An Ounce of Prevention

For a moment he held her, looking down at her with a troubled expression. He brushed a strand of hair back from her cheek, his gaze traveling over her face.

"I thought he was going to shoot you." He was silent a moment, as if uncomfortable about revealing something. Finally he grimaced. "I froze."

Alex wasn't one to lose his head in an emergency. She frowned up at him. "When?"

"When he stuck that gun in your face. You remained calm. You just closed your eyes and waited for it to happen." Alex pulled her close, gently guiding her head to his chest and stroking her hair. When he finally spoke, his voice was controlled. "I just stood there."

She lifted her head and looked at him. "Alex, there was nothing either of us could do."

"You did something."

She frowned. "What did I do?"

He shook his head. "At least you stood up to him."

She leaned against him, feeling the beating of his heart against her chest. "In case you have forgotten, I was so frightened that I fainted."

"I haven't forgotten. You hit the ground before I finally found my backbone."

"But you came to me in spite of him holding a gun on you."

His laugh was short and humorless. "He was so shocked that he didn't notice me. I could have taken the gun away from him, but I didn't think about it."

So that was it. He was chastising himself for not being able to protect her. To Alex, that was his most important role as a husband.

She slid her arms around his neck and gazed up at him. "Alex, I dragged you on this vacation when you didn't want to go. I insisted on coming out here in the middle of nowhere when you told me it could be dangerous; and I didn't believe you when you warned me about the drug deal. With an ounce of prevention on my part, this could have been avoided. So tell me; how does this get to be your fault?"

For a moment he simply held her close. When he finally spoke, his voice sounded tired. "Five years ago I would have reacted faster. I might have…."

She released his neck and placed a finger over his lips to silence him. "This isn't about age, Alex. Back there in the cabin you reacted so quickly that I'm still not sure what happened. When he pointed that gun at my head, I gave up. You not only had the situation he created to react to, but the one I created as well. It all happened so fast that neither of us had time to think about what we were doing. When we had time to think about it, we resolved the issue." She put her arm around his neck again and gave him a coy smile. "And here we are."