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Congratulations on your graduation! Go Bulldogs!
Tommy White
“You arethe one who set my parents up?”
Mr. Chapman shook his head. “No, not really. I just told him to go for it.”
He sat there, humble, so much like his son. He was more crouched down, his shoulders slumped. The weight of exhaustion was around him like a cloud. It wasn’t just age or grief, but pure exhaustion. She hadn’t remembered him looking that old even after getting out of the hospital, but the sadness around him was so strong. The man had lost his wife, child, his home, and now his son had been arrested.
Megan’s life hadn’t always been easy, but she had a lot to be grateful for. She couldn’t imagine being in his shoes. The pain was too real. She could almost feel it coming off him in waves. But yet, he was talking to her about her family. Giving her a priceless gift in his own moment of pain.
“He loved her. Everyone could see it. They just needed a little push, so I tried to encourage him.”
“Wow. In a way, you’re responsible for me being here.”
His reaction was immediate. “I didn’t mean for you to think… No. No. No. I mean they would’ve anyway. I just sorta helped suggest. That was all.”
His cheeks were turning pink, and she didn’t think it was from the slight chill in the house.
“What did you tell him in those talks?”
“God, I haven’t thought about that in forever.” He paused and seemed to be searching his memories. “I think I remember saying, if you like her, go for it. What do you have to lose? Why wait? Why be afraid?”
“You can’t live your life in fear?” she asked, pointing to the words in her dad’s hand.
“I guess it made an impact on him.”
“Mr. Chapman—”
“Please, call me Hank. We’ve been through enough.”
“Mr. Hank…” He gave her a look, but hey, they could meet in the middle.
“Thank you.” She held the yearbook to her chest, hugging the worn, stiff leather. “I can’t thank you enough for sharing this with me.”
“I owe you my life. So does Levi, and besides, it was all Troy. I was trying to encourage you two to get together. I’m sorry I pushed too hard.”
Megan’s heart ached for him more than she wanted to admit. “I’m surprised he mentioned me at all. We had a pretty big fight.”
“He cares about you.I figured there was a disagreement about something.”
“He was getting all protective, and…”
She froze.
“Megan? Is something wrong?”
“My phone.”
“What about it? Do you need to call someone?”
Megan turned to him and said, “I know how to help Troy.”
CHAPTER44
Troy had been better. The past few days had gone a completely wrong direction, and things weren’t shaping up to be any better. After he had been arrested, he had first called his CO and then called a lawyer. Thankfully, his CO hadn’t asked about his whereabouts, and much to Troy’s complete relief, the Court of Military Justice was not getting involved. Had he not been on leave, this complete shit storm would have been even more of a nightmare.
He was grateful for small miracles.
