“Big house, at that.” She speared her fingers through his hair.
He smiled against her lips. “A life full of your light?” He kissed her softly and leaned his forehead to hers. “That’s all I’ve wanted since we first met. I just don’t know if I—”
“Don’t you even say it, Davis Fields.” She placed the fingertips of one hand over his mouth, her voice quivering with the force of her indignation. “You deserve happiness. You deserve light and joy. What happened to your team wasn’t your fault. You don’t have to carry that guilt anymore.”
Just like she didn’t have to carry the embarrassment of her failure. His eyes searched hers, and his doubt tore at her. But, banked behind the doubt, hope peeked through, muted like the pinks and oranges coloring the sky. If they could both trust each other and, in that trust, find faith in themselves, the long, dark winter they’d both been in could give way to a bright summer. She didn’t want to be alone anymore, and she would not let him be alone, either.
“I’m going to try to put that weight down, Firefly.”
He kissed her, long and slow. His touch full of promises and love. She answered in kind, pouring her own vows of love into each caress. She’d do all that she could to help him shoulder that weight until he could fully put it aside. It’d be a long trail. She’d seen that with her dad and siblings, but that’s what loving a person who served in the military meant.
“So?” She pulled back as the soft thump-thump of a fast-approaching helicopter broke the night silence.
“So?” He laughed against her lips. “You’ve addled my brain.”
“We doing life together or not, soldier?”
“Yes, ma’am, I accept your proposal.” He seared her with a crushing kiss, pulling back much too quickly. “There is no way I’m letting you go now.”
“Good.”
The rotors whipped the air around them. She kissed Davis one more time, then buried her face in his neck to block the wind. He covered her head with his arms and turned so his back was to the landing helicopter. Before the engine cut off, her name yelled in anguished relief crashed over her.
She peeked over Davis’s shoulder in time to watch Gunnar jump from the helicopter before it touched down. Her stoic brother’s eyebrows slashed his forehead with worry. She pushed away from Davis and ran to meet Gunnar. He wrapped her in his arms, a sob shaking his body.
“Thank God.” His words, laced with tears, pushed her own to breach the surface. “You’re okay?”
“Yeah.” She nodded, not able to say anymore.
The engine cut, and Bjørn’s yell followed. “Sunny!”
He was pulling her from Gunnar’s arms before the rotors stopped spinning. His body shook, too, as he squeezed her tight. She glanced at Davis as Gunnar embraced him in a back-thumping hug. Relief washed over her. They’d be all right now. They had to be.