“What?”
“Squall. Like a sudden storm that comes out of nowhere, shakes up the ocean, overturns everything. You did that to him. You were the only thing to pull him out of himself and get him to live, and I watched that transformation from the first time he told me about you a couple weeks after you met.”
He was a storm in my life, too.
“I have to go back to Colorado. There are things I have to do there…on my own. The odds are stacked too high against us. He made up his mind and chose North Carolina.”
“Then make him change it.” The ferocity in her voice brought my eyes to hers.
“Would you? Force him to choose between love and his family? Or make him wait while I get the rest of my life sorted out? He waited five years for you to wake up. I can’t ask him for that.”
“I would choose love.”
How simple she made it seem, instead of the crazy Jenga tower we’d built ourselves, pulling the blocks out one by one until we crumbled.
“Yeah, well, I choose Grayson’s happiness, and the two don’t go hand-in-hand at the moment.”
There was no answer.
Chapter Thirty
Grayson
“Where the hell is she?”
Morgan flinched in her doorway. “I told you. Yesterday the movers arrived and took her stuff. I don’t know where.”
I was ready to rip my fucking hair out. “No forwarding address? Nothing?”
Morgan shook her head. “No. Nothing. I’m so sorry, Grayson.”
“Yeah. Me, too.” I made it back to my truck in a daze and climbed behind the wheel. A week. I’d been gone a week, and in that time she’d checked out of the hospital, cancelled her cell phone, and moved out of her apartment.
How the hell was I supposed to find her when she didn’t want me to?
My phone rang, and I hit the button on the wheel to answer it. “Hey, Mom.”
“Grayson.”
“Oh, hey, Dad. Sorry, I saw the number and assumed Mom.”
“No, she’s out shopping. I wanted to call and tell you that she told me about your long-distance flight.”
“Oh, yeah? It was crap timing, but I did really well.” Hint being—get off my ass.
“It was foolish.”
“I had orders.” Like he was ever going to understand. We could go rounds and rounds, and we’d still end up at the same place.
“I waited for you to see the light, son. To be safe.”
“Yeah, well I’m a chronic disappointment there, Dad.”
“I need you to know that I love you. That everything I’ve done is out of a place of love, and needing to protect you.”
“Dad, I’m twenty-three years old. I don’t need you to protect me.”
“Yeah. You do. God, I love you, Gray.”
“I love you, too, Dad.”
He hung up, and I blinked. Was he apologizing for being such a dick while I was home? Probably not. It wasn’t in his nature, and he wasn’t exactly approving.
Thirty-seconds and two blocks later, my phone rang again.
“Lieutenant Masters?”
“Major Davidson?” Please don’t send me anywhere else. I have to see Sam.
“Son, I’m going to need you to come in and see me.”
My chest clenched. “Okay, sir. When do you need me?”
“Right now. I know you just landed a couple of hours ago, but I need you to come to my office.”
“Yes, sir. I can be there in ten minutes.” There was an audible click. Good thing I hadn’t changed out of uniform.
Had I fucked up something on the flight?
I went through every detail of the flight as I pulled onto post, trying to find where I could have made an error. I’d had Mr. Stewmon with me, who would have blasted me if I had, that was for sure.
I parked next to Jagger’s Defender and headed inside. At least none of us had moved a thousand-pound polar bear in the last week. I couldn’t shake the sense of foreboding, like what waited was a hell of a lot worse.
Jagger sat in the hallway with Mr. Stewmon on his left.
“Any clue what this is about?” Jagger asked.