Lia nodded, feeling her heart swelling with love for Cav. “You have no idea how much this talk means to me, Dilara. Thank you for sharing this. I would never guess you had any problems that were similar to mine.”
Laughing, Dilara said, “My dear, none of us is quite right. If our parents didn’t do something to hurt us, we experience a traumatic event that wounds us. No one on this earth escapes being wounded, Lia.” She tapped Lia’s arm. “More important is to be compassionate toward them and try to understand their actions and reactions, knowing something bigger is behind it, pushing them.”
“Cav has been horribly wounded, too,” Lia confided to her quietly.
“I know,” she said, giving Lia a sympathetic look. “Between you and me, one of the reasons Robert uses Cav a lot is because of who he is. We sat down one time over lunch, and Cav told me a light version of his nightmare childhood.”
“He told you?”
Dilara smiled a little. “We don’t see our employees in the same light that other corporations do, Lia. To us, you’re all members of our extended family. I was raised in a big, noisy, loving Turkish family. I saw my uncles treat their employees like family, and observed how it bred such loyalty and respect between them. I want that same energy with the special people who run our charities. Thank goodness, we have that. So it’s not unusual that Cav opened up a little bit to me. Despite his obvious pain in recalling those events, he demonstrated the inner strength and courage to overcome his personal adversity. Cav has grown because of his wounding—he’s not imprisoned by it any longer. I believe Chief Jacoby, who was a very positive father figure to him in the SEALs, helped him out of that dark place within himself. Just as my parents, and later Robert, helped me out of that place within me. They helped to free me.”
“And now, Cav is helping me out of my dark place,” Lia whispered.
Dilara wrapped her arm around Lia’s shoulders. “Who better than him? He’s a wounded healer. Cav has gone through his own personal hell, so he can relate to your hell. And I know there’s something very special and beautiful blossoming between the two of you.”
She squeezed Lia’s shoulders. “Let him help you walk into the light so you can push that invisible cell door wide open. Walk toward him with your head held high, Lia. Like my Robert, he’s a kind soul beneath that hard, military exterior”
She looked closely at Lia. “So? Will you allow your heart to trust his heart? My Sufi uncles and mother would tell you that ‘the heart has eyes that see through the dark.’ It can lead us out of the shadows so we can honestly see where we are, and where we want to go.”
Lia felt tears of relief behind her eyes as she absorbed Dilara’s gentle words. She gripped the woman’s other hand, holding on to her kind gaze. “Thank you for sharing this. It helps me so much, Dilara.”
Dilara released Lia’s hand. “Ah, I see your Cav now,” and gestured towards him as he went through the screen door, heading outside with a tray of corn. “Why don’t you enjoy this afternoon? You know, it is the Fourth of July, a time when your country fought for and won its freedom. In some ways, Lia, you have been fighting for five long years to win your freedom back, too. Cav is there to support you in your bid for that well deserved freedom.” Her voice lowered. “And remember this, Lia. No one gets healed from their wounds without the help of others. I think in your case you’ve been afraid to allow someone in your life and trust them to handle your fears with love and support. But now, my intuition tells me you trust Cav, and you need to keep moving in that direction. He’s the person who will help you achieve the freedom you so richly deserve.”
CHAPTER 20
Cav tried to contain his excitement as he drove the Jeep along one of Virginia’s scenic country roads. The mid-July heat was in the 90s, and so was the humidity. The “dog days” of summer were upon them.
He glanced over at Lia, who was equally excited about the surprise he had in store for her. All week, since the Fourth of July celebration at the Culver house in Alexandria, he’d teased her about it. Now, he hoped he hadn’t oversold the surprise.
The road was a twisting, winding two-lane asphalt with woods on the left and a white wooden fence and corral on the right. Virginia was horse country, pure and simple, and he’d packed them a picnic lunch for them, put the blanket in the rear seat, and they’d taken off for parts unexplored.
This area of Virginia was wooded, beautiful and rural. He could almost see Lia shake off the workweek stress as they drove. Her job at Artemis was demanding, and new employees were coming in weekly, needing to be trained. HR had hired three new women and that department was scrambling, too. That was what happened when a huge project like Artemis was being created and readied to take off.