A SEAL's Return

by Grace Alexander

  “You’re Coco,” Jake announced.

  Nora’s costume fit the bill. Brightly colored, check. Would scare Dean’s dog, check. Liked chatter, major check.

  She tipped back and howled. “That may be the funniest, most Tidings thing you have ever said.” But Nora righted herself, giving him a quick headshake. “But no.” She turned to Graham and Charlotte. “Please don’t repeat what Jake just said.”

  Oh yeah. Whoops. He’d never live that down. “Let’s keep those lips zipped. Please.”

  Neither kid seemed clued in, and they agreed.

  Nora wriggled her jewelry again. “I’m a psychic! Don’t I look like those ladies who show up on late night commercials?”

  Both kids took turns jumping up and down and calling out “You do, you do.”

  Jake’s confused glance at them didn’t slow down their reaction. He was positive neither had seen a middle-of-the-night television commercial.

  Nora wryly twisted her lips. “So many parents assume I can predict the future that I thought a little bit of school counselor humor would be fun.”

  “I love it,” he said.

  “It’ll be lost on the people who might be offended.” She crossed her fingers. “I hope.”

  There wasn’t anything about Nora he didn’t adore. Even the way she worried about the people who drove her crazy. Jake walked toward his grinning psychic and took her hand in his. “Time to go?”

  “Yes! It’s time! Can we go now?” Graham asked. “Please!”

  “Please?” Charlotte pulled her stack of books toward the front door. “I think it already started without us.”

  “It didn’t,” Jake said.

  The kids weren’t sold on that answer and peered out as though they could see through the dark and down the block to the start of the parade. He leaned close to Nora. “What, pray tell, does this psychic foresee in the near future?”

  Her fingers intertwined with his as they ambled behind the kids. “A long walk for me in the dark with two awesome kids and then a long night for the two of us warming up.”

  “Is that what you think?” She didn’t know he planned on walking with the three of them. High Beam used to hand out candy to the parade goers and people along the sidewalk. Nora was the one who reminded him. But there was no way they were walking in that parade without him. He squeezed her hand tight. “Wait outside for me. I’ll be there in a minute.”

  Graham and Charlotte were already outside and racing around, Graham chasing Charlotte’s books on wheels, and Nora pressed up on her toes to kiss his cheek. “Sure thing.”

  Then Jake walked behind the counter and pulled out two large buckets full of candy, stacked one on top of the other, and took his keys and cell phone from a shelf. He slipped them into one of the pockets of his astronaut costume.

  He lifted the heavy containers of candy and pushed out the front door of High Beam, surprising Nora.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “Get ready.” He made way to the first orange tower of tractor tires and dropped the heavy container of candy to the ground.

  Nora stepped closer. “For what?”

  He hoisted the first bucket, wondering how many pounds of chocolate, licorice, suckers, and taffy it took to fill each, and placed it on top of the straw-covered tower. Then he grabbed the second one, carried it to the other side of the parking lot entrance, and did the same in the other tractor tire tower he’d made to hold the candy.

  Jake dusted off his hands and looked at the two tire towers, topped with enormous buckets of candy. “That’ll do the trick.”

  “Are you kidding me?” Her excitement made his orange-painted fingernails worth it.

  “Nope.” Jake space-walked to the sound of the kids’ laughter toward the side of the shop where he’d painted “Help yourself” on the front of two rusted-out, abandoned car hoods. He moved each one to stand by a tire tower, securing them with the metal poles he’d attached.

  Nora jingled and clinked her way to meet him in front of High Beam, and he hooked his arm around her. “I don’t know about you, but I think it gets the point across.”

  “I can’t believe it.” She laid her head against his astronaut arm. “You’re not staying here?”

  He kissed the top of her head. “You’re going to have to work on your fortune-telling if you want to be the Tidings psychic. Because I’m walking with you all night long. And I’ll be up with you tonight too.”

  She swung in front of him so that their torsos touched, and her smile was sweeter than any of the sugar he had put out.

  “Is Nora your girlfriend?” Charlotte called from across the parking lot.

  A grin cracked on his face, and he chuckled at their pint-sized audience and the commentary. There was no use trying to tell Charlotte that Nora was his world because Charlotte would take him literally, and they’d never make it to the Halloween parade if Jake had to explain that he understood that Nora was a person and not a planet. Nothing like a smart five-year-old except when the topic wasn’t quite at her level yet. “I don’t know, Nora. How do you feel about titles? Are you my girlfriend?”

  She tipped her head, tapping a finger against her chin. “Hmmm. I do collect them.”

  “I should have realized that.” He took her thought-pondering finger and counted off, “Mom. Counselor. Psychic. Girlfriend.”

  Nora’s eyes lit. “Girlfriend.”

  They needed a candy apple or whatever the Halloween equivalent was for mistletoe because he had run out of excuses for randomly kissing, but oh well. Jake kissed his girlfriend only to receive cheers from Charlotte and Graham.

  Nora ducked her head, giggling quietly, then turned against him as he wrapped her to his chest. “Well, that’s a first.”

  “Let me go get my helmet and lock up.”

  As Jake walked by Charlotte and Graham, he laughed as he heard their whispers.

  “Jake?” Graham ran up to him.

  “Yeah, buddy?”

  “Thank you.”

  He stopped. “What for?”

  “Even though it’s Halloween, you make people smile. Even when it’s not Halloween. Like Charlotte and my mom.” Graham ran back to Charlotte, not knowing what his words might’ve meant to Jake.

  “Thank you too, kid,” Jake said quietly. For all the classified ops and the good they’d done around the world, never once had a single mission made him feel as that kid just had. He was where he was supposed to be.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  Kids dressed in Halloween costume and their in-costume parents walked the Sugar Maple Street route, waving to the community who brought candy and tossed it from the sidewalk as they walked by. The Tidings tradition was a slight twist on trick or treating, replacing the door to door knocking. It brought families out from both sides of town, and added that little touch of specialness that the community thrived on.

  Nora shivered and curled under Jake’s astronaut arm as they walked behind Charlotte and Graham who ran from one side of the street to the other with a group of their friends, showing off their costumes and snatching thrown pieces of candy. “Can you see through that thing?”

  His helmet-covered head tilted toward her. “What?”

  “Can you,” she raised her voice, then stopped. Obviously, he couldn’t.

  Jake pulled off his helmet. “Just kidding, I could hear you fine. But I’m fogging up.”

  She snickered but then burrowed into him. “I’m cold, even with long johns under my outfit and heating packs tucked everywhere that they’d hold.”

  He pulled her close, and she snuggled against him, enjoying the festivities.

  “Hang on a sec.” Jake gave her a quick squeeze and stepped away.

  She followed his gaze toward one of the Tidings police officers who had them in his sights. The man’s tight face was pinched and locked on Jake, even as the astronaut separated from the parade and moved closer.

  Graham fell back. “Where’s Jake going?”

  “Just to t
alk with a friend.”

  “His friends are the police?”

  She nodded and her jewelry clinked as they continued to walk in the parade. “Sure. He has all kinds of friends. Just like you do.”

  “It’s good that he’s a good guy.” Graham spun away.

  Amused, Nora watched her son run back to his group of friends then walk with Charlotte. “It’s good, that’s for sure.”

  Charlotte and her rolling tower of books stopped with Graham, and Nora continued to walk in the parade. The kids started walking again when she reached them.

  “If Jake is a good guy, would that make him like a prince?” Charlotte asked.

  Nora tried to understand the basis of her question. “I’m not sure I understand.”

  “You could be a princess and he could be a prince. Then you both could match.”

  She held her bangled wrists out. “But I really liked being a fortune-telling gypsy, so that wouldn’t have worked.”

  Charlotte and Graham scowled, and Graham asked, “Are you sure?”

  Her smile cracked. “Yup. Positive. And I’m also positive Jake wanted to be an astronaut.”

  “Really?” Charlotte’s nose scrunched. “Are you sure?”

  Nora pressed her lips together. “You can ask him. But he chose his costume.”

  They trotted again, conversing with their heads together, then dropped back again. Charlotte asked, “What are you going to be next year? A princess?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  “You should be. And he could be a prince.”

  Graham nodded, swinging his bag of candy. “Because they go together.”

  “I don’t know. We’ll see.”

  Charlotte tossed her head back and scowled, but then ran after a handful of thrown candy. Graham gave Nora a placating grin. “That wasn’t what she thought you’d say.”

  “I could tell,” she laughed.

  “But we can still make it work.”

  Nora had no idea what they were talking about. “All right, baby. You do that. Go have fun.”

  Whatever Charlotte had in mind, Nora had a feeling that it had to do with her favorite movie prince and princess that kissed at the end. “Very cute.”

  Jake walked back over, eyeing her. “Did I just see you talking to yourself.”

  “Charlotte has our costumes picked for next year. We’re matching.”

  He chuckled. “I can’t wait.”

  “I bet.” She nodded to the direction he’d come from. “What was that all about?”

  “Tidings PD had a report of suspicious activity in your neighborhood, and they went to check it out.”

  “Really?” Someone else had their shed shredded?

  He shifted his helmet from one arm to the other and tucked her under his arm. “Someone parked a van a block away from your house and it ‘didn’t look right’ according to a neighbor. So they parked a car on your street for a while. Nothing came of it.”

  “The wild crime in Tidings.”

  “Nothing to complain about,” Jake said.

  “That’s the truth.” Perfect place to raise a family and live their lives. Everything was easy—or would be. She’d convinced Jake to spend time at Ally’s grave, and that would be heart wrenching. But after that, if they could all survive that, they could do anything.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  The cemetery was old. Jake eased down the winding road with his wrist draped over the steering wheel as though he hadn’t a concern. He couldn’t help but be appreciative that Nora had joined him.

  His mom had told him that Charlotte would do fine. His dad said the same thing but not in so many words. Taking Charlotte to Ally’s gravesite wasn’t Jake’s concern. He was the concern, having avoided the heart-aching journey since the funeral.

  They had been raised just as his mom and uncle were, as twins. When Jake and Ally were kids, they’d believed that they had somehow defied logic and were magically twins.

  The small church served most everyone in the community, and they passed it, rolling by on their way to the church’s lot. He pulled the dually truck into an unmarked space and shifted into Park. Both kids were unusually quiet, and the slide of the gearshift clicked loudly in the cab. Jake sighed, resting his elbow on the center console. Nora cupped her hand over his in the silence.

  “Are we ready to go see them now?” Charlotte asked from the backseat, sounding more chipper than sad.

  He honestly didn’t expect it to be this hard. Not trusting his voice, he nodded, and Nora squeezed his hand, opening her door first.

  “Of course, sweet pea. Let’s get you guys unbuckled.”

  Her door shut, and she let both kids out of their restraints. Then they burst, if not respectfully, toward where Ally and her husband lay buried. Jake hadn’t even unbuckled.

  Nora ducked her head through the door that the kids had exited. “Doing okay?”

  He held her eyes but shook his head. “This isn’t fair for them.”

  Nora shut the kids’ door and walked to his but didn’t open it, standing there until he opened it himself. When Jake pushed out, he eased his arm over her shoulder. She tucked against the crook of his arm and hooked a thumb into his belt loop.

  They followed the trail that the kids had made, passing row after row of pristine gravesites scattered with flowers and flags, many traditional stones, and others adorned with crosses and testaments to patriotic duty.

  They summited a small hill to see both kids cross-legged in front of the Harding plots. Charlotte’s little mouth and hands were moving a mile a minute, as though she were explaining to her parents everything that had gone on since she last saw them. Graham ran his hands over the grass beside her while she did. Jake expected Charlotte to sob, but instead it was more like a regularly scheduled update with her mom. His throat burned as he tried to understand.

  “Charlotte’s doing very well. Considering,” Nora said quietly.

  “Yeah, she is. But I don’t get it. Why that little snuggle bug has to go without Ally and Davis. I’d be shattered.”

  “She is.” Nora paused. “And in our own ways, we are too. But we take those devastated pieces, patch them together, and you’ll see life’s a mosaic. It’s not fair. It’s unforgiving. It steals the unflawed and the innocent, but we can take what’s broken and build a beautiful life that we never saw coming and, now, can’t live without.”

  There were times over his military career when his team had lost men and women who didn’t deserve their fate. Families were robbed of their loved ones and their future full of memories. Jake wished he could go back in time and share Nora’s words with them. How did one woman comprehend what he had felt many times before but been unable to name or understand? He still didn’t understand but maybe was inching toward acceptance.

  “I’m really glad you’re here.” He clung to Nora’s hand as they proceeded closer.

  Charlotte was finished with her enthusiastic conversation, and after a couple of giggling glances at Jake and Nora’s handholding, both kids settled into a secretive conversation, lying on their stomachs until they rolled onto their backs and stared at the clouds.

  What was he supposed to do at a gravesite? Jake had never understood that. At least, he didn’t know what someone was supposed to do there for extended periods of time. If there had been a fallen Navy SEAL or anyone he’d fought alongside, he had lowered his head and said a few words. That he would continue their fight and protect their loved ones. That their effort was not for a lost cause and their death had a purpose.

  He didn’t understand Ally’s death. That death had a purpose that eluded him.

  “Look!” Graham pointed toward the sky. “A shooting star!”

  “Where? Where?” Charlotte searched frantically.

  “Right there.” Graham pointed.

  “That’s an airplane. It’s too slow.”

  “No it’s not,” Graham snapped.

  “Quick, make the wish, make the wish!”

  “I’m making th
e wish!”

  “Graham, Charlotte,” Nora hushed them. “Too loud. Take it down a couple notches.”

  Jake had to laugh at Charlotte and Graham’s frenetic wish making, despite Nora shushing them. Maybe that passing airplane was Ally intervening with a moment of laughter and love because she wouldn’t want him spiraling into depression over her death, not that Jake listened very well.

  He scrubbed his hands over his face. He never listened. Not back in high school when Jake got into a fight with Brian, after Jake assumed his buddy had dumped Ally. Ha, that hadn’t been the case. Ally had dumped Brian. Jake didn’t listen then and didn’t when she said she was dying. Denial had been his first response, ignoring her soft explanation as he searched for cancer treatments that her doctors hadn’t considered.

  Jake made a mental note to drop Brian a phone call. Brian hadn’t turned up for Ally’s funeral, and that had thrown Jake for a loop.

  “Everything okay?” Her slight eyebrow lift indicated that her concern was far greater than the delicate wording of her question.

  “Just thinking about an old friend of Ally’s.” Jake cleared his throat. “And in general, how I wanted to protect her from everything, and in the end couldn’t… From anything.”

  “You’ve seen worse than I have.” Nora leaned against him. “With life and loss. Devastation. So you know life is never fair.”

  His throat continued to tighten, and his eyes burned. He shut them and faced the sun. “Yeah, I know.”

  “No one is allowed to write the last chapter of their book.”

  He didn’t respond.

  She continued, “The book, her story, it didn’t end. Life never ends, because it’s a story that isn’t made of only one person. We’re living in Ally’s world.”

  Eyes still closed, he squeezed Nora’s hand in silence.

  “Everything hurts because you’re paging through the past. There’s nothing wrong with that, but…” She squeezed back then relaxed. “You want to see more of Ally in the next pages without realizing that there absolutely is.”