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“Did you throw them away?”
He shook his head. “No. I kept them. Why?”
Reaching out, she smoothed her hand across his deep, well-developed chest. “Where are they now?”
“At my condo in Alexandria, Virginia. I have them in a small safe.” He saw so many emotions flitting through her green eyes, unsure of this line of questioning.
“Why didn’t you get rid of them, Shep?”
“Because I never wanted to lose you. I later realized you left for good reasons, Willow. I kept the rings because you had worn them. Sometimes? I would pull them out, just hold them and remember the good times, the laughter, and the love we made to one another. They always gave me comfort when I was feeling raw and lonely.”
She compressed her lips, her hand stilling over his heart. “I always wondered what you’d done with them.”
“To throw them away would have been throwing away the truth that I loved you,” he said in a low, emotional tone. “I didn’t want you to leave in the first place, Willow and you knew that. I don’t begrudge you leaving. I wasn’t a very good partner for you at that time.”
“Except in bed, and there… you were stellar.”
“Yes, in bed, but we both know now that’s only part of a relationship.”
“Do I ever.” She caressed his stubbled jaw. “I’m glad you kept them, though. That warms my heart. It gives me hope for us.”
“I’ll never part with them, no matter what happens to us now or in the future,” he told her. “I found out my love for you didn’t die with time, Angel. It only grew, and those rings always made me feel hope. I never really thought we’d ever see one another again. I really didn’t.”
“But here we are.” She smoothed her fingers across his upper chest, its dark hair only emphasizing his sheer maleness.
“I’m glad we’re here,” he said, placing his hand over hers. “I know this is a fragile time between us right now, Willow. I know it’s going to take time to see if we can make it work for us. I’m fine with just living with you. I’m not asking for a commitment. I have to earn that from you. I thought of the friendship ring because we’d met and become friends first. I saw the ring as my silent promise to you to become a better partner, that’s all. It wasn’t to buy the ring to force you into staying with me or anything like that.”
“I wasn’t sure, Shep.” She sighed and leaned down, kissing his mouth. Easing away, she added “But I am now. I like the philosophy behind the friendship ring. A symbol that we’re both serious about one another, that we’re both committed to try and make it work this time around.” She straightened, her voice growing husky. “And when I thought, we were going to die out there? All my regrets were centered on you. I really wanted that second chance with you.” She frowned. “I didn’t think we’d get it, especially when I damned near drowned. When that underwater limb snagged my trouser and hauled me under, I thought… it was lights out.” She shivered a little, pulling her hand from beneath his. “When I was under? I was terrified. I knew if I breathed in, I’d drown. I was so scared. More than I’d ever been in my whole life. And when I was trying to jerk my pant leg free, all I could think about was you. The good times. The laughter. The love…”
He moved his hand across the curve of her firm thigh. “Sometimes it takes a near-death experience for us to see what’s important. I’ve seen it in my Seabees after an attack by the Taliban. It changes them forever.”
“It sure changed me, Shep. When you rescued me? I swore that I’d move heaven and earth to persuade you to come back to me, so we could try again.”
“Really?” His heart thumped once to underscore his surprise. His pleasure. The amusement dancing in Willow’s eyes made him grin a little.
“Really.”
“I’m sorry it took that near drowning to get us where we’re at now,” he said, “but I like the outcome of it.” He watched her eyes grow soft with love for him. “And I’m fine if you don’t want a friendship ring right now. Just let it sit with you. In the future? If it feels right to you? We’ll go get one.”
“I’d have to wear it around my neck as a necklace.”
Shep understood. Military pilots never wore jewelry on their fingers while flying, not even a wedding ring. Nothing that could snag on a control. “It will be yours to do with as you want.”
“I want you in my life, Shep. I want you underfoot. And since this first construction job is going to take you a year to complete here in Ethiopia, I think we’ll have a pretty good idea by then of whether we’re making this work or not. Do you agree?”
“Absolutely.” He knew nothing was for sure. Nothing in life ever was, as he’d found out from a very early age. “All we have in life is changes, Willow. I don’t know what’s going to be thrown at us while we’re here, but I’m willing to deal with it because I love you.” His hand stilled on her thigh. “I know this can work and I think you know that too.”
“I do,” she whispered, giving him a watery smile. “But it’s one day at a time with you, Porter. I’m not going back to the way it was and, if you revert, I’ll be in your face about it, because I can’t live that way.”
“Fine, be in my face. Tell me when I’m not opening up as much as you want, Willow. I’m not afraid to hand myself over to you now that I realize what I was knee-jerking about and doing to you… to us.”
“Good.”
He heard the relief in her voice, and so much more. Hope burned bright in her look of love for him, and Shep knew they would make this trial work for them, not against. This time if it worked out, they would live together, not necessarily get married. Both were gun-shy of the whole marriage option at this point. But he didn’t care, as long as they lived together, loved, laughed and enjoyed life with each other. All that, he knew, was possible. He wrapped his hand around her elbow. “Come on, lay down here beside me? We have to get some sleep. It’s gonna to be a long day tomorrow.”
CHAPTER 15
Tefere smiled to himself. It had been two weeks since he’d tried to kidnap the red-haired American woman pilot. With five hundred soldiers at his fingertips, the ones that had been either killed or captured earlier were easily replaced. Zere, a thirty-five-year-old Somalian he’d grown up with, had come in to be his new second-in-command. Never giving up on getting that American woman, they watched the flights the two female pilots flew in and out of the Bahir Dar airport. From there, on the south side of Lake Tana, they transported the supplies needed for the construction projects to Addis Zemen airport, located on the east side of the lake. Sweat trickled down Tefere’s bearded face constantly over the long hours he spent hiding inside the airport’s huge supply warehouse at Bahir Dar, learning and listening. The beard was new. He had grown it over the last two weeks to conceal his identity somewhat, and it still itched and annoyed him, especially with never-ending perspiration running through it. His inside man, Zere, had been hired by the manager of the warehouse facility to load construction materials onto the two women’s Otter airplane, and had been doing so for nearly the past two weeks.
