Luke was wrong. It was a betrayal of the highest degree, even if they hadn’t acknowledged it or acted on it. At the end of the day, Charlie [I]had[/I] acknowledged it when she’d purposely slept in his shirt after the goat incident, the way she looked at him a little too long, or how she accompanied him into town for no good goddamn reason. She [I]had[/I] talked about it with Milly, as if that would clear her conscience. She [I]had[/I] acted on it when she whispered Luke’s name in a daze as she slid her fingers down Sam’s lower stomach and when her hand drifted down her own hips, moving as she thought not about her husband, but her husband’s brother.

Charlie leaned into Luke as he reciprocated her bid for closeness, telling herself that it had been the lack of physical contact over the last few weeks that had driven her to touch him. Her eyes followed Jake as he rolled in the grass, sniffed around, and then eagerly made his way back to her. His wet nose was forced into her hand, causing her to rub his nose and then settle into the familiar motion of rubbing his ears. She’d never forget meeting Luke. It was as if she could suddenly feel the stickiness of the beer that had splashed on her, the anger that had risen in her instantly as she’d all but verbally assaulted the man. The way her anger had immediately fizzled as she remembered she was there with Sam, with his sweet smile and kind eyes, and — 

Charlie couldn’t agree that Luke brought out a good side of her. Perhaps a more playful one, but one that was willing to fight and argue, tooth and nail, at any given point. But he was staying, in a town that he hated and had only tried to escape from, for [I]her[/I]. Because he loved her.

“I know,” she said, the arm closest to him moving around his back, fingers bunching the fabric of his shirt slightly. “I’m so sorry.” Sorry that he hadn’t had the privilege of spending as much time with Sam as she had. Sorry for letting Sam die. 

After Matthew and the rest of his family were gone, Sam had taken every opportunity to bring Luke back to the farm, including him in everything he possibly could, but the small respites of leave that Luke got from the military were never enough for Sam. He’d wanted him to discharge, to get a house in the valley or even build one somewhere on the hundreds of acres they had. “He loved you, you know? Missed you like crazy.” Charlie could hear the raw vulnerability in Luke’s voice, not wanting to drive the nail further into whatever he was feeling. 

“We should probably get going, if you wanted to go see Anna before it gets too late.” The woman didn’t bother to make any movements, though; was it a betrayal that she didn’t want to lose the weight of his arm around her shoulders? “If you still want me to go. I don’t have to. I can stay here.” [I]I can manage here without you. I have been.[/I] The intrusiveness of the thought almost sent her reeling. When had she become so avoidant and so needy at the same time?