Cade guided her to the edge of the large, creaky bed. He lowered her onto the red mattress and instantly snatched his arm back.
He took three large steps backward, putting a safe distance between them.
Without looking at her, he walked to the small wooden closet. He pulled out a faded gray t-shirt and a pair of worn sweatpants. He pulled the shirt over his head, hiding the scar and the heat of his chest.
Clara sat on the edge of the bed. She rubbed her perfectly fine arm, her eyes tracking his every movement.
Cade reached into the bottom of the closet. He dragged out a thin, scratchy wool blanket and a flat, lumpy pillow.
He tucked the pillow under his arm and grabbed the blanket. He turned toward the bedroom door.
"I'm sleeping on the couch," he announced to the wall.
Clara's stomach plummeted. The cold dread of her past life rushed back. That was exactly how it started. He walked out that door, and the chasm between them grew until it swallowed them both.
She shot up from the mattress.
"Stop right there!" she ordered. Her voice was sharp and loud in the quiet room.
Cade halted. He slowly turned his head. His eyebrows pulled together in a deep, frustrated V.
"If you walk out that door and sleep on that couch," Clara said, her chest heaving, "every nosy neighbor in this building will know by tomorrow morning. Your mother will be the laughingstock of the base."
Cade's jaw locked. The mention of his mother, Martha, hit the exact nerve Clara was aiming for. He hated gossip. He hated his family being talked about even more.
He stared at Clara for a long, tense moment. The muscles in his neck strained against his collar.
He turned around. He walked back into the bedroom and threw the blanket onto the hard wooden floorboards at the foot of the bed.
"I'll sleep on the floor," he said, his voice dripping with ice. "Just keep your mouth shut."
Clara watched him drop to his knees and spread the thin blanket over the hard wood. Frustration bubbled in her throat, but she bit her lip. It was a start. He was in the room.
Cade reached up and clicked off the overhead light. The room plunged into shadows, lit only by the weak, yellow glow of a small bedside lamp.
He lay down on his back, fully clothed, staring at the ceiling.
The room was suffocatingly quiet. Clara could hear the steady, controlled rhythm of his breathing.
Five minutes passed.
Clara suddenly let out a sharp, agonizing gasp, her hands flying to her abdomen as she curled tightly into a ball on the mattress.
Cade exploded off the floor. He moved like a coiled spring, landing on his feet in a low, defensive crouch. His eyes darted around the dim room, scanning for a threat.
"What?" he barked.
Clara pointed a trembling finger at her stomach. "My stomach... it's a cramp. A horrible cramp. I think it's from the stress of today."
Cade marched over to the side of the bed. He looked down at her, his chest rising and falling with heavy, angry breaths. The exhaustion in his eyes was absolute.
"There's nothing I can do for a stomachache, Clara," he said flatly. "Stop playing games. What do you want?"
Clara hugged her knees tighter. "I need you to stay in here. In case it gets worse."
Cade rubbed a hand roughly over his face. He looked at her, sitting on the bed in her ruined wedding dress, acting like a child.
"If you hate being in the same room with me this much," he said, his voice dropping to a deadly quiet register, "we can go to the courthouse tomorrow. We can get a divorce."
The word hit Clara like a physical punch to the gut. All the air left her lungs. Her skin went ice cold.
Divorce.
She grabbed the fluffy pillow next to her and hurled it at his head with all her strength.
"No!" she screamed.
The pillow bounced harmlessly off his chest, but the raw fury in her voice made him flinch.
Clara scrambled off the bed. She stomped right up to him, tilting her head back to glare into his shocked eyes.
"You don't get to say that word," she hissed, her finger jabbing into his solid chest. "I am your wife. And I am not getting a divorce."
Before Cade could process her outburst, Clara dropped to her knees. She crawled right onto his makeshift floor mattress.
She grabbed his thin wool blanket and yanked it over her shoulders, wrapping herself in a tight cocoon.
"I'm sleeping here," she declared, glaring up at him from the floor. "The bed is too soft for my back right now."
Cade stared down at her. His mouth parted slightly. He looked at the empty bed, then down at the woman fiercely guarding his lumpy floor pillow. His brain simply could not compute her behavior.
He pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a long, defeated exhale.
Without another word, he turned around, walked to the large, empty bed, and lay down on top of the covers.
