On the drive across town, Sarah decided that spending several hours on the couch had been a good thing, because at the moment, she had only a slight twinge in her side and her energy level seemed to be sufficient for the visit. Gavin parked his truck on the row of gravel at the top of the sloping front yard. An older model Honda and a newer Toyota sat in the drive to their left. The ranch-style brick home stretched across the middle of the property, and Sarah knew the backyard would extend down to the edge of the lake.

“Looks like someone’s here,” Gavin said.

“My mom used to bring us here,” she said softly. “My brothers and me.”

“Here?”

“Well, to the public access area. We didn’t have a boat, but we would spend hours swimming and playing in the sand on the beach area.”

“Not your dad?”

She grimaced. “The general was never a dad. He didn’t have time for such frivolity.”

“His word, I presume?”

“Sure wasn’t mine.”

She opened her door and stepped out. A thought hit her and she walked around to look at the driver’s side of the truck.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Just noticing something.”

“What’s that?”

“The bullet holes. They’re all on your side.”

Gavin looked. And frowned. “Yeah. I suppose it is kinda weird,” he muttered, shooting another look at the truck. “Maybe because I went into a spin, I took the bullets meant for your side.”

“They were shooting before you were spinning.” Right? Or, had they been spinning first? She’d have thought the moment would have been etched in her memory, but she honestly couldn’t remember.

He shook his head. “One thing at a time.”

“Right. Brianne.”

He followed her up the short walkway to the front door, stood behind her—close enough for her to feel the warmth of his chest against her back—and waited while she rang the bell.

She shifted, putting a few inches between them, his nearness unsettling. A brief flash of the kiss they’d shared in Kabul zipped across her mind, and heat crept into her cheeks.

Gavin turned sideways, his head on a swivel. “It’s a nice place. Quiet.”

“I wouldn’t mind having something like this one day.” Good idea. Talk about anything that would take her mind off the fact that she severely regretted there couldn’t be anything romantic between them.

“Why one day? Why not now?”