He slumped over her, his grip biting. “I thought for sure you’d leave me.”
With a jolt, she understood. Everyone in his life had left him through choice or death. She tightened her hold on him with a matching fierceness. “Never.”
A knock on the doorjamb brought them out of their reverie, and Harper shot off Bennett’s lap. Darren looked worn down, his eyes red rimmed, but the ghost of a smile touched his lips. “Sorry to interrupt. I was hoping—if it’s not too much trouble—you’d run me up to the hospital to see Allison and the kids.”
“Course not. You feel steadier?” Bennett asked.
A real smile manifested itself, although it was dry. “You mean, am I getting ready to off myself?”
“Well, yeah.” Bennett only shrugged.
“No.” He held up a white envelope, his hand trembling. “Alex suggested I read the letter I wrote to Allison. Tell her everything. I’m not sure she wants to hear it or if she can handle it, though.”
Harper exchanged a telling glance with Bennett. She touched the back of Darren’s hand. “Allison is the strongest woman I know. She can handle it and then some. Tell her. Trust her.”
Darren nodded, and Harper hoped he would have the strength to follow through and share his burdens with Allison. She followed the two men to Bennett’s truck and wondered if it was training or birth that set men who chose to be SEALs apart. Their independence and mental steel was both a strength and a weakness. When times got more than they could bear, it was nearly impossible for them to ask for help.
At the hospital, the transparent relief on Allison’s face before she pulled Darren into her arms portended what was to come. Somehow she seemed to sense how close she’d come to losing him for good.
“Y’all go talk. Bennett and I will hang out with the kids.” Harper tried to impart to Allison without words how important this moment was. Allison hung on to Darren’s hand and nodded.
After they retreated to a small chapel to talk, Harper pasted on a smile and picked up the pack of cards on a rolling table. “Did you guys know that we have a trickster in our midst?”
Sophie pushed taller on the pillows, her eyes big and blue against all the hospital white, including the bandage that wrapped her head like a turban. “W-who?”
She held out the cards to Bennett. “Let’s see what you’ve got, Grizzly.”
Bennett entertained them for more than half an hour. Even Libby was transfixed by the sleight-of-hand tricks. Bennett was a natural with the kids.
He’ll make a good father. As soon as the thought popped into her head, a blush spread like wildfire, and she flapped her shirt to keep from breaking out into a sweat. They hadn’t discussed the future, but much like she’d known Noah would be an important part of her life the day they’d met, she knew Bennett was here to stay.
The implications were obvious but too startling to examine.
“Hey. You okay over there?” Bennett had backed away from the bed and was shuffling the cards from one hand to the other.
“Just peachy,” she said with a forced smile.
“W-will you…”—Sophie struggled for long seconds with the next word—“t-tell me a story, Harper?”
“Of course I will. What would you like to hear about? Sleeping Beauty? Rapunzel?” Harper lay down on her side in the bed with Sophie, careful not to jostle the IV or tubes.
“N-no princesses.” Sophie didn’t meet her eyes as she played with the end of Harper’s ponytail.
“How about a story about a little girl who’s strong and brave and tames a dragon even though no one thinks she can?”
Sophie smiled and nodded, settling against Harper’s chest. Harper closed her eyes and let a story ramble from her mind to her mouth. She wasn’t sure how long she talked, but after she uttered the final “and she lived happily ever after” the silence that followed was peaceful. Sophie was lax and breathing deeply, Libby and Ryan were sitting close to the bed staring at Harper raptly, and Bennett leaned against the wall wearing a slight smile.
She slipped out of bed, careful not to wake Sophie, and whispered, “How about we go get some ice cream downstairs?”
Libby shook her head. “I think I should stay. In case she wakes up. I don’t want her to be afraid.”
“I’ll stay, too.” Ryan scooched his chair closer to Sophie’s bed.
Harper and Bennett retreated to the hallway, but she kept her eye on the kids. She had to believe they would get through this with scars but no lasting wounds.
With the walls and secrets swept aside, Harper didn’t hesitate to notch herself into Bennett’s arms. Burying her face in the warmth of his neck, she inhaled, and like he’d imprinted on her, her heart recognized home.
“They’re coming.” His chest rumbled against her.
She shifted but didn’t pull away. Allison had been crying—Darren too. “What do you need?” Harper directed her question to Allison.
“Prayers?” Allison gave a little laugh. Although she seemed lighter and reconnected with her husband, the road back to a new normal would be long and difficult.
“I appreciate everything you’ve done, man.” Darren dropped Allison’s hand to clasp Bennett’s in a shake. Instead, Bennett pulled Darren into a bear hug.
“I wish I’d been there for you sooner. We all have our ways of coping, I guess. What’s your plan?”
“I want to see my little girl home, and then I’m going to take a leave of absence and work out my problems or at least learn to manage them. Alex said he’d help. He also invited me to the survival weekend he’s put together with you.”
“Good. I was going to suggest that myself.”
While the men discussed particulars of the trip, Harper pulled Allison to the side. “Are you two going to be okay tonight?”
“‘Okay’ might be overstating things, but I think—I hope—we’ve reached a turning point. The things he told me, I can’t imagine … But I’m glad he trusted me.” Allison squeezed her mouth closed, her chin wobbling. “How close was he to finishing it?”
“The gun wasn’t loaded, if that’s any consolation.” Harper rubbed circles on Allison’s back like she did for Ben when he woke from a nightmare. Unfortunately, Allison’s nightmare was all too real.
“Maybe it shouldn’t, but that does make me feel better.”
“What happens now?”
“Darren is going to stay with Sophie. He’ll be safe here. I’ll take the kids home and try to get a decent night’s sleep. Tomorrow is a new day.” Allison flashed a brief watery smile before looking to the floor. “I appreciate everything you’ve done for me and Darren and the kids. I don’t know what I would do without you.”
“You won’t have to find out. And I’ll be back and forth for the opening of the café. Let me know if I can watch the kids or take you out to vent or whatever. Call or text me in the morning.”
Bennett slipped an arm around her shoulders and Darren retreated to Sophie’s bedside. Allison joined him, her hand on his shoulder.
“I guess that’s it,” Harper whispered.
“For now.”
They didn’t speak again until they were outside. Even though the children’s wing of the hospital did its best to be open and welcoming, tension was sloughed away by the swaying trees and endless night sky. Relief coupled with worry, but she and Bennett had done everything in their power to help. It was up to Darren to fight for his life both literally and abstractly.
“What do you want to do? We could get a hotel room for the night or drive back.”
Part of her longed for the privacy of a night together after the turmoil of the day. But a driving need to be with Ben when he woke seeded impatience.
She pulled Bennett to a stop and met his gaze. “As much as I want to frolic all night in a king-size bed with you, I need to be home.”
“Because of Sophie.” It was a statement, not a question.
“Yes and because of how I left things this morning with Ben.”
“With Ben and Sophie close in age and seeing her … like that. It’s scary.”