Road to Absolution by Piper Davenport Read Free Book Online Page B

going anywhere.”
    I pushed away
from him and wiped my face again. “I don’t know where we go from here, Carter.
Our lives are so different now. I don’t know how to make them mesh.”
    “We can figure
it out as we go. There’s no pressure.”
    I snorted.
“There is pressure, Carter. I have a child to think about now.”
    “And I will get
to know him.”
    I shook my head.
“Not yet.”
    “What the fuck,
Cass?”
    “I need to know
if this is going to work before you ‘get to know him.’”
    “It’s going to
work, babe, because I’m not losing you again.”
    I let out a groan
of irritation. “So, that hasn’t changed.”
    “What’s that?”
    “Your need to
make every situation your bitch.”
    He chuckled.
“There’s nothing we can’t accomplish together.”
    “Well, thank
you, Maya Angelou.” I flopped back onto the chair.
    “Hey.” He
followed, sitting across from me again. “You still love me?”
    “No.”
    Carter smiled.
“Liar.”
    I studied him
for several seconds and then rolled my eyes. “Yes, I still love you, you
dipshit bolt.”
    “Love you too,
nut.” He grinned as he reached into his shirt and pulled out a chain that was
around his neck. Attached to it was the matching nut and bolt to mine and his
dog tags. “I still haven’t taken it off.”
    I bit my lip and
pulled out mine. “Me neither.”
    He lifted my
hands to his lips and kissed my palms. “I will do anything, Cassidy. Whatever
you need me to do, but I won’t lose you again.”
    “I don’t know
how to get past the hurt… the hurt I’ve caused you more than anything.”
    “I know. We’ll
have to figure it out, but if you promise to dig in with me, I’ll do the same.
I forgive you, baby. Do you forgive me?”
    I nodded. “Yes.”
    “Are you going
to figure this out with me?”
    “Do I have a
choice?”
    He chuckled.
“No.”
    I leaned forward
and laid my head on his lap. “Can we wait to tell our families anything for a
little while?”
    “Yeah, baby, we
can.” He stroked my hair. “But I want to meet Maverick.”
    I nodded.
“Fine.”
    “Why’d you call
him Maverick?”
    I sat up and
smiled. “Why do you think?”
    “Fuck me,
Cassidy. I love you.” He rose to his feet and pulled me with him, wrapping his
arms around me.
    “I’m thinking
now wouldn’t be a good time to tell you what his middle name is.”
    “Carter?
Seriously?”
    I blinked up at
him. “I just said now would not be a good time to tell you that.”
    He chuckled.
“You didn’t say I couldn’t guess.”
    “Not really the
point, Carter.”
    “Kind of is the
point, Cassidy.” He cocked his head. “Backtracking a bit, what did you mean by
you didn’t know I was okay? I sent you letters.”
    “No you didn’t.”
    “Babe, I did .
We almost never had reliable internet, so I sent two handwritten letters in the
packages I sent home with a note for my mom to forward to you. I had one or two
opportunities to send stuff home, so I packaged stuff up together. I know my
brothers got the stuff I sent, so I’m sure she would have forwarded.”
    “Well, I didn’t
get anything from you, Carter, so I don’t know what to tell you.”
    “I’ll talk to my
mom and figure it out, honey, but I swear to Christ I sent you letters.”
     I bit my
lip and nodded. “Okay.”
    “How do you want
to handle the Maverick thing?” He stroked my hair. “Me establishing myself in
your lives?”
    “I don’t know. I
guess we’ll take it slow. He knows who you are… sort of.”
    “He does?”
    I slipped out of
his arms and nodded. “I have a couple of pictures of you that he’s looked at
more than a few times. I have the one of you in your flight suit and the one in
your uniform, remember? You gave them to me after BMT? Plus all the ones from
when we were kids.”
    Carter nodded.
“I didn’t think you’d keep ’em.”
    “I have
everything you ever gave me, Carter,” I said. “Maverick obviously didn’t see
you walking toward the kitchen