Page 40 of Mountain Summons

Tristan instinctively tensed.

“Relax, Lieutenant,” the colonel said softly. His sharp gaze flicked to Lena’s still-sleeping form, then back to Tristan, unreadable. “How are you feeling?”

“Better, thank you, Sir.”

“You still look like hell,” the Colonel said dryly.

Tristan bit back a grimace. He felt like it, too, but that wasn’t a conversation he wanted to have with the colonel.

From her corner, Lena stirred. “Dad?” she asked, her voice hoarse with sleep. “What are you doing here?”

“Just came to see how Lieutenant Devallé’s doing,” her father answered lightly. “Why don’t you go get a coffee, Lena? The Lieutenant and I need to talk.”

Lena hesitated. “Dad …” She looked at Tristan, who gave her what he hoped was an encouraging nod. The last thing he wanted was Lena protecting him from her father. Whatever the colonel had to say, Tristan wanted to hear it now. There was no point in delaying.

“Okay. I’ll be back in a few minutes,” she said.

The door closed behind her. Colonel Pelegrin didn’t sit, but stood ramrod straight by the side of Tristan’s bed. Tristan still had to look up at the man, but he was glad that he was half-sitting, at least.

“The doctors say you’re going to make a full recovery, Lieutenant. I’m glad.” He paused for a moment. “That was a good crash landing. Your teammates are alive because of you.”

Well, fuck that. Tristan hadn’t expected to be congratulated for crashing a helicopter.

“Thank you, Sir. I hope to be flying again soon.” That seemed fair. The colonel turned and looked out the window.Or at the armchair where his daughter spent the night?

“So. My daughter,” the colonel said. It wasn’t a question, so Tristan didn’t have to say anything. Except there was one thing he wanted to say. One thing he’d wanted to tell the colonel for months.

“I didn’t know who she was when I met her. We met by chance and went on one date together. The day she disappeared in the mountains—“ Tristan paused and swallowed. “That was when I realized she was your daughter.”

“I see.”

I see. Two words. Nothing more.

“But you didn’t see her afterwards.”

“Not because I didn’t want to. She was the one who didn’t want to see me, Colonel. Because …”How to put this delicately. “Because of my choice of career.”

The colonel’s face could have been carved into stone. “I see.”

This was a safe place to stop. He didn’t have to keep going. This was between him and Lena. He didn’t owe his boss’s boss any more explanations. Except there was one thing he had to make clear.

“As soon as I get out of here, I’m going to take your daughter on a date, Colonel.”

A small smirk, gone so quickly Tristan could have imagined it. “Is that so?”

Tristan nodded. “If she’ll agree to it.”

“I have a feeling she will.” The colonel raised his palm. “I’m not here to get between you and my daughter, Lieutenant. My daughter is a grown woman, and she gets to make her own decisions.” The colonel paused, as if looking for exactly the right words. “But if you hurt her, in any way, I’ll make you sorry you survived the crash.”

Fuck. Tristan should be worried, but all he felt was strangely elated. To know Lena had her father in her corner. “I understand, Colonel.”

“What are you smiling about, Lieutenant?”

Tristan pulled his lips tighter. “Nothing, Sir. Nothing at all.”

Colonel Pelegrin ran a hand across his bald head. “Great. I don’t want to see you in the office for at least two weeks. And when you come back, make sure you’ve got a doctor’s note.”

“Yes, Sir.”

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