Free Broken Promises by J.K. Coi

to offer, as a woman? As a wife?
    Callie shook off such thoughts as Jasper draped his arm over her shoulder and pulled her closer, much like the stranger had done with his wife. She forced her body to soften and relax, resting her head in the curve of his shoulder. She knew he loved her and she was grateful for the things she did have. She only wished she had something more to give back to him. She feared the day it would stop being enough for him.
    Her determination to succeed at this mission doubled. “Yes, I’ve been fine.” She willed it to be the case.
    “We should maybe let Dr. Helmholtz examine you when we get to Manchester, just to be cautious,” he continued. That was the very last thing she wanted. “But I’m starting to think whatever problems Dunsmoor is experiencing are endemic to his own physiology, an unforeseen reaction his body may be having to the technology. Perhaps because his very heart was replaced there were more serious complications after his surgery, things we know nothing about. I wouldn’t put it past Black to have kept even more information from us.”
    She couldn’t bring herself to lie and agree with him, not when she could hear the fear underlying his optimism. At the same time, she couldn’t voice her own fears, not yet.
    The young couple and child had come closer as they made their way to the platform exit. A train pulling into the station on another track pushed a whoosh of wind over the crowd, and the woman’s bonnet blew off her head. Jasper plucked it out of the air and handed it to the man.
    “Thank you, sir.”
    Jasper smiled at the couple and their child. “It was nothing. You have a very beautiful family. Take care of them.”
    The man nodded and said thank you again before reclaiming his little boy’s hand and guiding his wife forward with a gentle touch to the small of her back.
    Jasper turned back to Callie, envy and expectation shining in his eyes. “One day soon that’s going to be us.”
    “Are you certain? What if—”
    “What?”
    She swallowed hard. “What if we aren’t able to have children?”
    “Don’t talk like that. You’re just nervous because we’ve been talking about it again for the first time since…” He traced the line of her cheekbone with his thumb and looked into her eyes. “We deserve children, Callie. After everything that’s happened, nobody would dare take those dreams away from us.”
    “But—”
    The crowd had gotten thicker as more and more passengers gathered on the platform. They were surrounded by strangers who didn’t need to be privy to their private business. She couldn’t do this now. She couldn’t watch the hope in his eyes die. Not here.
    A quick movement from the corner of her eye caught her attention. Turning, she searched each face, moving slowly until something flickered along her senses. Her gaze settled on a man who looked somehow familiar even though she didn’t think she’d ever seen him before. He wore a long dark jacket, but the collar of a military uniform peeked out from beneath it.
    As she examined him, he watched her just as closely, with eyes that pierced the thin veil covering her face.
    The man’s light hair was cut short, and there was a severity to his features, as if the skin was stretched too tightly across his cheekbones. For all that, he seemed young, not even two and twenty. She had the oddest sensation of familiarity—
    Could it be Captain Dunsmoor?
    “Callie, what is it?” Jasper repeated.
    “I think we’ve been followed.” She pointed. “The man right over—”
    He’d disappeared.
    “What man?” Jasper frowned.
    “He was there. Dunsmoor.” She shook her head. “Or maybe not. But I think so, and whoever he is, now he’s gone.”
    “Are you certain it was Dunsmoor?”
    She paused. “No. I’m not. The man I just saw looked younger. In fact, besides the same hair color and build, it didn’t look like the man from the airstrip at all. But something reminded me of him.