The three of us sit at the table and my mother fawns all over me as she feeds me heaps of mashed potatoes and meatloaf with chocolate cake as a side dish instead of a dessert. She’s sweet, but I know what they really want to know, so finally, I ask her to sit down.
The worry is written all over her face. “I found out what happened to Jackson. I think you deserve to know.”
My father reaches behind him to grab a box of tissues off the counter—he knows where this is going. My mother will be a blubbering mess within minutes. But she deserves to know, they both do. It’s why I went overseas, to fight for my country and to find out what happened my big brother.
“He was helping a civilian, a woman and her child. They were in an area that his unit was going to go through to pull some men out that they needed to question. But this woman—she was the sister of well, one of the bad guys, but she was good. And she and her child were stuck in the middle of what was about to be a complete nightmare. Jackson knew that if they stayed, they would die, so he went in first. He went to pull them out, to get them to safety, and they didn’t make it. The woman and the kid were actually being held hostage. Neither of them ever had a chance. When Jackson went in, the enemy took him out.”
I hold my breath for a second. I’ve been told the story three times since I’ve been in the Army, but I hadn’t needed to repeat it until now. Now, it was part of my story. How my brother’s heroic gesture got him killed.
My mother’s crying silently, and my father’s lower lip is quivering, but he doesn’t break. He knows he has to be strong for my mother.
“Did they get them? Did they get those guys?” he says, his voice gravelly and just above a whisper.
“Yeah, Dad, they got them. Every last one.”
“Good,” he says, “good for them.”
4
Cami
“Cami? Cami! There’s someone at the door for you.” I toss another shirt into my duffel bag before walking down the hall. When I turn the corner to face the front door, I can’t believe my eyes.
“Jett? Oh my God, what are you doing here?”
He’s here! He’s here and he’s whole and he’s alive and I can’t believe any of it is happening. I wrap my arms around him and he squeezes my waist. It feels like no time has passed, like he hasn’t been gone for months.
“I had some leave time so I came home to see my folks. And to see you.” His eyes bore into my soul. He’s been gone so long. “I thought I could take you out, maybe buy you some dinner?”
I know that I need to pack, because Ty and I are leaving, but I grab my jacket off the hook and wave goodbye to my mother instead. Packing can wait—Jett is more important right now.
“So tell me about base?” I ask, resting my head on my fist. The waitress stops by, dropping off two waters and smiling at us adoringly.
“There’s not really much to tell you. I get up, I make my bed, I eat breakfast, and then I run. Sometimes I get screamed at by my drill sergeant, but mostly I run. It’s really not that exciting.”
“And Jackson? Did you get the answers you were looking for?” I know that’s why he really went. He needed answers. I can understand that; I still think about Tommy all the time. That if there was a cure, it would have saved him. I know that Jett wonders if he was with Jackson in Afghanistan, would he have been able to save him too. Would he have lived. Now he can finally know.
“I got the answers I needed to,” he says curtly, and I know that I’m not going to press any further. It’s been too long and we’re not as close as we once were, but that doesn’t mean that his smile doesn’t make my heart melt. And seeing him in his camouflage, it’s hard to take my eyes off of him.
“So what will you have?” The waitress comes back and questions us.
“Cherry pie,” I offer.
“With ice cream,” he adds. Just like old times. So much has changed about him, and then not so much at all.
She winks at us, and then within just a couple minutes, brings back plates with cherry pie and vanilla ice cream and two forks. Jett dips his finger in the whipped cream and offers it to me. I chew on my lower lip for a moment—I’m leaving for Memphis tomorrow with Ty. But we’re just friends. I know where this leads with Jett. Where a night of dessert at the diner used to lead. Where I hope it still does. I push my face towards him and I wrap my lips around his finger, sucking the whipped cream off.
“You haven’t changed a bit, Cami.”
“And you’ve only changed for the better.”
“I’ve been waiting to get those clothes off of you since the minute I laid eyes on you,” he whispers. “Let’s eat this pie and get out of here. I’m only on leave for a couple days, and I want to make the most of them.”
I’m not going to tell him I’m leaving. We’re both on limited time, and he’s right—we should just make the most of it. No strings attached, just one last night of fun together before we both go our separate ways. It’s the perfect closure, the thing I’ve been waiting for most.
To fall back into Jett’s arms.
We decide to go to a motel that's just a couple minutes away from the diner. I’ve never seen a man eat so quickly as Jett scarfs down his dessert.