Grey Skies - A Military Romance (Complete)

Grey Skies: Chapter 44

Each tick of the clock in the kitchen scratched against Sophie's nerves like a scared cat's nails lashing out. Not even the warmth of the mug in her hand could ease the tension, which had been her constant companion for almost a week now.

Six days with no word about Max.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

Sophie took a sip of coffee, forcing the liquid down her dry throat. Sleep last night had once again eluded her, replaced by hours of shedding silent tears. The sheets of Max's bed no longer held any trace of him, just like Finn's repeated enquiries from his Navy friends.

Max had disappeared from their lives.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

Sophie rubbed the back of her neck, the tag of her freshly pressed shirt irritating her skin. She stared out at the colourless landscape of the lake house backyard. Last summer she'd sat on a sun-drenched green lawn with Max, teasing him over his food choices, kissing him under red, white, and blue fireworks.

Her fingers brushed her lips as if she could feel his touch. The back of her eyes burned.

Max might never kiss her again.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

The clock's consistent beat morphed into the rhythmic pulse of the machine that had kept Thomas alive after his accident. The sound had become the backbeat of her existence during those endless hours she'd sat at his bedside in the hospital, praying for him to come back to her.

He hadn't.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

Would Max?

Back then, Evelyn had informed Sophie of the decision to take Thomas away from her. Breaker of the news that ripped her world apart. Would Finn be the barer this time? Or would he pass that burden to Emily?

The messenger didn't matter; the devastation was still the same. All Sophie could do was sit and wait, pass the endless hours in limbo, not daring to hope, never giving up. Until there was no reason to sit vigil anymore.

"Will you hold Lucy?"

Sophie startled at Emily's question, failing to realize her friend had entered the kitchen. Lucy squirmed in her mother's arms and Sophie instinctively took the child and cuddled her close. Over the past week, Lucy had been a lifeline, the need for constant attention, the distraction that kept Sophie from falling into a deep, dark abyss.

"Did you eat?" Emily opened the fridge door.

Sophie huffed at the role reversal. She'd come to the lake house to guarantee Emily ate, got enough nourishment to feed herself and the life she was growing in her womb. Now Emily took up the mantle of feeding Sophie, ensuring she got enough nutrients to stay alive.

"Too nervous," said Sophie.

"When's the interview?"

"Not until 1." Sophie extricated a strand of her hair from Lucy's tight grip. "Plenty of time."

"Sure you don't want Finn to drive you?" Emily popped two pieces of bread into the toaster. "He could use the distraction."

Sophie met Emily's gaze, her grey eyes hollowed by sadness. The lump in Sophie's throat shifted. "I'd rather he stayed here. In case."

"Max is resilient." Emily repeated a version of the phrase she'd regurgitated numerous times in recent days. "He will return to us."

Once again, Sophie offered her friend a smile in feigned agreement. Yet inside her heart bled with the proof that Max's state of mind had no influence if fate had other plans for him. Thomas was evidence of that. Pain steam-rolled over Sophie like thunder on a humid summer evening, low and dangerous at first, then rumbling to an ear-splitting blast that made her hands shake.