Trusting a Warrior (Loving a Warrior #3) - Melanie Hansen Page 0,78

but her eyes asked Geo the one question he dreaded answering: Barlow?

The wave of pain coursing through him almost knocked him down.

Renae Barlow. Cade’s wife.

Chapter Sixteen

“I didn’t know what to say to her.”

Lani wanted to shout her relief at Geo’s muttered words. He’d been silent all through paying for their groceries, the drive home and lugging them upstairs. Resisting the urge to press him to talk, she’d clamped her tongue firmly between her teeth and waited him out.

Now she was careful to keep her voice neutral. “You haven’t seen her in a while?”

“Not since Dover.” He stopped in the middle of unloading one of the bags, his knuckles clenched white around a can of stewed tomatoes. “I’m the one who escorted him home.”

“Oh, Geo. That must have been so incredibly difficult,” she said quietly. “I’m sorry.”

Having to escort the body of his friend all the way from Afghanistan to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware would’ve been a solitary, emotional task in and of itself. Then to be confronted with Cade’s horror-stricken and grieving wife...

“I’m going for a run.” Abruptly handing her the can of tomatoes, Geo disappeared in the direction of the bathroom, and Lani stared after him, wrestling with indecision.

She knew the run would calm and exhaust him. By the time he got back, he’d be locked down tight as a drum again. Frustration burned its way through her. He’d finally cracked open the door, so now all she needed to do was find a way in.

But how?

A sudden lightbulb went off in her head, and she shoved the rest of the perishables into the fridge before dashing to the bedroom to exchange her sandals for sneakers.

When Geo emerged, dressed in his running gear, she was waiting for him, bottle of water in hand.

He stared at her. “What’s this?”

“Going with you. A run sounds good.”

Eyeing her floral sundress, hoodie and tiny cross-body purse, he said skeptically, “You’re going running like that? The woman who hates exercise?”

She winked. “First time for everything, right? Actually, I’ll walk and carry the water.”

To her satisfaction, he didn’t argue, just went into his warm-up stretches on the porch while she locked the door.

“There’s a cute little business district to the north of here,” she said. “I walk over that way sometimes when I can’t sleep. Nice quiet streets, no traffic. That’s where I’ll be, okay?” As she passed him on the stairs, she reached out and squeezed his arm. “Have a nice run.”

She set out at a brisk pace, and when he finally caught up, he muttered, “You lied to me. I think you’re a secret exerciser.”

“Ha, no.” She crinkled her nose at him. “I like to walk, and my job means I’m always on my feet and moving, so—”

He nodded before jogging off into the distance. Lani crossed her fingers and prayed, her breath escaping in a muffled groan of relief when he soon circled back around and fell into step beside her.

He didn’t say anything, but he also didn’t seem ready to bolt, so she took a chance. “Tell me about escorting him home.”

After a few beats of silence, Geo let out a grunt. “What’s there to tell? Bosch and I rode all the way from Bagram with him in a C-17.” His tone was carefully noncommittal, but Lani detected a thread of something else there...

Before she could probe any more, he went on, “There was this one fucking airman, though, who couldn’t even look at me. When he brought me the transfer paperwork, he practically shoved it in my face and ran back down the ramp.”

Geo’s jaw rippled, and suddenly, as if a lid had been lifted on a violently boiling kettle, the words spewed out. “I wanted to grab that little pissant and shake him. I wanted to scream that that metal box didn’t contain just anyone, it contained a man who’d loved his country and his family. It contained a decorated SEAL who’d saved countless lives. A husband, a father, a friend, not just—”

When he broke off, she finished softly, “You wanted him to know that Cade was more than the way he died.”

“Yes.” That one word burst out of him. “He was, Lani. He was so much more than that.”

“Then tell me. Tell me about him.”

Taking his arm, she listened as Geo told her about a guy who guzzled Rip Its and red licorice like they were going out of style, who could quote the movie Tombstone from the opening credits to the very last line, and