The Commitment (Unrestrained 2)

I sighed. "I didn't tell Drake I saw Kurt at the fundraiser and he found out only when Dave Mills called and told him. We had a big fight about it. I think we were close to breaking up."

He nodded. "That would be a shame. I can tell you two love each other."

"I was wrong. I didn’t think it was important enough to tell him, and I didn’t want to upset him, make him jealous especially when he's under so much stress because of Liam. It was a mistake. I should have told him right away."

"Honesty is the best policy."

"It won't happen again, believe me."

We ate in silence for a moment. Finally, he spoke again.

"What did flyboy have to say? Was he as much of a jerk as he was before? I really had bad judgment with him."

"Drake told me you were acting as matchmaker between us. I had no idea. I thought I'd met Kurt accidentally. Here you'd been angling to get us together all along"

"You needed some help finding a man. You're so shy, and then after Mangaize, I thought you needed something to bring you back to life. I thought Kurt was the one. I should have been pushing Drake instead, but I thought he might be too old."

"What changed?"

"I realized how truly good Drake is."

I smiled. "He is good, Daddy. Just complicated."

"We all are in our own way. As long as he cherishes you and treats you well, I'm glad to see you two together. You have to be your own woman, Kate. As long as that's what Drake wants, you have my blessing. So, what about Kurt?"

I sighed. "He seemed a bit better. He apologized for being a jerk. He even used that word."

My father smiled. "He's not a bad sort," he said, forking some hash browns. "A little bit immature for you. Drake's better for you, all in all."

"Why do you like Drake so much?" I asked, honestly wanting to know why. "Not that there's any reason not to, but I'd like to hear you describe him from your point of view."

He swilled the coffee in his cup thoughtfully for a moment. "Drake's solid. He's a man, not a boy. Women mature faster than men so you're ready for someone like him. Mature, strong-willed, certain. He has ethics. He's very smart and skilled. He's loyal." He shrugged his shoulders and grinned. "What's not to love?"

"Nothing," I said and grinned back, glad that his description of Drake fit my own. And then, even though I felt awkward doing it, I asked him a question that still nagged at my mind.

"Why does he love me?" My face flushed, and when he started to speak, I held my hand up to stop him. "No, seriously. I'm so much younger than him. I haven't even had a real job yet. I've barely done anything in my life."

"Oh, no. You've been through so much. You survived Africa, the camps, the death."

"I had a nervous breakdown. I hardly survived."

"Listen, Katie," he said, his voice lowering a register. "After he read your articles on Mangaize, Drake once said to me that if you hadn't suffered some kind of PTSD after what you witnessed, he'd wonder about your heart, and Katherine, dear, that is one thing he said he didn't wonder about you. Your heart is big."

"Drake said that?"

He nodded. "Before he even met you."

I reached out and took his hand, squeezing it. "Thank you, Daddy," I said, my voice choking a bit. "That's such a nice thing for him to say."

"He's like that too, Katie. He has a huge heart, maybe too big so he keeps it protected. He's like his old man in that way, I think."

"How on earth did you and Liam ever became friends. You're conservative politically. A staunch free market proponent. He was a Socialist."

"War is like love. Cuts right down to the bone, throwing off all the extraneous crap we carry around, to tell us who we really are. Love makes complete strangers intimate. War makes brothers out of complete strangers. Not only did Liam save my life and that of many other soldiers, I saw into Liam and knew he was a good man underneath the bullshit about Stalin."

"Trotsky," I said.

"Whoever," my father said, laughing.