Soldier on Her Doorstep by Soraya Lane Page B

tentatively.
    She gave him a cheeky grin. “Want a hand outside?”
    Alex shrugged his acquiescence. Inside, his lungs screamed.
    â€œGreat, then I’ll leave this till later,” she told him happily.
    Â 
    Two hours later Alex was still working outside while she tinkered inside the cabin. She flicked a duster around all the surfaces, before giving the bed a good thump and making it with the linen she’d brought out.
    She liked having him here. Every hour that passed she couldn’t help but think she’d done the right thing asking him to stay. It wasn’t just the effect he had on Lilly, he affected her too.
    All went quiet outside, and he appeared in the doorway. His body filled the entire frame.
    â€œHow you getting on out there?” she asked. She could see a line of sweat starting to make a trickle across his forehead. It made her gulp. He was…well, very manly. And it was doing something to her, if the caged bird beating its wings with fury inside her stomach was any sort of gauge.
    â€œGetting there.”
    She used her head to indicate where the water was. He followed.
    â€œThinking it will take longer to get this place habitable?” she asked.
    He shook his head.
    If she’d just spent years at war, and years before that in army bunkers, she’d probably think the cabin wasn’t half bad either. Lisa fiddled with the duster and then stopped. She pinned her eyes on him. “Alex, I was thinking—did you actually see…you know…how William died?”
    His shoulders hunched. He stopped guzzling water like he’d just emerged from the desert and stayed still. Deathly still.
    So he did know.
    It didn’t matter if he didn’t want to tell her. She already knew William had died from multiple bullet wounds. She’d just always wondered how . Why? What had actually happened over there? Who had fired? For what reason?
    He dropped to an armchair in the corner. Dust thumped out of it but he seemed oblivious to it. Lisa knew she’d been wrong in asking so soon, but she couldn’t take it back. Not yet. Not now.
    The question hung between them.
    â€œWe were…” He took a long pause before continuing. “I mean, we came under fire.”
    She sat down too. On the bed. Despite just having made it.
    â€œThey think there was one, maybe two guys waiting for us. Snipers.”
    She could see the torment on his face. The emotion of pulling memories to the surface again. But she wanted to know.
    â€œI’m sorry. I can’t talk about it.” Alex jumped to his feet and walked out the door. Fast.
    Lisa sighed. She should never have pushed him. It was too early to be asking him things like that. Things that didn’t really matter anymore. Not when nothing could be done about it.
    â€œAlex, wait.” She rushed out after him.
    Emotion seeped from him. She could see it. Feel it. Smell it. He practically radiated hurt and confusion as she walked slowly up behind him. He had one hand braced against a tree. The other hung at his side. She stopped inches away from him, her body close to his. She didn’t touch him.
    â€œI’m sorry, Alex. I had no right to ask you that.”
    In a way she was lying. She did have the right to know. But not yet. Not until he was ready to tell.
    She stood there for a moment. Watching him. Waiting. “We need some ground rules. If you want to talk about what happened, you can—anytime.” She paused. “But I won’t ask you about it again.”
    She sensed relief from him. He swiveled—just slightly, but their eyes met. She understood. She still struggled with telling people that William was gone sometimes. Felt all alone and lost.
    â€œWhen you’re ready to talk, tell me,” she reiterated.
    He just stared at her. His eyes acknowledged her words with a faint flicker.
    â€œSound okay to you?” she pressed.
    â€œYeah.” His voice lacked punch.
    Lisa