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“I don’t knohat I want,” she whispered
He was quiet for a few minutes, and she tried to put her einary box she’d enclosed the them for a day when she could cherish every moment
“Can I put my arm around you?” he asked
Her little box wasn’t very strong, for it exploded as if hit by the force of a loco her voice, she nodded
The arm that stretched over her back to cup her shoulder was not only fah her syste that even her spirit felt soothed Drawn to hiainst his shoulder
His jaw gently bumped her forehead, and a sweet blanket of solace covered her from top to bottom and inside out She loved her body when it touched his The sensations were unique and precious, and so utterly a she’d re the moment deep inside
Not so long ago she’d wondered how a person knehen he or she had fallen in love Well, now she knew And the thread of pain flowing through these wonderful, life-changing feelings was enough toInside her, that was But it didn’t alter the fact there was nothing she could do
When she opened her eyes, the brilliance before her had her blinking The sun had met the earth at the far-off horizon, and the way it splayed a rainbow of colors—reds, yellows, oranges, pinks, blues and purples—over the great flat land round ended and the sky began The irony of the sceneon her lips The sunset was exactly like the feelings overwhelan or ended, nor the pain
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Seth asked, knowing she was staring at the sunset He’d never been in this state before, this gray area of being neither right nor wrong It was not only frustrating, it left hi for answers that wouldn’t come
“Yes, it is,” she whispered
Even though he was holding her, he wanted more, and it wasn’t just physical This went deeper than that He’d known that right after walking out of the house this afternoon When it came to her, he didn’t want to be an army major He just wanted to be man A plain and simple man
Russ had came to headquarters an hour or so after lunch, said she’d walked out the gate The corporal offered to go after her, but Seth said he’d go himself He had, and for the past several hours he’d sat a short distance aatching her
A dozen scenarios had played in histhat time, but the one that stood out was that he had to face the truth He could put hie of men into a heated battle, and defy death head-on, because there was no one he had to worry about leaving behind Noor children to mourn him
Soinable way, he’d fallen in love The one thing he’d sworn never to do With a woman who didn’t exist She was flesh and blood, but beyond that it all became a little hazy The very fact that he felt the way he did proved she was Millie and not Roses
The fort was no place for her She was too gentle for such harshness But he couldn’t come clean, either, tell her he kneho she was, because then he’d have to send her away Arulations stated she couldn’t live here, not without being married He’d pointed that out himself, which meant the sham had to continue
Sitting there watching her, he’d thought ofhis mother How she’d cried after his father had died, but only when she thought no one was near
A woman He’d heard that his entire life, still did, and knew it to be true Though she hadn’t ed in her grief, it had changed her He’d seen that, too His father’s death had changed Seth, too His drea else he couldn’t abide His death—that of a husband, or someday, maybe a father—would affect other people People he loved Naainst his side
Seth had also wondered, while thinking of his mother, what her drea company, yet she had When her husband and brothers were called to fight in the war, she’d taken over the hel supplies up and down the eastern seaboard andthe entire family very wealthy