"You love me?" she repeated, shaken. "Really? No you don't, surely," she finished, the disbelief evident in her voice.
"You know I know my mind pretty well at my age," Lucas replied, his eyes crinkling with amusement.
"But – why?," she asked confused at this sudden turn of events.
"I don't know the precise reason," Lucas replied coolly, "maybe its because the sound of your voice is like music to my jaded ears or that when you smile your face lights up like a beam of sunshine illuminating a gloomy chapel or the fact that you are possibly the sweetest, most beautiful thing I ever met."
Jo stared at him silently, startled by his words.
"Well?' Lucas asked brusquely, his eyes on the road and his hands on the wheel.
"Well what?" Jo repeated, wondering where he was going now.
"Well do you love met then?" he asked, impatiently waiting for her reply.
"Oh. Yes." When it was out of her mouth she took a breath, surprised by her words. But now she had said it, it was obvious that it was true and yet she had never noticed it before. She loved him. She could see now that her worries for him weren't so much about the baby or about being left on her own, but more about the way she felt about him. She didn't know when exactly her feelings had changed - sometime over the past few weeks perhaps, but now she was in no doubt that she was in love with him.
"Good," he said and smiled. And that was all.
They pulled in to the driveway of the camp and began the drive up towards the base. Jo wondered what would happen next now that things had changed between them. She watched Lucas closely as they drove, trying to anticipate what he might do now.
He said nothing. Her eyes took in the two dozen or so Police cars parked at the military base and the police officers milling around and she considered what might be happening inside the barracks.
**
Just a short chapter this time. More to come in a couple of days.
