Three weeks later, Teagan landed at Tucson’s airport on Thursday afternoon. She was so excited to see Aaron, to play with Patton, and even to see the desert again.

It was even prettier than she remembered as she stared out the window on her shuttle ride to Aaron’s house. It was hot out, but the golden earth and dramatic peaks welcomed her, as did the glowing light of the afternoon sun. Aaron had wanted to pick her up, but he had meetings scheduled all afternoon. She was fine on her own, and it gave her time to grade some tests she’d administered that morning.

When she found the key in Aaron’s hidden lockbox and opened his front door, she heard Patton bark several times at the unexpected invasion. But once he saw her, the barking ceased and his brown tail began to wag.

“Hey, boy!” she said, setting down her bag to give him attention. “How are you? Did you miss me?”

Aaron’s home was neat and dark, the shades pulled down to keep it cool inside. She opened one shade to let some light in and put her belongings in Aaron’s room. The place smelled familiar, like clean laundry. She realized she’d only been there one other time, and for less than eight hours. Yet somehow, over the last several months, they’d managed to stay in touch and cobble together something worth pursuing.

Part of her felt nervous. A night here and a camping trip there was one thing, but now they would attempt a relationship. She would begin to see the chinks in Aaron’s shiny armor, and he would see hers. They would have to work around their 900-mile separation, and risk that the distance would come between them.

Her phone beeped. Aaron.

Teagan gave Patton some more attention before she changed, grabbed a soda from the fridge, and sat down to finish grading her giant pile of exams. When a vehicle pulled up outside and Patton ran to the door, Teagan knew it was Aaron. Her heart began to race. She waited on the couch, not wanting to reveal the intense eagerness she felt.

When the door opened, Teagan caught her breath. There stood Aaron, with his fair hair and fit body and blue eyes… in his Army uniform. She stared, shocked at how sexy he looked. She recovered herself and smiled, then stood up to greet him.

“Hey,” he said, shutting the door and giving Patton a quick pet.

Her smile grew wider. “Hey.”

Aaron came over and kissed her. Suddenly, she didn’t feel nervous anymore. She felt happy. “Sorry I couldn’t come get you…”

“Don’t be. I just finished my grading for next week.”

“Good.”

The way he stared at her unnerved her. She could hardly stare back, feeling like a fangirl, swooning over a military uniform like some women swooned over a British accent or an expensive suit. Soon, Aaron’s lips were on hers, and before she knew it, his uniform and her sundress were nothing but piles on his bedroom floor. Afterward, they lay in Aaron’s soft sheets, the AC cooling their sweat.

“I’m glad you’re here,” Aaron said, brushing her hair away from her face.

“Me too. Patton seemed glad to see me, too.”

“He likes you.” He glanced at his watch. “Feel like getting some dinner?”

“Definitely.”

The next morning, Aaron went to work and Teagan spent the day writing. They picked up some steaks and grilled at home that night, sitting on Aaron’s back patio and watching the pink sunset before retreating inside where it was cool.

Saturday, they got up at a decent hour and went hiking at Kartchner Caverns State Park, where they’d first met. The sun was hot but not oppressive as they hiked through the desert scrub and up the gentle hills of the park. About halfway up, two young men and a woman headed their way on the trail. The men sported military haircuts and all three chatted animatedly as they descended the hill, an occasional expletive flying from one of them. When they drew closer, their talking and laughter quieted after spotting Aaron. When Aaron and Teagan reached them, all three immediately stepped aside on the trail and stood up straighter.

“Major,” said the first as he nodded.

“Morning, sir,” said the woman, which was quickly repeated by the third young man.

“Morning,” Aaron said. When Teagan passed them, she merely smiled a little, but each gave her a nod and a brief “ma’am.” There was silence for several more moments, until a reasonable amount of time passed and the threesome commenced their chatter and continued on their way.

Teagan had wondered if Stovi’s praise of Aaron had been mostly to embarrass Aaron, but it was clear he wasn’t exaggerating. Once they reached the top of the hike, they sipped their water, gave some to Patton, and took in the view.

“Well, aren’t you important,” Teagan said, teasing him. Aaron gave a half smile. “How do they know your rank if you aren’t in uniform?”

“They know me. They work at the Intelligence Center.”

“Will they give you shit on Monday about being seen with a lady?”

“Not if they’re smart. They don’t know me well enough to do that.” He paused. “But… they’ll tell others and word will get out.”

“Is that bad?”

He shook his head. “Everyone knows that my marriage is done.”

After grabbing coffee at Blake’s, they drove into Tucson to spend the afternoon and evening there.

“We could take a drive to the mountains,” Aaron suggested. “But the Saturday traffic will suck with everyone heading up there when it’s this hot.”

“Nah. Let’s have fun in Tucson. We can handle a little sweat.”

“Maybe we can do the mountains next time.”

Teagan smiled. He’d mentioned next time, like it was no big deal. Maybe LDRs didn’t suck after all, not with men like Aaron.

They spent the weekend hiking, talking, lounging in bed, and drinking coffee at Blake’s while Aaron read and Teagan squeezed in a few written words. Teagan kept waiting for Aaron to do something annoying, or to pull away and say he “isn’t ready,” or for something to go wrong… but it never happened. With Aaron, it felt as easy as always.

And when Aaron offered to fly to Denver in October, Teagan happily agreed. He said he could swing one day off between trainings, and that his C.O. would look the other way. Teagan smiled, happy that their LDR setup was working so far and let them proceed at a pace that seemed to work for them both.

That October, Aaron held Teagan’s hand as they strolled down her sidewalk, the trees bright gold and orange and the temperature cool enough to warrant long sleeves. They’d just returned from eating burritos at Tio’s after spending a couple nights in the mountains. It was Sunday and she’d have to run Aaron to the airport in a few hours.

When they got back to her place, Ben was sweeping leaves off their shared porch. They stopped to chat, and Teagan went inside while Aaron and Ben talked for a few minutes about military stuff. Once he came inside and joined her on the couch, Teagan snuggled up to him.

“I wish you didn’t have to go,” she admitted.

“Me too.”

Before either could say much more, there was a knock at her door. It sounded nothing like Ben’s knock. Teagan glanced outside her window and saw a familiar black Jetta.

“Fuck,” she muttered.

Aaron glanced outside. “Who is it?”

“My ex.”

He made a face. “What’s he doing here?”

“A few weeks ago, he texted to say he wanted to pick up a few things he left here. But I never heard from him and just forgot about it. Why didn’t I just leave it on the porch?”

“You want me to answer?”

Teagan’s eyes widened. “You would do that?”

Aaron stood up. Teagan went to her kitchen, where Shawn wouldn’t see her, and Aaron opened the door.

Silence. Then Shawn’s voice. “Who the fuck are you?”

“Who the fuck are you?” came Aaron’s deep voice.

“I’m Shawn.”

“And?”

Teagan squelched a laugh.

“And I’m looking for Teagan, dude.” After a long pause, he added, “Is she here?”

“Nope.”

More silence. Teagan smiled, imagining Aaron standing there with his perfect posture and his muscular arms crossed, giving Shawn that steely look he gave, the one that could intimidate anyone.

A sigh. “Did she say anything about me picking up a few things?”

Another pause. “Hold on.” The door shut and Aaron began looking around. Teagan pointed to her closet. Aaron picked up a box and, after getting her thumb’s up, opened the door again. “This the one?”

Shuffling sounds as Shawn looked inside it. “That’s it. Will you tell her I dropped by?”

“Happy to.”

Aaron closed the door, a look of triumph on his face. “By the way, Shawn stopped by and picked up his box.”

Teagan ran over and threw her arms around him. “You’re my hero,” she gushed. “Oh, if I could’ve seen the look on his face when you opened that door.”

“He looked a little pissed.” Aaron sat back down on the couch and put his arm around her.

“Yeah, because you’re three times the man he is.” Aaron squeezed her, a sign that he’d acknowledged her compliment.

Teagan sighed with relief. She hated any interaction with Shawn and had avoided him for months. She needed to get over that; but for now, having Aaron around made dealing with him not only bearable, but even a little fun.

“When does fall semester finish up?” Aaron asked.

“Mid-December.”

“You want to spend a chunk of that time at my place? The weather’s about as nice as it gets at that time of year… I’d love to have you out before then, too, but I’m just thinking ahead…”

Teagan turned and faced him. “Before we book any more flights, I want to run something by you. An idea I’ve had.” He watched her, appearing unsure of what to expect. “That training you talked about, back east… do you still want to do it?”

His eyebrows went up. “I… yeah. My C.O. brought it up again this week.”

“How long does it take?”

“About four weeks. Why?”

“Well… if you could do it in December, I could come watch your house, and Patton. By then, it’s finals and I can administer those remotely, and then I’m off until January.”

Aaron stared at her, surprise in his face. “Teagan, that’s a lot to ask.”

She shook her head. “Not really. Would that work, logistically?”

“Yeah. But… you’ll be all alone there.”

She shrugged. “That’s okay. I’ll get a lot more writing done without the distractions of home. It’ll be like a writing retreat.”

“What about the holidays?”

“Oh, I hadn’t thought about that.” She waved him off. “Just see if you can get it scheduled, will you, Major?”

Aaron smiled.