Page 46 of In Every Chapter

“I’m assuming Stephanie told you what happened?”

“Yeah, but I’m calling for you.”

So I told him everything. Watching Paisley fall. The accident in slo-mo plaguing my nightmares. Holding her fragile body in my arms. It’d only been a week, but it’d been the worst week of my life. “She still doesn’t remember me beyond what we’ve told her,” I said roughly. “The doc said it’ll take time. Maybe it won’t ever come back.”

Gabe listened quietly until I finished. “I’m sorry, man. It feels insignificant to say that, but I am.”

“Thanks.” I blew out a breath and stared out the open garage door into the backyard. The lawn needed mowing. I should have done that first thing this morning before it heated up.

“How were the nightmares?” Gabe asked cautiously. “Before this?”

I ran a hand through my hair, belatedly remembering the varnish I’d spilt on them. Definitely needed a shower before we headed to my parents’. Gabe was one of the few trusted people in my life who knew the extent of the PTSD I had from the last deployment I served before my medical discharge. Partly because we were close friends but also because he’d been on that mission, too.

“Honestly? They’ve been better the last year.” I cleared my throat of the clogging emotion. “Things were more settled. But now . . . now Paisley is overlapping Liam in the dreams.” I wasn’t sure which was worse. That my wife kept dying in my arms over and over. Or the fact my brain was starting to erase the loss of my former best friend.

“You know I’ll listen any time, right?” Gabe’s strong voice cut through the mental clutter.

“Yeah. Thanks.”

And he would. Gabe might not be my commanding officer anymore, but we were still brothers-in-arms. He wasn’t leaving me to face these things on my own.

“Any advice?” I said at last. “About moving forward with Paisley?”

Gabe chuckled. “Oh, now you’re actually asking, huh?”

“Hey, I’ve matured,” I joked. I might have been less than enthusiastic about some of his opinions while I was dating her, even if I had to admit he was one of the smartest guys I knew. He’d mainly been after me to not mess things up because Paisley was his little sister’s best friend.

“Yeah, you have.” Gabe sighed. “Honestly, I’d tell you the same thing I told Nash Prescott.”

“Stephanie’s fiancé asked you for advice on how to date your sister? Guy’s got guts.”

“Okay, maybe some of it was unsolicited—”

“Maybe?”

“Do you want my help or not?”

I rolled my shoulders, the lightness of the conversation despite the heavy topic easing the tension in my muscles. “Shoot.”

“Woo your wife. Pursue her, like you did when you were dating. Be as single-minded about winning her heart as you were back then. Because while this might not be new for you, it is for her.”

“Hmm,” I mused. “Not a bad idea.”

“I have those occasionally.”

Going out on a limb, I changed the subject. “Hey, do you still keep in touch with Keegan Tate?”

Gabe was quiet for a minute, and it spoke volumes. “Not like some of the other guys, but I know about the security firm he’s starting. Veterans as bodyguards, right?”

“Yeah.” I scrubbed my fingers with the rag. “He tried to recruit me.”

“You gonna go for it?”

“I don’t know. Paisley and I were talking about it before the accident, and now . . . now she doesn’t remember me, the job, or anything of our life together. Uprooting her feels like the worst possible thing at this moment.”

“Can I give one more piece of advice?”

I laughed weakly. “I need all I can get, man. I’m so out of my depth.”