Page 19 of Operation Rescue
Erin gave a tiny, wondering shake of her head, then flicked a glance at Blaine. “Just like that.”
Blaine nodded. He would and had done the same. Some people thought that brothers-in-arms stuff was made up, but he knew it was utter truth. And even if he hadn’t believed it, he’d have to now.
Because when he’d called for help, one of the most famous Marines in sniper circles had come running.
Chapter 10
Erin supposed she would never fully understand military men, especially Marines. Maybe she wasn’t supposed to.
Maybe she just didn’t understand the male of the species, period, and that was why Ethan had run away.
Maybe that was why she’d lost Blaine.
You didn’t lose him, you threw him away.
You had to.
The old, pointless argument ran through her head as it had countless times before. It didn’t matter now. What mattered was that she had help, tough, competent help, to find Ethan and bring him home.
But even that wouldn’t solve the underlying problem. That her son hated her so much he couldn’t stand to be under the same roof with her. She suppressed a shudder, or tried to, wondering how she had made such a huge mess of her life. Then she felt a warm, strong arm come around her, holding her, supporting her.
“We’ll find him, Erin. We’ll find him.”
Blaine’s quiet, confident words reassured her as nothing else could. Except holding her.
She couldn’t help herself, she leaned into him. Savored the heat, the power of him. All the memories boiled up inside her, of how wonderful, how sweet…how utterly hot their time together had been. And for a moment it was like it had once been, this strong, steadfast man always at her side, always there for her. She ached for it to be that way again, them, together, unassailable, indivisible.
When he wasn’t off fighting some stupid war somewhere.
And that easily she was back in the muddle again. Telling herself it was her own fault. For never realizing until it was too late that loving a hero required some bravery of her own, which she obviously didn’t have. No wonder Ethan hated her. No wonder Blaine hated her.
Blaine feels a lot of things about you, but I guarantee hatred isn’t one of them.
She glanced at the tall, rangy man who had come at Blaine’s call, bringing some incredible help with him. How did a man like that, whose job in the military had essentially been killing people, end up working with a group that did nothing but help people?
More importantly…was he right? Did Blaine really not hate her? And what if he was right? That didn’t mean the rift between them could ever be mended.
And again Rafe Crawford’s words ran through her mind.
It can be done. Even if the breach is…huge.
She felt a sudden, fierce longing to see that look he’d worn when he’d said it, that expression of undeniable and complete satisfaction, on Blaine’s face again. She tamped it down. She had to. Especially when he was looking at her as if he knew exactly what she was thinking. As if he could still read her so well.
Another memory, odd for the moment, struck her. Of another military wife complaining that her husband not only never listened to her, but would never, ever admit that he was wrong about anything.
Blaine was not like that. He never had been. Sometimes it took some convincing, but if he came to see he’d mistaken something, misinterpreted something, or hadn’t had all the relevant details, he had no problem admitting it and changing his mind. In fact, he had shown her how to do it in turn, with grace and lack of ego. Because when he knew he was right, there was no budging him.
He looked at her now and said quietly, “We have a battle to fight.”
She let out a long breath, and was about to pull away, to stand up on her own and face what they had to face, when he said softly, “But remember what you were just thinking, too.”
Then he let her go and stepped back. And she tried not to feel bereft.
She wasn’t sure she’d managed it.
* * *
Blaine was beyond restless. He wanted to get moving, but he didn’t know where to go. He wanted to go on the hunt, but didn’t know where the objective might be hiding. He wanted to do something, anything, but everything felt like just flailing around blindly. And now it was dark out, and he’d be blind in that way, too.
