“What happened to him?”
“He’s in prison. Convicted of manslaughter.”
“Was the PTSD raised as a defense?”
“Yes, and the conviction is still on appeal. But our laws don’t have a defense for Roddy’s situation. And I’m not sure they should.”
“Really?”
“You can’t kill a man for slapping his girlfriend.”
Molly had to think about that. “Okay, I get that. But he was trained to do that by the army.”
“Yes, the army is very good at that part of the training. They haven’t given enough thought to what that does to a person. They still don’t have answers for that. The recovery program I’ve been in is an attempt to address those issues but, honestly, the army is just floundering around when it comes to guys like Roddy and me. In the end, they just buy us off with a disability and hope we don’t do too much damage. Roddy is a great example of the army’s failure to prepare us for re-entry.”
“Still, it seems like there needs to be some kind of accommodation for a guy who served his country like that.”
“I agree. But they don’t teach you to win a bar fight, or deescalate a situation. They teach you to kill or be killed.”
“Were you wounded in combat?”
“Yes.”
Molly felt that in her gut. He seemed gentle and harmless, but he was a killing machine. He’d likely killed hundreds and been wounded in combat. It was time to wind this conversation down. She didn’t know where to take it from here.
“I’m sorry for what you’ve been through. And, thank you for your service.”
“You’re welcome.”
Molly had prepared the spaghetti sauce early. He grated parmesan cheese while she boiled noodles and prepared a simple green salad. Dinner prep was interrupted twice by kissing sessions. In the first, she walked up and laid a serious one on him. She couldn’t help it. She was aroused. He was arousing to be around. Just looking at him made her aroused. She needed to kiss him. In the second, he came up behind her, reached around, cupped her breasts, and kissed her neck while she massaged her bottom into his arousal. Then she turned to face him, and they really got into it, hot, open-mouth, deep, passionate kisses. Molly thought about delaying dinner while they took care of business, but it ended with soft, playful kisses, and she decided patience was the better path.
They ate outside at the table, then convened to the Adirondacks. Molly had prebuilt a fire in the fire pit, and she lit it and poured two glasses of cognac. Night was falling on the lake. The sun was almost to the Canadian Rockies and was casting long shadows across the lake and bright colors on the far horizon. The fire was shooting flames three feet in the air. Molly felt the cool night air, the heat from the fire on her face, and the arousal continuing to build deep inside. She hadn’t been with aman in a while, and she really wanted to be with this particular man. She was already thinking about when she’d see him again.
“Are your trips out of the mountains scheduled?”
“Pretty much monthly except for winter. Four times a year, I have specific dates for my therapy sessions.”
“So this time of year, maybe in another month?”
“Yes.”
“Will you stop and see us?”
“Yes.”
“I know you’re not going to tell me where your place is, but I still want to ask you questions about it.”
“Good luck with that.”
She chuckled. She’d thought about questions that she might be able to get away with. “Can you tell me one thing about your set up that would surprise me?”
He chuckled and took a drink of cognac. The flames were dancing, and the fire was starting to produce some heat. The sun was behind the mountains. The lake was smooth and reflecting the sunset.
“I have a falcon.”
She looked at him with surprise. Okay, that was good. “A falcon?”
“Yes. I trained her to hunt, and she’s a good hunter.”
