Say Goodbye (Romantic Suspense #25) by Karen Rose

            “I . . .” She had to look away, because he was being her friend. Just her friend. I’m the one wishing this were more than it really is. “I don’t talk about it.”

            “Don’t?” His tone was careful and he didn’t release her hands. “Or don’t want to?”

            She laughed and it sounded bitter. “Both.”

            “You haven’t talked to anyone about these nightmares? This isn’t the first one you’ve had.”

            She knew this. She didn’t scream every time. Usually she woke in a cold sweat, sobbing. But tonight’s nightmare had been especially vivid. Probably because she’d been remembering each of the souls they’d lost that day. “It isn’t something I discuss with just anyone.”

            He lightly gripped her chin. “I’m not just anyone. I’m your friend.”

            The word was like an ax to the chest. “I know,” she managed. “And I appreciate it.”

            His sigh was barely audible. “Please talk to me, Liza. Tell me about them. There are seven names on those angel wings. Tell me about them. Please. It might help.” His smile was a little lopsided and a lot sad. “Can it hurt?”

            God, yes. It could hurt. It did hurt.

            But she owed it to Fritz. The others deserved to be remembered as well. Behind her, the bed dipped and a moment later, a big doggy head rested on her shoulder as Pebbles pressed her muzzle to Liza’s cheek.

            Tugging one of her hands free from Tom’s grip, she wrapped her arm around the big dog’s neck. This kind of unadulterated love was addictive.

            “They were a unit, and Ted and I were their field medics. Ted had played college football and had a girl back home in Texas. Lenny was a violinist from upstate New York. He’d play for us between missions. Judy had a two-year-old back home in Indiana. She loved that boy more than the world. Odell was a career soldier with a smile that lit up any room. Neil was going to be an elementary school teacher. He cheated at Scrabble, but I still played with him because he was so damn funny. Christie ran track in high school. She wanted to go to the Olympics.”

            “She never made it,” Tom murmured.

            “No.”

            “And Fritz?”

            “He was the heart of us. Never forgot a birthday, always had a smile or a joke to lift our spirits when we were homesick. He was a good man. Such a good man.”

            Tom’s jaw clenched, ever so slightly. “I wouldn’t have thought you’d choose a bad man.” He pointed to the sketch she’d made of the tattoo she planned to get. “What happened to them?”

            Liza tilted her head, gesturing to the laptop screen, gone dark again. “That was taken the morning before the attack. We’d gone to a village to distribute supplies and meds. One of the villagers saw the cross on my uniform and begged me to help his wife. She was in labor and there was no doctor available.” She leaned into Pebbles, remembering the village, devastated and battle-torn. “They’d been bombed and there was very little left. Which was why we were there with supplies.”

            He squeezed the hand he still held. “Did you deliver the baby?”

            “Yes. It was a little boy. A healthy little boy with such a pair of lungs.” She sighed. “We were leaving the house and our spirits were a little high. Even the gruffest of the guys melted at the cry of a newborn baby. Plus, the villagers were so grateful. They’d congregated in the street to take the supplies we were giving out. Some sang and celebrated the new baby. They’d lost so many people and they had a tiny spark of something good. That kind of happiness is kind of contagious and we were distracted. Just a little, but it was enough. I looked up and saw a flash of light on the rooftop across the street.”

            “A sniper,” he murmured. “Like yesterday morning.”

            “Yes, but this wasn’t just one. There were three men on the roof, and they fired. A lot.”

            “But you weren’t hit,” he said, a hint of desperation in his voice.

            “Yes, I was, but it was only a graze. A few of us had seen them at the same time and screamed ‘gun,’ and then everything went sideways. There was chaos and so much gunfire.” She had to stop for a moment, her anxiety starting to spike. “And screaming.” So much screaming. “The village residents were running for cover, falling in the streets. Not getting up.”