Are you coming home soon? I think Mom would like that a lot. She always smiles when you write her, even though I know she doesn’t write you back.
You can make her smile again, Gage.
Riddler
P.S. There's 30 cows in a field, 28 chickens, how many didn't?
That always stumps people :)
A clattering of items hits my bunk walls, and I don’t realize what’s happened until my ears stop ringing and my breathing slows down. I’d tossed everything in the box and on my side table across the room.
I’m so far beyond livid, I don’t think I’ll see straight again. That son of a bitch hit her. He hit my fucking woman.
Two more months and my tour is over. If it’s the last thing I do, I’ll find that piece of shit and show him what a real man is.
Sitting down on my bunk, I ignore the ruckus of the guys outside as they try and decompress after a harder than normal patrol. The aftermath of a firefight is always the most stressful. Killian and I have had to talk a few of the guys through it. What they’ve seen, what they were forced to do.
It’s the worst part of not only being a soldier but of being a higher-ranking officer. We can’t sit by and let them work their way through the destruction on their own. We have to help, talk them off any ledge they might be feeling. Get them ready to go back stateside without going AWOL or developing such a severe case of PTSD that they’ll be a danger to everyone around them.
Our soul mission to these men is to get them home in one piece.
Chapter Five
Paisley
Dear Paisley,
Talk to me. I miss the sweet smile I imagine is on your face when I read your letters. I miss the laughter I often felt in your words.
Tommy worries about you. That boy worships the ground you walk on. I wonder if you know that? Does he tell you?
If I were there, you bet your sweet ass I’d make sure he told you.
I’m coming home in two months, Paisley. Less by the time you get this letter. I am coming for you. That’s a promise you can bank.
When I do, you’re going to tell me everything. This thing between us isn’t just in my head. I’ve been around too long not to know the real thing when I get it.
You’re real, Paisley.
We’re real.
Love, Gage
Every time he writes me, I feel his touch. Every word and command feel like the promises he’s making. Trusting it is the hardest part.
I’m terrified, after Jack, that I’ve only built Gage up in my mind. He can’t possibly be as perfect as I’ve dreamt. Can he?
I mean, no
man just wants an instant family. They don’t want a little boy that isn’t theirs. Or a woman that has no idea what she’s doing with her life.
“Hey, Mom!” Tommy calls from the driveway. “Watch this!” I got him a new hockey net with all the bells and whistles, and he’s never been happier.
“Great job, honey!” I cheer him on as he slaps the puck through each target in the corners. He loves sports, and he enjoys impressing me with all his tricks knowing I can’t kick a ball in front of my feet.
My eyes stray back to the letter in my hands and the thoughts and feelings this man evokes in me. I wish it were as easy as he makes it seem. With Tommy, I can’t just jump the gun. Dive head first into the potential of failure.
“Will you write him back?” Tommy’s curious question draws me from my thoughts to see him standing in front of me, peeking down at the letter. “I think he’d like if you did.”