Read Online Waiting for You by Abigail Strom - Free Book Online Page B

“Sorry. That sounds weird, right?”
    Erin shook her head. “You’re worried about him.”
    Allison looked almost ashamed. “I am. The whole family is. He’d be furious if he knew I said that to you, or to anyone, but…yes, I’m worried. If he’d only talk to us…” she sighed. “You didn’t see him right after he got home, did you?”
    Erin shook her head again. “I didn’t see him until the night of your wedding.”
    “He came home about three months before that. When we first saw him…Erin, it was awful. He was like a different person. Like…like he was dead inside. He’d never been like that before, on any of his leaves or anything. Up until a year ago, he’d tell us about the war if we asked. Not everything, of course. He was awarded the Silver Star a few years ago, and he would never talk about that. I think a lot of soldiers died that day. But he’d tell us about his daily life, the guys in his unit, the local people he met.”
    Allison frowned. “But after he got out…nothing. He won’t even talk to Jenna, and they used to be so close.” She took a deep breath. “He blows up at the idea of seeing a therapist. I don’t even suggest it anymore.”
    What Allison was telling her fit in with what she’d seen herself—the cool impassivity of his expression, and the flickers of something else underneath. “What does Irene think?”
    Allison sighed. “Mom says we just need to be patient. He does seem a little better, lately. A little more…alive. He’s different when he talks about his work, and—” she met Erin’s eyes “—when he talks about you. And that’s why I think you could be good for him. As a friend, of course,” she added quickly. “Or, you know, web designer.”
    So Jake’s family was worried about him. From the little she’d seen, she thought they probably had reason to worry. She couldn’t even imagine the kind of things he’d experienced in the last ten years, or what had happened in this last year that had changed him so much. But to keep it all bottled up the way he did couldn’t be healthy.
    Allison thought she’d be good for Jake, and Erin hoped it was true. As long as they kept things on a business footing, she could protect her heart and still be in his life. Maybe they could even be friends, eventually.
    At least that’s what she’d thought until she actually saw him again, and all her bones felt hollow.
    But she wasn’t going to chicken out. Jake was a good man, and the only real hero she’d ever known. He might not be her knight in shining armor but he was a knight in shining armor, a veteran who’d given ten years to his country, serving in the most difficult and dangerous situations imaginable.
    And she was a grown woman capable of putting her own feelings aside to help him settle back into civilian life—even if all she was doing was building him a website.
    So she took a deep breath, opened the door, and went into the garage.
    Her resolve faltered the moment Jake turned around and saw her. He grinned, and her stomach did a little flip.
    But she kept walking forward, hoping her own smile looked polite and professional.
    “Hey,” Jake said when she reached him. “You’re early, aren’t you?”
    She glanced at her watch and saw that she was actually a few minutes late.
    Jake glanced at a clock on the wall and saw the same thing. “Wow, sorry. I lose track of time when I’m working. I hope you weren’t waiting out front?”
    Another voice broke in. “Hey, Jake—you can introduce me any time.”
    She’d been so absorbed by Jake, and by her efforts to not seem absorbed, that she’d forgotten all about the guy he was with. Now she turned her head and saw a nice-looking man about Jake’s age, a little shorter but just as muscular, with long dark hair in a ponytail.
    She saw something else, too. She could be pretty oblivious when it came to male interest, but since her lunch with Beth she’d been making an effort to open her eyes. And she