Page 16 of Her Honorable Hero

“You were dreaming about your Mom?”

“I was dreaming about everything,” she finally admitted. “It ended with my Mom.”

“The train wreck, right?”

She hugged him tight, and then he rearranged them so that she was lying on top of him, his back resting against the arm of the big chair. It was perfect.

“Tell me,” he cajoled gently.

“I shouldn’t have to, you were there. It was hell. Anyway, we already talked about it.”

“Did we?” He tipped her chin up forcing her to look him in the eye. “I answered your questions about what happened, but I never really told you how I felt. You never told me what was going on in your head, either.”

She pulled her head away from his hold. “What was the point?”

“Baby, maybe it would help. I worry about you. Miranda, you get pretty wound up about this every year. You have nightmares.”

“Griff they had every head doctor in the universe talk to me after the train wreck. I eventually got a clean bill of health, remember?”

Griff opened his mouth and then closed it.

“Say it. I won’t bite your head off.”

“Physically you got a clean bill of health, but Miranda, I know this eats at you. I just hate seeing you in pain. That’s all.”

Part of her lapped up his care and concern like a kitten with cream, and part of her wanted to rip his eyes out with her teeth. God, maybe she was crazy.

“So what are you saying?” she finally asked.

“Maybe it’s time to lance the boil once and for all.”

“Nice imagery, Porter,” she tried to smirk, but her lower lip started to tremble, and she had to bite it. “What does that entail?”

“We talk more about that day, but include our feelings.” He looked her dead in the eye. “We’ve talked about what happened, but we’ve never really discussed whether we were mad, or sad or scared.”

“Wasn’t that kind of obvious?”

God she hated this.

“Humor me,” he brushed his knuckles over her cheek. “Tell you what, I’ll start. You tell me where your dream left off.”

“It was right before Josiah and Scarlett got on the train,” she reluctantly answered.

Griff smiled. “It had sure been a surprise to see them.” He shifted so that she could lie more comfortably on top of him. After they were comfortable, he began.

* * *

Three Years Earlier

“Ma’am,let me help you with that,” a familiar voice said. Griff turned and saw his captain, Josiah Hale, and grinned. He had gone through BUD/S with the man’s son, Nick Hale. He watched as the captain helped the older woman store her luggage over the lip of the upper metal rack above the seat. Betty saw Griff looking and winked. Josiah saw the wink and turned to look at Griff.

“Griff, is that you?”

Griff stood up and held out his hand. “Hello, Captain,” he smiled easily as the man took his hand. He felt a tap on the shoulder and looked around. A graceful woman in her late forties smiled at him.

“Griffin Porter, the day just gets better and better,” Scarlett Hale reached out for a hug that he gladly gave her. “It’s almost like I have Nick here when I get to see someone from his class. We don’t get out to the East Coast often enough to visit him,” she said.

Griff looked into the warm brown eyes of a woman he had known for seven years. “Mrs. Hale, I can’t wait to tell my mom that I saw you. She asks about you all the time.”