After a bit, I scooped her up bridal-style and carried her up the stairs. I was still wearing my slacks and button down, but I didn’t want to risk putting her down and waking her if I left her alone. I knew she needed me more than ever tonight.

I placed her gently down in bed and pulled the covers up over her before climbing in next to her. My arm wrapped around her waist and held her tight, hoping I could chase away the nightmares I knew would come.

* * *

The next morning, Len was up before I was. It was just before sunrise, and I could smell bacon filling the air in the house. The scent of fresh brewed coffee hit me about halfway down the stairs.

When I made it to the kitchen, I found an entire plate and cup of coffee ready for me. The door to the sun room was open, and I walked in, carrying my breakfast, to find Len watching the sun rise over the water beneath the cliffside.

“Couldn’t sleep?” I asked.

She shook her head, not looking away from the water.

“Can I join you?” I asked before I stepped up to her chair.

“Sure,” she murmured, but she was barely present. Her mind was wandering.

I sat in a chair across from her at the small glass table set in the center of the room. With the sun rising, it was starting to warm already, the cool morning breeze disappearing. I’d miss views like this when I had to go back to Quantico.

The closest beaches were still far, and the view was nothing like what I found here. New England would forever leave its mark on me.

Len continued to sip at her own cup, gaze never faltering from the window. I watched the way her mind spun, the few times her lips parted like she wanted to say something. It was thirty minutes before I couldn’t take the silence any longer.

“It’s okay to not be alright,” I said, hoping I could get through to her.

She turned toward me, her eyes locking with mine, as if trying to decide whether this was something she was ready to admit.

“It’s also alright to be frustrated with me. I deserve it,” I said.

“It’s not that,” she said immediately.

I couldn’t help but feel a bit of relief hearing that.

“It’s just-” she started and paused.

“This is your work,” I guessed. “And now, in the blink of an eye, it has been taken from you. On top of that, you’ve already been through an ordeal.”

She nodded.