Chapter 8
The morning fog still clung to the streets as Liana Langston stepped off the train.
A tall figure stood across the road, waving frantically.
“Liana!”
Miles Lawson’s usually composed expression lit up in an instant. He didn’t even bother straightening his uniform, bounding over to take her suitcase without asking.
“Let me.”
Liana didn’t resist–if she had decided to spend the rest of her life with this man, she needed to get used to his tenderness.
1/8
Chapter 8
+ 5 Points
She released the handle and murmured softly, “Thank you.”
That voice, crisp and clear like morning dew, turned the tips of Miles Lawson’s ears bright red.
He fumbled awkwardly with the suitcase, his combat boots making a clumsy clatter on the pavement.
“Don’t–don’t say thanks. We’re family now. From now on, my military stipend is yours to manage…”
The words “we’re family” made Liana Langston’s breath catch.
For the first time, she took a good, hard look at the man standing in the morning light.
From Martha’s hesitant hints, from the
2/8
Chapter 8
+ 5 Points
teasing of the other military wives, she had already known–Miles Lawson had waited five whole years for her.
Waited through her marriage. Waited through her “widowhood.”
Waited until all the gossip had blown away with the mountain wind.
He’d turned down the prettiest hospital nurse, rejected blind dates with the daughters of high–ranking officers.
And when he heard she’d fallen from a second–floor window and was hurt, he submitted a transfer request–just to be near her, to give her a fresh start far away from her pain.
As the wind played with her hair, Liana noticed Miles sneaking glances at her.
3/8
Chapter 8
+ 5 Points
stili
19 Every time their eyes almost met, he would
quickly turn away, the red tips of his ears the S only thing betraying his fluster.
That made her chuckle softly, but the smile faded just as quickly.
She stopped and called his name seriously, “Miles Lawson.”
If she had truly decided to say goodbye to Adrian Graham, to sever the past completely, then there were things that had to be said -out of respect for the man who might become her future husband.
Seeing her solemn expression, Miles straightened his back unconsciously, jaw clenched.
“I’m listening.”
4/8
Chapter 8
+ 5 Points
Liana stared out at the lake’s distant ripples. “You know about my past.”
How could he not?
From the first time he saw her at the academy’s joint performance, dancing Swan Lake in boots, he had remembered her.
Three months after her “widowhood,” he was the first to submit the marriage paperwork- loudly declaring to the entire base that Liana Langston was the woman he would protect for a lifetime.
His Adam’s apple bobbed. He nodded firmly.
“But I have to tell you,” Liana said, her fingers digging into her palm, “Adrian Graham is not dead.”
5/8
Chapter 8
+ 5 Points
Clang!
The canteen in Miles’s hand slipped and hit the ground.
He stood frozen like he’d taken a bullet to the chest, the cold wind rushing into his open mouth, bitter and metallic.
Not dead?
Then what had the last five years been?
The letters he’d slipped into her mailbox, the transfers he’d declined for the sake of her, the whispered conversations he’d had with her photo in the dead of night–were they all just a cruel joke?
He hadn’t even gotten the chance to admire the snowy mountains with her.
6/8
Chapter 8
+ 5 Points
Hadn’t shown her the gold ring hidden in his drawer.
Was he really going to lose her all over again?
Just as darkness threatened to overtake his vision, a hand, callused from long years of training, gently closed around his trembling fingers.
“But it’s over between us,” Liana’s voice broke through like a lighthouse through lake mist. “The day that death notice arrived, our marriage ended. And now…”
She paused.
“He’s Zoe Young’s husband.”
“Wait–wait a second…” Miles stammered, his mind still spinning.
7/8
Chapter 8
+ 5 Points
log
Liana then sat him down on a shipping container and told him everything–how Adrian had taken on the identity of “Landon Graham“, how he’d moved in with Zoe Young, how he planned to reclaim his real name after the “baby” was born.
“Even if he comes to me with a military ID someday,” she sneered, “who’s to say the Adrian Graham who’s still alive isn’t an impostor? After all, everyone saw his personal effects with their own eyes.”
8/8
