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said, nodding in the direction of the bakery she’d been looking at earlier.  She followed his gaze, unable to see which car exactly was his in the dark.
    “Matt,” she said just as he started to say her name.  She cut off abruptly, and he ground his teeth together, jaw ticking.  “Go ahead,” she said, wondering what it was he was having so much difficultly saying.
    “Maybe we can get together sometime while you’re in town.  To talk.”
    She nodded uncertainly, a nervous fluttering in her stomach.  What was she nervous about?  She’d wanted to talk to someone, anyone, about what happened to Brody all year.  Now Matt was finally offering her that chance.  Would it give her whatever closure she’d been looking for?  Or just make things harder?  He gazed at her, and she realized he was still waiting for an answer.
    “I’d like that.”
    “Great.  Um, maybe you can give me your number?”
    “Oh, right,” she said, suddenly feeling those butterflies again as he pulled his phone from his pocket.  It’s not like he was asking her out.  They were going to talk about Brody.  And the reason her heart was pounding and her palms were sweating had nothing to do with giving this man her phone number.  Still, an unexplained thrill shot through her at the idea of Matt calling her.  Oddly enough, for the first time in a long while she found herself looking forward to something.  It must just be because she needed some answers, she mused.  It had nothing to do with seeing him again.  Nothing at all.
    She rattled off her cell number as Matt keyed it into his phone.  He fumbled as he put it back into his jacket pocket, and she looked at him, puzzled.
    “All right.  I’ll be in touch,” he said, stepping back so she could climb into her car.  “Drive safely.”
    “You too.  Goodnight.”
    “ ‘night,” he said, stepping onto the sidewalk but not leaving.  She realized he was waiting for her to drive away, and a feeling of pleasure she couldn’t quite explain coursed through her.  The man had chased her down the street for God’s sake.  Of course he wasn’t going to just walk off without making sure she’d safely driven away.  But where had he been a year ago when she’d been falling apart?  She shook her head and started the engine, then gave him a small wave before pulling out onto Main Street, heading to the other end of town.  As she glanced in the rearview mirror, she saw Matt still standing there, watching her drive off into the distance.

Chapter 5
     
     
    Matt swiped through the photos on his smart phone later that night, pausing when he finally got to the one of his unit in Afghanistan.  There were all his buddies, lined up in front of a Humvee: fun-loving Jake, grinning from ear to ear in a goofy pose; Bryan, stern and serious as always; Eric, flexing his muscles as he flashed a smile for the camera, and last but not least, him and Brody.  Ironically the photo had been snapped a week before their ambush in the desert.  The fighting with insurgents had gotten worse, and he and Brody had an uncharacteristically serious chat that afternoon.  Matt didn’t have anyone special waiting for him at home, so he hadn’t been as concerned with the fragility of life.  Brody had a lot more to lose, and he’d made Matt swear that he’d watch out for Becky if anything ever happened to him.  And damn it all to hell, he’d failed at even that.  Sure, he’d been there at the funeral, but in the year since?  He’d been too busy trying to make sure his own head was on straight to contact her even once.
    Between nursing his own wounds, getting over the loss of his best friend, and trying to ignore the feelings for Becky that had slowly simmered beneath the surface all this time?  He’d stayed the hell away.  Maybe he hadn’t been there like his best friend had wanted, but didn’t not going after his girl count for something?  Matt sighed as he tossed his phone down on his