Chapter 10 - Anna Walks Into the Room
Anna wore navy blue.
Not because she was trying to look formal.
Because the dress still fit.
At thirty-five weeks pregnant, wardrobe decisions had become practical.
Daniel drove.
Neither spoke much.
The boys stayed with Rachel’s friend, who lived nearby and had offered to help.
Anna watched buildings pass outside.
“You nervous?”
Daniel asked.
“No.”
“You’re lying.”
“Yes.”
He smiled.
“So am I.”
Anna looked at him.
“You?”
“Terrified.”
“Of Holloway?”
“Of you meeting Holloway.”
Anna laughed quietly.
“That makes more sense.”
They arrived ten minutes early.
Daniel walked beside Anna, not ahead.
She noticed.
Inside the building, several officers greeted him.
Anna watched Daniel transform slightly.
His shoulders straightened.
His voice sharpened.
His expression became more controlled.
But he stayed beside her.
General Holloway met them personally.
He was older than Anna expected.
Tall.
Gray hair.
Tired eyes.
“Mrs. Mercer.”
“Anna is fine.”
He nodded.
“Anna.”
They sat.
Daniel took the chair beside her.
Holloway looked toward Daniel.
“I asked Anna here because I want clarity.”
Anna spoke first.
“Then ask me.”
Holloway raised an eyebrow.
Daniel looked almost amused.
Holloway leaned back.
“Were you planning to relocate to Denver?”
“Yes.”
Daniel remained still.
“Because Daniel accepted Stuttgart?”
“Because I believed he did.”
Holloway nodded.
“You received an email.”
“Yes.”
“From his account.”
“Yes.”
“You now know he didn’t send it.”
“Yes.”
“Would you have left otherwise?”
Anna thought carefully.
“I don’t know.”
Daniel looked at her.
She continued.
“Our marriage was struggling before that email.”
Holloway glanced toward Daniel.
Daniel did not object.
Anna continued.
“His mother didn’t create our problems.”
Daniel’s face tightened.
“She exploited them.”
Anna looked at him.
“Correct.”
Holloway folded his hands.
“What problems?”
Anna almost laughed.
“Are you asking as his commanding officer?”
“Yes.”
“Then respectfully, some are none of your business.”
Holloway smiled slightly.
Daniel looked toward the ceiling.
Anna continued.
“But the part that matters is simple.”
She placed a hand on her stomach.
“Daniel kept making career decisions without including me.”
Holloway nodded.
“And you resented that?”
“Yes.”
“Even when those decisions favored the family?”
Anna answered immediately.
“Especially then.”
Holloway looked surprised.
“Why?”
“Because sacrifice without conversation becomes resentment eventually.”
Daniel looked at her.
Anna continued.
“If he gives up everything and never tells me, one day I become the reason his life got smaller.”
Daniel shook his head.
“You’re not.”
“I know that now.”
Holloway watched them.
Anna went on.
“But I didn’t know what he was turning down.”
Daniel spoke quietly.
“That was my mistake.”
Holloway looked at him.
Daniel continued.
“I thought protecting my family meant carrying the cost privately.”
Anna said, “And I thought being supportive meant never telling him how lonely I was.”
Holloway leaned back.
“So both of you were protecting the other by withholding information.”
Anna smiled sadly.
“When you say it like that, it sounds ridiculous.”
“It usually does from outside.”
Daniel almost smiled.
Holloway opened a folder.
“The Fort Carson position is still available.”
Anna looked at Daniel.
Daniel did not look at Holloway.
He looked at her.
Holloway noticed.
“Do you want it?”
Daniel answered.
“I want to discuss it with Anna.”
“You have twenty-four hours.”
Anna looked at Holloway.
“Why the rush?”
“Staffing.”
“Not because of Evelyn?”
“No.”
Anna believed him.
Holloway continued.
“If Daniel accepts, there will still be travel.”
“How much?”
“Several short trips each year.”
“Deployments?”
“Possible, but less likely in this role.”
Anna nodded.
“School stability?”
Daniel looked at her.
Holloway answered.
“Better than Stuttgart.”
“Medical support?”
“Excellent.”
“Promotion path?”
Daniel turned.
“Anna.”
She looked at him.
“What?”
“You’re interviewing him.”
“Yes.”
Holloway smiled.
“I’ve had worse.”
Anna continued.
“What happens to Daniel if he says no?”
The room quieted.
Holloway answered carefully.
“Nothing immediate.”
“And long-term?”
“He may not receive another comparable command-track position soon.”
Daniel remained expressionless.
Anna understood.
This mattered.
More than he had admitted.
She turned toward him.
“Do you want it?”
Daniel took a breath.
“Yes.”
The answer came with no hesitation.
Anna’s heart tightened.
“Then why did you act like you didn’t care?”
“I care.”
He looked at her.
“I just care about us more.”
Anna shook her head.
“That’s exactly the problem.”
Daniel frowned.
“What?”
“You keep ranking things.”
Holloway leaned back and wisely stayed silent.
Anna continued.
“This versus us.”
“Career versus family.”
“Duty versus love.”
She shook her head.
“What if the goal isn’t to kill one for the other?”
Daniel stared.
Anna’s voice softened.
“What if we build something that has room for both?”
Daniel looked toward Holloway.
Then back at her.
“You’d consider Colorado?”
“I already considered Denver.”
“That was different.”
“Why?”
“Because you were leaving me.”
Anna met his eyes.
“And now?”
Daniel answered quietly.
“Now I’m asking you to come with me.”
The words landed differently.
Not an order.
Not a plan already decided.
An invitation.
Anna looked down at her hands.
Holloway cleared his throat.
“I can leave the room.”
Daniel almost laughed.
Anna smiled.
“No.”
She looked at Daniel.
“I have an interview at ten.”
“For Denver.”
“Yes.”
“Do it.”
“You mean that?”
“Yes.”
Anna studied him.
Daniel continued.
“If you want the job, we figure it out.”
“In Colorado Springs?”
“Or Denver.”
“That’s a commute.”
“I’ve had worse.”
Anna smiled.
Holloway closed the folder.
“Then I suggest you both stop trying to solve twenty years today.”
Anna stood carefully.
Daniel rose beside her.
At the door, Holloway spoke.
“Anna.”
She turned.
“For what it’s worth, I never thought Daniel’s family made him weaker.”
Anna glanced at her husband.
“What did it make him?”
Holloway smiled faintly.
“Harder to fool.”
Outside the building, Anna laughed.
Daniel looked at her.
“What?”
“Your general likes me.”
“He respects you.”
“That’s better.”
They reached the car.
Daniel opened her door.
Anna stopped before getting in.
“Daniel.”
“Yes?”
“If we go to Colorado, I’m not following you.”
He understood immediately.
“We’re choosing it together.”
Anna nodded.
“Exactly.”
Her phone buzzed.
St. Anne’s Hospital.
The interview had been moved up.
Nine thirty.
Anna looked at Daniel.
“We have forty minutes.”
Daniel grinned.
“Then we’d better move.”
May you like
For the first time in months, they were not racing away from each other.
They were running toward a decision neither had already made.
