Page 38 of Finally Mine
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An hour later,rehydrated, stretched, and congratulated, Aldo flopped down on his cot. He slipped the photo, protected by a sandwich bag, out of his chest pocket. Gloria grinned up at him from the side of the lake, hair touched by the wind. He loved that glimpse of lightness in her eyes, around her soft mouth, that he hoped would be there permanently. He longed to see her without the pinch of pain and shame.
He’d snapped the shot of her during their little lake picnic. Aldo had wanted a picture of the two of them, needed it. But it would be too easy for him to write a story from a picture. Too easy to build up a relationship that didn’t yet exist. Couldn’t yet exist. She needed this time and distance. Putting restraints on her, demanding exclusivity, wasn’t fair. It was the same reason he’d resisted the urge to give her his contact info. She needed the time.
He hoped he’d survive the wait.
“Mail call,” Luke announced, shoving through the tent flap. He had twin packages under his arm.
Casually, Aldo slid the picture back into his pocket. “Whatcha got there, cap?” he asked.
“Looks like we both got something from Harper,” Luke said, tossing a box into Aldo’s lap. Aldo wondered if his oldest friend realized he was grinning like a kid on Christmas morning.
“That Harp is something.” Aldo held up the Dirty Mad Libs notebook and the six-pack of socks she’d packed for him.
Luke was studying the bag of cookies as if it were an ice-cold six-pack. Love written all over the dumb bastard’s face.
“Miss her?” Aldo prodded.
“Huh?” Luke tore his eyes away from whatever shenanigans Harper had packed for him. “Yeah. Sure.”
Aldo sighed. His friend was one of the smartest, most loyal men in the world. And he could be a real dumbass.
“You’re not a terrible asshole for having feelings for her, you know,” he told Luke.
Luke swallowed, and for a second Aldo thought he’d blow it off. “I feel like I am,” he admitted.
“She wouldn’t want you to be alone forever, man,” Aldo said, careful not to mention the name that still hit Luke like a knife to the heart. “Besides, you’d have to be a complete fucking moron not to have some kind of big feelings for Harpoon. I’m half in love with her.”
Luke gave a rusty laugh. “She’s something.”
“What’d she send you?” Aldo asked, making a reach for Luke’s box. He didn’t like to push Luke too hard when it came to the woman he’d loved and lost.
Luke held the box out of his reach. “I’ll show you if you come clean about that picture in your pocket.”
“Asshole,” Aldo grumbled playfully.
“That’s Captain Asshole to you,” Luke teased. With a ninja-like move, he feinted left and snatched the picture from Aldo’s shirt pocket. “Aha!”
“Please,” Aldo scoffed. “Like you didn’t know who it was.”
“What’s going on there?” Luke asked, dumping his box in Aldo’s lap.
Aldo pawed through it on principle and stopped when he got to the small stack of pictures. Harper and the dogs. Harper in the office with Beth and an even grumpier than usual Angry Frank. Harper and Gloria… A fist closed around his heart and squeezed. They had facemasks on and were making fish faces for the camera, and Aldo had never seen anything so damn beautiful in his life.
“Shit.” He’d been doing well. Not thinking of her every ten seconds. Staying focused on what needed to be done. “You think she’s doing okay?” he asked.
“Yeah, I think so. Harper wouldn’t let her not be okay,” Luke told him, rubbing a hand absently over his chest. “I could really go for a beer or ten right now.”
“How about a run instead?” Aldo offered. “Nothing like a few miles choking on dust in heat that feels like you’re wearing a parka to get your head right.”
“Let me change.”
20
One month into deployment…
It was weird being back here. Back in the same gravel lot where she’d nearly lost her life a few short months ago.
