“Will you be able to call?” Tory sat up and removed her shirt, then snuggled down again.

“Yes, but probably not regularly. I’ll be able to e-mail, too.”

Tory shifted further on top of Reese, resting her thigh between Reese’s legs. “How long do you think, really?”

Reese sighed. “I’m not sure. Best guess…three to six months.”

“Keep thinking three,” Tory murmured. She skimmed her fingertips over Reese’s face, touching her brows, her cheeks, her lips. “I love you.”

“I love you,” Reese whispered. “Try not to worry, okay?”

“I’ll give it my best.”

“Do you think you can sleep?”

Tory rested her head on Reese’s shoulder and fit her body to Reese’s, circling her waist with one arm. “I don’t know that I want to. I’d rather just lie here with you.” She kissed Reese’s breast. “I can still feel the way we made love the last time. It was perfect, but if you need…”

“No,” Reese said quietly. “I always want you, but right now, this is enough.”

“It’s all right to sleep if you need to. I’ll be here.”

Reese nuzzled Tory’s hair, breathing in her essence, warming everywhere inside. “Every time I go to sleep, I’ll feel you just like this.”

Tory nodded wordlessly, giving her every bit of strength she had. Until that moment, she hadn’t realized how hard it was to truly love. “I wouldn’t change one single thing about you, Reese.”

“Thank you,” Reese whispered. She closed her eyes and emptied her mind of everything except Tory. With love came peace.

Chapter Eleven

Lieutenant Colonel Reese Conlon, USMCR…her duffel bag packed and ready downstairs by the front door…stood by the side of the bed and looked down upon the sleeping woman and child. The sky outside the windows gave no hint of dawn. Tory slept curled on her side, her hair nearly obscuring the elegant lines of her face. Only the corner of her full, wide mouth was visible. Reggie lay with her face pillowed between Tory’s breasts. Long gold lashes lay against creamy cheeks. Her lips, rosebud pink, were pursed in a tiny smile of innocent bliss. No painter had ever captured the image of an angel as perfectly as in that moment.

Absently, Reese turned the plain gold band on her left ring finger, smiling as her daughter made a small cooing sound and nuzzled against Tory’s breast. When Reese had risen after dozing for a few hours to shower and put on her uniform, Reggie had started to fuss, almost as if she too understood that a momentous change was about to befall their lives. That and everything else about the night was unusual enough that Reese had rescued the baby from her crib and brought her to Tory. The fact that Tory had fallen back to sleep was just one more indication of how difficult this was for her. She was clearly exhausted, and Reese felt a surge of anxiety knowing that circumstances were not likely to improve.

As if reading her troubled thoughts, Tory opened her eyes and instantly fixed on Reese’s face. “Is it time?”

“Yes.” Seeing the pain in Tory’s eyes, and knowing that she’d put it there, was enough to break Reese’s resolve. Six months ago, she would have sworn on her life that she would never do anything to hurt the only woman she had ever loved. She’d been wrong, and she wondered if she would ever be able to make up for putting Tory through this.

“Let me put her back to bed,” Tory said quietly, starting to rise.

“Here,” Reese said, extending her arms. “Let me take her.”

“She’ll muss your uniform.”

“I don’t care. Besides, you know she’s got a stomach like mine. Cast-iron. She won’t spit up.”

Tory slid from bed, still naked, and passed their sleeping daughter to Reese. She skimmed her hand down Reese’s chest, fingering the rows of service ribbons, and smiled shakily. “You look so goddamned sexy in this.”

“Good to hear.” Reese’s voice was husky as she gently cradled Reggie against her shoulder, knowing it might be months, possibly longer, before she would be able to hold her this way again. Contemplating missing a day in her daughter’s life was torture, but imagining weeks or months passing in her absence was nearly unbearable. As the agonizing realization of all that she stood to lose struck hard at her heart, she tenderly stroked the baby’s soft hair, straightened her shoulders, and forced a grin. “Wait till you see me in camo.”

Tory turned away, fumbling at the foot of the bed for her robe, the tears in her eyes making it difficult for her to focus. She’d promised herself she wouldn’t cry. She would not allow Reese to leave them with anything other than the sure and certain knowledge that they loved her more than life and would be there when she came home. When she comes home. Please, God. Please.

“Tor?”

The faint note of uncertainty in her lover’s voice solidified Tory’s determination. She blinked once and turned back, her eyes clear and her face composed. “It’s all right, baby.” She brushed her fingers over Reese’s cheek and leaned forward to kiss her softly. “It’s all right.”

The crunch of tires over the seashells lining their driveway reverberated like gunshots in the still room. Despite herself, Tory jerked at the sound. Her eyes met Reese’s.

“That’s Bri,” Reese said unnecessarily.

“I want to come with you to the airport.” Tory’s voice shook.

Worry, not anger, Reese thought. She started toward the bedroom door, Reggie asleep on her shoulder. With her free hand she caught Tory’s. “We already decided, Tor. It’ll be easier for you and the baby if…”

“Nothing is going to make it easier for us.” The quick flash of pain in Reese’s face stopped the next words before they could be spoken. Nothing except you not leaving. “I’m sorry.”

Starting down the stairs, Reese shook her head. “No. Don’t say that.” At the front door, she turned and held out the sleeping child. “I’ll call you as soon as I can. I don’t know when that will be.”

“I understand.”

Bending, Reese kissed Reggie’s forehead, then gently encircled Tory’s waist, drawing her near. She brushed her lips over Tory’s once, then again, lingeringly, as she smoothed her hands up and down Tory’s back. “I love you. Both of you…so much.”

Then Reese stepped back and reached for her duffel.

“Wait!” Tory carried Reggie to the sofa, where she laid her down and nestled a cushion beside her to prevent her from rolling off. Swiftly, she returned to Reese and put both arms around her neck, pressing close. With her hands in Reese’s hair, she found Reese’s mouth, cleaving to the long hard lines of the familiar body. With a soft moan, Tory kissed her, a deep probing kiss that spoke more of promises than passion. When she lifted her mouth away, she searched the blue eyes that held her soul. “I love you. I need you. Reggie needs you. You be safe, and you come home. Do you understand?”

“I will,” Reese said, her voice hoarse and her body trembling. “I promise. I will.”

A moment later, Tory stood in the doorway, the baby in her arms, watching her lover stow her duffel bag in the back of the police cruiser, thinking of the things they hadn’t spoken of. In less than an hour, Reese would be on her way to the Marine base at Camp Lejeune, pending deployment of the 8th Battalion of the II Marine Expeditionary Force. In a matter of days, she would be in Iraq. As an experienced ranking officer with training in the military police force, Tory knew that Reese would be in the heart of the battle zone.

The police cruiser turned left from the driveway onto 6A, heading toward Provincetown and the tiny airport at Race Point. As the taillights faded from sight, a terrible sadness settled in Tory’s chest. The baby stirred in her arms, and Tory gently kissed her forehead.

“It’s going to be all right.”

She wasn’t certain how that could be, when it felt as if her heart were breaking, but she would never stop believing in Reese and the life they had made. Reese would come home, because anything else was unthinkable.

Bri switched off the ignition, popped the trunk with the inside lever, and jumped out of the cruiser almost before the vehicle had come to a complete stop. She was hauling the duffel out of the trunk when Reese reached her.

“Let me give you a hand,” Reese said.

“I got it,” Bri said in short, clipped tones.

Reese covered Bri’s hand where it gripped the canvas strap and squeezed gently. “Hold up a minute.”

Bri stood still, her body stiff, her face averted.

“What’s on your mind?” Reese asked.

“Nothing.”

“Bri.” Reese’s voice was gently chiding.

“We should go. Get you checked in.”

Reese glanced through the glass doors into the main room of the tiny airport. The lights inside seemed unnaturally bright, illuminating the plastic chairs and serviceable all-weather carpet with harsh honesty. The room was empty save for two airport employees and a security officer. “Not much of a line.”

Bri shrugged.

“This is no time for silence between us.” Reese rested her hand on Bri’s shoulder, and as had happened only once before when Bri had been much younger, she was taken off guard when Bri launched herself into her arms. Reese circled Bri’s narrow waist and held her hard against her chest while she stroked the back of her head with her other hand. “Hey. Hey, it’s okay.”

“Everyone is always leaving.”

It must feel that way sometimes, Reese thought. Your mother. Caroline. Me. Bri’s face was turned away so that Reese couldn’t see her, but she didn’t need to to know her blue eyes would be clouded with misery. “Caroline came back. So will I.”

“I know. Sorry,” Bri mumbled.

Reese pulled away just enough to let Bri stand on her own, but she kept her arm around her. “I’m going to miss you something fierce.” She tapped Bri’s chin. “Look after yourself.”