He apologized quietly once the plane leveled out, withdrawing his arm with a hint of embarrassment. Elise thanked him, touched by the instinctive gesture, but unsettled by how natural it seemed for him to shield them without hesitation. She again wrote it down to the instinctive kindness of a man who had protected his country.
As calm returned to the cabin, the veteran exhaled shakily and whispered something under his breath—a name, or maybe a place. Elise caught only a fragment, but it caught her attention. She wondered if she imagined him saying it.