Worth Saving(57)

Austin smiles as he chews, then he sips the Amaretto we decided to have for dinner.

“TDY stands for temporary duty. It’s basically anything that takes you away from the base you’re assigned to for any period of time less than six months—stuff like training and school that are typically in the states. Deployments are usually out of the country and are longer.”

“Ah, I see. The military uses a lot of acronyms, huh?”

“More than you can possibly imagine. Hell, more than I can possible imagine. Everything is an acronym.”

“I get it. There’s a lot involved with something that sophisticated,” I say, still marveling at how good everything tastes. “So, now that you’ve been back from your last deployment for a while, are you ready to go back to work on Monday?”

Austin’s shrug is accompanied by a twist of his mouth.

“I don’t know. I’ve been doing this for a while, and I’ve always enjoyed it for the most part. It’ll be interesting going back after everything that’s happened.”

“Yeah. Do you think you’ll have to deploy again anytime soon?”

“Umm, I don’t know. I hope not.”

“Don’t like deployments anymore?”

“Well, it’s not that, really. I have more of a reason to stay now.”

I feel like I already know that he’s talking about me, but I don’t want to just jump out there and say it. But, something in me really hopes he’s talking about me.

“You didn’t have a reason to stay before?” I ask, trying to pull him into answering and hoping the answer is what I want it to be. When he looks up and smiles at me, I get warm butterflies in my stomach.

“No, I didn’t have a reason to stay before I met you,” he says, rolling right into it. My face feels hot and I’m sure my skin has turned bright red. “I told you I wasn’t into anything like relationships before, and that made it easier to leave. But, I like this thing we have going, and I’d like to soak up as much of it as I can without it being interrupted by a long pause due to a deployment.”

I have to put a lot of effort into pulling the smile off my face, but eventually I succeed and am able to speak again.

“Well, it’s good to know I’m not the only one who’s enjoying our time together. It’d suck if you had to leave for six months or something like that. I might worry about you.”

“Oh, you might? Way to play it cool and keep it nonchalant. I like it,” he replies with a smile and a nod of his head. “Well, I might miss you if I had to leave. Maybe. So, how about you? You ready to get back to work tomorrow? All those crazy guys hitting on you and that loud music?”

The smile on my face melts right off. I was doing a great job of not even thinking about work tomorrow, but as fate would have it, here it is again. Always ruining everything.

“Umm, not really,” I answer. “Uhh, not at all, actually.”

“Nah? Why not?”

“It’s just . . . work is hectic, and then there’s Damien and all that. I just . . . I don’t know. But, I don’t really want to talk about it. I just want to enjoy today. I’m just glad you’re here right now.”

Austin looks me in the eye and smiles that smile that gives me amnesia about the rest of my life. I settle back down and the anxiety about tomorrow dissipates.

“I’m glad I’m here, too,” he says with a smile. He swallows down the last bit of his food and washes it down with the rest of his Amaretto. “Okay, so you about done? It’s time for the next phase of the plans.”

“The next phase? Alright, moving right along. What’s next?” I finish my last bit of pasta and sit back as Austin takes the plates from the table and washes them off in the sink. He puts all of them in the dishwasher, then walks into the living room and invites me to join him on the couch.

“A little awkward being invited to sit on my own couch, but I’ll play along,” I joke as I sit next to him.

“Okay, so now it’s time for phase two.” Austin reaches into his pocket and pulls out a silver box. “So, I know you didn’t ask for a gift for your birthday, but I got you something anyway.”

“Austin, you didn’t have . . .”

“I know,” he interrupts. “I told you I wanted to. Happy birthday.”

Austin hands me the box and I pull off the lid. Inside is a silver charm bracelet. It has five charms on it: three silver plates in the center with words etched in them, and the two outer charms are butterflies. The words on the plates read Faith, Hope, and Strength. It’s absolutely beautiful.

“Oh my gosh, Austin,” I say, almost in a whisper. “I love it.”

“Good. I’m glad,” he says, his tone subdued to match mine. “When I saw it in the store, it made me think of you, so I just had to get it for you.”

“What? How did this make you think of me?”

“Well, I remember the conversations we’ve had about your past—mainly your father and how you had to get away from all of that,” he says as he removes the bracelet from the box and starts to put it on my wrist. “The words faith, hope, and strength are what stood out to me at first, but then I saw the butterflies. You see, a caterpillar thinks that its life is over. It goes into its cocoon and thinks that’s it, but then when it comes out of the cocoon, it’s a beautiful butterfly. It’s stronger after leaving the cocoon than it was before it went in. As far as I’m concerned, there isn’t a better way to describe you. The strength it took to get yourself out of that situation with your father was unbelievable, and you’re a better, stronger person because of it. Then you did it again with your ex. You realized you were worth saving, and you found the strength to save yourself. That’s incredibly admirable, Layla. So, that’s why I had to get the bracelet for you.”