Read Home for Christmas (Willow Park #5) for Free Online Page B

love you. I missed you so much.”
    He stared down at her for a long time, his eyes conflicted
in a way she didn’t understand. Then he leaned down to press a very soft kiss
against her lips. His beard was slightly scratchy against her skin.  “I missed
you too,” he murmured.
    She wished he’d said that he loved her too, but she wasn’t
going to be silly or selfish. She was going to give him anything he needed and
not expect too much from him too quickly.
    He’d told her he was going to try to be his old self again,
and she would trust him at his word and be as patient as he needed.
    She wasn’t the one who had been through hell. She had
nothing to complain about.
    Mark rolled off her with a groan, but he pulled her against
his side, so she nestled up against him, relieved that he hadn’t pulled away as
soon as the sex was over. He’d never done that in the past, but things were
different now, and she wasn’t quite sure what he might do.
    They lay in silence for a few minutes, until she started to
wonder what he was thinking. His expression, his eyes, were very far away, the
way they’d often been since he got back.
    “Do you…” she began, clearing her throat when she started to
question whether she should say anything. But, since she started, she might as
well go on. “Do you want to talk about anything?”
    He tilted his head to look down at her. “What do you mean?”
    She shrugged. “I don’t know. Anything. We haven’t talked
much. I was just wondering if you wanted to talk about anything. I don’t want
to push you or anything, but sometimes it…it helps.”
    She felt stupid, all of a sudden. Stupid for saying
something so obvious and simplistic.
    When he didn’t answer, she babbled on. “You don’t have to.
I’m not pushing or anything.”
    “Thank you,” he murmured. “For not pushing.”
    Well, okay. That seemed clear enough. He didn’t want to
talk.
    “I guess you’re getting enough pushing from other people.”
    He sighed. “Yeah. You won’t believe the number of doctors
they want me to see.”
    “I guess they’re worried about you.”
    “I guess. But I was just held in a prison. I
wasn’t…traumatized the way a lot of other people have been. It’s not like I’m
going to need in-depth PTSD treatment or something. It wasn’t any fun. But it
wasn’t…traumatic.”
    Sophie couldn’t help but let out a shaky breath, so
immensely relieved by what he’d admitted so gruffly and indirectly. She’d had
so many nightmares about him being tortured and assaulted. At least he hadn’t
had to go through that. “But it was still hard. They’re just trying to help you
adjust,” she said gently.
    “I know.”
    “Do you not want to…do you not want to go through the
transition stuff they’re trying to help you with?” She wasn’t sure whether she
should even ask that, but there were some things she needed to know—whether or
not he wanted to talk about them.
    “Not really. I just want to move on. Be myself again.”
    She looked up to meet his eyes. “But that’s not going to be
really easy, is it?”
    “No.” He sighed. “It’s not.”
    “So maybe it doesn’t hurt to go through some support and
counseling, like they want. Maybe it will help you transition.”
    “Maybe. They’ve got stuff lined up for you too, don’t they?”
    “Yeah. Not as much, but some counseling and such.”
    “I wish you didn’t have to go through that.”
    She wasn’t sure what he meant by that, but he didn’t seem
inclined to sustain the topic.
    Mark had always been very communicative. He’d always loved
to talk, to ask questions and share his opinions. This kind of halting reserve
wasn’t like him at all. But she supposed it was natural, normal, after what
he’d been through.
    Once he was through with the transition, maybe he’d be more
like himself again.
    She leaned over to press a kiss against his shoulder, over
his shirt.
    He exhaled deeply again. “I just want to be normal