Shattered Vows and Broken Hearts novel Chapter 17

“She’s finally free Leave her alone

back didn’t care He’d and her

Three years

He crossed every desert, every stretch of wasteland. Sunburn, frostbite, dehydration, sandstorms, none of it stopped him.

He almost died more times than he could count.

But every time, he saw her face. Heard his own voice in his head telling her he was sorry, the words he never said when it

mattered

This time, a sandstorm almost killed him. A survey crew found him half–dead and hauled him to some border–town

hospital

He lay in that hospital bed, body wrecked, every bone screaming. The second his eyes opened, he was trying to get up.

doctors‘ warnings be damned.

Then he hit the entrance, and there she was.

Sarah. In uniform, standing tall, the desert etched into her skin but only making her eyes sharper, clearer. She looked…

settled. Like she’d finally found something the rest of them couldn’t touch.

Their eyes met. Hers flickered, just for a heartbeat, so fast he almost missed it.

Then she looked away. Like he was no one. Like ten years meant nothing. She kept walking, guiding a gurney past him.

without breaking stride.

Jack stood there frozen. Every word he’d ever wanted to say jammed in his throat, the guilt, the regret, the relief, the

ache, all of it colliding at once.

And then, silently, tears were running down his face.

He’d found her.

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kobart had gone down hand some acute condition the base wasn’t equipped to handle. They’d airlifted him to the regional hospital near the border

Sarah came along to care for him

Three years had bhirrest Jack’s face in her memory When she passed him in the hallway, she felt a flicker of recognition but no real connection The gaunt, weathered man didn’t match the lack she’d once known

Then arms wrappest around her from behind

Instinct took over She grabbed tipped slammed

Jack hit the floor with a grunt.

He looked up at her, eves red–rimmed and wet

Sarah Its me I found you.”

A flicker of surprise crossed her face. Then nothing.

She sat down on a bench nearby and pulled out her phone, texting base about Robert’s condition.

Jack dragged himself up, aching, but the pain in his chest was worse.

Her calm, that blank indifference, hurt more than anything

He’d imagined this moment so many times. Her screaming. Hitting him. Anything but this nothing.

He moved closer.

“Sarah I’m sorry.”

The words he’d rehearsed for years felt hollow.

“Jessica’s in prison The kidnappers too. Everyone who hurt you, they’re paying.”

“I should have believed you. I was blind. I made you kneel. I left you for her every time.”

“I was a coward A fool. I destroyed us.”

His voice cracked.

“I’ve looked for you for three years. I don’t expect forgiveness. I just needed you to know, I know what I did.”

Sarah sat motionless, eyes on her phone.

Chapter 17

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