He took her hand and held it tightly. “The last thing I ever wanted was to hurt you—just the opposite. But I did hurt you, and it impacted you even more than I thought it would, and for that, again, I’m sorry.”

There were some important things she needed to get off her chest. “I accept your apology, and from here on out, you don’t need to keep apologizing to me. I understand why you made the choice you did. I remember clearly that at that time all I did was talk about how excited I was to start my CIA career. And since I could only tell a select number of people, that meant you heard it even more. I don’t place blame on you, but I do place it on the Agency. They shouldn’t have thought so little of me that they had to play such ridiculous games. Games that ended up irreparably impacting my entire life.” She paused. “God has a larger plan at work in this, and that’s what I’m trying to focus on.”

Hunter squeezed her hand. “I’m not so sure about God’s plan, but I am glad you were brought back into my life.” He took her other hand in his and held them both. “Layla, the timing of this isn’t ideal, but if we’re going to have total honesty between us, then I should tell you that I have never stopped loving you.”

Her breath caught at his bold admission. She couldn’t find words. Her eyes started to fill with tears. There was so much emotion bubbling up inside her. After all these years, the dam was about to burst.

Hunter pulled her into his arms. It was like he understood what she needed. And as he held her, so many memories came flooding back like a raging sea. How much she had loved him. Their plan for a life together. How the two of them just made sense. But now, over five years later, here they were again. A different time and place, and she’d gone through so much in life and lived to see many things that she’d never thought possible. She’d grown up in so many ways and was much more mature now than she had been back then. There had also been a number of mistakes and ups and downs that all led her to where they were standing.

Her life now in danger, God had somehow worked His almighty plan to bring Hunter back to her, and she felt like maybe this was more than just Hunter walking with her through this trial. Maybe, just maybe, this could be more.