Cullen relaxed fully for the first time in months, this sleepy hamlet the polar opposite of the barren desert region where he’d lived and soldiered only three weeks ago. Color snared his attention in every direction he glanced. The vibrant greens of the native trees and ferns. The turquoise-blue sea. The red-and-white umbrellas shading them from the sun. The white sand and the two toddlers shoveling sand into yellow plastic buckets. Even the scents soothed him: the sea air, the rich aroma of coffee wafting from the restaurant, along with enticing food smells. Fish and chips, if he wasn’t mistaken.
His attention turned to Grace, and her warm smile, as their gazes connected, twisted yearning in him. Not something he was ready to admit or embrace, but he was aware of the emotion simmering wi
