“I don’t believe you.”
“Fair enough,” he said for the second time.
—:—
“Stop this.” Malin didn’t like what Dutch was doing one bit. Whatever game he was playing wasn’t any fun for her. The sad thing was, she could stay here forever, even after only being here a short time, as long as Dutch was with her. His teasing her about it was cruel.
“Go to hell, Dutch,” she spat and moved her chair to leave, but he grabbed her arm.
“This isn’t a joke, Malin. I’m dead serious.”
“Why would you do this to me?”
“I’m not doing anything to you.”
“You’re playing with me, and I don’t understand why. Is it so I’ll admit I want to be with you? And then what, I have to prove it to you by trusting you?”
“Sit back down.”
She hesitated, but then did as he asked.
“I don’t want you thinking every time we disagree that we’re going to leave. I don’t want you thinking you have to leave at all. I want you to just be, Malin. Does that make sense to you? Just…be. No demands, no negotiations. Stop. Breathe. Be.”
“What would you do, buy the island?”
He nodded. “I told you I would retire if Doc asked me to take on another mission in the Middle East. Instead of throwing down that gauntlet, I’ll just retire now and make this my permanent home.”
She’d been making a joke. It never occurred to her that that would be what he’d do. “How would you be able to afford to buy an island? Never mind, it isn’t any of my business.”
“I’ll tell you how. I saved a hell of a lot of money. I worked damn hard, and never had a reason to spend it. I took my retirement from the Air Force, the money I got when I left the CIA, and what I’ve made since I became a K19 partner, and invested it. The only significant thing I used the money for was to buy a house in Newport News. With all the work I did to it, it’s valued at three times the amount I paid for it. I don’t have to do a damn thing for the rest of my life if I don’t want to.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because you asked.”
“And then I said it wasn’t my business.”
“There isn’t anything I’m not willing to share with you, Malin. If you have a question, ask it.”
“I only have one question for you.”
“Go ahead. Ask.”
“Do you still love her?”
9
“I do. I always will,” he answered, looking into Malin’s eyes. “But not romantically—as a friend. If anything positive came out of the time I spent with her, it’s that I realized I never loved Alegria the way I thought I did. When I met her, I was a kid. I was infatuated, lusted after her, but it wasn’t her I was in love with; it was the idea of her. Fantasy and reality were very different.”
“I don’t want you to buy the island, Dutch.”
He nodded, surprised that her saying so hurt a little.
“Maybe someday, but not now. Not for me.”
“I understand.” He tried not to hang his head. She was telling him she didn’t want him, and that was okay.
“I don’t think you do.”