Free Shared by Her Soldiers by Dinah McLeod Page A

being so cordial, how is it that you’re always around when I’m at my worst?”
    “I don’t know about that, but as for tonight I was just coming by to check on you.”
    “That was thoughtful,” she said, not entirely believing him. He seemed to have a weird ESP when it came to her. As though he knew when she was going to misbehave and act out before she knew it herself.
    “You didn’t seem like yourself earlier.”
    “You mean at Candice’s? Why’s that, because I was being obedient, for a change?”
    “You know that wasn’t what I meant,” he grinned. “So she’s Candice now?”
    “Don’t change the subject.”
    Jarrod chuckled. The sound of his laughter never failed to make her smile, and now was no exception, despite everything that she’d been through. “It’s pretty evident that you’ve had a lot on your mind lately. And if it wasn’t before… well, I’ve got pretty good ears.” When he winked at her, she responded by rolling her eyes. For once, he didn’t comment.
    “What am I going to do, Jarrod? He just doesn’t like me anymore.”
    “Now, you know that’s not true. He’s just trying to find his footing.”
    “I know,” she groaned. “I keep hearing that, and everyone looks at me like I’m the evil wife who keeps hindering his healing process.”
    “Kate…”
    “Well, they do. Isn’t that what you think, too?” she challenged.
    “Not at all. I think that you two need to sit down and talk all this out.”
    “We’ve tried that and you heard how well that went.”
    He fell silent and his smile faded. Kaitlyn stared into his somber brown eyes, wondering what he was thinking while knowing that she was too much of a coward to ask.
    “Sometimes I think… maybe he wishes he never came home at all.”
    “It might have been better, if you’d phrased it like that. Don’t you think?”
    Of course she realized that he’d heard her say those awful words to her husband; she’d known it the moment she’d seen him despite the impassive mask he wore, but somehow having him acknowledge it aloud made it that much worse. “You’re right,” she muttered, avoiding his eyes as her cheeks flushed. “Of course you are. I always try to do the right thing, you know. To be a good wife. But…” She took a deep breath as she tried to work through what she’d been feeling ever since Sean had come home. “I always have the best intentions. I think I know what I’ll say, how I’ll handle it if things go wrong, but somehow all that flies out the window once he’s right in front of me.”
    Kaitlyn’s heart thudded in her chest at the revelation. She couldn’t believe she’d told him something so private, something that she hadn’t really admitted to herself before. She waited for him to say something, despising the silence. The longer it took for him to reply, the more on edge she began to feel.
    “You two are a lot alike,” he said at last.
    She began to protest, but he’d held up his hand even as she opened her mouth. He knew her all too well.
    “You both have quick tempers and sharp tongues. I bet if you asked him he’d say the same thing—I’m sure he has the best of intentions, but then you say or do something, and they fly out the window. Isn’t that how it goes for you?”
    “Something like that,” she admitted begrudgingly.
    “You two just need to get better about communicating.”
    “You say that like it happens with a snap of the fingers,” Kaitlyn grumbled. She knew he was right, but knowing that didn’t stop her from feeling like it was hopeless.
    “I’m not saying it’ll be easy. In fact, I’m betting on the fact that it will be very, very hard, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be worth it. You just have to decide if it’s worth it to you .”
    She snorted and rolled her eyes again, but turned away from him in time to keep him from seeing. “Did you give Sean this oh-so-helpful advice?”
    “Not yet, but I intend to.”
    “Hmm,” she offered