Page 17 of Cooper's Salvation
She’d been expecting the conversation to turn to the subject of her mom, but Kara still felt a pang in the region of her heart. Even after so many years, it still twinged. Taking a deep breath, she said, “There isn’t much I remember about her, but what would you like to know?”
“How old were you when you lost her?” Colonel Rollins asked.
“I was around five.”
The man went pale. “You were five?”
“Yes.” She frowned. He had a strange expression on his face.
“What happened?”
“Well, I don’t personally remember what happened. I asked about my mother for years. No one would tell me more than the fact that my mother died in an accident. Just before I turned eighteen and was due to leave my foster home, the social worker sat me down and told me what happened.” Kara took a bolstering breath. “Mom was, apparently, a single parent – there’s no record of who my father is on my birth certificate. They don’t know where we were headed when a vehicle in the oncoming lane had a tire burst and they lost control of their vehicle. It careened through the center barrier and hit us on Mom’s side.”
Kara’s voiced faltered.
She felt a warm hand engulf her ice-cold ones lying in her lap. Cooper leaned closer, rubbing a soothing hand up and down her back. “You’ve got this.”
She gave him a watery smile, nodding. Pouring herself a glass of water from the pitcher on the table, she took a sip to gather herself. “I suffered a broken arm, bumps and bruises. Mom and the other driver weren’t so lucky. The other driver died instantly, and my mother was declared dead on arrival.”
Silence reigned for long moments at the table when Kara stopped talking. As she looked over at Colonel Rollins, despite her own pain, she couldn’t help but feel sorry for the man. He’d gone even paler. In fact, he looked ill.
Slipping a hand from Cooper’s comforting grasp, she reached over and touched the other man’s forearm. “Colonel, are you all right?” Both her gentle touch and quiet words seemed to go unnoticed. “Sir, do you need me to get you something? A sip of water perhaps? Colonel?”
As if waking from a dream, the older man’s gaze slowly focused on her. “I beg your pardon?”
“Are you all right, Colonel?” Kara repeated.
“Yes, I – it’s –” He blew out a breath. “Yes, thank you.”
Kara wasn’t convinced but decided not to push the issue. More silence fell over the table before he suddenly asked, “The other night you said the accident was about thirty-four years ago, correct?”
“Yes”. Her heart started pounding in her chest as nerves kicked in. Things were starting to feel more uncomfortable than they were to start.
In a strangled voice, Rollins asked, “In what month were you born?”
“Look, sir, I don’t see the relevance of the question, and this conversation is making me uneasy.”
“Kara, I apologize, sincerely, but it’s important.”
She looked at Cooper, at a loss. Should she answer him or call an end to the meeting and leave?
“Would you excuse us a moment, Colonel?” Cooper pushed his chair back and rose, taking Kara with him, a hand under her elbow. He guided her out of earshot of the older man before he spoke. “I can see how difficult this is for you. Do you want to call it off and leave?”
“I’m so confused. I don’t know what to do. I have so many questionsIwant to ask, buthisquestions are making me twitchy.” She turned to seek the colonel out. “I just don’t know,” she repeated.
“Do you want me to intervene and see if we can get some of your questions answered?”
Kara gave his question some thought. Did she want him to or simply cut and run? If she squandered this one chance to find out more about her mom, she knew she would regret it forever.
“Yes, please. This situation has been surreal from the beginning, but I know if I throw away this opportunity to find out more about my mom, I’ll regret it. Your help would be most appreciated.”
“Right then. Let’s go get you some answers.” Offering her an encouraging smile, Cooper guided her back to the table with a reassuring hand at the small of her back.
Sitting back down, Kara steeled herself to continue this bizarre conversation. She had come looking for answers, and hopefully she’d get some. Before she could decide where to start, Colonel Rollins cleared his throat, drawing her attention to his face.
The poor man still looked like he’d fallen ill in the time they’d been in the coffee shop. But it was clear the man had something he wanted to say. Bracing herself for whatever it was, Kara waited. Impatiently.
“There’s something I need to tell you; I just don’t know how.” He paused, seeming to gather himself. “Back when I knew your mother, we were a couple for a while before I deployed. We were – er, you know?”
