by Leah Atwood
Crouching down, Jared picked up the photo. “We were so young.”
“Our first mandatory fun day.” Wyatt laughed. “If not for Mike’s antics, it would have been the most boring fun of my life.”
“Remember that time he convinced the CO’s wife to get in on a practical joke?” A wide smile erupted on Jared’s mouth. “I’ll never forget Major Lucerne’s face when he showed up for uniform inspection with trousers three inches too short.”
Choking on his laughter produced a snort. “Best prank ever.”
Their merriment ended abruptly, and a moment of silence fell over the room.
“It’s not right.” Jared cleared his throat. “It should have been me.”
Wyatt did the same to strangle the grief. Whoever said time healed all wounds was a liar. The memories haunted him worse now than they had six months ago. “You sprained your ankle and weren’t up for the mission. If anything, why not me? Mike and I switched spots after loading in the helicopter, so I could finish telling Jergens a story. Would Mike have survived if he’d been in my seat?”
The rancid taste of guilt-laced bile rose from his gut. He pounded a fist against the wall and kept his back turned to Jared. Too proud to let through any tears. Too ashamed to face his friend.
Shuffling ensued behind him, the crinkle of the cheap mattress as Jared sat on it. “No amount of blame can bring him back.”
“Doesn’t stop it, though, does it?” Semi-composed, Wyatt turned slowly. “I know deep inside of me somewhere that even if I knew the answer, it wouldn’t make a lick of difference, but the what-ifs won’t shut up. Night and day, they take over my thoughts.”
“You think I don’t understand? Mike wouldn’t have been on the helicopter if I hadn’t been goofing off the night before.” Jared tensed his jaw then swallowed. “At least you get out of here. I have another year left on my contract.”
“Yeah.” His halfhearted response matched the lack of conviction in his heart. The best shot at a job offer would keep him in Jacksonville.
Jared jumped to his feet, a plastic smile in place. “Hey, we’re supposed to be celebrating tonight.” He scooped a pile of DVDs and laid them in an open footlocker. “Let’s finish up and get going.”
More than willing to feign joy, Wyatt rushed through packing the remainder of his belongings, deciding to keep it all for now, and sort later. “Sure you don’t mind turning your garage into storage for a while?”
“Nah.” Jared shrugged. “The truck won’t fit inside, so the space may as well get some use.”
Twenty minutes later, they’d confined all his belongings to a multitude of olive-colored duffel bags, black trunks, and a single suitcase he’d inherited from his first barracks roommate back when he’d first arrived at the air station.
He drove ahead of Jared, following the loop around the barracks and then to the main road. Up ahead, the digital commissary sign flashed the week’s grocery specials. In a matter of seconds, it became a memory as he drove past the guard shack and off base.
The reflection of the lit-up welcome sign caught his eye in the rearview mirror. “MCAS New River. PARDON OUR NOISE. It’s The Sound Of Freedom.”
Emotions filled his lungs. He took a deep breath and used an exhale to push them out. Man, he’d loved that sign as a newbie. Twenty-three years old and finally doing something with his life, he was fulfilling his childhood dream of serving his country. He was one of the Few, one of the Proud. A Marine. Ready to face any obstacle or fight thrown his way.
What a difference five years made. Not all had changed. He still wanted to serve his country. He was a Marine, even after his official discharge—once a Marine, always a Marine. But ready to fight?
He was bone weary.
Even the strongest, bravest man could only see so much carnage before needing an end—or a new beginning. He’d reached that point. Not on the first deployment. Not the night Mike died during the last, but in the midst of a homecoming celebration when Janie came to show her support for a squadron returning without her husband. He’d beat them home a few months prior. In a coffin.
Sorrow haunted her smile as she courageously gave him, Evan, and Jared a hug to welcome them home. Their best friend’s widow, like a sister to them. Her presence in the hangar that day made Mike’s absence more pronounced.
One of their family was gone, the dynamic among them forever altered.
Wasn’t that the nature of life? Ever changing, never idle.
What he wouldn’t give to reach out a hand and latch on to those carefree days of youth, if only for a moment. To spend the night under the stars, deep in the woods on an impromptu camping trip. To fall in love again without jaded eyes that had witnessed a widow’s despair. To have the future ahead of him with the naiveté of one without life experience.
The image of a lost love flittered across his memory. Even carefree days had their costs. Utopia didn’t exist—not in the way he craved.
He’d have to wait until he got to Heaven, and he found comfort knowing he’d see Mike there one day. His faith was weak, but he still believed. Had to believe.
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About the Author
USA Today Bestselling Author Leah Atwood is a small-town girl at heart and currently lives in a rural town in the deep South, though Maryland will always be home. She graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in International Business but gave up a career in sales and marketing to follow love, a decision she's never regretted.
From the old west to Cajun country, Leah infuses true-to-life characters with small-town charm to invite her readers into a world where faith and love will always prevail. In both her historical and contemporary works, she believes in delivering inspirational stories that will leave her readers with a smile.
When not writing, she's busy raising two kids and corralling two dogs (an eighty-four-pound shepherd/lab mix and an eleven-pound rat terrier/jack russell mix), or participating in a myriad of community and church events.
Other Available Title from Leah
Contemporary Romances
Come to Me Series
Come to Me Alive
Come to Me Free
Come to Me Again
Come to Me Joyful (Bonus Novella)
Modern Conveniences Series
Love In a Fix
Calling Love
Lost in Love
Waiting on Love (Bonus Novella)
Always Faithful Series
That Was Then
This Is Now
When It’s Forever
Jasper Lake Series
Not This Time
Born to Love
A Love True (spring 2018)
Treasure Harbor
Complete Collection
Road to Love
Complete Collection
Standalones
Table For One (Novella)
All By Myself (Novella)
A Summer Homecoming (Novella)
An Autumn Stroll (Novella)
Candy Cane Wishes (Novella)
Historical Romances
Brides of Weatherton Novellas
After the Rain
Fire and Ice
Winds of Change
Dancing on Dew
Texas Wildflowers Novelette Series
Free to Love
Free to Heal
Free to Protect
Free to Serve
Free to Roam
Free to Forgive
Mail-Order Short Stories and Novelettes
The Ultimatum Bride
A Man to Be Proud Of
Their First Noelle
The Not Quite Mail-Order Bride
The Mail-Order Bride’s Quilt
Riches of the Heart
The Most Wonderful Bride of the Year
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