SADIE

I couldn’t get ahold of Trev. I cursed when I realized I was going to have to go back and work this out with Dane. He was right, we had to do what was best for Tate. Me being dramatic and getting pissed wasn’t the right way to go about any of it. With a defeated sigh, I put my phone in my back pocket and walked back toward the house. Thankfully, there were no walls so I could see right through it to the lake. I saw him standing near the water. The closer I got, I could see his shoulders moving. Then I heard him.

He was crying.

My heart shattered inside my chest as I picked up my pace. Once I made it to him, I wrapped him in my arms and cried with him. We were in this together. We had to be. There was no other way.

His arms wrapped around me as he buried his face in my hair. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to lose my temper,” he said as he slowly started gaining control.

I rubbed his back. “Shhh,” I said, trying to soothe him. He had every right to lose it, and I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t lost my temper over all of this, too.

When he pulled back from me, his eyes were red and swollen. “I never intended to yell. I wanted us to talk and figure things out.”

I reached up and wiped under his eyes with my thumbs. I kept my hands on his face and made sure his eyes stayed on mine.

“I know. We’re in a mess, Dane. We need to work together and not against each other. I’ll move into the house with you. I’ll do anything I can to make life for Tate as easy as possible. Whatever it takes.”

“And I will do my best not to be so angry. That’s not good for anyone.” He looked down at his hand, and my eyes followed.

I wanted to comment on his anger. I had never seen him act like that. It was scary. But the sight of his hand had me worried.

“Dane…” I barely touched it, and he winced.

“I’m an idiot for punching the stupid beam.”

It was super swollen. “I pushed you. I’m sorry.” I looked at him. “You need to get that checked out.”

“Sadie, there’s a lot that has changed about both of us. We need to take this week before we get Tate to learn about each other again. We don’t need any surprises when he gets here.” He looked back at his hand. “I guess I should go get it checked. Dammit.”

“Can I have your keys? I’ll drive you to the ER.”

He pulled the keys out of his pocket and handed them to me.

I made sure he was in and helped him buckle so he wouldn’t have to use his hand. He didn’t like that I had to do that, but he’d get over it. Dane hated when his man card got fucked with.

I walked around the truck and got into the driver’s side. I was about to stick the key in the ignition but stopped. I swear my heart did too. A picture of me was on his dash, next to the fuel gauge. Next to mine was a picture of Millie. I was shocked to be in such an important spot. Anyone next to Millie had to mean something. She was his entire world.

“What’s wrong?” he asked when I still didn’t start the truck.

Before I left, I sneaked the picture into his truck with a note. The note was short and simple. I’d intended on writing more, but I couldn’t see through my tears. He’d kept it. That meant it meant something to him. That I meant something to him.

“It’s been eight years, and you kept it,” I said quietly.

He looked at his dashboard before looking out the window. “Yeah…I did.”

I smiled a little and cranked the truck. “I figured you would’ve burned it.” I pulled onto the road and drove toward town.

“I would never burn it. No matter what’s gone on, I still love you,” he admitted quietly.

There was a lot I could say in response to that, but I wasn’t prepared to spill my heart out in that way. Not yet. Like he had pointed out, we both had changed. Before we addressed our relationship, we had to learn to co-parent.

I couldn’t not respond at all, though. So, I reached over and held his left hand that wasn’t hurt. When his thumb moved across my knuckles, a surge of emotions filled me. Little gestures like that made me a hot mess. It was gestures like that and when he buried his face in my hair and held me that made me remember when our love was unstoppable.

Those little moments that he and I only shared when no one else was around.

Don’t go there, Sadie, I reminded myself. Not yet.

Dane’s phone started ringing so he let go of my hand to answer it. He looked at it before accepting the call. “Hey, Hales. What’s up?”

He listened for a second before talking. “I will be over after I go get my hand checked out.” He groaned. “No, I’m fine. I was an idiot and hit something I shouldn’t have. I’ll be there later. It will be late but I will be over. No don’t come. Hales, don’t—” He slammed the phone down on the seat. “Great.”

“She’s coming, isn’t she?”

“Yeeess,” he said, exasperated.

“Well, is everything okay? I mean, why did she need you to go there?”

“Her and Zach wanted to check on me and for me to stay with them tonight. They’re paranoid,” he muttered.

“Paranoid?” I stopped at a red light when we came into town and turned my head toward him.

He shrugged. “I might have left eight years ago, and ever since then, whenever I get overly upset, everyone worries I’ll disappear.”

“You left? Where did you go?” The light turned green, and I started driving again.

He looked back out the window. “Does it really matter?”

“Apparently it does if Hailey and Zach want to keep an eye on you tonight.”

He sighed. “I joined the Marines.”

I knew something was different about him and not just that eight years had been good to him. Age looked good—I shook my head to stop my mind from going there. But yeah, different.

“Oh,” I breathed out. “Ummm. Wow.”

“I was in there for four years. I was thinking about re-enlisting when Millie called and wanted me to come home. I’ve felt guilty about leaving Millie ever since. I won’t be joining again.”

I pulled into the hospital entrance and found a parking spot. I turned off the truck and looked at Dane.

“Did you go to war?” I looked at his hand. “Sorry, we can talk about this later. Let’s get you inside.”

“Yes, I did,” he said before getting out of the truck.

I had so many questions, and although I saw him standing here and was fine—well, sort of—I still worried like he was leaving for war tomorrow.

I got out of the truck, locked it, and walked with him inside.