She looked away but didn’t seem quite as tense as she was at the beginning of the discussion. “Being reminded of my father brought up other memories that brought to mind . . . other stuff that I didn’t want to think about.”

“And we’ve moved from mud to tar.”

She groaned. “I’m sorry. It’s just really hard to talk about it.”

“Then at least tell me how I reminded you of your father.” He had no idea what she was talking about but knew that reminding her of her father was bad. Very bad. “What’d I do?”

“I told you a little about the story I was working on. The drug ring that was operating on base.”

Oh yeah. He remembered that.

“You said, ‘That’s not something you want to mess with, Sarah. It’s dangerous and will come back to bite you. You need to back off before you get hurt, and back off now.’”

He frowned. “I remember that. I also remember thinking, ‘I’m just getting to know this amazing woman and I want it to continue.’ I thought about what you were investigating, who you were investigating, and I was scared to death something would happen to you.” He cut his gaze to hers. “I guess I came across as a bit of a dictator?”

“Just like my father.”

“I see.” He cleared his throat. “Well, thank you for clarifying.”

“I’d also like to clarify one more thing.”

“What’s that?”

“The truth is, I know you’re really not like him. You’ve demonstrated that over and over in the last few days. I know you’re Caden’s friend, so I guess I’ve just chalked your presence up to that.” She gave a small laugh. “I suppose, as much as I don’t have the right to wish it, part of me was hoping you might be sticking around because you wanted to.”

Hope inflated, even while he shut his mind to the real reason he was sticking tighter than superglue. “I’m definitely sticking around because I want to.” A completely true statement. He squeezed her fingers. “Now, are you ready to do this?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” She still didn’t move.

“So?”

“So, I’ll tell you the rest of it one day.”

“Soon?”

“Yes, soon.” She punctuated the promise with a nod.

“Then I’ll be ready to listen when you’re ready to talk.”

Stepping back into the hospital sent chills down Sarah’s spine, and she couldn’t help the flash of memory from when she’d entered Brianne’s room to find the woman in such agony. A shudder rippled back up her spine.

“You okay?” Gavin asked.

“Yes, why?”

“You shivered and went all tense when we walked in.”

Observant, wasn’t he? “I’ll be all right.” She walked past the information desk without pausing.