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Chapter 9
After leaving Maple Grove Elementary, Chloe and I headed for our usual haunt–the Rusty Spur. The whiskey slid down my throat in a fiery rush, taking the edge off the knot of frustration sitting in my chest.
Chloe swirled her glass, lips curling into a smirk. “So, Colton Hayes is finally sweating it, huh? Back when you were coughing up blood with pneumonia, he didn’t even bother to pick up the damn phone.”
I stared at the condensation trailing down my glass, and without warning, I was back in that hospital room- the shrill beep of the monitor, the cold sting of the IV in my arm. The day I gave birth, Colton had been halfway across the world on a mission. His only response was a curt message to his aide, Lucas: Tell the doctors to prioritize the kid.
“Let’s not talk about him,” I muttered, tossing back the rest of my drink. “Tomorrow, I’m heading back to Nepal.”
We’d barely stepped outside when a military Humvee screeched to a halt in front of us.
Colton jumped out, combat boots splashing through a puddle. His uniform jacket hung open, his T–shirt beneath it plastered with sweat–he’d come straight from the training field at Fort Sentinel.
“We need to talk,” he said, gripping my wrist hard enough to make it clear he thought I’d run.
yanked free. “Colt, that strong–arm tactic doesn’t work on me anymore.”
His jaw tightened, the muscle in it twitching. Then, without a word, he pulled a folded sheet of paper from his pocket. My breath caught —it was the climbing gear list he’d burned years ago, every single item replaced, each with a handwritten compensation amount and
date.
“I bought it all back,” he said, voice low and rough, like gravel. “The full set’s in a locker at Fort Sentinel. Figured you’d want it if you
ever came back.”
For a moment, I couldn’t move.
Under the wash of moonlight, the man who’d always seemed untouchable suddenly looked… cracked. When had General Hayes learned
what it meant to come undone?
“Too late,” I said, stepping back. “Colt, some things–once they’re burned–don’t come back.”
Just like the last flicker of hope I’d ever had for him. Gone, reduced to ash, along with the life we could have built.
Every twist in the series is surprisag
