Page 13 of Unlucky in Love
His phone buzzed on the counter. He didn’t recognize the number, but the area code made his chest tighten. He swiped to answer anyway.
“Hello?” His voice came out rougher than he intended.
“Well, damn. I thought you were hiding in a cave somewhere.” The voice on the other end was gravelly and familiar. Sergeant Danny Ruiz. One of his platoon brothers.
Ryan’s stomach knotted. “Ruiz.”
“I tracked down your number through Higgins. He said you were back in your hometown, pretending you’re retired.” Ruiz chuckled, but it wasn’t unkind. “You gonna tell me how you’re really doing, or you sticking with the standard ‘fine’ routine?”
Ryan pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m breathing. That’s about it.”
“That’s something.” Ruiz’s tone softened. “Listen, I know what’s going through your head. I know because it went through mine too. That day was a cluster. You did what you could.”
Ryan clenched his jaw. Images rose without invitation: the dust-choked street, the sound of gunfire, the faces of the menhe hadn’t been able to pull out in time. “I should have seen it coming. Should’ve—”
“Stop,” Ruiz cut in, firm. “We all should’ve done something different. But we didn’t. You can’t keep replaying it like a damn movie. It’ll eat you alive.”
Ryan’s throat worked, but no words came.
Ruiz went on. “You were a good leader. You still are. You kept more of us alive than you lost. Don’t dishonor them by drowning in guilt.”
Ryan sank onto the couch, staring at the empty wall. He wanted to believe it. He wanted to let the words settle. But the guilt clung like a second skin.
“You need to come back,” Ruiz said after a pause. “There’s a place for you. The Corps doesn’t just let men like you walk away. We need you.”
Ryan barked out a laugh, humorless. “You don’t need a man who freezes when he closes his eyes. You don’t need a man who sees their faces every night.”
“You need time,” Ruiz said simply. “But don’t bury yourself. Don’t let one bad day make you forget who you are.”
Ryan’s grip tightened on the phone. He wanted to say he wasn’t sure who he was anymore. That all he had left was exhaustion and regret. But the words stayed locked in his chest.
“I’ll think about it,” he muttered.
“Good. That’s all I ask. Think about it.” Ruiz hesitated, then added, “And hey, don’t spend all your time staring at four walls. Live a little. Last time I checked, you weren’t dead.”
Ryan managed a faint smile. “Working on it.”
They said their goodbyes, and when Ryan hung up, the silence pressed in harder than before.
He sat there a long time, staring at the phone in his hand, Ruiz’s words echoing in his head.
Live a little.
Easier said than done.
But when his mind drifted, it wasn’t to the desert or the gunfire. It was to a woman with ink-stained fingers.
Taylor Pierce.
Chapter 5
Taylor
The lunch rush thinned to a manageable murmur, and Taylor finally ducked into the corner table with a bowl of tomato soup and a grilled cheese that had gone lukewarm while she plated pastries for everyone else. Emma slid into the seat across from her with a salad and a sigh that sounded like it came from her toes.
“Ten solid minutes without a diaper,” Emma said, stabbing a cherry tomato. “This is luxury.”
Taylor smiled and reached into her apron pocket. The paper felt crisp against her fingers, the handmade bookmark a gentle weight she couldn’t stop touching. She set both on the table between them.
