In Name Only (Pine Falls #2) - Jennifer Peel Page 0,13
convey the agony of those days. There was no sleeping, no eating. I was on my knees praying more than standing. My world suddenly didn’t exist anymore.”
Allison leaned in closer, intently listening to my response. Her cameraman made sure to capture her look of sympathy. Once I’d answered, she shifted more toward Brock. “You’ve been quoted as saying that it was Dani who gave you the courage to live during those grueling days of captivity. Did any final words come to you that you wished you would have said before departing for the last time?”
Oh. That was a new one.
A few red blotches appeared on Brock’s neck, indicating he wasn’t prepared for that question. I could see his Adam’s apple bob repeatedly while he thought.
John stepped forward in the background; I was sure the motion was meant to remind Brock to give a million-dollar response. Now I would never know if Brock was speaking his truth or his father’s. What else was new? I’d felt like that for weeks. I had questioned whether or not Brock had ever truly cared for me. Or was it his near-death experience that had temporarily made him feel more for me than he really did? Even before he left, he couldn’t or wouldn’t just come out and say how he felt about me. He had only said he wanted to talk about “us” when he returned. Who knew what he would have said had it been a run-of-the-mill training mission.
Brock looked straight ahead, past Allison and out toward the large window that provided a view of a nearby meadow graced by the surrounding mountain peaks, golden from the aspens changing leaves. He cleared his throat. “I think when you’re in the situation I found myself in, you can’t help but think about the last moments you had with those you care the most about. I was fortunate enough that when I returned, I was able to express those sentiments.”
I felt the sting of what he did and didn’t say. I wanted to yank my hand out of his, but all I could do was sit still and keep the fake smile on my face.
Allison leaned back, disappointed that she didn’t get the touchy-feely, good-for-newsclips sentiment out of him. As such, she turned to other topics that focused more on his mission. I was grateful that all I had to do was sit numbly and listen to Brock recount how they had been in Afghanistan so he could train his counterpart—an Afghan doctor in field medicine. The doctor, who had become his friend, had asked for Brock’s help treating a patient in a local village who wasn’t able to travel. Brock had agreed, and their vehicle was attacked by a radicalized faction during their journey. The doctor and another American soldier—both Brock’s friends—lost their lives. The attackers took Brock because he had survived and was an American. They thought they could use him as leverage. For three days they questioned and tortured Brock. It was a child who was fond of American soldiers because they played soccer with him and gave him his very own soccer ball who ended up telling the SEAL extraction team where they could find Brock. I would be forever grateful to that little boy.
Most of the specifics Brock had to leave out, as they were classified. Especially those surrounding the rescue itself. And I didn’t think he wanted to articulate any of the grueling details. Details I knew he was thinking about constantly when locked up in his room. Or when he did emerge, I noticed the vacant stares. Behind the stares I knew he was replaying the horror he’d lived through.
I had heard the story he’d given the media so many times, my mind started to wander. I didn’t even realize when the line of questioning shifted back to both of us. It caught me off guard when Allison, out of the blue, asked, “So was it love at first sight for the two of you?”
Without thinking, I lied and said, “No,” while Brock said, “Yes.”
I was so stunned I whipped my head his way. From how red his cheeks were, it was obvious he was more surprised by the admission than I was.
His brooding eyes locked with my own, and confusion and pain swirled in the sea of blue. Had he lied, like me? Was he looking for a way out? Of course he was—he didn’t want this marriage. He certainly didn’t love me. Even when he’d gotten