines on her wrists. The bruises were long gone. She waswearing jeans and a simple tank top and she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.
Logan crossed to her in long strides and pulled her into his arms. She wrapped herself around him, face buried in his neck, holding on tight. They stood there for a long moment, neither speaking, just breathing each other in. Solid. Real. Together again after six weeks apart.
"Missed you," Mara said finally, her voice muffled against his shoulder.
"Missed you too." Logan pulled back just enough to kiss her. Deep and thorough and not caring about the people walking past them. When they broke apart, both were breathing hard. "Let's get out of here."
They made it to Mara's truck before the questions started. Where had he been? What had the deployment been like? Was he really okay or was he just saying that? Logan answered what he could, keeping operational details vague, focusing on the parts that mattered. The team was safe. The mission was successful. He was home now and that's what counted.
"Where are we going?" Logan asked as Mara drove away from the airport. "L'Abri Sûr?"
"Eventually. But I thought we could stop somewhere first." Mara glanced at him, a small smile playing at her lips. "There's a place I want to show you."
She drove them deeper into the bayou, past the turnoff to L'Abri Sûr, down roads that got progressively smaller and less maintained. Finally, she pulled off onto what was barely more than a dirt track and parked beside a small cabin that looked like it had been there for a hundred years.
"What is this?" Logan asked.
"This is where I stayed after Tallie got me out. Before L'Abri Sûr existed. Before I knew what I was going to do with my life." Mara got out of the truck and Logan followed. "The woman whoowned it let me live here for almost a year. Gave me space to heal. To figure things out. She died five years ago and left it to me in her will."
Logan looked at the cabin. Small. Weathered. But well-maintained. Surrounded by cypress trees and Spanish moss. The kind of place where you could disappear from the world for a while.
"I've never brought anyone here," Mara continued. "This has always been just mine. My private space. But I want to share it with you." She took his hand. "I thought maybe we could stay here for a few days. Before we leave for our vacation. Just us. No team. No work. Just time to reconnect."
Logan squeezed her hand. "I'd like that."
The cabin was simple inside. One room with a bed, a small kitchen area, a woodstove for heat. No television. No internet. Just books and quiet and the sound of the bayou outside. Mara had clearly been preparing for this. There was food in the small refrigerator. Fresh sheets on the bed. Candles on the windowsill
"I know it's not much," Mara said, suddenly uncertain. "We can go to L'Abri Sûr if you'd rather?—"
Logan kissed her, cutting off the words. "It's perfect. You're perfect. This is exactly what I need."
They spent the afternoon just being together. Sitting on the small porch watching the water. Talking about everything and nothing. Making love slowly in the small bed with the windows open and the sounds of the bayou filtering in. Cooking a simple dinner together in the tiny kitchen. Existing in a space that was just theirs, separate from their teams and their work and all the complications of their lives.
As the sun set, they sat on the porch with glasses of whiskey Mara had brought. Logan had his arm around her shoulders and she was tucked against his side, both of them content in the easy silence that came from months of learning each other's rhythms.
"I was scared," Mara said quietly. "The whole time you were gone. Every day without hearing from you. Every time Quinn would mention troop movements in Afghanistan. Every news report about operations in the region." She turned to look at him. "I know that's part of the deal. I know you can't always communicate. But knowing it doesn't make it easier."
"I know. I felt the same way when you were in Iraq. When you were missing." Logan's arm tightened around her. "We signed up for dangerous work. Both of us. That's not going to change."
"I don't want it to change. I love what I do. I know you love what you do." Mara was quiet for a moment. "But I also love you. And the idea of losing you terrifies me in a way that nothing else does."
"I'm not going anywhere. Not if I can help it." Logan kissed the top of her head. "I've got too much to come home to now. Too much worth surviving for."
"Promise me you'll be careful. I know you can't promise you'll always come home. I know the work doesn't allow for that. But promise me you'll try."
"I promise. Same goes for you. Promise me you won't take unnecessary risks. That you'll come home to me."
"I promise."
They sat there as the last light faded from the sky and the bayou came alive with night sounds. Crickets and frogs and the occasional splash of something moving through the water. Logan thought about how different his life was now compared to a year ago. Before Mosul. Before Mara. Before he'd understood that there was more to life than just the mission.
"Tell me about the vacation," he said. "Where are we going?"
Mara smiled. "I was thinking the Caribbean. There's a small island that doesn't get many tourists. Private beaches. Goodfood. Places to dive if you want. Or we can just sit on the beach and do nothing."
"Doing nothing sounds pretty good right now."
"We leave in three days. I've already booked everything. Two weeks of sun and sand and absolutely no tactical planning." Mara turned to look at him. "Just us being regular people who happen to be in love."
