He put his fingers over mine and met my look with one of his own. “I’d rather you come in with me. She’s been through enough and doesn’t need to get all worked up about where I’ve been and what I’ve been doing. She’s southern through and through, so there is no way she’ll throw a fit in front of a stranger.” His explanation for wanting me by his side sounded reasonable, but I could see there was more to it than that. He was scared … more than scared … he was terrified to step inside that room on his own.

His mouth was pinched. His eyebrows were pulled into a V over the top of his nose and he was pale under the natural golden hue of his skin. The fingers that covered mine had a slight tremor to them, and I really got the sense that he wasn’t going to cross that threshold until I pushed him or agreed to walk in beside him.

I huffed out a breath and tugged my hand until he released it. “Fine. I’ll come in with you, but if anyone starts crying then I’m gone.” I said it jokingly because I was pretty sure that if anyone was going to succumb to waterworks it would be me. I was a sucker for a happy reunion and no one needed someone to throw their arms around them and welcome them home more than Church.

The slender figure in the center of the hospital bed looked like she could be Helen Mirren’s twin sister. She was elegant and stately even in a pink pajama top covered in what appeared to be kittens wearing sunglasses. She had the covers pulled up to her waist but the bulk of the leg immobilizer was impossible to miss, so were the sling around her shoulder and the black eye marring her flawless complexion. Church mentioned she was in her eighties or close to it on several occasions, but I wouldn’t have put her a day over sixty-five if I hadn’t known better. She was in the hospital with a broken hip and her hair and makeup looked better than mine did on any given day of the week. I was impressed, but as her keen gaze went from elation at seeing Church to accusation as it landed on me, I could tell the feeling wasn’t mutual.

“Well, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes. Look at you, all grown and handsome. Get over here and give Elma a hug. I missed you something terrible, Dashel.” I had been shocked to hear his dad call him Dash. I almost fell over when this woman called him Dashel. It was a stark reminder that I didn’t know the man that had been my obsession and my downfall nearly as well as I wanted to.

Church worked his way around the edge of the bed and bent to carefully wrap his arms around the woman. Her hands fluttered along his corded shoulders, but her cutting gaze never left me as I watched the reunion with wide eyes, holding my breath for so long it made my lungs burn. I was afraid if I moved, if I so much as twitched the wrong way I would somehow ruin this moment for him. I was trying to be as unobtrusive as possible even with the old lady glaring at me like I was the sole reason he had been gone for so long.

She shifted her attention to Church as he straightened. She lifted her hands to each side of his face and turned it from side to side like she was searching for the teenager that had left a decade ago.

“You’re taller now. You look so much like your momma and wait until you see Dalen. He’s such a handsome boy. He looks a lot like you now that he’s growing into his feet. It’s good to have you back, Dashel. You were missed. Talking to you over Skynet isn’t the same as having my boy home where I know he’s safe.”

I couldn’t hold back the laugh that forced its way out. “Skynet? Isn’t that the computer system that takes over the world in the Terminator movies?”

He chuckled and wrapped his hands around Elma’s wrists as she narrowed her eyes at me once again. “She means Skype. I tried to check in on everyone once a month while I was overseas. Jules set up Skype for Elma on her computer so she could see for herself I was all in one piece. I told you I was taking care of myself.” He gave her hands a little squeeze and stepped back.

“You need someone to take care of you for a change, my boy. Isn’t that why you stayed in Colorado with your girl instead of coming back home?” Her words were pointed, and I was starting to doubt Church’s assurance that she wouldn’t want a scene in front of a stranger. She seemed more than willing to call me out for any hand I may have had in keeping her boy from home when his tour of duty was done.

Church exhaled a breath and shot me an apologetic look. “Elma Mae, Dixie is a good girl. Believe me when I tell you the last thing she needs is another person to take care of, especially when I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I told you there was a girl and that things were complicated, you didn’t believe me. Well, she’s the girl and things are no less complicated now that we’re here instead of there.”

Those overly observant eyes practically pinned me to the spot. She was looking at me like she could see all the things I had been covering up with smiles and humor for longer than I cared to remember. Church told me I was the sun shining on even the cloudiest of days, but the truth was there were times when I couldn’t get through the fog. There were days when all I wanted was a hug and for someone to tell me that it would all be worth it in the end. Every grin, every pat on the back, every thumbs-up and unwavering positive reinforcement I handed off to others, there were days when I longed to know that the universe would turn that back around on me and I would finally be rewarded with the simple dreams that I had nurtured for so long. It kind of felt like time had run out on that karmic windfall considering I was never dating again, and the only person I wanted to love unconditionally didn’t even know it. Not to mention the more time I spent with him on his journey home, the more I was wondering if I had ever really known the man my heart was so stuck on.